of Norway was coming against them with a considerable fleet, they
departed in haste; and being assailed by a violent tempest, they were
driven on certain shoals where a part of their ships were lost, and the
remainder were saved upon _Grisfand_[11], a large but uninhabited island.
The fleet of the king of Norway was overtaken by the same storm and mostly
perished; of which _Zichmni_, who was personally engaged in this
expedition, was apprized in consequence of one of the enemy's ships having
likewise been forced to take refuge in _Grisland_. Finding himself driven
so far to the north, and having repaired his ships, Zichmni now resolved to
make an attack upon the island of Iceland, which was under the dominion of
the king of Norway; but finding it too well fortified and defended for his
small force, and reflecting that his diminished fleet was now in bad
repair, he deemed it prudent to retire. In his way homewards, however, he
made an attack upon the islands of _Estland_, of which there are seven in
number. These are _Tolas_, Yeal or Zel; _Broas_, Brassa sound; _Iscant_,
Unst or Vust; _Trans_, Trondra; _Mimant_, Mainland; _Danbert_[12]; and
_Bres_, or Bressa; all of which he plundered, and built a fort in Bres,
where he left Nicolo Zeno in the command, with a sufficient garrison and a
few small barks, while he returned himself to Frisland. In the ensuing
spring, Nicolo Zeno resolved to go out upon discoveries; and, having fitted
out three small vessels, he set sail in July, shaping his course to the
northwards, and arrived in _Engroveland_[13], where he found a monastery of
predicant friars, and a church dedicated to St Thomas, hard by a mountain
that threw out fire like Etna or Vesuvius.

In this place there is a spring of boiling hot water, by means of which the
monks heat their church, monastery, and cells. It is likewise brought info
their kitchen, and is so hot that they use no fire for dressing their
victuals; and by enclosing their bread in brass pots without any water, it
is baked by means of this hot fountain as well as if an oven had been used
for the purpose. The monks have also small gardens, covered over in winter,
which being watered from the hot spring are effectually defended from the
extreme cold and snow, which are so rigorous in this region so near the
pole. By these means they produce flowers, and fruits, and different kinds
of herbs, just as they grow in temperate climates; and the rude savages of
thos