178 H. P. STEENSBY. 
their countrymen and past Kjalarnes might not bear the impress of a 
later saga recorder who had misunderstood what was meant by Thor- 
hal would “fara norör fyrir Furöustrandir, at leita Vinlands, ”and who 
believed that he would return the same way he had come, along the 
Furdustrands. This however would be quite a senseless undertaking 
when it was a question of finding Wineland. Whereas the following re- 
mark about the strong westerly wind having driven them to Ireland 
would exactly agree with Thorhal having followed the south coast of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence past New Brunswick’s north coast and Nova 
Scotia; after which, by some means or other he came under the control 
of the west wind and the Gulf-stream, and thereby was driven across 
the Atlantic Ocean. And this would agree with the geographical in- 
terpretation. 
However, it is Karlsefni’s voyage to the south that the saga really 
tells of and keeps to. From Hare Island Karlsefni can follow one of two 
routes towards the south; he can go along the east coast or along the 
west coast. But there is hardly any likelihood of his having followed the 
west coast, which is attended by rather high and mostly forest-clad moun- 
taims extending right down to the shore, so that only on certain tracts 
is a narrow edge of land left to settle on. To this very day this coast is 
either uninhabited or occupied by some few scattered settlements on 
the shore. 
On the other hand the south coast is low, and is closely built over 
now-a-days. Only a part of the coast has a more hilly terrain, whereas 
mountains arise a short distance inland, especially when one approaches 
the latitude of the present Isle d’Orleans. A French author has written 
concerning these two coasts!: “.... la rive gauche du fleuve, la côte de Be- 
aupré, se lève en superbes promontoires, vraies montagnes de 500, 600, 
plus de 700 m de haut, roches laurentiennes, dures, escarpèes avec tor- 
rents et cascades, et, près du bord du Saint Laurent, de paisibles villages 
français, la rive droite riche, peuplée, etage, derrière une plaine, des col- 
lines, puis des monts jusqu’à la frontière des Etats-Unis; . . .”. 
Is was impossible for the Norsemen not to perceive the difference 
in nature of the two shores, especially as it is said that since their arrival 
they had reconnoitred the tracts round Straumey. We therefore have 
geographical cause to assume that Karlsefni went towards the south 
along the eastern shore of the St. Lawrence. And exactly the same is 
also revealed by the remark in one of the manuscripts about his wishing 
to “fara забг fyrir land ok fyrir austan,” that means “on the eastern 
side.” 
But let us continue with the saga. “It is now related of Karlsefni 
that he, together with Snorri and Bjarni and their folk, went southwards 
along the coast of the land. They sailed a long time, until they came 
to a river, which ran out of the country [fell af landi ofan”) through 
1 The article “Quebec”. Vivien de St. Martin et Rousselot. 
