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HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



the land on their larboard side, and sailed away for two days,, 

 when they saw land again. They asked Bjarni if he thought 

 this was Greenland; and he replied that "he thought it as little 

 to be Greenland as the other, as he saw no high ice-hills." The 

 sailors wished to wood and water there, but Bjarni would not 

 consent. They sailed for three days to the north, and saw a 

 bold shore with high mountains and ice-hills. Bjarni would not 

 land, saying, "To me this land appears little inviting." Sailing 

 for four days more to the northeast, they came to a country 

 which Bjarni confidently pronounced to be Greenland, where he 

 landed and afterwards settled. Various data furnished by this 

 narrative, in the original Icelandic records, have enabled geogra- 

 phers to determine the various coasts thus dimly seen by Bjarni, 

 but upon which he did not land. They are supposed to have 

 been those of Long Island, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Nova 

 Scotia, and Newfoundland. 



In the year 994, Leif Erikson — Leif the son of Erik the Out- 

 law — bought Bj ami's ship, and engaged thirty-five men to navi- 

 gate it, as he intended to sail upon a voyage of discovery. He 

 asked his father Erik to be the captain ; but Erik declined, being, 

 as he said, well stricken in years. They sailed away into the 

 sea, and discovered first the land which Bjarni had discovered 

 last. They went ashore, saw no grass, but plenty of icebergs, 

 and an abundance of flat stones. From the latter circumstance 

 they named the place Helluland, hellu signifying a flat stone. 

 There can be no doubt that the spot thus named is the modern 

 Newfoundland. They went on board again, and proceeded on 

 their way. They went ashore a second time, where the land 

 was flat and covered with wood and white sand. "This," said 

 Leif, "shall be named after its qualities, and called Markland," 

 (woodland.) This is undoubtedly Nova Scotia. They sailed 

 again to the south for two days and came to an island which lay 

 to the eastward of the mainland. They observed dew upon 

 the grass, and this dew, upon being touched with the finger and 



