The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 5, Primitive History. Hubert Howe Bancroft

wood and bellowed loudly. At this the Skrellings got terrified and rushed to their canoes, and rowed away southwards. About this time Gudrida, Karlsefne's wife, gave birth to a son, who received the name of Snorre. In the beginning of the following winter the Skrellings came again in much greater numbers; they showed symptoms of hostility, setting up loud yells. Karlsefne caused the red shield to be borne against them, whereupon they advanced against each other, and a battle commenced. There was a galling discharge of missiles. The Skrellings had a sort of war slings. They elevated on a pole a tremendously large ball, almost the size of a sheep's stomach, and of a bluish colour; this they swung from the pole upon land over Karlsefne's people, and it descended with a fearful crash. This struck terror into the Northmen, and they fled along the river. Freydisa came out and saw them flying; she thereupon exclaimed, 'How can stout men like you fly from these miserable caitifs, whom I thought you could knock down like cattle? If I had only a weapon, I ween I could fight better than any of you.' They heeded not her words. She tried to keep pace with them, but the advanced state of her pregnancy retarded her. She however followed them into the wood. There she encountered a dead body. It was Thorbrand Snorrason; a flat stone was sticking fast in his head. His naked sword lay by his side. This she took up, and prepared to defend herself. She uncovered her breasts, and dashed them against the naked sword. At this sight the Skrellings became terrified, and ran off to their canoes. Karlsefne and the rest now came up to her and praised her courage. Karlsefne and his people were now become aware that, although the country held out many advantages, still the life that they would have to lead here would be one of constant alarm from the hostile attacks of the natives. They therefore made preparations for departure, with the resolution of returning to their own country. They sailed eastward, and came to Streamfirth. Karlsefne then took one of the ships, and sailed in quest of Thorhall, while the rest remained behind. They proceeded northwards round Kialarnes, and after that were carried to the north-west. The land lay to larboard of them. There were thick forests in all directions, as far as they could see, with scarcely any open space. They considered the hills at Hope and those which they now saw as forming part of one continuous range. They spent the third winter at Streamfirth. Karlsefne's son Snorre was now three years of age. When they sailed from Vineland they had a southerly wind, and came to Markland, where they met with five Skrellings. They caught two of them (two boys), whom they carried away along with them, and taught them the Norse language, and baptised them; these children said that their mother was called Vethilldi and their father Uvæge; they said that the Skrellings were ruled by chieftains (kings), one of whom was called Avalldamon, and the other Valdidida; that there were no houses in the country, but that the people dwelled in holes and caverns. Biarne Grimolfson was driven into the Irish Ocean, and came into waters that were so infested by worms, that their ship was in consequence reduced to a sinking state. Some of the crew, however, were saved in the boat, as it had been smeared with seal-oil tar, which is a preventive against the attack of worms. Karlsefne continued his voyage to Greenland, and arrived at Ericsfiord."

      During the same summer that Karlsefne returned from Vinland, a ship arrived at Greenland from Norway, commanded by two brothers, Helge and Finnboge. And Freydisa, she who had frightened the Skrellings, went to them and proposed they should make a voyage to Vinland, and she offered to go with them on condition that an equal share of what they obtained there should be hers; and they agreed to this. It was arranged between the brothers and Freydisa that each should have thirty fighting men, besides women. But Freydisa secretly brought away five men more than the allotted number. They reached Vinland and spent the winter there. During their stay Freydisa prevailed on her husband to slay the two brothers and their followers; the women that were with them she killed with her own hand. In the spring of the next year they returned to Greenland.224

      In the latter part of the tenth century,225 one Are Marson, of Iceland, was driven by storms to Hvitramannaland, or Land of the Whitemen. This country, which was also called Great Ireland, has been thought to be "probably that part of the Coast of North America which extends southwards from Chesapeak Bay, including North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida."226 Here, also, one Biörn Asbrandson is said to have ended his days.227

      I do not propose to give here all that has been said about these voyages, as it would not be pertinent to the question which we are reviewing, namely, the origin of the Americans. Indeed, the entire subject of the Northmen's voyages and colonization, might almost be said to be without our province, as it is not asserted that they were actually the first inhabitants of the New World.

      The relics that have been thought to prove their former presence in the continent, are neither numerous nor important. One of these is the Dighton Rock, of which I have had occasion to speak before, in connection with the Phœnician theory.228 In 1824, a stone engraved with Runic characters was found on the island of Kingiktorsoak, on the western coast of Greenland.229

SCANDINAVIAN THEORY

      Priest is strongly inclined to believe that a glass bottle about the size of a common junk bottle, "having a stopple in its nuzzle," an iron hatchet edged with steel, the remains of a blacksmith's forge, and some ploughed-up crucibles, all found in the town of Pompey, Onondaga County, New York, are of Scandinavian origin.230

      Brasseur de Bourbourg has found many words in the languages of Central America which bear, he thinks, marked Scandinavian traces; little can be proven by this, however, since he finds as many other words that as strongly resemble Latin, Greek, English, French, and many other languages. The learned Abbé believes, moreover, that some of the ancient traditions of the Central American nations point to a north-east origin.231 Viollet-le-Duc is struck with the similarity that existed between the religious customs and ideas of the ancient Northmen and of the Quichés as expressed in the Popol Vuh.232

A WELSH COLONY IN AMERICA

      We come now to the theory that the Americans, or at least part of them, are of Celtic origin. In the old Welsh annals there is an account of a voyage made in the latter half of the twelfth century,233 by one Madoc, a son of Owen Gwynedd, prince of North Wales. The story goes, that after the death of Gwynedd, his sons contended violently for the sovereignty. Madoc, who was the only peaceable one among them, determined to leave his disturbed country and sail in search of some unknown land where he might dwell in peace. He accordingly procured an abundance of provisions and a few ships and embarked with his friends and followers. For many months they sailed westward without finding a resting-place; but at length they came to a large and fertile country, where, after sailing for some distance along the coast in search of a convenient landing-place, they disembarked, and permanently settled. After a time Madoc, with part of his company, returned to Wales, where he fitted out ten ships with all manner of supplies, prevailed on a large number of his countrymen to join him, and once more set sail for the new colony, which, though we hear no more about him or his settlement, he is supposed to have reached safely.234

THE AMERICANS OF WELSH ORIGIN

      The exact location of Madoc's colony has only been guessed at. Baldwin says it is supposed that he settled 'somewhere in the Carolinas.' Caradoc, in his history of Wales,235 has no doubt that the country where Madoc established his colony was Mexico; this he thinks is shown by three facts: first, the Mexicans believed that their ancestors came from a beautiful country afar off, inhabited by white people; secondly, they adored the cross; and thirdly, several Welsh names are found in Mexico. Peter Martyr affirms that the aborigines of Virginia, as well as those of Guatemala, celebrate the memory of an ancient and illustrious hero, named Madoc. Harcourt, in the preface to the account of his voyage to Guiana,236 says that that part of America was discovered and possessed by the Welsh prince, Madoc. Herbert, according to Martyr, says that the land discovered by the prince was Florida or Virginia.237 Catlin is inclined to believe

224

See Abstract of Hist. Evid., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 114, et seq., and De Costa's Pre-Columbian Disc. Amer., p. 11, et seq.

225

In the year 983, according to Abstract of Hist. Evid., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 125. De Costa makes it 928. Pre-Columbian Disc. Amer., p. 86.

226

'Professor Rafn in, what seems to the author, his needless anxiety to fix the locality of the White-man's land in America, says that, as this part of the manuscript is difficult to decipher, the original letters may have got changed, and vi inserted instead of xx, or xi, which numerals would afford time for the voyager to reach the coast of America, in the vicinity of Florida. Smith in his Dialogues, has even gone so far as to suppress the term six altogether, and substitutes, "by a number of days sail unknown." This is simply trifling with the subject. In Grönland's Historiske Mindesmœrker, chiefly the work of Finn Magnussen, no question is raised on this point. The various versions all give the number six, which limits the voyage to the vicinity of the Azores. Schöning, to whom we are so largely indebted for the best edition of Heimskringla, lays the scene of Marson's adventure at those islands, and suggests that they may at that time have covered a larger extent of territory than the present, and that they may have suffered from earthquakes and floods, adding, "It is likely, and all circumstances show, that the said land has been a piece of North America." This is a bold, though not very unreasonable hypothesis, especially as the volcanic character of the islands is well known. In 1808, a volcano rose to the height of 3,500 feet. Yet Schöning's suggestion is not needed. The fact that the islands were not inhabited when discovered by the Portuguese does not, however, settle anything against Schöning, because in the course of five hundred years, the people might either have migrated, or been swept away by pestilence. Grönland's Historiske Mindesmœrker, (vol. i., p. 150), says simply, that "It is thought that he (Are Marson) ended his days in America, or at all events in one of the larger islands of the west. Some think that it was one of the Azore islands."' De Costa's Pre-Columbian Disc. Amer., p. 87.

227

Abstract of Hist. Evid., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 125; De Costa's Pre-Columbian Disc. Amer., p. 89, et seq.

228

See Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., pp. 110, et seq., for plate and discussion of Dighton Rock.

229

It bore the following inscription: Elligr. Sigvaps: son: r. ok. Bjanne. Tortarson: ok: Enripi. osson: laugardag. in: fyrir gagndag Holpu: varda te. ok rydu: M. C. XXXV; or, Erling Sighvatssonr, ok Bjarne Pordarson, ok Endridi oddsson laugardaginn fyrir gagndag hlodu varda pessa ok ruddu 1135; 'c'est-à-dire: Erling Sigvatson, Bjarne Thordarson, et Endride Oddson érigèrent ces monceaux de pierres le samedi avant le jour nommé Gagndag (le 25 avril) et ils nettoyèrent la place en 1135.' Warden, Recherches, p. 152.

230

'We have noticed the discovery of a place called Estotiland, supposed to be Nova Scotia, in 1354, the inhabitants of which were Europeans, who cultivated grain, lived in stone houses, and manufactured beer, as in Europe at that day. Now, from the year 1354, till the time of the first settlements made in Onondaga county, by the present inhabitants, is about 400 years. Is it not possible, therefore, that this glass bottle, with some kind of liquor in it, may have been derived from this Estotiland, having been originally brought from Europe; as glass had been in use there, more or less, from the year 664, till the Scandinavians colonized Iceland, Greenland, and Estotiland, or Newfoundland.' Priest's Amer. Antiq., pp. 260-1.

231

'Malgré les réclamations que mes suppositions soulevèrent de divers côtés et les sourires incrédules qu'elles appelèrent sur les lèvres de plusieurs de nos savants dont je respecte et honore les connaissances, je persiste plus que jamais dans l'opinion que j'exprimais alors; plus j'avance dans mes études américaines plus je demeure convaincu des relations qui existèrent, antérieurement à Christophe Colomb, entre le Nouveau-Monde et les contrées situées à l'orient de l'autre côté de l'océan Atlantique, et plus je suis persuadé que les Scandinaves ont dû, à une période même plus reculée que celle dont vos (Prof. Rafn's) intéressants mémoires rapportent le souvenir, émigrer vers le continent américain.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1858, tom. clx., pp. 261-92.

232

'Il est impossible de ne point être frappé de l'analogie qui existe entre les idées bramaniques sur la divinité et les passages du Popol-Vuh cités plus haut. Mais si nous consultons les traditions beaucoup plus récentes, conservées même après l'établissement du christianisme en Suède, nous trouverons encore, entre les coutumes religieuses des populations de ces contrées et celles qui nous sont retracées dans le Popol-Vuh, plus d'un rapport.' Viollet-le-Duc, in Charnay, Ruines Amér., pp. 41-2. See farther concerning emigration to America from north-western Europe: Mitchill, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 341, et seq.; Priest's Amer. Antiq., scattered notices, pp. 88-9, 234-329; Robertson's Hist. Amer., vol. i., pp. 278-80; Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. i., pp. 110-11, 120-4; Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., pp. 157-8; Viollet-le-Duc, in Charnay, Ruines Amér., pp. 11, 18-19, 23-4, 42-3; Warden, Recherches, pp. 146-54; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 28-30, 117; Tschudi's Peruvian Antiq., pp. 3-7, 21-2; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. i., pp. 197-8; Davis' Discovery of New England by the Northmen; Baldwin's Anc. Amer., pp. 279-85; Davis' Anc. Amer., pp. 13-31; Tylor's Anahuac, pp. 278-9; M'Culloh's Researches on Amer., pp. 21-2; Brinton's Abbé Brasseur, in Lippincott's Mag., vol. i., p. 79, et seq.; Smith's Human Species, p. 237; Deuber, Geschichte der Schiffahrt; Hermes, Entdeckung von Amer., pp. 1-134; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, pp. 399-400; Hill's Antiq. of Amer.; Wilson's Prehist. Man, pp. 394-420; Kruger's Discov. Amer., pp. 1-134; Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., pp. 53-64, 404, 411-12; Beaufoy's Mex. Illustr., p. 322; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. 18-22; Id., Popol Vuh, pp. li. – liv., lxxxix. – xcii.; Hist. Mag., vol. ix., pp. 364-5; Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., p. 15; Humboldt's Exam. Crit., tom. ii., pp. 83-104, 105-20; Irving's Columbus, vol. iii., pp. 432-40; Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 239; Klemm, Cultur-Geschichte, tom. v., pp. 164-71; Rafinesque, The American Nations; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Lettres, p. 17; Williamson's Observations on Climate; Zesterman's Colonization of America by Northwestern Europeans; Farcy, Discours, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. i., pp. 48-9; Simpson's Nar., p. 159; Schoolcraft, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 391-6.

233

About 1169-70.

234

'All this is related in old Welsh annals preserved in the abbeys of Conway and Strat Flur… This emigration of Prince Madog is mentioned in the preserved works of several Welsh bards who lived before the time of Columbus. It is mentioned by Hakluyt, who had his account of it from writings of the bard Guttun Owen. As the Northmen had been in New England over one hundred and fifty years when Prince Madog went forth to select a place for his settlement, he knew very well there was a continent on the other side of the Atlantic, for he had knowledge of their voyages to America; and knowledge of them was also prevalent in Ireland. His emigration took place when Henry II. was king of England, but in that age the English knew little or nothing of Welsh affairs in such a way as to connect them with English history very closely.' Baldwin's Anc. Amer., p. 286. See also Humboldt, Exam. Crit., tom. ii., pp. 142-9; Farcy, Discours, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. i., pp. 49-50. 'Before wee passed these ilands, under the lee of the bigger iland, we anchored, the wind being at north-east, with intent to refresh ourselves with the fowles of these ilands. They are of divers sorts, and in great plentie, as pengwins, wilde duckes, gulles, and gannets; of the principall we purposed to make provisions, and those were the pengwins; which in Welsh, as I have beene enformed, signifieth a white head. From which derivation, and many other Welsh denominations given by the Indians, or their predecessors, some doe inferre that America was first peopled with Welsh-men; and Montezanna, king, or rather emperour of Mexico, did recount unto the Spaniards, at their first comming, that his auncestors came from a farre countrie, and were white people. Which, conferred with an auncient cronicle, that I have read many yeares since, may be conjectured to bee a prince of Wales, who many hundreth yeares since, with certaine shippes, sayled to the westwards, with intent to make new discoveries. Hee was never after heard of.' Hawkins' Voy., in Hakluyt Soc., p. 111.

235

Written in Welsh, translated into English by Humphrey Llwyd, and published by Dr David Powel in 1584.

236

Dedicated to Prince Charles, and published in 1613.

237

See Warden, Recherches, pp. 154-7.