America -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography
[3] The question of the actual whereabouts of Leif Ericsson's booths and
Thorfin Karlsefne's later settlement has never been positively decided.
The Knutson expedition to Greenland is an historical fact. It left
Norway about 1354 and returned about 1364. It is not positively known
that Knutson attempted the rediscovery of Vinland, unless what is known
as the Kensington Rune Stone is evidence of it. The writer has adopted
the theory that he did take a party southward, landing at Halifax, and
left a part of his men there, intending to return with more colonists;
that on returning to Norway he found the country in the throes of war
and abandoned any thought of further settlement, leaving his men to find
their way back as they could.
[4] The Indian phrases and legends referred to as learned by the
Wind-wife are Abenaki.
[5] According to historians the region along the St. Lawrence and the
Great Lakes was for a long time inhabited by tribes belonging to the
great Ojibway nation. Their territory extended nearly to the western
boundary of what is now Minnesota. Southward were the tribes later known
as Iroquois.
[6] Accounts of the open galleys of the Northmen agree in describing
them as small and light compared with the later decked ships. The open
"sea-serpent" of forty-two feet, with her mast unshipped was heavier but
not much bigger than the largest Indian carrying-canoes such as were
used in the fur-trade, and these were taken from the St. Lawrence
through the Great Lakes. Vikings landing in Europe were prepared not
only to return by a new route but even to take their boats apart or
build new ones if necessary.
[7] Bayard Taylor, visiting the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence
immediately after a sojourn in Norway, speaks of his inability to be
impressed as others had been, by the height of the cliffs and waterfalls
of Canada, although fully appreciating the beauty of the scenery.
[Footnote 8: The Sioux or Dakotas, who occupied the Great Plains, were
hereditary enemies of the Ojibways. In the Ojibway language one name for
these Plains Indians indicated that they were in the habit of mutilating
their victims.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account