56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 10/ 



lay to the north of Streamfirth, while Hop, from which he had recently 

 come, was far to the south. 



One difficulty with the theories of Hermannsson and Thordarson 

 is that they fail to indicate an inlet corresponding sufficiently well 

 with the Streamfirth of the Sagas. Chaleur Bay is ideal from the 

 point of view of climate and the presence of pasture lands suitable for 

 the Norsemen's cattle, but although the tides rise lo feet near its 

 head, they are much lower at its entrance, and the currents are not 

 conspicuous. Heron Island, which is suggested as the Stream Island 

 of the explorers, is near the head of the bay, whereas the narratives 

 place Stream Island close to the entrance, and I am informed by Dr. 

 Lewis that it is too large for a bird rookery. The latter criticism 

 would also apply to Miscou Island at the mouth of Chaleur Bay. On 

 the other hand Miramichi Bay, Cocagne Harbor, and Shediac Bay, 

 suggested by Thordarson (1930, pp. 37-38) are not particularly noted 

 for their currents. Those in Shediac Bay are reported to be "weak," 

 and although there is considerable current at times in Miramichi 

 Bay, the tides rise only 4 to 6 feet. Nor are the islands at the mouth 

 of these bays suitable for bird nesting places. Moreover, as Thorhall 

 indicates in his ditty, Streamfirth was close to Wonder-strands, Both 

 of these thories also suffer from the fact that they separate Keelness 

 farther from Wonder-strands than the narratives warrant. The 

 first version of the Saga speaks of the cape before it mentions the 

 strands, the second version speaks of them together ; Thorhall and 

 his men "sailed away to the northward" past Wonder-strands and 

 Keelness, intending to cruise to the westward around the cape, 

 and Karlsefni, when in search of him, is said to have rounded the cape 

 and voyaged west, although here nothing is said of Wonder-strands. 

 The two last references imply that the cape was at the extreme 

 eastern end of the strands, and that one could steer west immediately 

 after passing it, but this may not have been the case, since the first 

 version of the Saga says that after leaving Markland "they sailed 

 southward along the land for a long time" before coming to the cape, 

 and the wording of the second version is not averse to such an interpre- 

 tation, while both apparently intimate that if Keelness was not on a 

 sandy coast, sand was not far away. I would suggest as a solution 

 that Keelness may have been at or near Cape Whittle, that the coast 

 along which the Hauk's Book narrative says they sailed "for a long 

 time" after leaving Markland was that part of the Labrador coast east 

 of Cape Whittle. Since this section of the coast trends southwest, the 

 statement that they were following it "southward" would not be too 



