THORFINN KARLSEFNI 23 



ences in the Saga. The inference is that Thorfinn and 

 his men had already passed Wonderstrands when 

 they set out in their boats and landed at Keelness j and 

 by that time the shore had become indented with bays. 

 One can better understand the narrative if the sen- 

 tences are arranged thus: "Then they took a south- 

 erly course along the shore for a long time with land 

 to starboard. The shore line was long and sandy. 

 They called the strands Wonderstrands, because they 

 sailed past them for such a long time. They came to 

 a cape, rowed ashore, and there found the keel of a 

 ship. Therefore they called the cape Keelness." 

 Steensby believed that Keelness was Point Vaches, 

 located on the northern side of the Saguenay River 

 mouth, rather than Point des Monts, the extremity of 

 a wide cape in the St. Lawrence, about 200 kilometers 

 farther to the northeast. In reality, Point Vaches is 

 scarcely a cape 3 and it is so far up the St. Lawrence that 

 it is highly improbable that it is Keelness. It is more 

 probable that Keelness was Point des Monts, especially 

 as it is unlikely that Thorfinn and his men sailed far- 

 ther west or into the St. Lawrence. The estuary is not 

 so wide at this point that the land to the south is not in 

 plain sight. Furthermore, the narrative does not state 

 that Wonderstrands had been passed when Thorfinn 

 and his companions landed at Keelness. From the 

 story of Thorhall the Hunter's return voyage (see p. 



