Thorvald’s base appears to have been situated on a coast facing approximately south, along which, we are told, two voyages of exploration were conducted. The first of these, according to the Flatey Book, was carried out in a small boat, and lay to the west of the camp. The expression used, ‘fyrir vestan landit’, might also be understood to mean off or along a coast facing west, but this interpretation is excluded by the fact that an island lying to the west (vestarliga) was visited, and also by the absence of any coast fulfilling the required conditions on the eastern seaboard of America, except the Nova Scotian border of the Bay of Fundy. This last does not suit in any way, for we are told ‘there were many islands and many shoals’, a circumstantial statement unlikely to have been invented, and therefore reliable. Very shallow water indeed is indicated in a report derived from persons in a small boat, whose draught must have been insignificant. Now the name Bay of Fundy is said to be a corruption of Baya Fonda (deep bay), and the details given in the _Coast Pilot_ confirm the appropriateness of such a name. Champlain moreover states explicitly, on passing Cape Fourchu northwards, that ‘this coast is clear, _without islands, rocks or shoals_; so that in our judgment vessels can securely go there.’ The only other feature in the description of the saga, ‘well-wooded sandy shores’, is hardly more appropriate to a coast which is mainly bold and rocky. We are safe, then, in assuming a starting-point on a coast facing south. To the east of the base the land must soon have turned towards the north, to fulfil the conditions required by Thorvald’s second voyage. So far there are two possibilities presented by the narrative: the south coast of Nova Scotia, and that of the United States to the west of Cape Cod. The latter exactly fulfils the conditions demanded by the first or westerly voyage. In the words of the _Coast Pilot_, ‘from the southern and principal entrance to Chatham harbour, the coast is _low and sandy_, with _well-wooded hills in the background_, taking a _generally westward direction_.’ It is, as the chart shows, a mass of shoals, and there are a considerable number of quite important islands, including Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the Elizabeth Islands, in the vicinity. In fact it would be hard to find a place more accurately fitting the description given. The voyage, being conducted in a small boat, was probably not a very long one. [Illustration: THORVALD’S EXPEDITION] As regards Nova Scotia, there are along this coast also many islands and a considerable number of shoals, but the coast itself, treated as a whole, is decidedly less appropriate to the description in the saga.