In 877, according to M. Gravier, perhaps as early as 770, according to M. Lacroix, Gunnbjorn discovered Greenland. In 886 Erick the Red doubled Cape Farewell, and built at the head of a fjord his house Brattahilda, the lately discovered ruins of which have been compared to those of a town. In 986 Bjarn Meriulfson, when on his way to Greenland, was carried by a storm as far as the shores of New England. In 1000, Leif, the son of Erick the Red, started for the country discovered by Bjarn. Accompanied by 35 men, he ran down as far as Rhode Island, where he found the vine, and gave the name of _Vinland_ to the country of which he took possession; he built _Leifsbudir_, passed the winter there, and noticed that the shortest day began at half-past seven and ended at half-past four. This observation, which agrees with all the other details, places Leifsbudir near the present town of Providence, 41° 24′ 10″ N. lat. Thorwald succeeded his brother Leif. Followed by 30 warriors, he reached Vinland and passed the winter at Leifsbudir. In the spring of 1003 he ran down as far as Long Island, explored the neighbourhood, and returned in the autumn to his starting point. The following summer he turned his steps northwards. Near Cape Alderton, his companions surprised three boats made of osier, and covered with leather, and slew eight of the men by whom they were manned. The ninth escaped; he soon returned, however, accompanied by a great number of his fellow-countrymen, who showered upon the Scandinavians a cloud of arrows and then fled. But Thorwald, mortally wounded, was interred in this land which he had expressed a desire to inhabit. It may possibly have been his tomb which was discovered at the end of the last century in Rainsford Island, near to Hull and Cape Alderton; a tomb of solid masonry, containing a skeleton, and a sword with an _iron_ hilt, indicating a period anterior to the fifteenth century. In 1007 Thorfinn, accompanied by his wife Gudrida, started with three ships carrying 160 men, some women, and cattle. This time the object was to found a colony. They settled not far from Leifsbudir at Mount Hope Bay. The strangers were soon visited by some of the natives, who are easily identified with the Esquimaux from the description given in the Saga. The relations maintained with these _Skrellings_ were at first pacific. But the following year an act of brutality on the part of a Scandinavian led to war, and Thorfinn, although victorious, did not feel his position to be secure, and resolved to return to his country with his companions, his wife, and his son Snorre, the first Scandinavian born in Vinland.