THE KING'S MIRROR 145 



landers now have their own bishop,* as no other ar- 

 rangement is possible on account of the great distance 

 from other people. You ask what the inhabitants live 

 on in that country since they sow no grain; but men 

 can live on other food than bread, f It is reported that 

 the pasturage is good and that there are large and fine 

 farms in Greenland. [The farmers raise cattle and sheep ~7 

 in large numbers and make butter and cheese in great / i^ 

 quantities. The people subsist chiefly on these foods and y x- 

 on beef; but they also eat the flesh of various kinds of / 

 game, such as reindeer, whales, seals, and bears. That 1 

 is what men live on in that country. 3 



XIX 



THE CLIMATE OF GREENLAND; THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 



Son. I believe I still have some questions to ask about 

 this country. How do you account for the fact that 

 Greenland and the ocean that lies about it have greater 

 masses of ice than any other land or sea ? For I gather 

 from what you have said that the ocean is deep and 

 also very salt and always in commotion; and I did not 

 suppose that it could freeze readily there, since, (where O 

 the ocean is deep and the water is salt, ice forms with ( ^^^ 

 difficulty, especially when the sea is in turmoil and the \ 1 

 waves roll highj But now I hear about these waters that -^ 

 we have just talked about and likewise about the land, 



* The diocese of Gardar in Greenland was established about 1110. For an 

 account of the Norwegian colony in Greenland see Gjerset, History of the Nor- 

 wegian People, I, 197-204. 



t Cf. the papal letter of Alexander VI, written in 1492. Olson and Bourne, 

 The Northmen, Columbus, and Cabot, 73-74. 



