First Across the Atlantic : 113 



and during the winter Thorstein died. Gudrid went to live with 

 Eric and was treated by him as a daughter. In the meantime, a mer- 

 chant and navigator by the name of Thorfinn Karlsefni had set sail 

 for Greenland. He had a good vessel and a crew of forty men and 

 was accompanied by another ship. They all celebrated the winter to- 

 gether at Eric's place and after Christmastime Thorfinn and Gudrid 

 were married. The rest of the winter was spent in discussing and pre- 

 paring an expedition to the country Lief had discovered and which 

 he had called Vineland the Good. The expedition was to consist of 

 two ships — one, that of Karlsefni, the other with Bjarne and Thorhall. 

 There was also another vessel with some of Eric's people aboard. 

 Gudrid and a number of other women sailed with the ships. Altogether 

 there were i6o people in the ships. 



First they proceeded north to Disko Island and then, sailing to 

 the southwest, came to a rocky shore which they called Helluland — 

 the land of flat stones — usually supposed to be Labrador. Sailing a 

 day and a night, they came to a forested country which they called 

 Markland. This was probably the southern portion of Labrador near 

 the Straits of Belle Isle, or a part of Nova Scotia. After this they 

 sailed for a long way and came, after a time, to a region where there 

 were many bays and fjords, and sandy rather than rocky shores. 

 They found an island surrounded by strong currents and thought 

 the country good. They had not made sufficient preparation for the 

 winter however and, during the winter season, ran short of food. 

 One ship with Thorall, the hunter, separated from the rest of the 

 party and, after battling heavy west winds, was driven to Ireland. It 

 was later reported that he died there. Karlsefni, Bjarne and the rest 

 of the party sailed a long way to the mouth of a river having a lake, 

 or pond, in its lower reaches. This place they called Hop. This was 

 a very prosperous region. After a meeting with some natives, which 

 passed without incident, the explorers settled down for the winter in 

 houses they had built above the lake. There was no snow and the 

 domestic animals were able to go through the winter outdoors. In 

 the spring there was a peaceful meeting with the natives and there 

 was an exchange of skins for woven cloth. The natives went away, 

 but later returned and there was a pitched battle during which the 

 explorers lost several men. One of the women, Freydis by name, 

 though she was pregnant and considerably hampered, took a sword 

 from one of the fallen companions and prepared to attack the natives. 

 The natives retired. 



Karlsefni decided that, with so many natives all about them, it 



