Now when Leif was with king Olaf Tryggvason and he commissioned him to preach Christianity in Greenland, the king gave him two Scots, a man called Hake and a woman Hekja. The king told Leif to make use of these people if he had need of speed, for they were swifter than deer: these people Leif and Eric provided to accompany Karlsefni. Now when they had coasted past Furdustrands they set the Scots ashore, telling them to run southward along the land to explore the resources of the country and come back before three days were past. They were dressed in what they called a ‘_kjafal_’,[35] which was made with a hood above, and open at the sides without sleeves: it was fastened between the legs, where a button and a loop held it together: otherwise they were naked. They cast anchor and lay there in the meanwhile. And when three days were past they came running down from the land, and one of them had in his hand a grape-_cluster_ while the other had a wild (lit: self-sown[36]) ear of wheat. They told Karlsefni that they thought that they had found that the resources of the country were good. They received them into their ship, and went their ways, till the country was indented by a fjord. They took the ships into the fjord. There was an island outside, about which there were strong currents, so they called it Straumsey (Tide or Current Island). There were so many birds[37] on the island that a man’s feet could hardly come down between the eggs. They held along the fjord, and called the place Straumsfjord, and there they carried up their goods from the ships and prepared to stay: they had with them all sorts of cattle, and they explored the resources of the country there. There were mountains there, and the view was beautiful. They did nothing but explore the country. There was plenty of grass there. They were there for the winter, and the winter was severe, but they had done nothing to provide for it, and victuals grew scarce, and hunting and fishing deteriorated. Then they went out to the island, in the hope that this place might yield something in the way of fishing or jetsam. But there was little food to be obtained on it, though their cattle throve there well. After this they cried to God to send them something to eat, and their prayer was not answered as soon as they desired. Thorhall disappeared and men went in search of him: that lasted three successive days. On the fourth day Karlsefni and Bjarni found Thorhall on a crag; he was gazing into the air with staring eyes, open mouth, and dilated nostrils, and scratching and pinching himself and reciting something. They asked him why he had come there. He said it was no business of theirs, told them not to be surprised at it, and said that he had lived long enough to make it unnecessary for them to trouble about him. They told him to come home with them, and he did so. Soon afterwards there came a whale, and they went to it and cut it up, but no one knew what sort of whale it was.