36 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



land that coughs and colds were unJcnottm in New England. Leif's 

 narrative says nothing about any inhabitants ; but, in 1002, Thorvald, 

 his brother, sailed to Vinland and found some people at a place a little 

 to the northward of Leif's resort. The Saga says that one day, when 

 opposite a cape, they " saw three specks upon the sand," and that, 

 upon examination, they found that these were " three skin-boats with 

 three men under each boat." Cruelly attacking them for the plunder, 

 the Icelanders killed eight, while one man escaped with his boat. 

 They also saw " several eminences which they took to be habitations." 

 Afterward, they rested and fell asleep on board their vessels, only to 

 be awakened by the natives, who had been notified by the man that 

 escaped, and who had now come to avenge the death of their com- 

 rades. When the alarm was sounded, " an innumerable multitude, 

 from the interior of the bay, came in skin-boats and laid themselves 

 alongside." The Northmen at once put up their " war-screens " on 

 the gunwales, and, the Saga says, "the Skrajllings shot at them for 

 a while, and then fled away as fast as they could." They did not 

 retreat, however, before dealing Thorvald, the leader of the expedi- 

 tion, his death-wound, it being given by an arrow which struck under 

 his arm. Thorvald was buried on the shore, supposed to be the coast 

 of Massachusetts Bay.* This is the first recorded collision between 

 Europeans and those whom we propose to call the descendants of the 

 glacial man. It shows them as strong and not wanting in the courage 

 that would fit men for the struggle with nature during the great ice 

 period that prevailed in America. 



In 1006 Thorfinn Karlsefne sailed to Vinland with an expedition, 

 and reached the place formerly visited by Leif and Thorvald, where 

 they wintered in a very mild climate. But one spring morning, while 

 on an exploring expedition, apparently near Long Island Sound, when 

 " they looked around, they saw a great many skin-boats and poles 

 swung upon them, and it sounded like reeds shaken by the wind, and 

 they pointed toward the sun. Then said Karlsefne, ' What may this 

 mean ? ' Snorre Thorbrandson replied, * It may be that this is a sign 

 of peace, so let us take a white shield and hold it toward them.' They 

 did so. Thereupon they rowed toward them and came to land. These 

 people were swarthy and fierce, and had bushy hair on their heads ; 

 they had very large eyes and broad cheeks." The Northmen, how. 

 ever, were not attacked, and remained there until spring, the statement 

 being that " there was no snow, and all their cattle fed themselves on 

 the grass." But in the opening of 1009 the Skrsellings returned, offer- 

 ing "skins and real furs " for red cloth, the Northmen refusing to sell 

 them swords and spears. Finally, a bull which belonged to the Iceland- 

 ers began to bellow, when the Skraellings became frightened, and ran 

 to their boats, rowing away south. At the end of three weeks, nevei'- 

 theless, " a great number of Skrselling boats were seen coming from 



* "Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen," p. 41. 



