INTRODUCTION.

THE object of the expedition which is the subject of the following pages, was to explore the East coast of Greenland, a country that, for several centuries, has excited the curiosity alike of learned and unlearned. This coast was believed to have been inhabited, of old, by a flourishing colony of Icelanders, of whom some traces, it was supposed, might be still discoverable, and between whom and the inhabitants of Iceland and Norway, as well as, though less frequently, those of England and Holland, a regular intercourse was kept up until towards the close of the fourteenth century, when it ceased, and a deep mystery settled over the colony and its fate.

Before, however, I proceed to relate the few interesting incidents of my voyage, I conceive it fitting briefly to recapitulate the early history of this ancient colony, the supposed causes of its destruction, and the various attempts that have been made with a view to its re-discovery from the earliest to the present times.

The first colonization of Greenland dates from the year 983, and is mentioned in our old chronicles as follows:-towards the beginning of the tenth century, an Icelander, or Norwegian, named Gunbiörn, son of Ulf Krake, having been driven by a storm to a considerable distance west of Iceland, discovered some skerries*, to which he gave his name, and subsequently an extensive country, with intelligence of which he returned to Iceland. Some time afterwards, one Erik Raude, or the Red, fell under cognizance of the Thornæs Ting in Iceland, and was sentenced to banishment for the crime of manslaughter. Fitting out a ship, he announced to his friends that he purposed going in quest of the land which Gunbiörn had discovered, and promised, if his search should prove successful, to return. He set sail, accordingly, from Sneefieldsjökel in Iceland towards the West, a course which brought him to the East coast of Greenland. He then proceeded to the south, along the shore, looking for some habitable spot, doubled, and sailed to the west of a promontory which he called Hvarft, and came to an island named after him Eriksey (Erik's island), where he passed the first winter. He employed himself hereupon three years in exploring the coasts, at the

By this nearly obsolete word I understand rocks but slightly elevated above the level of the sea, though capable of serving as places of temporary refuge. The Danish word is Skior.-Trans.

The word Hvarf means a place of turning, a circumstance sufficing of itself to prove that it was not on the East coast that Erik settled.

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expiration of which time he returned to Iceland, and made so favourable a report of the newly-discovered land, which he called Greenland, that, on his return thither the year following, no fewer than twenty-five vessels freighted with colonists accompanied him, of which number, meanwhile, but half eventually reached their destination, the rest either putting back, or perishing in the ice.

After the lapse of fourteen years from the date of Erik Raude's first settlement in Greenland, his son Leif hin hepne (i. e. the happy) went to Norway, where, by command of king Olaf Tryggvason, he was instructed in the principles of the Christian religion, and whence, the year after, he was sent back to Greenland by that monarch, attended by a priest, who baptized Erik and all his followers. After this, a number of other Icelanders went to Greenland, and the country by degrees was settled, wherever habitable. Of the character and aspect of the land, the old accounts extant are very various, and even contradictory. The description of it given in the Kong-Skugg-Siö (the Royal Mirror) is meanwhile, in all likelihood, the most to be depended on, and corresponds closely with what we know to be fact with regard to the West coast of Greenland. It is there stated, that the greater part of the country is covered with ice, but a small portion of it along the shore being habitable, and that grain could not grow there to maturity, so that the majority of the inhabitants had never seen it, or knew what bread was; but that, on the other hand, the country abounded in good pasturage, and the people subsisted by raising cattle, and by the chase of the rein-deer, bear, walrus, and seal. The population was estimated at about a third of the amount assigned a bishopric. The navigation to it is described as attended with much peril, from the seas about it being constantly blocked up with ice, for which reason, those who purpose sailing thither from Iceland, are advised to shape a course to the S.W. and W., until they passed the said ice, which is more abundant, it is stated, in the direction of N. and N.E. from the land, than to the South or West*. From the old chorographies that have come down to us, we know that the inhabited districts were called, respectively, the East and West Bygd, and the uninhabitable tracts between them Ubygds ‡. The distance between these Bygds is differently given, Biörn Johnsen states it to have been a six-days' journey in a row-boat, which may be estimated at about 200 geographical miles; Ivar Bardsen, twelve Vikur Siouar, or twelve (Icelandic nautical) miles,

*This likewise serves to prove that the ancient colony was seated on the West coast of Greenland; for had it been upon the East, mention would scarcely have been made of ice in the West.

+ Biörn Johnsen's Greenland Annals, and another from the fourteenth century, ascribed to Ivar Bardsen, of which afterwards.

The word "Bygd" signifies an inhabited place, "Ubygd" one that is uninhabitable, or, at least, uninhabited.

In the West Bygd were

-about seventy-two geographical miles. four churches, and ninety (or, according to others, 110) farms; in the East Bygd, one cathedral, eleven churches, 190 farms, two towns (Garda and Alba), three royal demesnes (Foss, Tiodhillstadr, and Brattahlid, where the Lagmand, or justiciary, resided), and three or four monasteries, in the grounds of one of which (the monastery of St. Thomas) is said to have been a spring of boiling water, which, by means of pipes, was conducted into all the chambers of the building, as well as to the gardens, making these last so fertile as to yield the most delightful fruits and flowers. It is, meanwhile, to be observed, that neither Alba nor the monastery of St. Thomas are spoken of in the old Icelandic writings, a fact which justifies the inference, that they existed but in the fictions of the fourteenth century. This Bygd had, further, a southwestern aspect, and its southernmost point was Herjolf's-naze, situate between Hvarf and Hvidsœrk, which probably were two promontories.

One of the first achievements of the Greenland colonists was the discovery of North America by Leif in the year 1001. The tracts of country there discovered were called Helluland, Markland, and Viinland; great uncertainty, however, prevails with regard to their situation, Viinland being, in fact, the only one of them concerning which we have any positive information, it being susceptible of proof that it formed part of the present territory of the United States*.

Leif's grandson, Sokke, having summoned his countrymen together at a place called Brattahlid, and represented to them that regard to their own credit, as well as to religion, required that the country should be provided with a bishop of its own, his proposition met with unanimous assent, and in compliance with the general wish, a learned priest, named Arnold, was, in 1121, elected, and, by the archbishop of Lund, consecrated first bishop of Greenland. A number of distinguished individuals, Icelanders and Norwegians, accompanied him to his diocese. One of them, named Asbiörn, was driven by a storm to the uninhabited parts of the coast, and none knew what had become of him, until a Greenlander, by name Sigurd, came by accident to the spot, and found two ships,-one a total wreck, the other susceptible of repair, with a quantity of goods in it, and, hard by, a house filled with dead bodies. The latter vessel he caused to be repaired, and conveyed it to the bishop, who made a present of it to the church, giving the goods to Sigurd. Some time after, one Aussur, a

It is stated by one of the ancient writers, that there was a more equal division of day and night in Viinland than in Iceland or Greenland, the sun being above the horizon there, upon the shortest day, from Dagmaal to Eikt. Now, as we know that by Dagmaal was formerly meant half-past seven o'clock A.M., and by Eikt half-past four o'clock P.M., it follows that the length of the shortest day at Viinland was nine hours, which gives the latitude of 41°.

nephew of the unfortunate Asbiörn, came to Greenland, and demanded restitution of his uncle's property, which being refused him, he privily did such damage to the vessel as rendered it unfit for use, and departed to another place, where he prevailed upon the crews of two Norwegian ships that he fell in with to espouse his cause, and aid him to take vengeance for the wrongs he conceived himself to have sustained. Accompanied by his new allies, he returned accordingly to Gardar, the residence of the bishop, but was not long there before he was murdered by Einar, Sokke's son, on whom the bishop, in the mean while, had inflicted punishment, in consequence of his having suffered, contrary to his oath, the property of the church (the ship in question) to be injured. Aussur's partisans immediately avenged his death by slaying Einar, upon which a battle was fought between the Greenlanders and Norwegians, and many fell on either side. The aged Sokke, Einar's father, was desirous of prosecuting the feud, and attacking with his followers the Norwegian ships; he was, however, prevailed upon to enter into compromise with the slayers of his son, he submitting to pay a mulct to Aussur's party, the number of their slain exceeding by one that of his own, and they agreeing to quit the country without delay, and never to return to it. The story presents a curious picture of the state of society in Greenland in those days.

Of the history of the Greenland colonies subsequently to this period we have no regular, continuous accounts*. The country was governed by Icelandic laws, and had its own bishops (Holberg numbers seventeen of them, from first to last) who were suffragans, at first of the archbishop of Lund, but subsequently of the archbishop of Trondhiem. It had, it would appear, no military force, nor any trade, except, perhaps, in the beginning, in bottoms of its own. It is, indeed, on record, that one Asmund Kastrandatzi came to Iceland, in 1189, in a vessel whose planks and timbers were fastened and lashed together with pegs and the sinews of animals,-that is to say, in a vessel built in Greenland. He perished, however, on his way back, the following year. 1349, or, as others say, 1379, when Alf was bishop, a sudden descent was made on the West Bygd by the Esquimaux, or, as the Icelanders called them, Skrællings, the aborigines of the country, who, it is related, killed eighteen Greenlanders of the Icelandic race, and carried away two boys captive. As soon as intelligence of the event had reached the East Bygd, Ivar Bere, or Bardsen, who is believed to have officiated as lay-superintendent of the diocese, was sent with succours to the sister colony. He found, however, on arriving there, not a human being left, but merely a

In

All the accounts extant concerning Greenland, with much new matter, will be found embodied in Professors Magnussen and Rafn's work, "The Historical Monuments of Greenland," now in the press.

few cattle, which he took on board of his vessels, and sailed home with; and with this concludes all that has been handed down to us relative to the West Bygd.

With regard to the other, or East Bygd, we know that intercourse with it was kept up until towards the close of the fourteenth century, though the colony may not have been visited regularly every year, which it is evident, indeed, it was not, from the instructions given to the bishop Hendrick, on proceeding thither in 1388, to deposit the proceeds of the royal taxes, collected in the years when no vessel from the mother-country came to Greenland, at a given place.

The last bishop, or officialis, was, according to Torfæus, Andreas (properly Endride Andreason). He received his appointment in the year 1406, but whether he ever went to Greenland, or not, has been a matter of great uncertainty, until very lately, when Professor Finn Magnussen discovered authentic proof of his having actually officiated there, three years afterwards, at a marriage, from which the professor himself, and several other learned Icelanders, deduce their pedigree. From this date, however, all intercourse with Greenland ceased, the cause of which was, probably, Queen Margaret and King Erik's having laid a prohibition on its trade, which was considered a royal monopoly, and the proceeds devoted to the maintenance of the royal household, and of their successors being prevented from prosecuting it themselves by the wars in which they were perpetually involved. There is meanwhile one document extant, which throws some light upon the subsequent fate of the abandoned colonists; a letter of Pope Nicholas the Fifth to the bishops of Skalholt and Holum, discovered by Professor Mallet, some few years since, in the Papal Archives. I am induced to transcribe it here, by reason as well of its being little known, notwithstanding its having frequently appeared in print, as of its importance to the matter here in hand. The etter is dated in 1448, and (as given by Paul Egede) runs thus :

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In regard to my beloved children born in, and inhabiting the island of Greenland, which is said to be situate at the farthest limits of the Great Ocean, north of the kingdom of Norway, and in the see of Trondhiem, their pitiable complaints have reached our ears, and awakened our compassion, seeing that they have, for a period of near six hundred years*, maintained, in firm and inviolate subjection to the authority and ordinances of the Apostolic Chair, the Christian faith established among them by the preaching of their renowned teacher King Olaf, as well as, actuated

* Were this correct, the inhabitants of Greenland must have been Christians as early as the year 848; but, in point of fact, Christianity was not introduced by King Olaf into Norway itself until towards the close of the tenth century. It is, meanwhile, remarkable enough that there is a papal bull extant, in which the Greenlanders are mentioned as having been Christians ever since the year 835. Its authenticity on this point, however, is questioned by many.