There was one large and handsome man among the Skraelings; and Karlsefni thought he might be their leader. Now one of the Skraelings had taken up an axe, and looked at it a while, and struck at one of his fellows, and hit him, whereupon he fell dead; then the large man took the axe, and looked at it a while, and threw it into the sea as far as he could. But after that they fled to the wood, each as fast as he could; and thus ended the strife. Karlsefni and his companions were there all that winter; but in the spring Karlsefni said he would stay there no longer, and would fare to Greenland. Now they made ready for the voyage, and bare thence much goods, namely, grape-vines and grapes and skin-wares. Now they sailed into the sea, and came whole with their ships to Eireksfirth, and were there that winter. Illustration: DUTCH MAN-OF-WAR. BOOK II. COLUMBUS AND HIS COMPANIONS. (A.D. 1492‒1503.) Illustration: RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS BY FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. The following passages are taken from “Select Letters of Christopher Columbus,” published by the Hakluyt Society, London, 1847, pp. 1‒17, 20‒22, 27, 33‒36, 40‒42, 114‒121, 129‒138, 200‒202, 205‒210, 214‒225. These letters were translated by R. H. Major, Esq., of the British Museum. COLUMBUS AND HIS COMPANIONS. I.――THE FIRST LETTER FROM COLUMBUS. [This letter was written on board ship, by Columbus, March 14, 1493, “to the noble Lord Raphael Sanchez, Treasurer to their most invincible Majesties, Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Spain.” It was written in Spanish, but the original is supposed to be lost. Latin translations of it were made and published in different cities; and a poetical translation was made in Italian, and was sung about the streets of Italy.]