Morning journal and courier., 1880-07-07
VIKINGS SHIP.

Full accounts OI Uu6 ClSCONSIy ttAo uAOaA bA4- ing of an old Vikings ship near the Norwe- gian village of Gogstad are now given to the world, and the story is very interesting. The tumulus or funereaI hill which contains the ship has long been known in the local trfdi- tions as Kings. hill. It is nearly 150 feet in diameter and rises from the flat land between the sea and the foot of the mountains. It is now nearly mile distant from the sea, but it is evident that in olden times the waves washed its base. The vessel enclosed ln the hill was drawn up out of the sea and placed upon layer of bundles of hazel branches and moss The sides were covered with stiff clay and the whole was then filled up with earth and sand to form the tumulus. The ship was placed with its stem toward the sea, in accordance with the grand imagination of the period that when the great Father of the Universe should call him the mighty chief tain might start from the funereal hill with his fully appointed vessel out upon the blue ocean.
 The vessel found in this tumulus is by far the largest craft of the olden times yet dis covered. It is "A feet long between stem and stern, 1G feet broad amidships, drawing five feet and with 20 ribs. In the stern of the ship, first disclosed to the eye, several interesting objects were found A piece of timber proved to be the stock of the anchor it was perfor- ated to hold the iron, but of this no more
 was found than few remnants. In the bot tom the remains of two or three small oaken boats of very elegant shape were placed over multitude of oars, some of them for the
 boats, others 20 feet long, for the large craft itself The form of these oars Is highly in teresting, and very nearly like that still used in English rowing matches, ending ill a small, fnely-cut blade some of them with orna- mental carvings. The bottom-deals, as well preserved as if they were of yesterday, are ornamented with circular lines. Several pieces of wood had the appearance of hay ing belonged to sledges, and some beams and deals are supposed to have formed compart- ments dividing the banks of the rowers on each side from passage or corridor in the middle In heap of oaken chips and splin- ters was found an elegantly shaped hatchet. about two inches long, of the shape peculiar to the younger Iron Age. Some loose beams ended in roughly carved dragons heads, painted in the same colors as the bows and sides of the vessel-to wit, yellow and black.
 The colors had evidently not been dissolved in water, as they still exist but as olive oil or vegetable oils were unknown at the time, it is supposed that the colors had been prepared with rome sort of fat, perhaps blubber.
 As the excavation proceeded, the whole length of the vessel was laid bare. All along the sides, nearly from stem to stern, and on the outside, extended a row of circular shields, placed like the scales of a fish. Nearly 100 of these are remaining, partly painted in yell low and black, but in many of them the wood has been consumed, and only the cen tral iron plate is preserved It has been well known that the ancient Viking vessels had these rows of shields, but it was supposed that they were those used by the warriors in the strife and placed there for convenience. It is now clear that they had only an orna- mental purpose, being of very thin wood, not thicker than stiff pasteboard, and unable to ward of any serious blow. In the middle of the vessel large oaken block, soEdly fast ened to the bottom, has a square hole for the mast, and several con trivances show that the mast was constructed for being laid down aft. Some pieces of tow and few shreds of woolen- stuff, probably the mainsail, were found here. In this part of the vessel was built the funereal chamber, formed by strong blanks and beams placed obliquely against each other and covering a
 room of nearly 15 feet square. Here, just as expectations were raised to the highest pitch, @ bitter disappointment awaited the ex- l plorers. Somebody had been there before. A few human bones, some shreds of sort
 of brocade, several fragments of bridles, sad dles, and the like, in bronze, silver and lead,
 and two metal buttons, one of them with g
 remarkable representation of cavalier with lowered lance, are all that has been got to- gethsr from the heap of earth and peat fill 1 ing the funereal chamber. On each side oi