hem and
the Norwegians, for the purpose of commerce or for the gratification of
curiosity. Biorn Heriolson, an Icelander, was the first discoverer:
steering for Greenland, he was driven to the south by tempestuous and
unfavorable winds, and saw different parts of America, without, however,
touching at any of them. Attracted by the report of this voyage, Leif,
son of Eric, the discoverer of Greenland, fitted out a vessel to pursue
the same adventure. He passed the coast visited by Biorn, and steered
southwest till he reached a strait between a large island and the main
land. Finding the country fertile and pleasant, he passed the winter
near this place, and gave it the name of Vinland,[16] from the wild vine
which grew there in great abundance.[17] The winter days were longer in
this new country than in Greenland, and the weather was more temperate.

Leif returned to Greenland in the spring; his brother Thorvald succeeded
him, and remained two winters in Vinland exploring much of the coast and
country.[19] In the course of the third summer the natives, now called
Esquimaux, were first seen; on account of their diminutive stature the
adventurers gave them the name of _Skraelingar_.[20] These poor savages,
irritated by an act of barbarous cruelty, attacked the Northmen with
darts and arrows, and Thorvald fell a victim to their vengeance. A
wealthy Icelander, named Thorfinn, established a regular colony in
Vinland soon after this event; the settlers increased rapidly in
numbers, and traded with the natives for furs and skins to great
advantage. After three years the adventurers returned to Iceland
enriched by the expedition, and reported favorably upon the new country.
Little is known of this settlement after Thorfinn's departure till early
in the twelfth century, when a bishop of Greenland[21] went there to
promulgate the Christian faith among the colonists; beyond that time
scarcely a notice of its existence occurs, and the name and situation of
the ancient Vinland soon passed away from the knowledge of man. Whether
the adventurous colonists ever returned, or became blended with the
natives,[22] or perished by their hands, no record remains to tell.[23]

Discoveries such as these by the ancient Scandinavians--fruitless to the
world and almost buried in oblivion--can not dim the glory of that
transcendant genius to whom we owe the knowledge of a New World.

The claim of the Welsh to the first discovery of America seems to