Before quitting his settlement, the chief was anxious to leave some trace of his presence. Such, at least, is the opinion adopted by Scandinavian savants, and by M. Gravier, on the subject of the famous _Dighton Writing Rock_. This block of gneiss, situated upon the right bank of Tauton River, and alternately covered and left bare by the tide, bears a certain number of characters engraved upon it to the depth of eight millimetres (one-third inch). This _inscription_, which has given rise to many discussions, has, probably, a double origin. Schoolcraft tells us that an old Indian, who was familiar with American pictography, recognized the hand of his countryman in a certain number of signs which he was able to explain, though at the same time he confessed that others were quite new to him. On the other hand, Magnusen and his followers have also only been able to interpret some of these same signs. They were, in their opinion, a mixture of runic and cryptographic signs, and of figures referring to the adventures of Thorfinn. They thought they could recognize Gudrida with her son Snorre, and the phonetic portion might, it seemed, be translated in the following manner:—131 MEN OF THE NORTH HAVE OCCUPIED THIS COUNTRY—WITH THORFINN. I should add, however, that Mr. Wittlesey does not admit the existence of a single alphabetical inscription in the United States. Yet we must not suppose that the opinion of the American antiquarian at all affects the authenticity of the Sagas which relate the history of Thorfinn. I cannot here repeat all the adventures of Thorvard and Freydisa, of Ari Marson, Bjorn Asbrandson, Gudleif and Hervador ..., but I must remark, in reference to the latter, that, through the indications contained in the Skalholt Saga, the American savants have been able to find upon the shores of the Potomac the tomb of a woman who fell by the arrows of the Skrellings in 1051. VII. The colonies founded in Greenland by Erick and his successors multiplied rapidly; both the east and west coasts were peopled. These two centres bore the names of _Osterbygd_ and _Vesterbygd_. From the documents consulted by M. F. Lacroix, it appears that the former possessed a cathedral, eleven churches, three or four monasteries, two towns called Garda and Alba, and 190 _Gaards_ or Norwegian villages; in the second, there were four churches and 90 or 110 gaards. These figures clearly indicate a considerable population. This is still more strongly proved by the fact, that as early as 1121, an Irishman, Erick-Upsi, was created Bishop of Greenland, and had eighteen successors. Vinland was in the jurisdiction of this diocese. The tithes of this country figured among the revenues of the Church in the fourteenth century, and were paid in kind.