board of that discovery-ship who were tinged with the first rays of that
sweet light which, in the person of the Son of God, was sent to lighten
the world and to shine more and more unto the perfect day.

"Now," said Karlsefin, at the conclusion of one of his stories, "that is
the saga of Halfdan the Black--at least it is part of his saga; but,
friends, it seems to me that we must begin a saga of our own, for it is
evident that if we are successful in this venture we shall have
something to relate when we return to Greenland, and we must all learn
to tell our saga in the same words, for that is the only way in which
_truth_ can be handed down to future generations, seeing that when men
are careless in learning the truth they are apt to distort it so that
honest men are led into telling lies unwittingly. They say that the
nations of the south have invented a process whereby with a
sharp-pointed tool they fashion marks on skins to represent words, so
that once put down in this way a saga never changes. Would that we
Norsemen understood that process!" said Karlsefin meditatively.

"It seems to me," said Biarne, who reclined on the deck, leaning against
the weather-bulwarks and running his fingers playfully through Olaf's
fair curls, "It seems to me that it were better to bestow the craft of
the skald on the record of our voyage, for then the measure and the
rhyme would chain men to the words, and so to the truth--that is,
supposing they get truth to start with! Come, Karlsefin, begin our
voyage for us."

All present seemed to agree to that proposal, and urged Karlsefin to
begin at once.

The skipper--for such indeed was his position in the ship--though a
modest man, was by no means bashful, therefore, after looking round upon
the moonlit sea for a few minutes, he began as follows:--

"When western waves were all unknown,
And western fields were all unsown,
When Iceland was the outmost bound
That roving viking-keels had found--
Gunbiorn then--Ulf Kraka's son--
Still farther west was forced to run
By furious gales, and there saw land
Stretching abroad on either hand.
Eric of Iceland, called the Red,
Heard of the news and straightway said--
`This western land I'll go and see;
Three summers hence look out for me.'
He went; he landed; stayed awhile,
And wintered first on `Eric's Isle;'
Then searched the coast both far and wide,
Then back to Iceland o'er the tide.
`A wondrous lan