The Discoveries of America to the Year 1525 — John Shaqi
The Discoveries of America to the Year 1525Weise, Arthur James
History
The Discoveries of America to the Year 1525
Weise, Arthur James
America -- Discovery and exploration
When the Northmen departed from Markland, it is said in the saga that
“they then sailed far to the southward along the coast and came to a
promontory. The land lay on the right and had a long sandy beach. They
rowed to it and found on a tongue of land the keel of a ship. They called
this point of land Kjalarnes (Keel cape), and the beach Furdustrandir
(Long Strand), for it took a long time to sail by it. Then the coast
became sinuous. They then steered the ship into an inlet. King Olaf
Tryggvason had given Leif two Scotch people, a man named Haki and a woman
named Hekja. They were swifter than animals. These persons were in the
ship with Karlsefne. When they had sailed past Furdustrandir they put
these Scots ashore and ordered them to run to the south of the country
and explore it, and return within three days.... They were absent the
designated time. When they returned, one brought a bunch of wine-berries
(_vinberja köngul_), the other an ear of wheat (_hveitiax nysaid_).[55]
When they were taken on board, the ship sailed farther. They came into a
bay, where there was an island around which flowed rapid currents that
suggested the name which they gave it, Straumey (Stream island). There
were so many eider ducks on the island that one could hardly walk about
without stepping on their eggs. They called this place Straumfjörd
(Stream inlet). They took the cargo from the ship and made preparations
to remain there. They had with them different kinds of cattle. They
undertook nothing but the exploration of the land. Without having
provided food beforehand they sustained themselves there during the
winter. In the summer the fishing was not good and they were in want of
provisions. Thorhall the hunter disappeared. They had previously prayed
to God to give them food, but they were not supplied as quickly as they
thought their hunger demanded. They searched for Thorhall for three days.
At last they found him lying on the top of a rock, looking up at the sky,
gasping and muttering. They asked him why he was there. He said that his
presence there should not trouble them. They prevailed on him to return
home with them. A whale was stranded there, and they found it and cut it
up. No one knew what kind of a whale it was, and when the cook prepared
a part of it for them, they ate it and all were made sick. Then Thorhall
said: ‘The red-bearded [Thor, the god of thunder,] was more helpful than
your Christ; this [the whale meat] I have received for my hymns which I
sing of Thor, my protector; seldom has he deserted me.’ When they heard
this assertion, they cast the remainder of the whale into the sea and
resigned themselves to the care of God. Then the weather favored them so
that they were able to row out to fish, and thereafter they were not in
want of food, for wild game was caught on land and fish in the sea, and
eggs were collected on the island....
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