St. Paul daily globe., 1891-04-18

proceeded from Iceland and landed
upon the coast of Greenland about 1884,
Thither he was followed by his sons in
99S. Lief, one of the sons. left Green
land upon voyage of discovery, and
proceeded in southerly direction. He,
after few days, landed upon denSely
wooded shore, and then proceeded still
further south, and in two days ran
his ships ashore to find most pleasant
surroundings. He called the place
VInland, from the quantity of grapes he
found growing. In the spring of 1901,
Lief returned to Greenland with a cargo
of timber, and his brother Thorwold
being aroused to emulate Lief's deeds,
took the ships and went south, but was
killed by savageS. Another son, Thor
stem. also went on similar voyage. tax
ing his wife. Frigeda, with him, but he
died at sea. The survivors returned,
and in 1006 a most distinguished Morse
man arrived in Greenland, whose name
was Torffn. He married the widow
of IhorSten, and in 1907 went South on
voyage of discovery, taking three
ships with him. The natives of the
coast where he landed were very hos
tile, and i'll 1910 those who had not been
killed returned to Greenland, one ship
and its crew being lost at sea. Eric
the Red WAS dead, and the sister of
L W
to Greenland in 1910 for timber. The
colony was split into two factions;
fierce battles arose, many were killed,
and the narrative closes the attempts of
the NorSemen to cOlOniZe Vinland
Many persons believed that the whole
story was fabrication of European
writer's, ahd that Lief never touched
the North American continent. But
there was nothing impossible in the
daring Norsemen making the voyage
from Iceland to Greenland, and then
proceeding south as described in the
narrative. In ChriStiana can be seen
boat dug up some years ago, and its
strong texture of oak and iron proved
that 1t was made for stormy voyages.
IJ was driven by twenty long oars, and
Steered by short oar worked by
tlller. The ships were called drag
Ons, and were decorated with
gilded dragons heads and tails
In such boats, with ample
provisions, the Norsemen could
spend weeks at sea. 1t had been
doubted whether they could have lived
i'll the climate of Greenland for 400
years, but it is possible that slight
change of temperature may have Oc-
CURED since those days, and if the
temperature had only been a few de
greeS higher than it is now it meant
that it would give plenty of hay and
grain for the cattle. Prof. FiSke then
quoted authorities to prove that the
story or narrative was true and not fic-
tion. 1t mentions that the travellers
found TOXeS and slew bear, and also
caught salmon and halibut. Now, if
the story was a fabrication, the
writer's would have brought in animals
which never existed in Greenland or
North America. The most northerly
limit where grapes grew is At degrees,
which is at Prince Edward Island. They
also mentioned self-sown wheat-felds,
which probably meant corn or maize,
the cereal peculiar to America. From
careful researches it was evident that
| the NOrthmen landed between Cape
| Cod and Cape Ann. Europeans of the
middle ages knew nothing of absolute
| savages before the fifteenth century,
yet the narrative says the Northmen
traded with the natives of our land
| Qndians), who exchanged valuable
| furS for strips of cloth. Commen-
| tatorS had decried the whole story
and said that these natives were only
ESxuima Tx, for the Mortimer called
| them ''SkrellIngS' or "ScreecherS,'' a
name, however, which they gave to all
| who were inferior to themselves. The
| description of the dress of the natives
| given in the narrative, together with
their peculiar mode of warfare and Gus
| toms, showed that they were Indians:
and the eminent authority, Mr.. School
craft, had decided upon that point,
proving that the narrative was true.