Chapter II: Pre-Columbian Voyages

Stories of voyages to America before Columbus; the Chinese 148 The Irish. 149 Blowing and drifting; Cousin, of Dieppe 150 These stories are of small value 150 But the case of the Northmen is quite different 151 The Viking exodus from Norway 151, 152 Founding of a colony in Iceland, A. D. 874 153 Icelandic literature 154 Discovery of Greenland, A. D. 876 155, 156 Eric the Red, and his colony in Greenland, A. D. 986 157-161 Voyage of Bjarni Herjulfsson 162 Conversion of the Northmen to Christianity 163 Leif Ericsson's voyage, A. D. 1000; Helluland and Markland 164 Leif's winter in Vinland 165, 166 Voyages of Thorvald and Thorstein 167 Thorfinn Karlsefni, and his unsuccessful attempt to found a colony in Vinland, A. D. 1007-10 167-169 Freydis, and her evil deeds in Vinland, 1011-12 170, 171 Voyage into Baffin's Bay, 1135 172 Description of a Viking ship discovered at Sandefiord, in Norway 173-175 (p. xxiv) To what extent the climate of Greenland may have changed within the last thousand years 176, 177 With the Northmen once in Greenland, the discovery of the American continent was inevitable 178 Ear-marks of truth in the Icelandic narratives 179, 180 Northern limit of the vine 181 Length of the winter day 182 Indian corn 182, 183 Winter weather in Vinland 184 Vinland was probably situated somewhere between Cape Breton and Point Judith 185 Further ear-marks of truth; savages and barbarians of the lower status were unknown to mediæval Europeans 185, 186 The natives of Vinland as described in the Icelandic narratives 187-193 Meaning of the epithet "Skrælings" 188, 189 Personal appearance of the Skrælings 189 The Skrælings of Vinland were Indians,—very likely Algonquins 190 The "balista" or "demon's head" 191, 192 The story of the "uniped" 193 Character of the Icelandic records; misleading associations with the word "saga" 194 The comparison between Leif Ericsson and Agamemnon, made by a committee of the Massachusetts Historical Society, was peculiarly unfortunate and inappropriate 194, 197 The story of the Trojan War, in the shape in which we find it in Greek poetry, is pure folk-lore 195 The Saga of Eric the Red is not folk-lore 196 Mythical and historical sagas 197 The western or Hauks-bók version of Eric the Red's Saga 198 The northern or Flateyar-bók version 199 Presumption against sources not contemporary 200 Hauk Erlendsson and his manuscripts 201 The story is not likely to have been preserved to Hauk's time by oral tradition only 202 Allusions to Vinland in other Icelandic documents 202-207 (p. xxv) Eyrbyggja Saga 203 The abbot Nikulas, etc. 204 Ari Fródhi and his works 204 His significant allusion to Vinland 205 Other references 206 Differences between Hauks-bók and Flateyar-bók versions 207 Adam of Bremen 208 Importance of his testimony 209 His misconception of the situation of Vinland 210 Summary of the argument 211-213 Absurd speculations of zealous antiquarians 213-215 The Dighton inscription was made by Algonquins, and has nothing to do with the Northmen 213, 214 Governor Arnold's stone windmill 215 There is no reason for supposing that the Northmen founded a colony in Vinland 216 No archæological remains of them have been found south of Davis strait 217 If the Northmen had founded a successful colony, they would have introduced domestic cattle into the North American fauna 218 And such animals could not have vanished and left no trace of their existence 219, 220 Further fortunes of the Greenland colony 221 Bishop Eric's voyage in search of Vinland, 1121 222 The ship from Markland, 1347 223 The Greenland colony attacked by Eskimos, 1349 224 Queen Margaret's monopoly, and its baneful effects 225 Story of the Venetian brothers, Nicolò and Antonio Zeno 226 Nicolò Zeno wrecked upon one of the Færoe islands 227 He enters the service of Henry Sinclair, Earl of the Orkneys and Caithness 228 Nicolò's voyage to Greenland, cir. 1394 229 Voyage of Earl Sinclair and Antonio Zeno 229, 230 Publication of the remains of the documents by the younger Nicolò Zeno, 1558 231 The Zeno map 232, 233 Queer transformations of names 234-236 (p. xxvi) The name Færoislander became Frislanda 236 The narrative nowhere makes a claim to the "discovery of America" 237 The "Zichmni" of the narrative means Henry Sinclair 238 Bardsen's "Description of Greenland" 239 The monastery of St. Olaus and its hot spring 240 Volcanoes of the north Atlantic ridge 241 Fate of Gunnbjörn's Skerries, 1456 242 Volcanic phenomena in Greenland 242, 243 Estotiland 244 Drogio 245 Inhabitants of Drogio and the countries beyond 246 The Fisherman's return to Frislanda 247 Was the account of Drogio woven into the narrative by the younger Nicolò? 248 Or does it represent actual experiences in North America? 249 The case of David Ingram, 1568 250 The case of Cabeza de Vaca, 1528-36 251 There may have been unrecorded instances of visits to North America 252 The pre-Columbian voyages made no real contributions to geographical knowledge 253 And were in no true sense a discovery of America 254 Real contact between the eastern and western hemisphere was first established by Columbus 255