26 THE LIFE OF E. J. PECK 



They are found on the east of the American Con- 

 tinent at an early date. In the eleventh century 

 Eskimos were met with there, according to the Saga 

 of Eric the Red. The Norsemen of those days 

 sailed forth from their Greenland colonies on voy- 

 ages of discovery. After striking a fresh coast and 

 sailing southwards they arrived, we are told, at the 

 mouth of a large river, which they entered at high 

 tide. There are wonderful tales of their finding 

 self-sown wheat fields and of vines growing on the 

 hillsides. The voyagers remained where they landed 

 for some time and fed on the fat of the land, until one 

 morning a great number of natives paddling skin 

 canoes made their appearance. These new-comers and 

 the Norsemen exchanged signals of peace, which re- 

 sulted in a friendly intercourse extending over some 

 length of time. The description of these natives cor- 

 responds with that of the modern Eskimos. They 

 were evidently the tawny broad-featured Mon- 

 golian type of men with whom we have become 

 familiar. 



After a time, however, strife succeeded peace, and 

 although the Norsemen defeated the Eskimos, they 

 resolved to evacuate the new country rather than 

 live in continual conflict with the inhabitants. 

 Accordingly they returned to their own land. 



At what time the Eskimos made their way to 

 Greenland it is impossible to say. The colonists 

 from Scandinavia do not seem to have come into 



