第15章 LETTER VI(6)

Hvilir Her;Glwde Gude Sal Hennar.""Vigdessa rests here;God gladden her soul."But the most interesting of these inions is one discovered,in 1824,in an island in Baffin's Bay,in latitude 72degrees 55',as it shows how boldly these Northmen must have penetrated into regions supposed to have been unvisited by man before the voyages of our modern navigators:--"Erling Sighvatson and Biomo Thordarson,and Eindrid Oddson,on Saturday before Ascension-week,raised these marks and cleared ground,1135:"This date of Ascension-week implies that these three men wintered here,which must lead us to imagine that at that time,seven hundred years ago,the climate was less inclement than it is now.]

What could have been the calamity which suddenly annihilated this Christian people,it is impossible to say;whether they were massacred by some warlike tribe of natives,or swept off to the last man by the terrible pestilence of 1349,called "The Black Death,"or,--most horrible conjecture of all,--beleaguered by vast masses of ice setting down from the Polar Sea along the eastern coast of Greenland,and thus miserably frozen,we are never likely to know--so utterly did they perish,so mysterious has been their doom.

On the other hand,certain traditions,with regard to the discovery of a vast continent by their forefathers away in the south-west,seems never entirely to have died out of the memory of the Icelanders;and in the month of February,1477,there arrives at Reykjavik,in a barque belonging to the port of Bristol,a certain long-visaged,grey-eyed Genoese mariner,who was observed to take an amazing interest in hunting up whatever was known on the subject.Whether Columbus--for it was no less a personage than he--really learned anything to confirm him in his noble resolutions,is uncertain;but we have still extant an historical manu,written at all events before the year 1395,that is to say,one hundred years prior to Columbus'voyage,which contains a minute account of how a certain person named Lief,while sailing over to Greenland,was driven out of his course by contrary winds,until he found himself off an extensive and unknown coast,which increased in beauty and fertility as he descended south,and how,in consequence of the representation Lief made on his return,successive expeditions were undertaken in the same direction.On two occasions their wives seem to have accompanied the adventurers;of one ship's company the skipper was a lady:while two parties even wintered in the new land,built houses,and prepared to colonize.

For some reason,however,the intention was abandoned;and in process of time these early voyages came to be considered as aprocryphal as the Phoenician circumnavigation of Africa in the time of Pharaoh Necho.

It is quite uncertain how low a latitude in America the Northmen ever reached;but from the deion given of the scenery,products,and inhabitants,--from the mildness of the weather,--and from the length of the day on the 21st of December,--it is conjectured they could not have descended much farther than Newfoundland,Nova Scotia,or,at most,the coast of Massachusetts.[Footnote:There is a certain piece of rock on the Taunton river,in Massachusetts,called the Deighton Stone,on which are to be seen rude configurations,for a long time supposed to be a Runic inion executed by these Scandinavian voyagers;but there can be now no longer any doubt of this inion,such as it is,being of Indian execution.]

But to return to more material matters.

Yesterday--no--the day before--in fact I forget the date of the day--I don't believe it had one--all I know is,I have not been in bed since,--we dined at the Governor's;--though dinner is too modest a term to apply to the entertainment.

The invitation was for four o'clock,and at half-past three we pulled ashore in the gig;I,innocent that Iwas,in a well-fitting white waistcoat.

The Government House,like all the others,is built of wood,on the top of a hillock;the only accession of dignity it can boast being a little bit of mangy kitchen-garden that hangs down in front to the road,like a soiled apron.There was no lock,handle,bell,or knocker to the door,but immediately on our approach,a servant presented himself,and ushered us into the room where Count Trampe was waiting to welcome us.After having been presented to his wife,we proceeded to shake hands with the other guests,most of whom I already knew;and I was glad to find that,at all events in Iceland,people do not consider it necessary to pass the ten minutes which precede the announcement of dinner,as if they had assembled to assist at the opening of their entertainer's will,instead of his oysters.The company consisted of the chief dignitaries of the island,including the Bishop,the Chief justice,etc.etc.,some of them in uniform,and all with holiday faces.As soon as the door was opened,Count Trampe tucked me under his arm--two other gentlemen did the same to my two companions--and we streamed into the dining-room.The table was very prettily arranged with flowers,plate,and a forest of glasses.

Fitzgerald and I were placed on either side of our host,the other guests,in due order,beyond.On my left sat the Rector,and opposite,next to Fitz,the chief physician of the island.Then began a series of transactions of which I have no distinct recollection;in fact,the events of the next five hours recur to me in as great disarray as reappear the vestiges of a country that has been disfigured by some deluge.If I give you anything like a connected account of what passed,you must thank Sigurdr's more solid temperament;for the Doctor looked quite foolish when I asked him--tried to feel my pulse--could not find it--and then wrote the following preion,which I believe to be nothing more than an invoice of the number of bottles he himself disposed of.