THORFINN KARLSEFNI 53 



Indians had war missiles.^^ No doubt they were com- 

 mon in later centuries among the various tribes/^ 



What was the ball which the Skraslings "threw 

 over Karlsefni and his men and which had an evil 

 sound as it came down"? H. R. Schoolcraft, who has 

 written an extensive work on the Indians, has ex- 

 plained this matter somewhat. He states that it is 

 still remembered and quoted that the Ojibwa Indians, 

 who were fierce warriors, used a gigantic mace in 

 warfare, made from the pelt of an animal wrapped 

 around a large heavy stone and put on a pole. This 

 was brandished by a number of men, and one can 

 imagine that it was very dangerous. According to the 

 Saga, the ball was flung from a polej inside of the 

 skin there was presumably a large stone or a number 

 of small ones. The fact that it made such an evil sound 

 when it came down indicates that it was blown up 

 like a bladder. It would seem that the reference was 

 here to a very large sling rather than a mace and that 

 its purpose was more to frighten than to wound the 

 enemy. It is not likely that either of these weapons 

 became generally used, rather that they soon fell into 

 disuse among the Skrselings. 



Then follows an account of the fear of Thorfinn 

 and his men, Freydis' exhortation to them, the death 



^2 John Fiske, The Discovery of America, Boston, 1893. 

 ^^ See Babcock, of. cit., pp. 154-157. 



