Recent History 'And Present Status of the Vinland Problem

' R E C E N T H I STOR Y AN D P R E SE N T STATU S OF TH E V I N LAN D P R OB LE M

H . B B O K B y W . A C C

I t is n oweigh t years since the author published the resul ts of his researches l H e i nto the matter of Vi n lan d . here proposes to analyze the subsequent

- - developments i n commen t and theory of this three cen tury old problem , whose sol ution is stil l incomplete . “ I n E a r l y Norse Visi ts to North America i t was u rged , as h ad been

Vi n s urged previously by D r . Storm and others , that among n l a d aga texts — ’ our r eliance should be m ai nl y on the eldest the H au k s Book narrative and the nearly identical , though independently copied , manuscript No . 557 “ - Ma n aea n t of the Arna g collection at Copenhagen , enti led Eric the Red , and that the Flatey Book version should be used o n ly incidentally and with id en tiﬁca tio n special caution . I t was further stressed that in geograph ic ” we must distinguish the names of extensive region s ( usu al ly ending i n l an d ) from those which m ar k some notable local feature of the coast l ine and th at in dealing wi th both , and especially i n dealing wi th the latter , we h ave to

1 000 m consider and compare the coast of about the year , wh ich is not eces

ﬁ n a l sar ily the same as that of today . The concl usion was that allowing ; however imperfectly , for these transformations and for the natural fail ure in exactness of a popular story growth which remained unwritten for abou t ’ Ka r l sefn i s two hund red years , we may still say that main quarters in

Str au m ﬁo r d P assa m a u od d B a Vinland ( ) were most likely at q y y , wi th G r and Ma ri an I sl an d (Str au m ey) o u t before i t in the curren ts at the mou th

u d o of the B ay of F n y ; and that H p , the most southerly point which he E l a d attained , was al most certainly in lower New ng n , perhaps (though not Fi 1 necessarily) at Moun t Hope B ay (see g . , p . Some of the foregoing suggestions— especially as to coastal changes and f ‘ ” — L i e di fference between a l and and a spot would seem al most too r ud i men tary and obvious for statement , except for the fact that they are so perversely disregarded by really notable writers .

’ H o vgaar d s Work

“ 1 1 n I n 9 4 appeared an importa t book , The Voyages of the N o r sem en to ”2 Wil l iam America , by Professor Hovgaard , an acknowledged au thority

eh i n eer i n a l xce on nautical archi tecture and g g and on n avigation , so e p tio n all y versed in Scandinavian matters . I ts preliminary presentation of

1 W . H . b : Ear l m m i ths ni n i l !5 . . . i i h A i M s . Co 1 VV Ba cock y Norse V s ts to Nort er ca . S o a c . Vol 5 9 . No 9 . as h i n t g o n , D . C . , 1 9 1 3 . 2 Will iam : T he h m Am i i i h Hovgaard Voy ages of t e Norse en to er ca ( Scand nav an Monograp s . Vol . New Y 1 1 . ork . 9 4 2 66 TH E G EOG RA PH I CAL R E VI EW

- the lives , homes , and rel ics of old time I celanders and Greenlanders is particularly in teresting . H is accoun t of the means and methods of Norse ’ 3 n a n n navigation is a worthy c ompa ion to D r . N se s treatment of the same ’ H ov aar d s subj ect , which was published wh ile Professor g book was i n

n preparation . Thus we have two independen t mu tually supplementing a d perhaps equally val uable dissertations by experts on the problem from “ th e ” — poi n t of view of th e navigator a qui te vi tal one . Taken together thei r attractive and helpful presen tatio n s seem to have exhausted that branch of the subj ect .

’ H OVGAARD S U SE OF I LL U STRATION There is another feature of the work on which Professor H ovgaard seems

r He c s to lay especial st r ess an d which has a ce tai n interest and val ue . al l ’ “ a n sen s i u s atten tion to the lack i n D r . N vol umes of any descri ption or l l tr ation s of the coasts of America likely to have been visi ted by the Norse ” men and hi msel f pi ov ides a series of photographic views taken at i ntervals all the way from B afﬁ n Land to New!ersey . Necessarily they leave many

n eai l n poi nts unshown , bu t they present a more y complete exhibi t io of the n ﬁ n ed . O co kind than h as hi therto been attempted bviously , i t is to the

' sea fron t as i t appears now . Probably some parts of the coas t have changed ' Tho r ﬁ n n Kar l sefn i s l ittle in aspect since time , and for purposes of com parison wi th th e words of the sagas the ill ustrations are strictly relevan t ; but such is not always the case .

TE STIMONY As TO TRANSFORMI N G CHAN GE S

Professor Hovgaard incidental ly bears sign iﬁcan t testimony to trans forming ch anges .

m Bafﬁ n A characterist ic feature of Labrador , a nd , as ent ioned above , of Land also , is k t he deposit of dri fted boulders with wh ich t he surface of the country is th ic ly strewn , left l i l on the bed rock by the ice of the g ac a period . The presence of these boulders is espec ially m - - a nd - ﬁ ft - arked on the h igher levels ; in fact , near the coast below the two hundred y foot level they have been largely washed away or ground down by the sea during the process of M u pl ift of the land wh ich took place i n post glac ial t i m es . any boulders are left stra nded — i n theva lleys of the e m erging land on the so called ra ised boulder beaches . These boulders

m u s hell u ﬂat re ind of the r of t he sagas , that is the rocks , or large ( ) stones , wh ich suggested “ ” to the Norse m en t he na m e H ell ul an d .

The passage wh ich Professor Hovgaard has chieﬂy i n mind is no doubt ’ H au k : that from s B ook , rendered by him as follows

They sailed ﬁ r st to the Wester n Settle m ent and fr o rri there to Bj ar n eyar ( Bear Islands) . Thence they bore away so uthward two days when they saw land and put out t he

x ﬂat m boat and e plored the land and found there large stones , any of wh ich were twelve ells 5 H ll ula n d . m x . e w ide . There were a ny Arct ic fo es t here They called the land

3 F i n : I n h Mi b A . G . C h 2 . Y 1 1 1 . r dtj of Na sen Nort ern sts , translated y ater , vols . New ork , 9 4 — o . cit. . 1 1 Hovgaard . p . p p 94 9 5 . 5 I bi d . , p . 1 03 . ' THE VI NLAND PROB LEM 2 67

“

M. c A . The parallel bu t sligh tly more ar haic manuscript , 557 , has wi th

' ” “ ” a north wind instead of sou thward and d eﬁ n es the wid th of the stones by

“ the statement two m en could spurn soles on one of them , obviously lying

ell u r at length . H , mean

fl ton es i ng ags , would not p e r f e c t l y fi t o rd i n a r y boulders ; bu t the N o rse men may have named or f / f !d p m w by analogy rather than gggeggufif 'f

n by strict ide tity , as we il all often do . Now an l u s t ra ti o n o f T h o r ﬁ n n ’ K a r l s e f n i s l a n d i n g migh t or migh t not show a “ boulder beach ” at water level , for the text does not absol utely r e quire this , but i t would be quite likely to presen t a foreground consider ably di fferent from any thing that we can see f now . O course , nothing which was then under water can help i n id en ti

ﬁ catio n . The Ragged I slands that ﬁgur e con pi cu ously in one of his views a r e a pr obabl e case in poin t . Professor Hov gaard elsewhere ascribes a similar and still co n

T ‘ 5’ ti n u i n g uplift to N ew LUS T RA 6 KARLS E FNI S E X P E DlTl ON

A BOUT A o -uooa Yo I OO 6 fo n l n . l t u d a d However , ' f r om Br al tahlld to Str a m ey r ound NovaScotj aand ga e may be granted that a p Br eton I sland to m 0uth of wester n f l there h asbeen less trans f o r m a t i o n o f ab r u p t —Ma i P b m o n FI G . I i h i . p llustrat ng t e V nland ro le reproduced a coasts 11ke t 0 38 0 f a r ts h p m m a m i h a u th or E reduced scale fro p acco pany ng t e ls work , arl y ”

i i h Am i . of Newfoundland , I t Norse V s ts to Nort er ca would seem that a cliff may usual ly be raised or lowered a few feet or a few score feet wi thout

- greatly changing the aspect of i ts wave washed base . As will be mentioned

m iﬁ c ti n later , more important od a o s in appearance and prod uctiveness may have taken place on more southerly parts of the North American coast as the resul t of submergence . 2 68 TH E G EOGRAPHI C AL R E V I EW

A CON FU SION OF SAGA G EOG RA P H Y A sal ien t feature of the book is a conj ectural dupl ication or tripl ication

’ of saga geography . We are told that Lei f s Vinland may be d istinct from “ anything visited by Ka r l sefn i and that the M arkland of one expedi tion may

H ell ul a n have been the Vinland of another , and the d of one expedi tion may not h ave been the H ell ul an d of This curious way of looking at “ things reaches al most perversity in such a statement as : I f M arkland was ” 7 . L if oo th n . at Cape Porcupine , we mus t seek Vinland (i e . e sb s) farther dow

True , Professor H ovgaard is here deal ing with the local ide n tiﬁc ation of another ; bu t these passages reveal a too narrow tendency to treat a great

H - region as a particular place . e would never d ream of restricting old time I celand to Skalhol t or old - time Greenland to Gardar ; but he has a strong tendency to identify Vinland wi th Leifsboo ths or H op or some other restricted neighborhood ; and h is obj ection to Cape Porcupine for M arkl and is not that i t is a cape , a mere spot instead of a l and , but that i t is the wrong cape or spot .

H e recognizes , however , that the relative posi tions of the th ree American “ l ands are always the same i n the sagas : M arkland was in a lower lati tude l ”8 H ell u an d 1 . than , and Vinl and was in a still 0wer lati tude than M arkland

I n this they r eﬂec ted reali ty . The American sea fron t presented fi rst the o region of treeless , stony n rthern wastes ; then , goi ng southward , the forest country , still cold during many months and not bou ntiful i n natural yield except of timber and game ; and lastly the warm and fertil e land of Vines prod uci n g abund ant grapes and that wild grain which i n i ts young growth looked l ike wheat , though i t was really wild rice , and which the Norsemen — called sel f sown wheat by analogy , being amply famil iar with wheat , raisins , and wine by reason of their European trade .

C ’ E FFORTS TO H A RMON I!E HAU K S B OO K AND THE FLATE Y B OOK

Professor H ovgaard is not at all c ontent wi th D r . Storm s arraignmen t ’ of the Flatey Book narrative as a late corruption of the H a u k s Book saga d istinguished by n umerous errors qui te ou t of accord wi th seasons and condi tions in the new world and of a kind least l ikely to be made by a H contemporary . e is at some pains to harmonize the two versions al most — vi cl a r m i s even where they are apparently i n co n ﬂic t a n amiable and hel pful i nten t i f i t were feasible . The resul ts are sometimes curious . Thus b he ascri es two American voyages to Leif , al though nei ther version nor any tradi tion is aware of more than one ; bu t two are required to provide for

ﬁ r s t i nconsistent events , motives , and detail s . The credi t of discovery is ' B iar n i given to instead of Lei f , to save the former s voyage for the Flatey

Book , bu t the credi t of the l atter is not stalwart enough to carry the voyage TH E VI NLAN D P RO B LEM 2 6)C

’ Fr e is h er story of Leif s hal f sister yd and ghastly inh umani ties , which he supposes , agreeing wi th most others , to be developed unwarrantably from ’ some grotesque bu t harmless hints in H au k s Book . The inconvenien t — accounts of southern condi tions and products at H op which he considers much more northern—are explained as transfers from a supposed narrative

’

u s . of Leif s explorations , now l ost to ’ H v aa r B i ar n i Accord ing to Professor o g d s calcul ation , struck by acciden t on the Newfoundland coast , made his second landing at H amil ton I nlet ,

B a fﬁ n Labrador , and his third probably at an isl and off Land , whence he

’ sailed to his father s Greenland home . Leif , having in a previous voyage ’ B i ar n i s struck on the lower coast , reversed route , continued i t along the c ’ sea front of Newfoundland and Nova S otia to Cape Sable , Leif s M ark ” H : . e land , then crossed the Gul f of Maine to southern New England says “ ’ ”9 Leif s Vinland was i n the region of Cape Cod . Leif may well have been

c on ﬁd en t . there , bu t the data are too meager for assertion No doubt he reached some seaboard where warmth prevailed and grapes ﬁ t for wine

fﬁ r a m . making abounded . Beyond that we can nei ther nor deny B ut the conception of Vinland among the old Norsemen apparently would i nclude

Cape Cod .

’ SC H EDU LE OF KARLSE FN I S VOYAGE

’ The H ovgaard map of Ka r l sefn i s voyage pl aces his ﬁ r s t landing on the extreme northern part of the Labrador coast ; his second (supposed to be in

M arkland) less defensibly on the same coast a l i ttle below Nain , near the m northern li i t of even rather small trees , where perhaps no one ever though t

fi n d in Str au m fio r d of g a forest before ; his third , , their chief Vinland home , on Sandwich Bay also in Labrador , moderately available as a rather cold oasis but in the immed iate neighborhood of the shore aptly described by “ fi n all Cartwrigh t as the country God gave to Cain and , y , h is most southern point , H op the del igh tful , at or near Sop s Arm on the particularly inhospitable front of northern Newfoundland . I n View of the many fi n e and val uable things which the book con tains , such a schedule must be found

S r disappointing . I n the saga the whole region near t au m ﬁor d is presented as attractive during summer time .

m a There were ounta ins there , and the country rou ndabout was f ir to look upon . They

x . d id naught but e plore the country . There was tall grass there

' Oi H op i t is written : There were sel f—sown wheat helds on the land there w herever t here were hollows and

m wherever there was h illy ground there were vines . They re a ined there that winter . 1° N m z . O snow ca e , and all of their l ive stock l ived by gra ing Perhaps no snow is to be understood as no snow that would lie deep and

in terfere with grazing . There migh t be very li ttle snowfall , indeed , during

9 I bi . 2 2 . d . . p 8 10 I bi . . 1 0 d . p 7 2 70 THE GEOG RA PHI CA L REVI E W

an unusually mild wi nter at N arragansett Bay . B ut i t cannot be pretended ﬁ that the win ter condi tions recited t Newfoundl and . The only recourse is

s i n iﬁc n to di scard such passages ; but they are integral , characteristic , and g a t parts of the saga , and there is no trace of i nterpolation .

’ Fossu m s Work

’ More recen t and a l i ttle less full is D r . Possum s discussion of the Norse d iscovery of America . The following sen tence from the i ntroduction gives “ th s ir i t e : I f e p of his treatm nt th is work has any character of i ts own , i t is that i t accepts wi thou t reserve the statements of the saga narrative and ”11 attempts to fol low the text closely .

O R I G I N AND CH ARACTE R OF THE SAGA

Th is is going m uch too far i n the other d irection . Such acceptance m igh t be warranted i f we had i n hand au then ticated con temporary n arrations of the normal h istoric kind ; b ut no one pretends that the explorers brough t a saga back wi th them or even wrote one afterward . There may have been ’ wri tten memoranda i n the n ature of a ship s log , though the prevail ing opinion is that even these i tems passed by oral tradition only . For the rest the Vinland - voyage parts of the most nearly trustworthy versio n that we have are c hieﬂy of ballad - l ike verses transl ated into prose and presenting successive episodes i n a graphic , imaginative , sometimes mythical , way . As I have suggested i n “ Early Norse Visi ts “ A not extravagan t i ngenui ty may

Tho r h all distinguish the episodes of the H untsman , the Gael ic Runners , the

B attle at H op , the Death of Thorvald , the M arkland Captives , and the

B iar n i n Death of , each easily separable and i divid ual , as probably single ” 12 h ballads in their original shape . Two of them preserve resid ua of t e

n original verses , which by dictio and meter are said to belong to the eleventh century .

The more vol uminous earlier portion of the saga , deal ing with events i n

fr om I celand and Greenl and , and especially the l atter , is developed , or buil t up about , the achievements of Eric the Red and in a lesser degree the

G ud r id experiences of , the wi fe of Thorstein Ericsson and afterward of the i h r ﬁ n n K a r l efn . more successful explorer , T o s I t is picturesque wi th

r e elaborate so ceri s , gruesome prophecies by a supposedly reanimated corpse ,

f . and su ferings from th reatened shipwreck , famine , and pestilence

These varied materials were brough t together , th rough what in termediate ’ ﬁ n al - procedure we can not tell , and took shape in the saga composer s hands 1 2 00 abou t the year , to j udge by the nobly epic style wh ich is characteristic of th at period . There may h ave been some changes between that time and ’ i ts ﬁ n al copying i nto H a u k s B ook a few years before the death of H auk

d iﬁ e r en t E r l en d sso n i n 1 334 . I t is certain there were some d ivergencies in

11 m : h o D m M M . 1 1 8 . 8. Andrew Fossu T e N rse iscovery of A erica . inneapolis , inn . 9 . p 1? ‘ o . czl . . . Babcock . p , p 7 0 TH E VI NLAND P RO B LEM 2 7 1

A. M . copies , for the parallel and corroborative manuscript 55 7 varies

ﬁ n al sl igh tly at several points and omits the genealogy , which H auk h imsel f

ﬁ r s t apparently added . Even at the there was some uncertain ty ; the saga i tsel f frankl y gives us an al ternative varian t of the H op expedi tion , making

K a r l e fn i B iar n i G ud r id s take bu t a part of his force with him , leave and ’

ﬁ r . behind at Str a u m o d , and return after only two months stay There are signs , too , that the saga man permitted himsel f occasional l iberties with h is

-cia material . Thus Haki and H ael as the matter stands are said to hnd grapes and grain i n spring , that is , abou t the time that the eggs of sea birds and waterfowl were plenti ful . Thei r l ittle story does not synchronize wit h

w . the rest of the saga . There can be no doubt t ha t e have here a real instance

Th r ﬁ n n of displacement . Whether for o or for Lei f before h i m , these Gaeli c

Runners did thei r rapid i nvestigati ng , i f at al l , in the early autu mn . However much we may val ue this saga for i ts general evidence of an importan t feature of history and for its high and entertaining l iterary i qualities , can we reasonably treat t as a sacred gospel to be followed “ ” “ “ ” without reserve and closely i n all its statements ?

ORI G I N AND CH ARACTE R OF THE FLATEY B OOK N AR RATI VE

The case for t he Flatey Book narrati ve is much worse . We have no history of i t before its copyi ng i n 1 385 ; but good j udges hold t hat i ts composition cannot have been much earlier , determining by t he test of style , which is crucial i n t hese I celandic matters . That is i t became a saga about 350 or 375 years after the Vi nland voyages . The saga composer ’ had knowledge of some version of t he Hank s Book narrative , for he refers to t he Saga of Eric and in anot her place mentions Kar lsefn i as having given H t he fullest account of Vinland matters . e must also have had access to other traditional sources for items which seem aut hentic , such as t he ’ Tho r ﬁ n n s palisades around house , t he grain shed on an island , and the crude astronomical observation of t he length of t he day and t he su n ’ s

S r m r . rising and setting , presumably made at t au ﬁ o d B ut he has confused o t his bay with H p ; has multiplied voyages , making al most every promi nent ’ person of Tho r ﬁ n n s party head one of t hem ; and has generally bl urred

Leifsb hs . oot t he record , of which t he other saga knows not hing and which Lei f can hardly have had time to build in t he Vi nland i nterruption of his main mission , are found by each succeeding party of explorers apparently i ntact (for t here is no suggestion of rebuilding) even after the natives had shown t hemselves furiousl y hostile and would surel y have visited destruction on anyt hing belonging to th e invaders . I nconsistencies and errors abound .

- . i Nevertheless , D r Fossum prefers t he Flatey Book version n most cases f where the two di fer , alt hough , l ike Professor Hovgaard , he aims to util ize bot h . Here is his statement of t he case .

x The two sagas that relate these e ploits each presents !sic!a d ist i nct phase of the events . The story of the Fla teyar bo k gives a n accou nt of t he deeds of the fa m i l y of Eiri k the Red 2 7 2 TH E G EOG RA PHI CA L R EVI EW

Ka r lsefn a nd the Greenlanders . The story of the e saga describes i n deta il the e xpedit ion of

K r l fn Ka r lsefn e . a se e and the Icelanders was a n Icelander , resided i n Iceland , and was there looked upon as a nat ional hero . As long as it was possible to keep apart the stories of the

Greenlanders a nd the Icelanders , there was no q uarrel between the two sagas ; but as soon

m m as t he geography of the new d iscoveries beca e confused and i nd ist inct , the clai s of t he B Greenlanders a nd Icelanders are sure to clash . The saga of jarne , Leif , and Thorvald developed i n Greenla nd a nd was late i n co m i ng to Iceland . The saga of Eiri k the Red and h is fa m ily i n Greenland and the saga of Ka r l sefne i n Icela n d see m to have W developed i ndependently for at least two centuries . hen at lengt h they atte m pted to co m bi ne the m they fou nd that the only part that su ited bot h was the account of E irik the

C - m m m Red in Greenland . ou nter cla i s were ade by the part isa ns of the two fa il ies ,

u o r f n and a strife arose wh ich has cont in ed down to u day . I n how far !sic!Ka r lse e

m m m h i sel f is gu ilty of isrepresent i ng the facts , and how uch we are to attribute to h is

m m m . a bit ious fa il y , is not easy to deter ine At any rate they m ade clai m s wh ich

’ Lei f s friends i n Greenland could not concede . I n th i nly veiled language they attacked

m m even Eirik the Red , who had helped t he m i n any ways and shown the great hospital ity 13 i n Greenland .

’ OB!ECTION TO FOSSUM S CONCL U S ION The total offending on which is based t he charge of “ ingratitude for h is ” hospitality seems to be t hat in t he artless graphic fashion of such narratives , ’ tr iﬂ es H a u s Th r ﬁ n n often concerned about , t he saga in k Book rel ates how o

’ Kar l sefn i from his ship stores hel ped out Eric s supplies at Christ mas in a l ti me of dearth , so t hat all enj oyed t hemse ves mightily . This was probably true ; having regard to t he conditions of t he t ime and place . The statement seems natural and harmless . One must demur to other features of t hese and “ B i r n i . a l ike passages We do not know that there was any saga of , Leif , and ” i r n i Thorvald nor t hat any saga ever was composed i n Greenland . B a was “ ” not a member of the family . The Greenland passages of t he two sagas are

r l fn i far from identical . There is no Ka se saga aut horitativel y so named ’ H a s from t he beginni ng . Cent uries after t he copying of uk Book , Arne M agnusson found its version left wit hout t itle and wrote i nto t he blank

“ ' it : S Tho r fi n n Ka r l sefn i Sn r r i Tho r br an d so n space above The aga of and o , “ but it is generally bel ieved t hat the t itle should be The Saga of Erik t he ” Red as in t he case of t he companion manuscript A . M . 55 7 . There is no proof of any strife between I celanders and Greenlanders over claims to ’ l i Hau k s g o r ifi cat o n in or by t hese sagas . The Eri k t he Red saga of B ook and its companion does not appear to have been conceived at all in a spirit of hostil ity to t hat C hieftain and his family or disparagement of t hem . I t is very far from being a eulogy of Kar l sefn i or I celanders generally at ' t he expense of Eric s family or of Greenlanders , and it is not t he narrat ive of o an excl usively I celandic v yage , as thus contradistinguished ; t hough , as to ’ that , al l Greenlanders were t hen I celanders of less t han twenty years ’ l fn i residence i n Greenland . I t certainl y presents Thor fi n n Ka r se s clai ms ’ to distinction , but he was al most a member of Eric s household circle and at any rate had rendered a conspicuously important service which could not be suppressed .

13 — F m o ci t . 1 1 1 1 1 8. ossu . p. , p o 34 . 3 5 . 3 7 . 4 7 4 TH E VI NLAND P RO B LEM 2 73

A more plausible indictment for inj ustice to t he family of Eric might be

drawn against t he Flatey Book version , which deprives Leif of t he credit of ﬁ r st discovery in favor of t he outsider Bia r n i and charges Fr eydis with

most diabol ical murders , incl uding the unprovoked slaughter of several

quite helpless women by her own hand . However , t here is no need to impute any sinister motive or unfair bias to the composer of either

form of the saga . The pleasure of tell ing a good story and expl ai ning

historical matters would no doubt be motive enough . This article has already indicated how t hese narratives probably came into t heir present

volume and shape .

’ W FOSSUM S LOCATI ON OF VI NLAND ON THE ST . LA RENCE

As a result of his study of t he sagas , in particular of t heir sailing directions ,

real or fancied , and with some personal inspection of t he ground , D r . Fossu m ’ dissents widely from some parts of Professor Hovgaa r d s scheme of courses

K r ls fn i . and landings . I n t he case of a e t he comparison is not startling

. Str u m ﬁo r D r Fossum merely shifts a d from Sandwich Bay , Labrador , to w Notre Dame Bay , Newfoundland , and H op from one Ne fou ndland bay i en tiﬁ ati to anot her a little more southward , without making t he d c o n

r v l appreciabl y more acceptable . B ut t he treatment of Lei f is quite e o u

i n r t o a y . I nstead of carrying him to Cape Cod and warm regions beyond it

wit h Professor Hovgaard , Dr . Fossum takes him t hrough t he strait of Belle

Isle and t he Gul f of St. Lawrence westward to t he island of Anticosti and

St. t he mout h of the Lawrence River , then up t he river as far as t he northern

li mi t of growt h of the large wild grape at the I sle of Orleans . I n other

words , his Vinland is not on t he seaboard in relatively warm latitudes but

inland westward up and down that nort hern river , where winter is winter ' indeed . I t follows that Thorvald s western boat voyage is exclusively a river j ourney and h is ”eastern voyage becomes a nearly complete circum if . Le sbooths navigation of t he gul f B ut t he settlement of , t he alleged ’

St. chief home in Vi nland , is placed on t he Lawrence River , and there s not much about i t all to suggest t he old geographers ’ conception of a possible

connection wit h Africa . h hi ﬂ Considering that bot Professor Hovgaard and D r . Fossum rely c e y on

Th r ﬁ n n K r l sefn i t he Flatey Book for al l events preceding the voyage of o a , h h t hat t heir methods are muc alike , and t at both are especially equipped for

t he task , it seems curious and suggestive that such diverse results should be

reached .

A n i oi brief i spect on of some ! these Flatey Book guideposts may be ’ : instructive . I t is related of Leif s party

When they were ready they sailed out to sea and found ﬁ r st the land wh ich Biar n i and h is

m . m sh ip ates found last Great ice ou nta ins lay i nland back fro m the sea . They

m returned to the shi p , put out to sea , a nd found a second land . They sailed away fro m the a inland with northeast winds a nd were out two days before they sighted land . 2 74 THE GEOGRA PH I CAL REVI EW

These vague assertions appear to h ave been strung together to con tinue the story , without an attempt at such precision as would guide futu re

id en tiﬁ ti n t navigators or permi t close ca o of places . Some o her statements are perhaps a shade more particular , but i t is manifestly unsafe to treat them

si n iﬁ can t as i nvariably g , exact , and reliabl e and to strain for the utmos t t hat can be evolved from them . Such a procedure migh t l and us in any harbor .

TH E TE STI MON Y OF THE C Ro ss

St. r I n support of h is Vi nland by the Law ence D r . Fossum ci tes instances of early missionaries who found the cross in that region , wi th some aecom

' n panying vestiges of Ch ristiani ty . We can ot tel l how far the wish may h ave been father to the though t in the case of these good priests . The cross is a rather widely spread symbol . B u t if i t and other religious rel ics of any ki n d really were left by white visi tors there is stil l no occasion for crediting

' a f the gift to the Norsemen , especially since they t the opening of the el ex en th century were newly and imperfectly Ch ristianized at the best . B ut other white peoples with a more deeply grounded Christianity may well have been on the St. Lawrence long before the time when the cross surprised th e

. 1 1 1 priests The map of Sylvanus , 5 , showsthe Gul f pretty accuratel y and

f n a fords a fair i dication that some one had explored i t. Basque and B reton ﬁ shi n g crews frequented the banks of Newfoundland and the neighboring shores stil l earlier and may have sailed far with in . I t is needless to prolong

the list of possibili ties . There is nothing at all to connect these supposed vestiges of Christian fai th wi th the Norsemen .

TH E TE STIMONY OF THE GAME LAC ROSSE

As further rein forcemen t D r . Fossum cites the game of l acrosse , wh ich

has al ready done similar d uty i n several works . B ut those who know the

I ndian best seem convinced that i t is of exclusively native origin . Any partial parall els of Norwegian origin m ay well pass as coincidences or as being conceivably due to some vastly remoter common ancest ry—the former

being much more l ikely . B ut even i f the Norsemen taugh t lacrosse to some I nd ian tribe the performance may h ave taken place at any one of many

. G as é poin ts along the coast There is noth ing to anchor i t to p , An ticosti ,

or the I sle of Orleans . Surely the case for corroborat ion is as wavering and

St. tenuous as heat h aze i n summer time . The Lawrence hypothesis is not F n ew . . with D r ossum I ndeed , as appl ied to Great I reland , i t is at least as old as Eugene Beauvois ’ work 14 on the discovery of the New World by the

I rish ; th at is to say , the seventies of the last century . Though never widely accepted an d though d iscoun tenanced by facts and cl imatic

n ow conditions , this theory comes into sigh t and then wi th a new

advocate .

' 14 E e : Le d éco uver té d u m l es 1 8 m a n i i i . ug ne Beauvo s nouveau onde par rlanda s . Nanc y , 7 5 ; p o p 82 . ! TH E VI NLAND PRO B LEM 2 7 O

’ Foss um s REAL CONTRI B U TI ON TO T HE S U B!ECT

n On e can only say that Dr . Fossum has bee more happy in some less He salient and capital conten tions . has made i t seem even more probable than before that Eric the Red extended his ﬁ r st explorations to a part of H B fﬁ n . e a Land may be right also in supposing that the Bear I slands , from which Kar l sefn i took o ff more or less to the sou thward on his voyage to

H ell l an n t n shor ch U er u d , l ay on or ear the Ba hu La d pp Greenland or

fﬁ . A B a n Land , i t matters l i ttle which northerly wind such as is mentioned ff in the saga would facil itate the voyage from ei ther poin t , wi th a di erence

of only a few degrees in the direction of sail ing . I t may , however , be as well to adhere to the still general understanding till we have more conclusive

evidence that this point of departure was on the western , not the eastern ,

side of Davis Strait .

’ ’ STE E N S B Y S VI EW S AND GAGN O N S C R ITICI SM M n r . Alphonse Gagnon , of !uebec , thoroughly conversa t wi th the

productions and temperature of that region , has had a word to say con 15 cerning the hypothesis which locates Vinland there . I t is in reply to a study

- Steen s by the learned Danish ethnographer geographer , Professor by , “ ’ N o r sem en s n unhappily since deceased , on The Rou te from Greenla d to ”16 f Wineland , wh ich wi th local d i ferences follows the same general l i nes as ’

F Mr . o sum s . D r . s work Gagnon expresses grave doub t that the Norsemen would ﬁ n d wild grapes in the territory now comprised in the county of

Montmagny , at least in such quantity and quali ty as would j usti fy the n ame

He th e Vinland . finds other incongrui ties in saga statements that the cattle l ived freely at pasture in winter time and that the ground was not

frozen .

n Stee n sby takes K ar l sefn i as well as Leif up the St. Lawrence and ﬁ d s

K l n ee ess near the mouth of the Saguenay , instead of on the Newfoundland

Str au m ﬁo r d St. shore , while becomes a reach of the lower Lawrence River ,

o i . Str aum ey the Small H are Island therein , H p a sl ight expansion o the

St. Riviere d u Sud a l i ttle above i ts mouth near Thomas , and Wineland the southern shore of the main river and the cou ntry behind roughly corre s po nd in g to the county of Montmagny or in a wider sense the whole lower

part of the valley of the St. Lawrence River . Th is is more thoroughgoing ’ f than D r . Possum s scheme of the voyages and o fers a welcome rel ief from “ ’ ” “ ’ ” the contrasting references to Leif s Vinland and Ka r l sefn i s Vinl and in

some recent works . B ut the Danish wri ter appears to attain un i ty and

conformity by establ ishing both ! of them in inadmissible quarters , condemned by considerations of climate and natural production such as Gagnon has

indicated . However there is , of course , much of sol id worth in Professor

1‘ — A h G i i u de éo r . de ué 2 1 1 . 2 1 2 1 . l p o e ag o : La e o d u V la d B ll . Soc. G bec . Vol . 1 . 8 1 8 ! 9 , ns n n q u st n n n , g pp

' 1“ “ n b m an R m G W i Meddel el ser om G/ nl a n d . 6 P . Stee s : H . y Norse s oute fro reenland to neland , ¢ . Vol 5 . - n h 1 1 8 . 1 2 02 . C ope agen . 9 . po 49 2 76 TH E GEOGRA PHI CAL REVI EW

’ ’ Dr Steen sby s li ttle treatise . I t insists on . Storm s position in favor of the ’ M H k A . Eric the Red saga as given by au s Book and . 557 and the com

r pa a tive unrel iabili ty of the Flatey B ook version .

’ VI GN AUD S POS ITION

The veteran historical investigator H enry Vign aud has published an 1 7 “ interesting review of my Early Norse Visi ts to North America . I t comprises a very fair summary of much of the conten ts of that book and

m . n presen ts many remarks wi th which I a i n accord H owever , Mr . Vig aud does not thin k we are warran ted in seeking lands of Norse discovery so far

n H e sou th as southern New E gland . believes that if these redoubtable people had discovered a cou ntry so lovely and fertile as that where they o have placed their station of H p they would have remained there , not

n wi thstanding the admittedly dang erous hostil ity of the I dians . B u t we must not accept un reservedly the nearly im possible feats of arms recorded

in the I celandic sagas . These Norsemen were good soldiers bu t not magi i c a n . s Also there were few of them , while the I ndians were rel atively very ’ Kar l efn i . s s numerous Thorfinn Vinland expedi tion , the l argest on record ,

. On r numbered only a hundred and sixty men the othe h and , the region

! u n abo t Narragansett B ay was probabl y abundantl y popul ated by atives ,

as i t was when whi te men next found the pl ace . The Norsemen , of course ,

ﬁ r e r m a n had no a s d were l i ttle , i f any , better suppl ied wi th missile weapo n s

n n th an their opponen ts . Their pri cipal adva tage was i n the possession of steel swords and axes as con trasted wi th the stone tomahawks of the

“ I ndians ; then , too , their shields protected them . There is also someth ing

to be said for their wider , if still cred ulous , in tell igence and their better f discipl ined ways . B u t all these advantages could not o fset such great odds

su fﬁ cien tl nor y fortify them against the weari ng , unhopeful discomfort of

n tl on living consta y guard against a relentless and steal thy enemy . Some

of the early Engl ish settlements , better equipped than the Norse , failed utterly ; others maintained their ground with difﬁ cu l ty by the aid of repeated

n rein forceme ts from an ample home population in times of readier transi t . The Greenlander s and I cel an ders in Vinland were practically cut o ff from

their bases , and , even had these been accessible , few men could h ave been

Kar l efn i spared from Greenland . I t seems that s consul ted only common prudence i n wi thdrawi n g from an un tenable outpost while his force was not

n l . ﬁ a yet weakened The abandon men t of Vinland was determined , according

ﬁ er ce Str aum ﬁo r d to the saga , by quarrels at among the colonists themselves over the women ; also perhaps in some degree by the unsatisfactory winter

n conditio s of the place . I t all seems to fol low very natural ly and qui te i n the order of th ings , human nature , savage and quasi civil ized , being as

h istory d iscloses .

17 des A ér i a ni s es d P s — n i . . !ur . . m t e a . 1 1 1 1 1 . o Soc c r . Vol , 9 4 , No , p p 3 35 33 7 THE VI NLAND P RO B LEM 2 77

’ DE LAB AR RE S SUMMI NG U P OF RECENT OP I NION

Professor Delabarre , while dealing amply and excellentl y wit h a quite

1 8 v u n distinct t heme , has incidentally re iewed t he recent co rse of opi ion as

to the problems of the Vinland voyages , taking a kind of straw vote of t he aut hors represen ted in his notes and observing changes of j udgment from

time to time . He disclaims positive concl usions of h is own , for reasons gi ven ; but his brief summary presents very favorably t he work and views “ ’ of Dr . Fossum , who seems to establ ish conclusivel y the fact that Leif s ’ ”1 9 h r ﬁ n n . Vi nland and T o s H op were di fferent regions As already set forth , ” one cannot recogni ze H op as a “ region at al l nor ad mit that Vi nl and was a

region which did not i ncl ude H op .

TH E B EARI NG OF THE D I GHTON R OCK I N SCR I P I’ ‘ I ON Professor Delabarre relates some interesting observations wh ich he has made bearing on t he subsidence or non - subsidence of land in t he neighbor h 20 ood of Dighton Rock , consequently in all probability about Narraganset t H and Mount Hope bays as well . e is doubtless right in attaching i mportance

- Mr . A . t to the marsh growt h investigations of Charles Davis , ending to establish depression of t he New England coast even considerabl y farther

nort h . H is own experiences wi th I ndian arti facts on an old level below t he — marsh peat surface of an island near t he rock have a l ike tendency . Regard i ng t he surface on which t he rock has stood t he evidence of certain colonial entries suggests movement in the opposite direction so far as concerns the

i n ﬁ n ite last two or three centuries . But t hese entries , as cited , seem de with

regard to the area now u nder water . I n any case , it is not necessary to maintain a subsidence of t he coast continuing till t he present ti me nor til l

t hose entries were made . I t is hardly reasonable to suppose t hat a part of t he Dighton Rock inscription was carved under water or i n i mmediate

ver ﬂ . 1 00 expectation of o ow, such as regularly happens now The year 3 is ff O a long way o and allows leeway for considerable changes . ne need only — suppose a moderate lowering of level regular or irregular , continuous or — W d iscontinuous d uring some part of the last nine hu ndred years . ild rice is still native to t he Narragansett region ; we picture ample beds of it i n the “ ” “ ” Kar l sefn i time of , t he wild wheat in hollows of t he saga , where now is

only water . I t is not li kely that one neighborhood is an exception to the

- general behavior of the lower coast , easily accounted for by t he post glacial 21 uplift of the shore farther north .

13 E . B . D b : R i Di h R i M ss h u s tts 2 ela a e ece H o y of g o ock , P ubl s . Col o n al Soc. o . 0 — rr nt st r — t n f a ac e , Vol . Boston . 1 2 0 . 2 86 6 2 n . 1 1 9 . p p 4 ; reference o pp 3 5 3 7 . 1° I bi d . . p . 3 1 8. 2° I ‘ bz d . , p p . 39 9 an d 400 . 21 Th e generall y accepted theory of recent a n d continuing subsidence of the Atlantic coast of the United a a n d C h a W . St tes the southeastern coast of anada s been controverted by P rofessor D . !ohnson w ho sets forth “ h h bi i i hi hi i i m . See h i I h A i o r t e t eory of coastal sta —l ty w t n stor c t es t e art cle s t e tlant c C oast Ge g . R ei n , Vol . 3 . 1 9 1 7 , pp . 1 3 5 1 39 . 2 78 TH E GEOGRA PHI CAL REVI EW

C onclusions

I t will be observed from’ the foregoing summary of t he work of recent writers t hat ther e is a considerable tendency to rehabilitate the Flatey Book narrative as an aut hority or source ; to partly harmonize the two versions

n by maki g them deal wit h expeditions to disti nct regions , by mul ti plyi ng ’ Vinlands , and the rest ; and to disregard t he saga s expl icit statements of t he favorable conditions of H op and to locate that bay at one point or B ’ another of t he chil l face of N ewfou n dla n d . y some writers Leif s Vinland fares better , being allowed to stray even as far as sout hern M assachusetts ; but by ot hers it is held fast to the shores of t he St. Lawrence . A minutely literal method of construing t hese old hal f historical voyage stories , to which e we have all perhaps been too much addicted , has now about reach d its cl imax . To say t hat t he foregoing features of criticism and exposit ion prevail

n for t he present is not , of course , to admit that t hey are mainly sou d or ’ i correct . Not very long ago N an sen s myt hological crit cism was i n t he asceri a n d t, threatening to obliterate t he saga altoget her . That phase has ’ passed ; and works li ke D r . Possum s , attempt ing a literal following of t he words of bot h sagas , with no allowances or as few as possible , are perhaps a natural reaction A M IDDLE GROUN D POSSI BLE

We need not go quite to eit her extreme . I t is unnecessary to shut our eyes to certain elements of myth in t he sagas , but we may wisely decli ne to treat as purely mythical t he plai n statements of real products and condit ions t hat are stil l found i n si tu and only needed ﬁ n d in g then . Si mi l ar l y , t here is no need to treat as somet hing too precious to be tampered wit h such statements as that t hey sailed j ust two days before making each of ﬁ r W thei r st three discoveries . This conventional formula ould readily sl ip ’ h i n from a saga man s pe long afterward , as would also some hints of direction that have occasionally been held to require very great precision in construing ; also such a bit of careless attribution as the skin boats alleged to be in use by t he I ndians at H op . Possibly t his may li kewise be true of

t he explosive I ndian weapon which is stil l inadequately explained , for it

i - su rely is not t he archaic Algonqu an two men cl ub , as Schoolcraft once

fancied .

ANTECEDENT P ROB A B ILITY OF A NOR SE VI SIT TO CAP E COD

I t has, often been said , very soundly , that even if t here were no sagas and records of voyages we must believe t hat a daring race of seafarers li ke the N o r sem en could not remain several centuries settled in Greenland wit hou t

Visiting by accident or design t he neighboring regions of America . I t is

B a fﬁ n li kely t hat Eric touched , or at least saw , Land in t he course of his ’

ﬁ r st e . t hr e years Greenland explorations I f not , hu nting parties of t he r r No d set men were certain to do so before long . Labrador , too , lying next f below , and also o fering a broad front to Greenland across a comparatively ' TH E VI NLAND P R OB LEM 2 79

bv . narrow sea , was plainl y marked destiny for early discovery These

B a fﬁ n . i i i t hings are obvious As to lower reg ons , t s true t hat neither Land nor northern Labrador would o ffer much suggestion of more hospitable climes to l ure the visitors farther sout hward ; but t here remained t he

- probability of a chance southern landfall , storm driven , in an age when charts and compasses were wanting and men were greatly at the mercy of

w . A wind and eather report of warm , rich sout hern country , a veritable eart hly paradise to men from relatively cheerless and meager latitudes ,

- woul d surely reinforce t he zeal of sout hward coasting explorers , so as to carry t hem wel l on toward t he abundance and comfort reported . Accord ing to t he saga , this was j ust what happened . Leif , on t he long transatlantic

wa - voyage from N or y , was storm driven from his course for Greenland and brought to Vinland , probably not farther nort h than Cape Cod and possibly

l fn i i . n Th r ﬁ n n Ka r se much below t O his very favorable report , o and his friends organized an expedition of would -be Vinland settlers and followed the

n ﬁ r s t American coast dow ward , perhaps at in wide loops of sea sail ing , as knowi ng that they could not yet be near a desirable home site , but afterward more closely , scrutinizing as t hey sailed , until t hey reached a bay of northern

a i t l v l i n Vinl nd with a country about very o e y summer time , though sure to prove dangerously u nproductive and cold in winter—as they could not ye t know . I t all happens in t he saga as it naturally would happen , and t he best

r oof f or sem en p o general aut henticity is that , according to its record , t he N — found what t hey were sure to hnd since it was really t here . The capital item of allurement , Vinland (Wineland) t he Good , lay in waiting all t he time , a land where great beds of wild grain bordered the estuaries and s hallow parts of rivers ; a land of ample timber growt h where grapevines festooned l an t he wooded hillsides , often yielding large grapes of delightful f avor ; extensive land , stretching up and down the coast , i n parts bending far out eastward and warm enough in its lower reaches to suggest a connection with

Africa . MARKLAN D AND HE LLU LAN D

M H ell ulan d arkland and , of course , were also there , distinguished by t heir characteristics of forestry and stoniness , wit h all kinds of game in the one and Arctic foxes in t he ot her . Some latitude may be al lowed as to t heir boundaries , which doubtless were not very clear to t he Greenlanders or the later saga men . Undoubtedly Newfoundland was a forest land ( Markland) , and t he term may t hen have i ncluded also a part of sout hern Labrador for 22 t he same reason . I t was equall y certain that i f t he explorers searched far

ﬁ nd ur d u s tr an di r enough t hey would the F , a stretch of seemingly inter minable ﬂ at sands and dunes someti mes on t he mainland sometimes wit h a long , shallow lagoon between . This is a practically unbroken formation Y for all the shore sout h of New ork ; also , with one or two breaks , for that

22 M — W . H . b : o 1 h i Ge r . R ev V ol . 1 1 . 0 . Ba cock arkland . Ot erw se Newfoundland . g 4 , 9 7 , pp 3 9 3 5 80 TH E G EOG RAPHI CAL REVI EW

between New York and t he tip of Cape Cod . North of t hat i t can hardly be said to exist , except i n minor stretches , t he most considerable and charac ter isti c of which is probably t he Atlantic front of Richmond County , Cape

B reton , where boats are said to be hauled someti mes across t he low isth mus ’

d Or . of St. Peters to t he inland water known as Bras N ine hundred years ago t he low s trands of t his Nova Scotian part of t he coast may have been

s e iﬁ all much more extended t han now . Whether or not these were p c c y t he beaches i ntended , t he explorers certainly must have had afterward ample experience farther sout hward with the strands which seemed so long t hat t he vessels would never have done saili ng by them and so were named t he

n n Wo d er str a ds . Possi bly t hese may have been d islodged from their proper place i n the narrative . I t is more important to note that here was somet hing

o r sem en real and great , somet hing of which the N could h ave no inkling from home experience , but which t hey found and recorded .

COR ROBO RATI NG FE ATU RE S

An Certain more restricted coastal features add corroboration . island (Str au m ey) wit h strong currents about it set i n front of an inlet and bay (Str au m ﬁor d) with ﬁ n e grass cou ntry about it may not be exclusively h American ; but the combination is rat her unusual , and some searc would

n . be required to ﬁ d it in eit her hemisphere I t is found , however , at t he mout h of t he Bay of Fundy i n Grand M anan I sland , Grand M anan Channel ,

Passamaquoddy B ay , and the surrounding region . Again , t he saga calls for a peninsula extending northward and containing a river ﬂ owi n g from t he east to t he west . This peni nsula or a conspicuous point on it is named ’ S fan ss n s 1 0 or 1 0 Keel n ess ( Kj al ar n ess) . te o map of 57 ( 59 ) names it

in l n i Promontoriu m W a d ae , showing t hat tradition held it t o be t he northern extremity of Vinland . Now t here are four northward pen insulas on our coast ; t he upper end of Labrador j ust south of H udson straits and barred by its practically Arctic conditions ; t he northern peninsula of Newfoundland ,

a nd riverless and far too chill ; Cape Cod , wh ich has no rivers ; t he western

' - nort hward j utting part of Cape B reton I sland , which has Margaric and

fl owin ful fill s Mabou Rivers , g as stated in t he saga , and quite every requirement . ’ Str au m fior d ar e Ka r l sefn i From , we told , made a year s expedition sout h “ ward , apparently seeking more favorable winter quarters . Sailing a long ” HO way , his men establ ished t hemselves at a p , into wh ich a river emptied before passing thence to the sea . They found vines and wild grain i n all suitable places . I n the winter it was so mild t hat t heir cattle lived by — pasture and no snow fell perhaps , as previously stated , we should u nder stand none t hat would cover t he ground and interfere wit h grazi ng . The conditions indicate a part of Vinland such as Lei f had previously visited and such as was more wort hy of t he name . Several nearly land locked bays i n t he middle parts of our coast would supply all t hat is called

2 82 TH E GEOGRA PHI C AL REVI E NV

. had , A search for a home site more truly representative of Vinl and became urgent .

A Th r h ll mi nori ty of the explorers , led by o a the H untsman , though t it was to be found by sail ing around Cape B reton I sland to the Gul f beyond , and they departed i n that quest wi th one vessel . B u t Kar l sefn i righ tly j udged that the greater (and doubtless the warmer) stretch of coast l ay sou thward and sailed that way a long distance , perhaps crossing the Gulf of M aine directly , bu t possibly skirting i ts curved shore instead . The o nearly l andlocked bay , or H p , where he pl anted himsel f again , among the

hills full of grapevines and the low grounds full of wild rice , may h ave been

as far north as I pswich , M assachusetts , bu t the conditions seem better met

by some part of the sou thern face of New Engl and , such as Moun t Hope

B ay . They l anded and buil t thei r houses i n the spring and lived there i n comfort through the next summer and winter—the win ter an exceptionall y

— ' mild one bu t , after a soj ourn of a year , the hostili ty of the neighboring

I ndians d rove them back to Passamaq uoddy Bay .

’ Kar l sefn i Th o r h ll s Then wi th one sh ip essayed a route , sailed around ’ u u tti n Cape B reton s pj g promontory , and reached the mouth of the M arj orie

or M abou River , wel l down on i ts western side . Here again native hostil i ty

awaited him , and Thorvald Ericsson was killed by a sharpshooting archer . A futile chase left them with the impression that the aggressor was more 5 0 and worse than hu man . , to save the rest of their p arty , they hastened o back again to Passamaqu ddy . Then , bafﬂ ed and disappointed and

ﬁ n all quarreling among themselves , they y left Vinland al together for

Greenland , pausing at Markland on the way .

I t seems that Rafn was about righ t as to the most southerly poin t reached , bu t hi s iden tiﬁcation h as suffered by the character of the supplemen tal

local evidences brough t forward needlessly in i ts support . The round “ ” tower , Digh ton Rock , and the skele ton i n armor do not recommend any h ypothesis ; bu t i t is unfortunate th at they should seem to detract from one enti tled to serious consideration without them ; Whether Leif touched the

e coast still farther south must remain a mere matter of fancy . H op se ms to h ave suppl ied the condi tions and data which he had reported

There may h ave been other N orse voyages to America , we cannot estimate

er ser ve h ow many , and i t is possible that the Flatey Book narrative may p a ’ few items contribu ted by them ; but i t seems to me that Th orﬁ n n Kar l sefn i s elaborate and long continued endeavor adequately to explore and perma n en tly to settle is the only one of wh ich we h ave a report that will enable us

to trace i t approximatel y in some detail , notwithstanding the strange way in which the narrative grew up into i ts ﬁ n al form ; and that the cou rse of events— and of the intending colonists—must h ave been pretty nearly as

herein described .