10 DISCOVERIES OP lOOi. 



Buchan, now on the northern voyage of discovery, 

 the more interesting, from whose manuscript jour- 

 nal an abstract will be given in its proper place in 

 the sequel. 



Whether we are to consider Vinland as Labrador 

 or Newfoundland is a matter of little importance, 

 as the Scandinavians do not appear to have made 

 any progress in the colonization of either country, 

 though a recent discovery would seem to indi- 

 cate the remains of an ancient colony, of which 

 we shall presently have occasion to speak. These 

 northern hordes, however, " thrust out of their 

 exuberant hive," flourished with great rapidity 

 on Iceland, in spite of its barren soil and rigorous 

 climate. Religion and literature even took deep 

 root where every luxury and frequently the com- 

 mon necessaries of life were wanting. The ge- 

 nius of native poetry survived amidst eternal 

 ice and snows. The want of shady groves and 

 verdant meadows, of purling streams and gentle 

 zephyrs, was amply supplied by the more sublime 

 and aw^ful objects of nature, — storms and tempests, 

 earthquakes and volcanos, spouts of Hquid fire and 

 of boiling water, volumes of smoke and steam and 

 ashes darkening the air and enveloping the whole 

 island, were the terrific visitors of this ultima 

 Thule of the inhabitable world. '' The scalds or 

 bards," says Pennant, " retained their fire in the 

 inhospitable climate of Iceland, as vigorously as 



