NO. 12 THE WINELAND VOYAGES — SWANTON 25 



kinds of cattle, as it was their intention to settle the country, if they 

 could." Arrived safely at "Leif's booths," the Saga says they — 



carried their hammocks ashore there. They were soon provided with an abun- 

 dant and goodly supply of food, for a whale of good size and quality was driven 

 ashore there, and they secured it, and flensed it, and had then no lack of pro- 

 visions. The cattle were turned out upon the land, and the males soon became 

 very restless and vicious ; they had brought a bull with them. Karlsefni caused 

 trees to be felled, and to be hewed into timbers, wherewith to load his ship, 

 and the wood was placed upon a cliff to dry. They gathered somewhat of all of 

 the valuable products of the land, grapes, and all kinds of game and fish, and 

 other good things. 



In the Saga we find a note which would indicate that there was a 

 third tradition regarding Karlsefni's expedition to Wineland which 

 would subtract something from its romantic character but would lend 

 strength to the belief that such a voyage was made. "Some say," 

 the chronicler notes parenthetically, "that Biarni and Freydis re- 

 mained behind here [at Streamfirth] with a hundred men, and went 

 no further; while Karlsefni and Snorri proceeded to the southward 

 with forty men, tarrying at Hop barely two months, and returning 

 again the same summer." 



The two main narratives agree strikingly regarding the topography 

 of the country visited, and the climate, except that the Flat Island 

 Book goes a little farther than the Saga by stating that there was no 

 "frost" there, as well as no snow. It specifies salmon as the kind of 

 fish they found in both lake and river and does not mention "halibut," 

 probably in reality flotmders, which were caught along shore. The 

 Saga makes no mention of the "large house" Leif is supposed to 

 have erected, nor of the stockade which Karlsefni's men put about 

 it later. Finally, the Saga says nothing of those quantities of grapes 

 and vines, upon which the Flat Island Book lays so much stress in 

 connection with every visit to Wineland. The whale we may guess 

 to be a more appetizing replica of Thorhall's at Streamfirth. 



One of our critics finds fault with Leif for supposedly leaving his 

 vessel aground on the sands while he and his men land to examine 

 the country, but must a voyager always specifiy that he has left such 

 and such a man behind to look after his vessel when he sets foot 

 ashore ? 



Surprisingly little is said in any of the narratives regarding explora- 

 tions in Wineland. During Leif's visit as narrated in the Flat Island 

 Book we are, indeed, told that the leader undertook this systematically, 

 but the exploring parties were limited to points from which they could 

 return by night, and the story is a build-up for the discovery of grapes 



