The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-07-03
COLUMBUS DISCOVERY.
nov M 1EARSED OF AMERICA.
III. Visit TO iceland in Is77-An Old Pilots
Adventure Leads TO His Knowledge OF
tho Now world-Interesting story.


Harald Harlagr .'n saxon FAIRFAX. having
,nbdued the many chiefs who distressed Nor
way was the first King g. rule the whole
country. The greatest part OF the Norwe-
eian nobility. perceiving that It was IN vain
20 oppose their strength 10 his, determined to
abandon a country where they were obliged
10 live oppressed, impoverished aud obscure.
aud a multitude Of noble families went TO
Iceland.
70 portions OF Scotland, as well IS % the
Orkneys, the He0rides and the shetland
Isles.
About century after tho discovery Of Ice
land % Norwegian chieitaln named Ino~e'u.
having been banished for homicide. retiIea
thither with his son tirek, surnamcd the heu'
Some years afterwards. probably 10 so1 LlteA
was sentenced % three years exile for slllllhI
oheuso. ard set sail towards the west 10 puoss
of C. asst that had recently Deeh diScVfeIo1 .
by a Norwegian navigator. nlS ssuIcni VIZ
snccessful aud he found Oreenlauu;
Firek when bis term OF Punishment hao
,expired returned 90 Iceland, ana ln tue yoaI
g-t nrain rel sail for Greenland Wlth nuV-
bsr of settlers Some years aIteIW"Ius'
rr.bablv ia Ga. Lett the son OF kirek' made
"A voyage o. Norway. whore he was oapnIeo'
and went back with priest 10 convert the new
colony The settlements ia Greenland con
tinued 20 increase and flourish. Inc " est
district contained ninety farms, with -FOUR
churches. the East district. one hundred
and ninety farms and two towns, with
one cathedral eleven churches and three
mouasteries The first bishop was ordained
I'm 1921. the seventeenth and last ~ l4O4. Az
ter this nothing more was heard OF the Green
land colonies How they penshed we know
not Queen Margaret of Denmark made the
trade with Iceland, Greenland and the teroes
d royal monopoly. only % he carried on IN
vessels belonging %, or licensed by, the SOW
eroigD, and this monopoly was kept up TO
very iete date being only abolished tor Ice
lauiiu 1910. Iceland would probably have
shared the same tate as Greenland had not
tie British merchants. IN spite of opposition.
supplied 10 with articles absolutely necessary
10Y the existence Of the inhabitants.
The saga Of EIrek the Red is IN collection
of sagas transcribed from older manuscripts
between the years 1887 and 1895. a hundred
years before the discovery Of America 10y
Columbus.
FINLAND DISCOVERED.
About the year 1000 Left. the son Of Eirek
the Red old Eirek himself having fallen from
his horse on his way 20 the place of embarka-
ton looked Ou 10 as "A bad sign. therefore re-
turned home cOasted along and landed sew
era. times on land that they discovered 20 the
southwest II Greenland. ia one place Lett
bai.t some booths snd divided his people into
TWO companies 10 he employed alter
ustev In watching the dwellings and
euIoring the country One day they
missed a German named Iyrker. who
was 70 great fayorite OF Lett. Len set
out with twelve men in search OF him. but
they mad not gone far when they saw him
coming toward them with an AIR of eXtraor-
binary piety He told them that he had been
feastlng on grapes having found place not
iaf of covered with wild vines. Thus, ike
true mariner. he had followed the example OF
Noah after his cruise habit that has been
f-fr mil tr "a
cause OF the country being called Ninland, OF
Wneand This country, though discovered
by the Mortimer, was never cOlOniZed by
them.
COLUMBUS IN ICELAND.
The English trade with Iceland was the
cause for some negotiations about IT, and the
fact has been fully established If Columbus
visiting Iceland in l417 where he bad the
opportunity % talk with the Bishop of
Sholholt IN Latin. Irving says that at the
University of Pavla he acquired familiar
knowledge OF the Latin tongue. or. having
been much about England. Columbus would
have understood English, language so like
the IcelandiC that men speaking the two Ian
guages could understand each other In
proof Of this is the following historical fact
We read in one of the sagas that when Har-
old HHrdTad was defeated and killed 0t the
battle OF Stamford Bridge ia 1906 one Of his
officers got horse and rode away in IA strong.
cold wind, he having on nothing but
a shirt and helmet and q drawn
sword in his hand. A wagner with lined
Jacket met him. The officer asked wilt
thou sell the Jacket woman ~ Not 10 thee
thou must be NOrthman. l know thy speech
1T am q NOrthman. what wilt thOu then :"
81 will STAY thee " replied the yeoman but
now il is so bad that have not got q weapon
that / can use" The officer added. If thou
cannot slay me, bondi, will try 20 slay thee"
He raised his sword and smOte his neck so
that his head dropped down. He then took
the skin jacket, jumped on his horse and
rode down to the shore.
WHAT COLUMBUS WANTED.
But Columbus wanted a different sort Of
thing from the grapes of Ninland and Goldfish
What be wanted was gold and silver, and
precious stones and ali sorts OF spices IN
abundance" SO when be received the in
formation n the island of Gomela in 1882.
from Alfonso Sanchez, he sailed in another
direction.
Humboldt states that Columbus in a work
"On the Five Habitable Zones OF the Earth, w.
says that ia the month Of February. 1877. he
visited Iceland. which has been resOrted TO
by the many traders from Bristol.
HOW THE INV WORLD WAS FOUND.
An old Spanish chronicler. Garcilasode la
Vega Inca writing about Peru begins his
history. as was the custom al that time at
the beginning OF the world. aud in his chap
t'- VA @-~N f--N ~'-' '~--N~ '-'' Ar%-~e VIZ.
says
About tho year one thousand four hundred
and eighty-fOur. one more or less q pilot ma
tive of the village of Huelya. in the county
Of Niebla named Alfonso Sanchez dc Huelva,
owned o small vessel ia which he traded by
sea and carried goods from Spain 10 the Cana
ry islands that were sold az a good price. and
at the Canaries he loaded with the products
of those islands aud carried them 20 the Is
land of Madeira from there he returned TO
Spuin loaded with sugar and preserves. Going
iu this triangular voyage and crossing from
the Canaries 10 the Island Of Madeira he en-
couutered "a storm so fierce and furious that
De WIS not able % resist the wind and had to
run before 10. going twenty-eight or twenty
plo days without knowing how OF whore;
because ia all that time he could not
take an altitude by the sun, nor the North
STAR The men of the ship suffered greatly
during the storm as they could neither eat
nor sleep. al the end of that long time the
gale aDated. and they found themselves near
al isla1d 10 is not certainly known what 1t
Was. boo 10 IS suspected that IS was that now
called santo Domingo. 10 is of great momont
That he wind that carried the vessel with
s1cn violence and fury could only be the
nolano the simeon that comes from the East.
blowing from the coast Of Africa. because the
Island Of sento Domingo IS 90 the west OF the
Oahafles which wind ia that voyage rather
GAINS IMAM raises storms