704 



NORTH AMERICA. 



stance Leif gave the name of Yiiiland, or Wine- 

 land, to the country. After passing the winter 

 at this spot, Leif and his party returned to Green- 

 land in the spring. The island just alluded to is 

 supposed to have been Nantucket, and the region 

 called Vinland the States of Massachusetts and 

 Rhode Island. 



On his return to Greenland, Leif's discovery 

 was the object of much inquiry ; and Thorwald, 

 his brother, borrowing Leif's vessel, undertook 

 another voyage in the same direction, in the year 



1002, determined to explore the country further 

 in a southern direction. They reached Vinland 

 before winter, which they passed at Leifs booths, 

 employing themselves in fishing. In the spring of 



1003, a party was sent by Thorwald, in the ship's 

 long boat, to explore the country to the south. 

 They passed the summer in this employment, 

 and found the country beautiful and well wooded, 

 with a narrow belt of sand between the forest 

 and the sea. They also encountered many shal- 

 lows and islands. They found no traces of 

 men, except a shed upon an island lying to the 

 westward. 



In the spring of 1004, Thorwald sailed out to 

 the eastward, in the large ship, and then north- 

 ward past a remarkable headland, enclosing a bay, 

 and which was opposite to another headland. 

 They called this Cape Kiarlaness, or the Keel- 

 Cape. Doubling this cape, they skirted the 

 shores, and crossed the inlets, till they came to a 

 projecting promontory, covered with wood. This 

 spot charmed Thorwald; he exclaimed, " This is a 

 beautiful spot, and here I should like to fix my 

 dwelling." As they were preparing to go on 

 board, they noticed three canoes on the beach, and 

 under each canoe three Skrcellings or dwarfs, which 

 is the name given by the Northmen to the Esqui- 

 maux. A contest ensued, and eight of the nine 

 Skraellings were killed. The ninth fled into the 

 interior of the bay, from which he soon returned 

 with a vast number of his countrymen. The 

 party of Thorwald retreated to their vessel, and 

 sheltered themselves behind its bulwarks ; but 

 Thorwald himself was mortally wounded by an 

 arrow under his arm. Perceiving his wound to 

 be fatal, he said to his companions, " I now advise 

 you to prepare for your departure as soon as possi- 

 ble, but me ye shall bring to the promontory, 

 where I thought it good to dwell. It may be that 

 it was a prophetic word that fell from my mouth, 

 about abiding there for a season. There shall ye 

 bury me and plant a cross at my head, and also at 

 my feet, and call the place KROSSANESS, in all 

 coming time." They obeyed this command. Re- 

 turning to Leif's bootbs, they passed the winter 

 there, and the following spring went back to 

 Greenland. The Keel Cape is supposed to be 

 Cape Cod ; and the promontory called Krossa- 

 ness, from the fate of Thorwald, to be either the 

 Gurnet opposite Plymouth, or Point Alderton in 

 Boston harbour. 



In the season following these events, Thorn- 

 stein, the third son of Eric, embarked, with his 

 wife Gudrida, in search of the body of Thorwald, 

 which they wished to bring back to Greenland. 

 The voyage was unsuccessful. They were tossed 

 about all summer, and knew not whither they 

 were driven. It was winter before they made the 

 western, coast of Greenland, where Thornstein 

 died. In the spring Gudrida his wife returned to 

 the family seat, at Ericsfiord. 



The following year, 1006, is of importance in 

 the history of these expeditions. In the summer 

 of this year, there arrived in Greenland two ships 

 from Iceland. The one was commanded by Thor- 

 finn, surnamed Karlsefne, that is, the Hopeful, a 

 wealthy and powerful personage of illustrious lin- 

 eage, descended from Danish, Norwegian, Swed- 

 ish, Irish, and Scottish ancestors, some of whom 

 were of royal rank. The other ship was com- 

 manded by Biarne Grimolfson and Thorhall Gam- 

 lason. They kept the festival of Yule (Christ- 

 inas) at Ericsfiord. Here Thorfinn became ena- 

 moured of Gudrida and espoused her in the course 

 of the winter. The discoveries in Vinland were 

 the great subject of interest in the family of Eric. 

 Thorfinn was urged by his wife and the other 

 members of the family to undertake a voyage to 

 the newly discovered country. Accordingly, in 

 the spring of 1007, he and his associates embarked in 

 their two vessels ; and a third ship, commanded by 

 Thorward (who had married Freydisa, a natural 

 daughter of Eric), was joined to the expedition. 

 The party consisted in the whole of 140 men. 

 They took with them all kinds of live stock, in- 

 tending if possible to colonize the country. They 

 touched at Halluland on their way southward, and 

 found many foxes there. Markland also they 

 found stocked with wild animals. Proceeding 

 southward they made Kiarlaness (Cape Cod), and 

 passed trackless deserts, and long tracts of sandy 

 beach, which they called Furdustrandir. They 

 continued their course, until they came to a place, 

 where a frith penetrated far into the country. Off 

 the mouth of it was an island, past which there 

 ran strong currents, which was also the case far- 

 ther up the frith. On the island there were an im- 

 mense number of eyder ducks, so that it was 

 scarcely possible to walk, without treading on 

 their eggs. They called the island Straumey 

 (stream-isle), and the frith, Straumfiords (stream- 

 frith) ; and on its shores they landed and made 

 preparations for a winter's residence. They found 

 the country extremely beautiful, and set them- 

 selves to explore it in all directions. 



Thorhall, with a party of eight men, took a 

 course northward in search of the settlements of 

 Leif at Vinland, but they were driven by westerly 

 gales to the coast of Ireland and there made slaves. 

 Thorfinn, with the rest of the company, in all 131 

 men, sailed southward, and arrived at a place 

 where a river falls into the sea from a lake. Op- 

 posite to the mouth of the river were large islands. 

 They steered into the lake and called the place 

 Hop. On the low grounds they found fields cov- 

 ered with wheat growing wild, and on the rising 

 grounds vines. Here they were visited by great 

 numbers of the natives in canoes. These people 

 are described as sallow-coloured, ill looking, with 

 unsightly heads of hair, large eyes, and broad 

 cheeks. Thorfinn and his company erected 'heir 

 houses a little above the bay and passed the win- 

 ter there. No snow fell, and the cattle found 

 their food in the open field. In the following 

 spring, 1008, the natives began to assemble in 

 numbers, and opened a trade with the strangers. 

 The articles exchanged were furs on the one side, 

 and strips of cloth on the other. In the course of 

 the season, Gudrida, the wife of Thorfinn, gave 

 birth to a son, who was called Snorre, and \vlic 

 was the first child, of European descent, born in 

 America, and the ancestor of many distinguished 

 personages at the present day, whose descent, 



