THE VIKING SHIP.—It was well that with the Columbian celebration honor should be paid to Leif Ericsson, undoubtedly the first European to land upon the shores of America, though due advantage was not taken of his great discovery and it was well, too, that the Viking Ship seen at the Fair should be a reproduction of one buried with its commander at about the time Leif Ericsson made his voyage. That was not far from the year 1000. The “Viking,” as the vessel was named, was seventy-six feet in length, was open, with the exception of a small deck fore and aft, and was very simply rigged with one mast, which could be taken down, and with a single sail. Evidently the Norsemen depended much on their long oars. The prow was adorned with a dragon’s head, and the stern with a dragon’s tail, both being finished in gilt. Outside the slender bulwarks were hung the embellished shields of the crew, and there were benches and apertures for sixteen rowers on a side. The rudder, after the ancient custom, was placed on the right side, close to the stern. A canopy which could be erected at will made a shelter over the deck. The fund for the reproduction of the ” Viking ” was raised in Norway by popular subscription and, under the command of Captain Magnus Andersen and a picked Norwegian crew, the vessel made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean and through the great lakes with ease, doing even more than the Norsemen did so long ago in a similar craft. A splendid exhibit was the ” Viking,” and all honors were paid it and its country by America.

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