again to Vinland is a matter of
uncertainty, for the saga is silent on that point; and it is to be
feared that Snorro, the first American, did not return to take
possession of his native land, for when the great continent was
re-discovered about five hundred years later, only "red-skins" were
found there; and the Pilgrim Fathers make no mention of having met with
descendants of any colony of white men.

What ultimately became of Snorro and Olaf is, we regret to say, unknown.
This, however, is certain, that Karlsefin, according to his
oft-expressed intention, retired to Iceland, where he dwelt happily with
Gudrid, Leif, Biarne, and Thorward for many years. It is therefore
probable that Snorro and Olaf took to a seafaring life, which was almost
the only life open to enterprising men in those days. If they did, they
distinguished themselves--there can be no doubt whatever upon that
point.

As to the other personages who have figured in our tale, we can only
surmise--at least hope--that they lived long and happily, for the saga
relates nothing as to the end of their respective careers. But of this
we are quite sure, that wherever they went, or however long they lived,
they never failed to retain a lively recollection of that romantic
period of their lives when they sojourned in the pleasant groves of
Vinland--that mighty continent which, all unsuspected by these men of
old, was destined, in the course of time, to play such a grand and
important part in the world's history.

Thus ends all that we have got to tell of the adventures of the Norsemen
in the West, and the Discovery of America before Columbus.

THE END.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note. An important Christian colony existed in Greenland for nearly 400
years--from some time in the tenth to near the end of the fourteenth
century,--a colony in which, in the fourteenth century, there were 190
townships and a town called Garda, in which were a cathedral, bishop's
seat, and twelve or thirteen churches, besides other Christian
establishments, with a regular succession of bishops for their
superintendence, of whom seventeen are named in the sagas. This colony,
strange to say, was obliterated, no one knew how or when, and its very
existence was forgotten by the civilised world. It was chronicled,
however, in the Icelandic sagas and brought to light by antiquaries of
the highest authority. The statistical details