The morning call., 1892-10-21

make 1t obligatory on the inhabitants of
this country to honor and reverence the
memory of so notable benefactor. 1t is
accordingly only in the nature of things
that on the occasion of the coming anniver-
sary the people of this land should give ex-
preston to their gratitude and commence
rate with becoming festivity the benefits
that have resulted from Columbus en-
deavorS.
1t would. however. be entirely erroneous
to suppose that Columbus was the first Of
western mariners to set foot on American
soil, though to him must be ungrudgingly
accorded the honor and merit Of being the
first 10 make the existence of this country
practically known to the western world. But
how it had not been more generally known
prior to his time seems singularly strange
For there is no longer any doubt that the
country had been visited centuries before
by enterprising northern adventures. The
| lcelandic historical records, of which there
| are many in the Royal Library at
| Copenhagen, bear indisputable testimony
to this Besides the Codex Flateyensis,
which is the most notable. and which was
written in 1887, and is so called from having
been preserved for considerable time in
the island Of Flateya, off the coast of Scot
land, there are some eighteen additional
| parchment manuscripts in the Copenhagen
library, in which mention is made of various
parts of the Atlantic coast under the names
of Helluland, MARYLAND, Vinland and lrland-
ir-Mikla. or Great Ireland.
In 1887 a synopsis of these manuscript
histories was published in folio form by the
Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians,
under the title of Earthquakes Ameri-
cana." copy of this book Is to be found
in the State library at Sacramento, the only
copy, as far as l am aware, that exists in
California. The work contains the original
Icelandc text with translation in Danish
and Latin. Nobody can peruse the volume
without being thoroughly convinced
| of the fact that America was known
to the nations of Northern Europe
long before Columbus time. Indeed 1t was
the knowledge of this, perhaps more than
anything else that induced the enterprisiBg
navigator to enter upon his voyage of dis
covery, for fourteen years before ColumD bus
started on his exploring expedition he had
visited Iceland and must have heard from
the people of that country an account of the
numerous voyages that had been previously
made TO those western regions beyond
Greenland.
In the "Ant iauitates" there are also some
fragments from the writings of Adam of
Bremen, in which the author. who lived be-
fore the close of the eleventh century,
speaks Of the countries beyond Iceland and
| Greenland in the following manner: "Be
sides these Denmark. Sweden, Norway,
Iceland and Greenland there is still another
region, which has been visited by many,
lying in that ocean Uhe Atlanticl, which is
| called Vinland, because vines grow there
spontaneously, producing very good wine;
corn likewise springs up there without be-
ing sown." And then the writer adds:
| This we know not by fabulous conjec-
ture, but from positive statements Of the
Danes"
Now, as the first land in a westerly direc-
ton after leaving Greenland is the Ameri-
can continent, the writer must have un-
doubteGly meant this country. More con-
elusive, however. if possible, is the descrip-
ton given in the sagas OF this western re-
gion. Thus in the saga marked codex B.
no, G. s, the following geographical ac-
count is given of that land which the Ice
landic historians denominated Irland-
it-Mikla: "Now there are, as is said,
south of Greenland. which is inh abited,
deserts. unInhabited places, and icebergs !;
then the land of the Skrelings, then Mark
land, then Vinland the Good. Next and
somewhat behind lies Albania Hutram-
analand, which is White Mans Land
Thither was sailing formerly from Ireland
There Irishmen and lcelanders recognized
Ari, the son of Mar and Rata of Reyk-
james. of whom nothing had been heard for
long time, and who had been made chief
there by the inhabitants"
1t would be impossible to Identity the re-
a,
the North Atlantic coast, for there is no
other land intervening between Greenland
and America in a southwesterly direction.
| while the description given by the writer
accords exactly with the character Of the
American coast.
Thus, the icebergs spoken of in the first
part of the narrative point unmistak-
ably to that part of the Atlantic Ocean
in the immediate vicinity of Davis Straits
and Hudson Bay. Then the land of the
Skreilngs or Helluland, that is Flatstone
| land, as 1t Is called in another saga, is a
most appropriate name for the country of
the Esquimaux along the Labrador coast
the land there being entirely barren and
covered to large extent with enormous
stones. MARYLAND or Woodland, which is the
| next spoken of, aecords also with that part
of the Nova Scotia coast in the vicinity of
Halifax and south as far as Darlington
Bay; while as regards Vinland, which de-
riyes its name from the circumstances of
| vines having been found there in great
abundance. such eminent antiquarans as
Rask, Rain, Beamish and Pinkerton do not
| hesitate to identify 1t with the present State
of Massachusetts.
Another geographical notice Of an almost
similar character is found in the Flata-
bogen Codex, in which is contained an ac-
count of the voyage of Left Erickson and
| his companions at the close of the tenth
century Still later were the expeditions of
Thorwald in 1902. of Erickson in 1905, and
of Karlsefne in LOOT.
In fine, during the more than three and
half centuries that elapsed since the first of
the Mortimer landed in America till the
| last expedition. which was undertaken in
1S47, more or less regular intercourse was
maintained between the mother country
and these outlying colonies.
| Accordingly. one is not surprised to
| learn that Christian church was estab-
| lished at a very early reriod on
| the Atlantic coast. 1t would be i'm
| possible to state with accuracy the precise
date when the truths of Christianity were
| first preached in the country But this
much is certain, that before the close of
| the tenth century there was Christianity in
| the land. for, according to the Landnama-
| book, the pagan chief Ari Marson. who had
| been cast by storm on this western land
! in the year 9S2. was baptized there and pre-
vented from leaving the country.
| The thought then naturally occurs as to
when and whence this Christianity had
found its way into these parts. Taking the
historical evidence of the sagas as guide.
am OF the opinion that it was introduced
into the country about the middle of the