natives.  And Adam of Bremen, who lived at this period, expressly states, that the king of Denmark informed him, that another island had been discovered in the ocean which washes Norway, called Vinland, from the vines which grew there; and he adds, we learn, not by fabulous hearsay, but by the express report of certain Danes, that fruits are produced without cultivation.  Ordericus Vitalis, in his Ecclesiastical History, under the year 1098, reckons Vinland along with Greenland, Iceland, and the Orkneys, as under the dominion of the king of Norway.

Where then was Vinland?—­it is generally believed it was part of America; and the objections which may be urged against this opinion, do not appear to us to be of much weight.  It is said that no part of America could be reached in four days, the space of time in which the first discoverer reached this land, and in which the voyages from Greenland to it seem generally to have been made.  But the west part of Greenland is so near some part of America, that a voyage might easily be effected in that time.  In answer to the objection, that vines do not grow in the northern parts of America, where Vinland, if part of this continent, must be fixed, it may be observed, that in Canada the vine bears a small fruit; and that still further north, in Hudson’s Bay, according to Mr. Ellis, vines grew spontaneously, producing a fruit which he compares to the currants of the Levant.  The circumstances mentioned in the Icelandic Chronicles respecting the natives, that their canoes are made of skins; that they are very expert with their bows and arrows; that on their coasts they fish for whales, and in the interior live by hunting; that their merchandize consists of whalebone and furs; that they are fond of iron, and instruments made of it; and that they were small in stature, all coincide with what we know to be characterestic of the inhabitants of Labrador.  It is probable, therefore, that this part of America, or the island of Newfoundland, was the Vinland discovered by the Icelanders.

The beginning and middle of the tenth century witnessed an increasing spirit of commerce, as well as considerable attention to geographical pursuits in other Scandinavian nations, as well as the Icelanders.  Periodical public fairs were established in several towns of Germany, and other parts of the North:  one of the most considerable articles of traffic at these fairs consisted of slaves taken in war.  Sleswig is represented as a port of considerable trade and consequence; from it sailed ships to Slavonia, Semland, and Greece, or rather, perhaps, Russia.  From a port on the side of Jutland, opposite to Sleswig, vessels traded to Frisca, Saxony, and England; and from another port in Jutland they sailed to Fionia, Scania, and Norway.  Sweden is represented as, at this time, carrying on an extensive and lucrative trade.  At the mouth of the Oder, on the south side of the Baltic, there seems to have been one, if not two towns which were enriched by commerce.