ain and sail. Leif
considered the timber that he saw of little worth to them. It was
mostly small wood, and soft or of open texture.

They sailed, then, once more, with a fresh north-easterly wind blowing
off the shore, and were two days at sea without sight of land. But
then they made an island in the sea, and south of that saw the
mainland, and a great frith striking up into it. There was no snow
hereabouts, and the air was balmy and scented, blowing from the island.
"Here," said Leif, "is a land worth visiting, I believe. Let us cast
anchor in the lew of the island for the night; and to-morrow we will
row up the frith yonder and see what we shall see." They found good
holding-ground under the island, and then, as the light was good for
several hours yet, launched the boat and rowed to the shore. The place
lay peaceful in the level afternoon light, with trees softly rustling,
and birds calling to each other from thickets. They wandered about,
singing as they went, or calling to each other to see some new thing.
Gradually the sun sank and the light began to draw in. One of them by
chance stooped down and felt the grass. There was dew upon it. He put
his finger into his mouth; and then he said, "This is a holy place.
The dew tastes sweet." They all tried it that were there, and believed
it. This filled them with wonder, and some of them walked about on
tiptoe, as if they had no business to be there.

They slept on board ship, and in the morning very early found that the
tide had gone down and that she lay on her side, high and dry. The
tide went back so far that it was possible to walk from the island to
the mainland. As for the frith, it had shrunk to a dribble of water.
But all this made no matter, so eager were they to savour the country
which was heralded by so fair an island. They jumped off the ship's
side on to the sand, which was firm and white, and ran to shore, and up
the frith, where the going was easy for a mile or two. They found that
it issued from a great lake, many miles in length, and many in width.
It was shallow at the edges, but in the midst looked to be deep enough.
On the shores of this lake were fine trees growing, of such wood as
none of them had ever seen before; flowers, shrubs, birds were alike
new to them. In the pools of the river left by the tide they saw great
fish lying, which Leif thought were salmon.

They wandered about all the forenoon, and when it was time to eat