Great Epochs in American History, Vol. I | Page 5

stones there, he called the
region Helluland. Proceeding farther south, he found a sandy shore,
with a level forest country back of it, and because of the woods it was
named Markland. Two days later they came upon other land, and
tasting the dew upon the grass they found it sweet. Farther south and
westerly they went, and going up a river, came into an expanse of water,
where on the shores they built huts to lodge in for the winter, and sent
out exploring parties. In one of these Tyrker, a native of a part of
Europe where grapes grew, found vines hung with their fruit, which
induced Lief to call the country Vinland.
Attempts have been made to identify these various regions by the
inexact accounts of the direction of their sailing, by the very general
descriptions of the country, by the number of days occupied in going
from one point to another, with the uncertainty if the ship sailed at
night, and by the length of the shortest day in Vinland--the last a
statement that might help us, if it could be interpreted with a reasonable

concurrence of opinion, and if it were not confused with other
inexplicable statements. The next year Lief's brother, Thorwald, went
to Vinland with a single ship, and passed three winters there, making
explorations meanwhile, south and north. Thorfinn Karlsefne, arriving
in Greenland in A.D. 1006, married a courageous widow named Gudrid,
who induced him to sail with his ships to Vinland and make there a
permanent settlement, taking with him livestock and other necessaries
for colonization. Their first winter in the place was a severe one; but
Gudrid gave birth to a son, Snorre, from whom it is claimed
Thorwaldsen, the Danish sculptor, was descended. The next season
they removed to the spot where Leif had wintered, and called the bay
Hop. Having spent a third winter in the country, Karlsefne, with a part
of the colony, returned to Greenland.
The saga then goes on to say that trading voyages to the settlement
which had been formed by Karlsefne now became frequent, and that
the chief lading of the return voyages was timber, which was much
needed in Greenland. A bishop of Greenland, Eric Upsi, is also said to
have gone to Vinland in A.D. 1121. In 1347 the last ship of which we
have any record in these sagas went to Vinland after timber. After this
all is oblivion.
There are in all these narratives many details beyond this outline, and
those who have sought to identify localities have made the most they
could of the mention of a rock here or a bluff there, of an island where
they killed a bear, of others where they found eggs, of a headland
where they buried a leader who had been killed, of a cape shaped like a
keel, of broadfaced natives who offered furs for red cloths, of beaches
where they hauled up their ships, and of tides that were strong; but the
more these details are scanned in the different sagas, the more they
confuse the investigator, and the more successive relators try to
enlighten us the more our doubts are strengthened, till we end with the
conviction that all attempts at consistent unravelment leave nothing but
a vague sense of something somewhere done.
[1] From an article by Mr. Winsor in "The Narrative and Critical
History of America," of which he was editor. By arrangement with the

publishers, Houghton, Mifflin Co., Copyright 1889. For a long period
Mr. Winsor was librarian of Harvard University. He wrote "From
Cartier to Frontenac," "Christopher Columbus," "The Mississippi
Basin," and made other important contributions to American history.

II
HOW THE NORWEGIANS CAME TO VINLAND[1]
(1000 A.D.)
Lief invited his father, Eric, to become the leader of the expedition, but
Eric declined, saying that he was then stricken in years, and adding that
he was less able to endure the exposure of sea life than he had been.
Lief replied that he would, nevertheless, be the one who would be most
apt to bring good luck, and Eric yielded to Lief's solicitation, and rode
from home when they were ready to sail.
They put the ship in order; and, when they were ready, they sailed out
to sea, and found first that land which Bjarni and his shipmates found
last. They sailed up to the land and cast anchor, and launched a boat
and went ashore, and saw no grass there. Great ice mountains lay
inland back from the sea, and it was as a [table-land of] flat rock all the
way from the sea to the ice mountains; and the country seemed to them
to be entirely devoid of good qualities. Then said Lief, "It has not come
to pass with us in