Page:The Heimskringla; or, Chronicle of the Kings of Norway Vol 3.djvu/360

 348 CHRONICLE OF THE APPENDIX, lay on the north side of the land, where they landed to wait for good weather. There was dew upon the grass ; and havino- accidentally got some of the dew upon their hands and put it to their mouths, they thought they had never tasted any thing so sweet as it was. Then they went on board, and sailed into a sound that was between the island and a ness which went out northwards from the land, and sailed west past the ness. There was very shallow water in ebb-tide, so that their ship lay dry ; and there was a long way between their ship and the water. They were so de- sirous to get to the land that they would not wait till their vessel floated, but ran to the land, to a place where a river comes out of a lake. As soon as their ship was afloat, they took the boats, rowed to the ship, towed her up the river, and from thence into the lake, where they cast anchor, carried their beds out of the ship, and set up their tents. They re- solved to put things in order for wintering there, and they erected a large house. They did not want for salmon, both in the river and in the lake ; and they thought the salmon larger than any they had ever seen before. The country appeared to them of so good a kind, that it would not be ne- cessary to gather fodder for the cattle for the winter. There was no frost in winter, and the grass was not much withered. Day and night were more equal than in Greenland or Ice- land ; for on the shortest day the sun was in the sky between the Eyktarstad and the Dagmalastad. Now when they were ready with their house-building, Leif said to his fellow-tra- vellers, " Now I will divide the crew into two divisions, and explore the country : half shall stay at home and do the work, and the other half shall search the land ; but so that they do not go farther than that they can come back in the evening, and that they do not wander from each other." This they continued to do for some time. Leif changed about, sometimes with them, and sometimes with those at home. Leif was a stout and strong man, and of manly ap- pearance ; and he was besides a prudent sagacious man in all respects. Chapter It happened one evening that a man of the party was Leif win. missing ; and it was the South-country man, Tyrker. Leif tersinthis was vcry sorry for it; because Tyrker had been long in his and"cails It father's house, and he loved Tyrker in his childhood. Leif