168 DANIEL BRUUN. 
There was, besides, a great deal to be done during the summer. 
Fishing in the fiords and on the coasts or intherivers, which abounded 
with salmon, seal catching, which probably necessitated their living in tents 
on the islands at times, whale catching from big boats, and hunting expe- 
ditions often in remote regions in the interior of the country where the 
reindeer lived, and where they spent the night in huts of which there 
are still some remains. 
We have heard that the Norsemen undertook long summer excursions 
northwards, but towards their termination, when intercourse with the 
north, as it were had stopped, they hardly had ships in condition, so 
this livelihood had to be diminished. It was difficult to build bigger 
ships of drifting timber, One had to, when there was a want of iron for 
nails ete. be content with wood. 
Already in- the year 1189 there came a ship (or a bigger boat) to 
Iceland from Greenland, in which there was not a single nail or piece 
of iron to be found. The rigging was fastened by leather straps. 
During the winter they looked after the cattle, went out capturing 
seals and fishing in the fiords. There is no doubt of their having caught 
foxes in (raps, as everywhere they are to be found in the vicinity of the 
Norse ruins. They are composed of a long narrow space in a heap of 
stones. The entrance could be shut by a trap-door, i. е. a flat stone which 
hung on a string, and which fell down when the bait was touched. A few 
large traps have presumeably been bear, perhaps wolf traps. 
We have heard, through the extract, already mentioned, out of “The 
King’s Mirror” about the Norsemen’s lives and what they exported, by 
the selling of which they could procure the necessary articles, such 
as iron and corn which were wanting. Walrus teeth were, among 
other things of great value. 
It is seen that the crusader tithes were paid with them. 
Alive white bears and hawks were also of great value at the courts 
in the middle ages in Europe, where the latter were used in hunting. 
Ropes made of walrus hides for ships, seal skins and skins of different 
animals, as well as frieze were exported. Frieze belongs, on the whole, 
lo the Greenland merchandise already mentioned in several places. 
They spun and wove at home, of which, as mentioned, several 
objects found, such as spinning stones, weights for the loom ete. bear 
witness. Garments were made of the wool. Samples of such have been 
found in the graves. Thus there was enough to be done, especially on 
the big farms, where besides the household there were men and girls, 
as a rule of the slave race. 
Life glided monotonously on from generation to generation. The 
horizon became narrower and narrower. Superstition flourished, which 
the saga have already recounted, but through the complaints, already 
known, it is seen, that often the inhabitant’s mental state was very 
defective. 
