was not fit for a
long voyage. And Thorstan would not go either, though he kept away
from Stockness, and saw nothing of Gudrid. Thorwald would have been
glad of his help, for Thorstan was very strong and a man who could be
depended upon; but he saw the trouble in his eyes and forbore to urge
him. It came to this, then, that Thorwald was in sole command. He was
young and full of spirit; he did not doubt himself the least in the
world: but Leif doubted him, and threw away much sound advice upon him.

They sailed out of the frith one fine afternoon, and were lost to
sight. They had a prosperous voyage throughout, and no trouble in
picking up the Island of Sweet Dew, the river and the lake. There, in
a glade of the forest and in full view of the lake, they saw the booths
still standing, which Lief and his men had set up. They were intact,
the bolts seemingly not drawn, and not much the matter with the goods
within, but what fresh air and sunlight could amend it. They spent the
better part of six weeks in and about those shores, but then, leaving a
garrison at the booths, Thorwald and the rest of the crew went far and
wide over the land, travelling mainly by boat up the great river which
fed the lake on the west. They did not return till late in the autumn.

They reported to their friends that so far as they had been the forest
land extended, with timber in it of incredible size and height. It
increased in density the further they went, and the country all level,
with no mountains to be seen. In the river were many shallows, and
islands too; the shores were white sand and firm to walk upon. They
had met with few animals, and no signs of men at all. Thorwald, who
was unaccustomed to a forest country, said that he should never settle
there, and that he should go further north, where a man might perhaps
see where he was going. But they stayed out the winter where they were.

In the spring they made their preparations to depart. They sailed east
in the first place, but always north of the land, but encountered rough
weather off a great headland which drove them on to the beach and broke
the ship's back. That gave them a great deal of work, and involved a
long stay while they mended her. There was abundance of timber, and of
good quality, and they were well stocked with tools; but there was much
building to be done before they could get at their work, and it took
them the best part of the summer. But they were