172 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Icelandic outhouses when dug into a hillside dispensed with 

 the triple wall at the back and on the sides, and thus when stone- 

 faced partially resemble our cellars. But even then they still 



retain one character- 

 istic feature, in their 

 alternate layers of 

 turf and stone. 



Wliile this hut 

 was being dug out, 

 our attention was 

 called to stones pro- 

 truding through the 

 turf a short distance 

 away and nearer to 

 the water. When the 

 earth was cleared 

 away, it proved to 



^V I'avkmknt at Fi>i:t William IIlnjiv, Mainl. -, i , i • j 



be a rude stone-laid 

 pathway leading along the margin of the old creek to the river. 

 Here at the landing place a similar pathway branched away in 

 another direction, stopping suddenly a few metres south of the 

 supposed house of Thorfinn Karlsefni. This pathway is called in 

 Iceland a sjdvar-gata, or path to the sea. Ancient pavings have 

 been found at Fort AVilliam Henry, near Pemaquid, Maine. They 

 are, however, similar to many street pavements still to be found 

 in our eastern cities. There is also a remarkable paved gutter 

 at the Lewis Farm, 

 in Maine, w^hich has 

 long interested histo- 

 rians. But none of 

 these resemble the 

 sjdvar-gata in its pe- 

 culiar construction, 

 especially where it 

 broadens and divides 

 w'ith a wide margin of 

 pebbles on one side 

 and small heaps of 

 stones on the other. 



This map was 

 made for Professor 

 Horsford about ten years ago. It shows the site of the long house, 

 in which the Joclandic firoj^lace was found, and the cot, in which 

 Icelandic walls were found. The paved path ran along the shore 



A 1'aVKMENT at PHMAlilll), Maine. 



