USA > Maine > A history of the discovery of Maine > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
The settlements of the Scandinavians in Iceland, and their expeditions to that country in the following years, increased in number; and, in the year 877, another north-east storm drove one of those Icelandic settlers, called Gunnbjorn, still further to the north-west, to Greenland, another unknown country, which he appears to have seen only at a distance. It was a long time before any other adventurer followed in his track. The Northmen had enough to do with their settlements in Iceland, and the "country of Gunnbjorn" (Greenland), existed for nearly a century only in tradi- tion. A rock between Iceland and Greenland has ever since retained his name, being called "Gunnbjörn's Skjar" (Gunnbjörn's rock).
At last, in the spring of the year 986, Eric the Red sailed from Iceland with the intention of seeking for Gunn- björn's country. Having found it, he established a settle- ment, "Brattalid," in a bay which, after him, was called "Eric's Fiord." He found the country pleasant, full of
.
!
ء
62
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
meadows, and of a milder climate than the more northern Iceland. He gave to it the name " Greenland," saying that this would be an inviting name, which might attract other people from Iceland to join his colony. Another adventurer, named Heriulf, soon followed him, and established himself near a southern promontory of Greenland, which after him was called " Heriulfsnas," situated not far from our present "Cape Farewell."
3. FIRST DISCOVERY OF NEW ENGLAND.
The above-mentioned Heriulf had a son, Biarne, who, at the time his father went over from Iceland to Greenland, had been absent on a trading voyage in Norway. Returning to Iceland in 990, and finding that his father, with Eric the Red, had gone to the west, he resolved to follow him and to spend the next winter with him in Greenland.
They boldly set sail to the south-west, but having encoun- tered northerly storms, after many days' sail they lost their course, and when the weather cleared, they descried land, not, however, like that described to them as "Greenland." They saw that it was a much more southern land, and cov- ered with forests. It not being the intention of Biarne to explore new countries, but only to find the residence of his father in Greenland, he improved a south-west wind, and turned to the north-east, and put himself on the track for Greenland. After several days' sailing, during which he dis- covered and sailed by other well-wooded lands lying on his left, some high and mountainous, and bordered by icebergs, he reached Heriulfsnäs, the residence of his father, in Green- land. His return passage occupied nine days, and he speaks of three distinct tracts of land, along which he coasted, one of which he supposed to have been a large island.
That Biarne, on this voyage, must have seen some part of
.
1
63
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.'
the American east coast, is clear from his having been driven that way from Iceland by northerly gales. We cannot deter- mine with any certainty what part of our coast he sighted, and what was the southern extent of his cruise. But, taking into consideration all circumstances and statements of the report, it appears probable that it was part of the coast of New England, and perhaps Cape Cod, which stands far out to the east. One day and night's sailing with a favorable wind, was, in Iceland and Norway, reckoned to be about the distance of thirty German miles. Two days and "nights," therefore, would be sixty German miles, and this is about the distance from Cape Cod in New England to Cape Sable in Nova Scotia .*
The second country seen by Biarne would, then, probably have been Nova Scotia. The distance from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland is about three days' sail ; and from New- foundland to the southern part of Greenland, a Northman navigator, with fresh breezes, might easily sail in four days, and thus Newfoundland was probably the third country dis- covered by Biarne.
The results of the expedition of Biarne may be stated to have been these : He was the first European who saw, although from a distance and very cursorily, some parts of the coasts of New England, Nova Scotia, and Newfound- land. He also probably crossed the Gulf of Maine, without stopping, however, to explore its waters, or giving them names.
4. VOYAGES OF LEIF, ERIK'S SON, AND FIRST SETTLEMENT IN NEW ENGLAND.
Biarne, of course, spoke to his father and to the Green- land colonists of all that had happened to him, and of the
" The German mile a little exceeds four English miles .- ED.
1
64
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
large tracts of country he by chance had seen. Afterwards (probably in the year 994) when he returned to Norway, and spoke there also of his adventures, he was blamed by many for not having examined the new found countries more accurately.
In Greenland, too, whither he soon returned, there was also much talk about undertaking a voyage of discovery to the south-west. Leif, the son of Erik the Red, the first set- tler in Greenland, having bought Biarne's ship in the year 1000, equipped her with a crew of thirty-five men, among whom was Biarne himself, they went out on Biarne's track toward the south-west. They came first to that land which Biarne had seen last, which, as I have said, was probably our Newfoundland. Here they cast anchor and went on shore, for their voyage was not the search of a son after his father, but a decided exploring expedition.
They found the country as Biarne had described it, full of ice-mountains, desolate, and its shores covered with large flat stones. Leif, therefore, called it "Helluland" (the stony land).
After a brief delay they pursued their voyage, and found Biarne's second land, as he had described it, covered with woods, with a low coast and shores of white sand. Leif named it " Markland"' (the woodland), our present Nova Scotia.
Continuing their course, in two days they again made land. They found here a promontory projecting in a north- easterly direction from the main ; this pretty well corre- sponds to our present Cape Cod. It was the second time that a European vessel had sailed across the broad entrance of the Gulf of Maine, although at a great distance from the coast.
Leif, rounding this cape to the west, sailed some distance westward, entered a bay or harbor, and went on shore.
65
FIRST SETTLEMENT IN NEW ENGLAND.
Finding the country very pleasant, they, concluding to spend the winter there, constructed some houses, and formed a settlement, which was called "Leifsbudir" (Leif's block- house, or dwelling). It is, with a great degree of probability, supposed that this took place on the south coast of the present State of Rhode Island, somewhere in Narraganset Bay, perhaps not far from our present Newport.
Leif and his men from this point made several exploring expeditions to the interior, to gain a better knowledge of the country. On one of those occasions a discovery was made, which appeared to them so extraordinary, that the name of this country was derived from it. Leif had amongst his followers a good-natured German, with the name of Tyrker, who had long resided with Leif's father in Iceland and Greenland, and of whom he had been very fond from his childhood. This German, on one of their exploring expe- ditions, lost his way and was missing. Leif, with some of his men, went out in search of him. But they had not gone far, when they saw him stepping out from a wood, holding some- thing in his hands, and coming toward them. Leif received him with great joy, but observed that his German was some- what irritated and unsettled in mind .* Upon being ques- tioned, Tyrker, in a kind of enthusiastic way, began to say something in the German language, which the Northmen did not understand .¡ At last he said to them in true Norse, that he had not been a long way off, but still he had discovered something quite new. "I found vines and grapes !. " he cried out ; showing them what he held in his hands. "But is that true, my friend?" asked Leif, who, probably, as an Icelander and Greenlander never had seen fresh grapes. And then Tyrker said, that he well might know that they
." Han war ikke ret ved sin samling." Icelandic Report.
" H in dreiedt ainene til forskellige sides og vraengede munden."
5
1
66
VOYAGES OF THORWALD TO NEW ENGLAND.
were real grapes, having been born and educated in a coun- try in which there were plenty of vines. The Northmen collected many grapes, filling with them their long-boat. This discovery was so extraordinary, that Leif gave to his new southern country the name of " Vinland " (the country of vines). This name was adopted by all his countrymen, and they afterward extended it to the whole coast stretching out to the north as far as what they called " Markland " (Nova Scotia).
. During the winter Leif and his men observed that the cli- mate of their Vinland was quite mild. They made also the observation, that the length of the days and nights in Vinland was much more equal than in Greenland throughout the year. On the shortest day in Vinland the sun was above the horizon from 73 A. M. to 44 p. M. This astronomical obser- vation confirms the generally adopted view, that their settle- ment was made in the latitude of the southern part of New England. For the rest, they were occupied in felling trees and filling their vessel with wood, a product which, in Green- land and Iceland, was very welcome; and in the spring they returned to Greenland.
5. VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES OF THORWALD, ERIK'S SON, IN NEW ENGLAND.
Leif's " Vinland voyage " became, among the colonists of Greenland, a subject of as much conversation and excitement, as in later times the discovery of Columbus at the courts of Spain and England.
Leif's brother, Thorwald, was of opinion, that the new country had not been explored sufficiently. He, therefore, borrowed Leif's ship, and, aided by his brother's advice and direction, and by some of his men, commenced another voyage to this country in the year 1002.
1 .
1
67
VOYAGES OF THORWALD TO NEW ENGLAND.
He probably sailed on the track of Biarne and Leif, along Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and arrived in Vinland at " Leifsbudir " (in Narraganset Bay), where he and his men spent the winter, employing themselves in fishing and cut- ting wood. In the spring of 1003, Thorwald sent a party in the ship's long-boat, on a voyage of discovery, the results of which were not very great, and have for us not much inter- est, because the expedition went, probably, pretty far to the south, and did not return until the fall of the year.
Thorwald himself, however, undertook, in the following year, 1004, another voyage, which has a higher interest for us, because it was directed to the north, and to the vicinity of Maine.
Thorwald, according to his report, sailed from Leifsbudir (in Narraganset Bay), in his large ship, at first eastward and then to the north, " around the country." In doing this the keel of his ship was damaged in a storm, and he landed on a promontory, where he remained some time in repairing his vessel. After this, "he sailed round this spit of land, from the east to the west, into the nearest frith of the coast." The description of this sail agrees very well with the configu- ration of Cape Cod and vicinity, which had been seen, but not named, on the former voyages of Biarne and Leif. Thorwald, this time, noticed the headland more minutely, and gave to it the name " Kialarnes" (Ship-nose). The outlines of Cape Cod make a figure which is much like the prow of a vessel, particularly of a Northman vessel. They had ships with a very high and pointed nose, like the head and neck of a dragon, and were therefore called "dragons." This circumstance may have influenced Thorwald to give this name to the cape, though it is said that the first occasion for the name was derived from his repairing his vessel there. At all events, the name " Kialarnes," so often mentioned in
68
VOYAGES OF THORWALD TO NEW ENGLAND.
the Scandinavian reports, kept its ground, because it was found so appropriate. The Scandinavian reports sometimes mention this cape under the simple name "Naeset," the nose, probably because it was the principal and most pro- jecting headland of their "Vinland." This remarkable headland, on account. of the snowy whiteness of its sands, always attracts the attention of the passer-by .* As a promi- nent and important landmark it shows to the navigator his way on the dark ocean ; and so, in our researches through the dark ways of history, it will serve us as a guide when we find its unique figure put down on a chart by some explorer. Cape Cod may be called the very handle by which to grasp the hydrographical features of New England.
Thorwald sailed from his "Ship-nose" toward the main land, where he came to anchor not far from a hilly promon- tory overgrown with wood, and was so much pleased with the place that he exclaimed, " Here it is beautiful, and here I should like to fix my abode." He met there nine men of the aborigines ; "eight of them they killed, but the ninth escaped in his canoe." Some time after, there arrived a countless number of "Skrellings"-as the Scandinavians called the aborigines, as well of Greenland as of Vinland,- and a battle ensued. It was the first battle and blood- shed between Europeans and the indigenous Americans, of which we have any account. The "Skrellings" continued shooting at Thorwald and his men some time, and then quickly retired. After the victory, Thorwald asked his men, whether one of them had been wounded. Upon their deny- ing this, he said, "I am! I have an arrow under my arm. and this will be my death-blow. I now advise you to pre- pare for your departure as soon as possible. But me you must take to that promontory where I thought to have made
* See upon this, Rafn, Antiquitates Americana, pp. 426, 427.
.
69
VOYAGES OF THORWALD TO NEW ENGLAND.
my abode. I was a prophet. For I now shall dwell there forever. There you shall bury me, and plant there two crosses, one at my head and one at my feet, and call the place 'Krossanæs' (the promontory of the crosses), for all time coming." Thorwald, upon this, died, and his men did as he had ordered them.
The place where they buried him and erected the crosses, must have been one of the headlands not far south of the coast of Maine. It is supposed that it was near the harbor of Boston, and that this first battle between Europeans and American aborigines was fought on the same ground where, in modern time, were fought the first battles of the American colonists with the British troops. The cape, " Krossanæs," having a somewhat hidden position, is not often mentioned in the Scandinavian reports.
Thorwald's men returned to their companions at the settle- ment of Leifsbudir (Narraganset Bay), and spent with them the following winter. But in the spring of 1005, having collected a cargo of wood, furs, and grapes (probably in a dried state), they sailed again to Greenland, having im- portant and sad intelligence to communicate to Leif, Erik's son.
The results of Thorwald's exploring expedition, for our object, may be summed up in a few words. Thorwald and his men staid on the coasts of New England nearly two entire years, principally occupied with explorations. They sailed along the south coast of New England toward, and perhaps beyond, New York. They recognized and described more minutely the important headland of Cape Cod, and gave to it the appropriate and often mentioned name, "Kialarnes" (Ship-nose). They intended to make an expedition along the coast of New England toward the north, visiting the
-
.
.
1
-
70
THORFINN'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.
shores of Maine, but did not come in this direction much further than the harbor of Boston, where their commander, Thorwald, was killed.
6. UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT OF THORSTEIN, ERIK'S SON, TO REACH " VINLAND " AGAIN.
Thorstein, Erik's third son, now resolved to proceed to Vinland to obtain his brother's body. He fitted out the same ship in which his brother had sailed, and selected twenty-five strong and able men for its crew. His wife, Gudrida, a woman of energy and prudence, accompanied him. But they encountered contrary winds, and were tossed about on the ocean during the whole summer, and knew not whither they were driven. At the close of the first week of winter, they landed at one of the western settlements of Greenland, where a sickness broke out amongst them, of which Thorstein and many others died. In the following spring, his widow, Gudrida, returned to Ericksfiord, on the southern coast of Greenland.
·
7. THE VOYAGE OF THORFINN KARLSEFNE TO "VINLAND," AND A NEW SETTLEMENT THERE EFFECTED BY HIM.
In the following summer of the year 1006, two ships arrived in Greenland from Iceland,-one commanded by Thorfinn and Snorre Thorbrandsen, the other by Biarne, Grimolf's son, and Thorhall.
Thorfinn was a wealthy and powerful man, of illustrious lineage. He had the sirname Karlsefne (i.e. one who is destined to be a great man). He fell in love with Gudrida, Thorstein's widow, and their marriage was celebrated during the winter. On this, as on former occasions, Vinland formed a favorite theme of conversation. Gudrida probably spoke to her new Husband about the project of her former husband,
1
71
THORFINN'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.
Thorstein, of a voyage to the south. Thorfinn, urged by his wife and by others, resolved to undertake such a voyage.
In the summer of 1007, Thorfinn prepared three ships,- one commanded by himself, another by Biarne, Grimolf's son, and Thorhall ; the third by Thorwald, who had married Freydisa, a natural daughter of Erik the Red. They had in all one hundred and sixty men, and, it being their intention to establish a colony there, took with them all kinds of live- stock.
They sailed from Greenland in the spring of 1008, on a sontherly course to Helluland, and from thence two days further in a southerly direction to Markland.
From " Markland" (Nova Scotia) they did not go out to the open sea through the broad part of the Gulf of Maine, as had been done on the former expeditions ; but they coasted along a great way " to the south-west, having the land always on their starboard," until they at length came to Kialarnes (Cape Cod) .*
Thorfinn and Gudrida, in following this track, probably wished to find the place where Thorwald had been buried, and his crosses erected, which they of course knew were to be found on the coast toward the north of Cape Cod. They, no doubt, had some of Thorwald's former companions on board.
It appears from this, that we have here the first coasting voyage of European navigators along the shores of Maine. It was a numerous company of one hundred and sixty men in three vessels, who, in that year, had their eyes upon our coast in search of the cross of Thorwald, all of them strong, stout, and heroic fellows. Unhappily, their reports contain no further details of the coast.
* Fra Markland seilede de laenge sönderpaa langs med Landet, og kom til at Naeset. Landet laae paa skibets hoire side.
1
72
THORFINN'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.
They came at last to Cape Cod, and were struck at this time by " long sandy beaches and downs," and named the strand "Furdustrandr," which may be translated " beaches of wonderful length,"-our present "Nauset" and "Chatham Beach."
In rounding the beaches toward the west, they saw several inlets, islands, and tongues of land, and met at several places strong currents. On one of the islands an immense number of eider-ducks was found, so that it was scarcely possible to walk there without treading on their eggs. They called this island " Straumey" (the island of currents), and to a frith they gave the name of "Straumfiordr" (the frith of the eur- rents). It is well known that the Gulf-stream in this region comes very near to the Nantucket Shoals, and causes amongst them and the neighboring islands very irregular currents.
They landed in the "frith of the currents," supposed to be our Buzzard's Bay, and made preparations for a winter resi- dence. But Thorhall the Hunter, a man whom Thorfinn had carried out with him, left there for the north on discovery, and then Thorfinn himself, with the great body of his men, sailed westward, and entered the same large and beautiful bay, on the borders of which Leif had built his "Leifsbudir." Not far from this spot, on the other side of the water, at a place which pleased him better, Thorfinn now erected his own larger establishment, named " Thorfinn's budir." It stood near a small recess or bay, by the Scandinavians called " Hop" (corner). On the low grounds around this " Hop," they found fields of wheat growing wild, and on the rising grounds plenty of vines.
There, in a beautiful country, they spent the following winter. No snow fell, and the cattle found their food in the open fields, as it may be to-day, in the exceptionally mild climate of Rhode Island. Sometimes the aborigines (Skrel-
*
73
THORFINN'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.
lings) would assemble around them in great number. Thor- finn and his men bartered with them for their squirrel-skins and other furs. The Skrellings liked very much the red cloth offered by the foreigners, and gave valuable furs for a small piece of red cloth not broader than a finger's breadth, binding it round their heads like a crown. Thorfinn, also, caused his women to bring out milk-soup, the taste of which the Skrel- lings greatly relished. They greedily purchased, ate it, and in this manner " carried away their bargains in their bellies," says the old Icelandic chronicler. In fact, this whole traffic of the Northmen with their "Skrellings" was carried on in much the same manner in which the later Europeans used to barter with the poor Indians ; with this difference only, that in modern times they gave them brandy instead of milk.
Thorfinn prohibited his men from selling their swords and spears to the Skrellings, a prohibition which was afterwards often repeated by European commanders.
One day, whilst traffic was going on in the like manner, a bull, which Thorfinn had brought with him, rushed out from the woods and bellowed loudly. At this the Skrellings were extremely terrified, and quickly disappeared in the same manner in which, at a later date, the Peruvian Indians, at the court of Atabalipa, were frightened by the neighing of Spanish horses.
But it is not my intention to specify all that happened to Thorfinn and his men in their southern abode, because the details of these events appear to belong to the antiquities of the State of Rhode Island. I have only made an exception with respect to the matters just stated, as they are character- istic of American history in general, and as they serve to confirm the truthfulness of our Scandinavian reports, and foreshadow, as it were, in a clear mirror, many American customs and occurrences afterwards often repeated.
.
74
THORFINN'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.
I will only add this, that Gudrida, the heroic wife of Thor- finn, gave birth, on the shores of Narraganset Bay, to a son, who received the name of " Snorre," and who may be con- sidered as the first American-born child of European parents.
We will now turn our attention again to the north, and see what was done by Thorfinn for the exploration of the northern parts of Vinland.
Thorfinn had sent to the north from Straumfiordr (Buz- zard's Bay) his man, Thorhall the Hunter. " This Thorhall was a strong and stout person, black, very taciturn, and was familiar with the desert places of Greenland and the whole north." Being fond of exploring unknown parts, he, with eight men, had left Thorfinn's party soon after their arrival at the south coast of New England, because he wished to explore the northern parts of Vinland. He sailed along "Furdustrandr " (Nauset) and " Kialarnes " (Cape Cod), and turned to the west into the interior parts of the Gulf of Maine. But there he was caught by a strong west wind, probably one of the wild north-west storms, which, coming down from the mountains of New Hampshire and Maine, sometimes happen in this bay, and still are much dreaded by the coasters. By this storm Thorhall was driven out into the broad ocean, and by other westerly gales was carried so far away, that at last he knew no better refuge than Ireland,* where he landed, and where, according to the account of some merchants, he and his men were made slaves.
Thus Thorhall's attempt to explore the northern parts of Vinland (coast of Maine) in 1008, was as perfect a failure
* I may add the remark, that, in a similar manner, at the end of the six- teenth century, the well-known French discoverer, La Roche, was caught by a western gale on the shore of Nova Scotia, which drove him off the coast, and chased him back toward France.
----
-
75
THORFINN'S VOYAGE TO VINLAND.
as the voyage of Thorwald to the same region some years before.
Meanwhile Thorfinn's circumstances had changed. His establishment at "Hop" (Narraganset Bay) had been attacked by numberless hostile Skrellings. Blood had been shed again, and the fights had not been victories for the Scandinavians. Thorfinn thought that, though the country offered many advantages, still the life they would have to lead here might be one of constant alarm. He made prepa- rations, therefore, to return to Greenland. But before doing this, he wanted to see his man, Thorhall the Hunter, who had not returned from his excursion to the northern parts of Vinland. He, therefore, in one of his ships, left "Hop," sailed eastward, leaving the greater body of his companions at his station on the coasts of "Straumfiordr (Buzzard's Bay), and made a searching expedition to the north on the track and in quest of Thorhall. He sailed to the north along "Kialarnes " (Cape Cod), and then to the west, "having the country on his left side." "He found there endless forests so far as he could see, with scarcely any open place." He discovered, also, a river, in the mouth of which he, for some time, rode at anchor.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.