192 H. P. STEENSBY. 
the Norsemen. Later on W. J. HorrmAnn! thought he was able to 
prove that the game had spread in North America, starting from a north- 
easterly point which he is inclined to assign to one of the Algonquin tribes 
in the St. Lawrence valley. 
The whole question of relationship or no relationship has, meanwhile, 
been so disputed and so difficult to settle that I shall not try to assert 
a point of view. I will only point out that should it in spite of all well- 
founded doubt — also FINNUR J6nsson? according to what he has com- 
municated to me is of the same opinion as Bjorn Bjarnarson — never- 
theless prove that the Indians’ ball-game originated from the Norsemen, 
this does not prejudice my view of the St. Lawrence being Straumfjord. 
On the contrary, Hoffmann’s proofs would thereby get their natural 
foundation. 
Let us now return to the saga. The last passage I cited was the 
account of the conflicts with the Skrælings at Hép. “Karlsefni and his 
people could now see that although the country had many resources 
they would, however, continually dread disturbances from the original 
inhabitants of the country. They therefore prepared themselves for 
departure in order to return to their native land. They sailed northwards 
along the coast, and near the sea they met 5 Skrelings asleep in their 
fur coats. They had boxes with them, in which there was deer-marrow 
mixed with blood. Karlsefni and his men thought that these people 
had been banished from their country, and they killed them. 
Later on they came to a ness on which there were numbers of deer, 
and the ness was covered everywhere with dung, as the deer lay there 
during the nights. They now came back to Straumfjord, and there was 
an abundance of everything they had need of.” 
I have already had the apportunity of mentioning the episode of 
the 5 banished Skrælings as bearing evidence that, relatively to the better 
situated southern parts of Wineland, the Norsemen must have considered 
these parts as unsettled country, or border-land. It is, of course, an 
impossibility more nearly to determine the place of this event. But on 
the other hand there is a shght possibility of my bemg able to point 
out the ness with the deer. 
If we let the eye follow the eastern coast-line of the St. Lawrence 
from St. Thomas northwards to the latitude of Hare Island, we see, a 
little more than half-way, a low headland thrusting itself unusually far 
out towards the centre of the stream. This point or cape, the direction 
of which is west-south-west, is now called Orignaux Point, which means 
elk or, rather, moose-cape. When one sees on the map how evenly the 
point continues the coastline northwards, whilst towards the south it 
1 cf. W. Hoveaarp р. 273. 
2 I feel impelled to express my gratitude to Professor Finnur Jonsson for 
varied linguistic advice as well as for the amiable interest which he has 
shown in my occupation with this topic from the old Icelandic history. 
