212 DESCRIPTION OF GREENLAND, 



very fact that they never could learn where nor how they did 

 perish. The old Norwegian sailors were so terrified at these 

 accounts, that they dare not return on this sea. The queen, 

 who was engaged in wars with Sweden, did not press them, 

 and thought no more of Greenland. 



The Danish Chronicle, which gave me this information, 

 states, that about the year of grace 1406, the bishop Eskild, 

 of Drontheim, wishing to have the same care of Greenland that 

 his predecessors had had, sent them a bishop named Andrew, 

 to succeed Henry, bishop of Garde, in case he were dead, or 

 to bring news of him if he were alive ; but from the time 

 that Andrew went on board his vessel and had set sail, nothing 

 more was heard of him ; and notwithstanding the great exer- 

 tion made, it was impossible to discover what had become of 

 him or of the bishop Henry. This was the last bishop sent 

 from Greenland ; the same chronicle enumerates all the 

 kings of Denmark, from queen Margaret to king Chris- 

 tian IV noAV reigning, to show, either the little progress 

 that the one made in Greenland, or the desire others had to 

 find this land again. And it is also important, sir, that you 

 should be informed of this succession of fatalities and misfor- 

 tunes which have made us lose sight of a celebrated country, 

 which was formerly known, inhabited, and frequented by 

 people of our own world. 



King Eric, of Pomerania, succeeded queen Margaret, 

 and being a foreign king and having just come to Den- 

 mark, he did not even make himself aware of the fact that 

 there was such a country in the world as Greenland. Chris- 

 topher of Bavaria, who succeeded Eric, employed all his 

 reign in making war on the Vandals, who are Pomeranians. 

 The family of Oldenbourg, which now reigns in Den- 

 mark, began to reign in the year of grace 1448. The 

 king Christian, the first of his name and line, instead of 

 turning his attention to the north turned it to the south, 

 made a pilgrimage to Rome, obtained from the Pope the 



