were then so overpowered with sleep that they could not keep awake, and all fell into a slumber, from which they were awakened by the sound of a cry uttered above them; and the words of the cry were these: "Awake, Thorvald, thou and all thy company, if thou wouldst save thy life; and board thy ship with all thy men, and sail with all speed from the land!" A countless number of skin-canoes then advanced toward them from the inner part of the firth, whereupon Thorvald exclaimed: "We must put out the war-boards on both sides of the ship, and defend ourselves to the best of our ability, but offer little attack." This they did, and the Skrellings, after, they had shot at them for a time, fled precipitately, each as best he could. Thorvald then inquired of his men, whether any of them had been wounded, and they informed him that no one of them had received a wound. "I have been wounded under the arm," says he, "an arrow flew in between the gunwale and the shield, below my arm. Here is the shaft, and it will bring me to my end! I counsel you now to retrace your way with the utmost speed. But me ye shall convey to that headland which seemed to me to offer so pleasant a dwelling-place; thus it may be fulfilled, that the truth sprang to my lips, when I expressed the wish to abide there for a time. Ye shall bury me there, and place a cross at my head, and another at my feet, and call it Crossness forever after." At that time Christianity had obtained in Greenland; Eric the Red died, however, before [the introduction of] Christianity. Thorvald died, and when they had carried out his orders, they took their departure, and rejoined their companions, and they each told the other of the experiences which had befallen them. They remained there during the winter, and gathered grapes and wood with which to freight the ship. In the following spring they returned to Greenland, and arrived with their ship in Ericsfirth, where they were able to recount great tidings to Leif. VOYAGE OF THORFINN KARLSEFNI. That same summer a ship came from Norway to Greenland. The skipper's name was Thorfinn Karlsefni. . A renewed discussion arose concerning a Vinland voyage, and the folk urged Karlsefni to make the venture, and Gud rid joined with the others. He determined to undertake the voyage, and assembled a company of sixty men and five women, and entered into an agreement with his shipmates that they should each share equally in all the spoils of the enterprise. They took with them all kinds of cattle as it was their intention to settle the country if they could. Karlsefni asked Leif for the house in Vinland, and he replied, that he would lend it but not give it. They sailed out to sea with the ship, and arrived safe and sound at Leif's huts, and carried their hammocks ashore there. They were soon provided with an abundant and goodly supply of food, for a whale of good size and quality was driven ashore there, and they secured it, and flensed it, and had then no lack of provisions. The cattle were turned out upon the land, and the males soon became very restless and vicious; and they had brought a bull with them. Karlsefni caused trees to be felled, and to be hewed into timbers, wherewith to load his ship, and the wood was placed upon a cliff to dry. They gathered somewhat of all the valuable products of the land, grapes, and all kinds of game and fish, and other good things. In the summer succeeding the first winter, Skrellings were discovered. A great troop of men came forth from out the woods. The cattle were hard by, and the bull began to bellow and roar with a great noise, whereat the Skrellings were frightened, and ran away with their packs wherein were grey furs, sables, and all kinds of peltries. They fled towards Karlsefni's dwelling, and sought to effect an entrance into the house, but Karlsefni caused the doors to be defended [against them]. Neither could understand the other's language. The Skrellings put down their bundles then, and loosed them, and offered their wares, and were especially anxious to exchange these for weapons, but Karlsefni forbade his men to sell their weapons, and taking counsel with himself, he bade the women carry out milk to the Skrellings, which they no sooner saw than they wanted to buy it, and nothing else. Now the outcome of the Skrellings' trading was, that they carried their wares away in their stomachs, while they left their packs and peltries behind with Karlsefni and his companions, and having accomplished this they went away. Now it is to be told, that Karlsefni caused a strong wooden palisade to be constructed and set up around the house. It was at this time, that Gudrid, Karlsefni's wife, gave birth to 66 66 a male child, and the boy was called Snorri. In the early part of the second winter the Skrellings came to them again, and these were now much more numerous than before, and brought with them the same wares as at first. Then said Karlsefni to the woman: "Do ye carry out now the same food, which proved so profitable before and nought else." When they saw this they cast their packs in over the palisade. Gudrid was sitting within, in the doorway, beside the cradle of her infant son, Snorri, when a shadow fell upon the door, and a woman in a black namkirtle entered. She was short in stature, and wore a fillet about her head; her hair was of a light chestnut color, and she was pale of hue, and so big-eyed, that never before had eyes so large been seen in a human skull. She went up to where Gudrid was seated, and said, "What is thy name?” 'My name is Gudrid, but what is thy name?" My name is Gudrid," says she. The house-wife, Gudrid, motioned her with her hand to a seat beside her, but it so happened, that at that very instant Gudrid heard a great crash, whereupon the woman vanished and at the same moment one of the Skrellings, who had tried to seize their weapons, was killed by one of Karlsefni's followers. At this the Skrellings fled precipitately, leaving their garments and wares behind them; and not a soul, save Gudrid alone, beheld this wonian. "Now we must needs take counsel together," says Karlsefni, "for that I believe they will visit us a third time, in great numbers, and attack us. Let us now adopt this plan: ten of our number shall go out upon the cape, and show themselves there, while the remainder of our company shall go into the woods and hew clearing for the cattle, when the troop approaches from the forest. We will also take our bull and let him go in advance of us." The lie of the land was such that the proposed meeting-place had the lake upon the one side, and the forest upon the other. Karlsefni's advice was now carried into execution. The Skrellings advanced to the spot which Karlsefni had selected for the encounter, and a battle was fought there in which great numbers of the band of the Skrellings were slain. There was one man among the Skrellings, of large size and fine bearing, who Karlsefni concluded must be their chief. One of the Skrellings picked up an axe, and having looked at it for a time, he brandished it about one of his companions, and hewed at him, and on the instant the man fell dead. Thereupon the big man seized the axe, and after examining it for a moment, he hurled it as far as he could out into the sea. Then they fled helter-skelter into the woods, and thus their intercourse came to an end. Karlsefni and his party remained there throughout the winter, but in the spring Karlsefni announces that he is not minded to remain there longer, but will return to Greenland. They now made ready for the voyage, and carried away with them much booty in vines, and grapes, and peltries. They sailed out upon the high seas, and brought their ship safely to Ericsfirth, where they remained during the winter. AMERICAN HISTORY LEAFLETS. COLONIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL. EDITED BY ALBERT BUSHNELL HART AND EDWARD CHANNING, OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. The titles selected for the first year's issue are as follows: I-The Letter of Columbus to Santangel Announcing his Discovery. 3—The Ostend Manifesto. 1854. 3-Extracts from the Sagas describing the Voyages of Biarni, Leif Ericsson, Thorvald Ericsson, Thorfinn Karlsefni. 4-Extracts from Official Declarations of the United States embodying the Monroe Doctrine. 1789-1891. 5-The King's Proclamation and other Documents relating to the Treaty of 1763. 6— Extracts from papers relating to the Bering Sea Controversy. 18241891 (double number). Published bi-monthly in the months of January, March, May, July, September and November. A. LOVELL & CO., PUBLISHERS, 3 East 14th Street, New York. PRICE, 10 CENTS. Published Bi-Monthly. Annual Subscription, 60 Cents. American COLONIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL. EDITED BY ALBERT BUSHNELL HART AND EDWARD CHANNING OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. NO. 4. JULY, 1892. EXTRACTS FROM OFFICIAL DECLARATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES EMBODYING THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 1789-1891. NEW YORK A. LOVELL & COMPANY 1892 Entered at the New York Post Office as second class matter. COPYRIGHT, 1892, BY A. LOVELL & COMPANY. |