A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume I Part 5

Note.--The subsequent sections of this chapter, although not of much importance in themselves, and some of them possessing rather doubtful authenticity, are inserted in this place on the authority of Hakluyt. In an English general collection of voyages and travels, it would have been improper to have omitted these early specimens, some of which are considerably interesting and curious. In some measure these sections do not strictly belong to the present chapter, as limited to the reign of Alfred, and the ninth century; but as they contain isolated circ.u.mstances, which do not otherwise properly arrange themselves into the order of our plan, they may be considered as forming a kind of appendix to the era of Alfred. The number of these might have been considerably increased from different sources, chiefly from Hakluyt, who collected them from the ancient historians; but as they contain hardly any information, except historical, which does not enter into our plan, the selection here given has been deemed quite sufficient for this work.

SECTION VII

_The Travels of Andrew Leucander, or Whiteman, in the Eleventh Century_[1].

Andrew Leucander, or Whiteman, as his Latinized name is explained by Leland the antiquary, was an English monk, and third abbot of the monastery of Ramsay, who was much addicted to the study of the liberal sciences, devoting incredible exertions, both by day and night, to their cultivation, in which he profited exceedingly. Having a most ardent desire to visit those places where Christ our Saviour had perfected all the mysteries of our redemption, of which he only knew the names in the course of studying the Scriptures, he went from England to the holy city of Jerusalem, where he visited all the places which had been ill.u.s.trated by the miracles, preaching, and pa.s.sion of Christ; and on his return to the monastery he was elected abbot. He flourished in the year of our redemption, 1020, under Canute the Dane.

[1] Hakluyt, II. 39.

SECTION VIII.

_The Voyage of Swa.n.u.s to Jerusalem in 1052_[1].

Swa.n.u.s or Sweno, one of the sons of Earl G.o.dwin, being of a perverse disposition, and faithless to the king, often quarrelled with his father and his brother Harold; and, becoming a pirate, he disgraced the virtues of his ancestors, by his robberies on the seas. At length, being guilty of the murder of his kinsman Bruno, and, as some report, of his own brother, he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and on his return towards England, he was intercepted by the Saracens, by whom he was slain.

SECTION IX.

_A Voyage of three Amba.s.sadors from England to Constantinople and the East, about the year 1056_[2].

Upon the holy festival of Easter, King Edward the Confessor, wearing his royal crown, sat at dinner in his palace of Westminster, surrounded by many of his n.o.bles. While others, after the long abstinence of the lent season, refreshed themselves with dainty viands, on which they fed with much earnestness, he, raising his mind above earthly enjoyments, and meditating on divine things, broke out into excessive laughter, to the great astonishment of his guests. But no one presuming to inquire into the cause of his mirth, all kept silence till dinner was ended. After dinner, when the king had retired to his bed-chamber, to divest himself of his robes, three of his n.o.bles, Earl Harold, an abbot, and a bishop, who were more familiar with him than any of the other courtiers, followed him into the chamber, and boldly asked the reason of his mirth, as it had appeared strange to the whole court that his majesty should break out into unseemly laughter on so solemn a day, while all others were silent. "I saw," said he, "most wonderful things, and therefore did I not laugh without cause."

And they, as is customary with all men, became therefore the more anxious to learn the occasion of his mirth, and humbly beseeched him to impart the reason to them. After musing for some time, he at length informed them, that seven sleepers had rested during two hundred years on Mount Ceelius, lying always. .h.i.therto on their right sides; but that, in the very moment of his laughter, they had turned themselves over to their left sides, in which posture they should continue asleep for other seventy-four years, being a dire omen of future misery to mankind. For all those things which our Saviour had foretold to his disciples, that were to be fulfilled about the end of the world, should come to pa.s.s within those seventy-four years. That nation should rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there would be in many places earthquakes, pestilence, and famine, and terrible apparitions in the heavens, and great signs, with great alterations of dominion; wars of the infidels against the Christians, and victories gained by the Christians over the unbelievers. And, as they wondered at these things, the king explained to them the pa.s.sion of the seven sleepers, with the shape and proportion of each of their bodies, which wonderful things no man had hitherto committed to writing; and all this in so plain and distinct a manner, as if he had always dwelt along with them.

In consequence of this discourse, the earl sent a knight, the bishop a clerk, and the abbot a monk, as amba.s.sadors to Maniches the emperor of Constantinople, carrying letters and presents from the king. The emperor received them very graciously; and after a friendly entertainment, sent them to the bishop of Ephesus with letters, which they name sacred, commanding him to admit the English amba.s.sadors to see the seven sleepers.

And it came to pa.s.s, that the prophetic vision of King Edward was approved by all the Greeks, who protested that they were a.s.sured by their fathers, that the seven sleepers had always before that time reposed on their right sides; but, upon the entry of the Englishmen into the cave where they lay, their bodies confirmed the truth of the foreign vision and prophecy to their countrymen. Neither were the calamities long delayed, which had been foretold by the king. For the Agareni, Arabians, and Turks, enemies of the people of Christ, invading the country of the Christians, spoiled and destroyed many cities of Syria, Lycia, and the lesser and greater Asias, and, among the rest, depopulated Ephesus, and even the holy city of Jerusalem.

[1] Hakluyt, II. 39. Malmsb. Lib. II. ch. xiii.

[2] Hakluyt, II, 40. Malmsb II. xiii.

SECTION X.

_Pilgrimage of Alured, Bishop of Worcester, to Jerusalem, in_ 1058[1].

In the year of our Lord 1058, Alured, bishop of Worcester, dedicated, with much solemnity, to the honour of St Peter, the prince of the apostles, a church which he had built and endowed in the city of Gloucester; and afterwards having received the royal licence, he ordained Wolstan, a monk of Worcester, to be abbot of this new church. He then left the bishop.r.i.c.k which had been committed to his government, resigning the same to Herman, and, crossing the seas, travelled in pilgrimage through Hungary and other countries, to Jerusalem.

[1] Hakluyt, II. 41. R. Hoveden, fo, 255. line l5.

SECTION XI.

_Pilgrimage of Ingulphus Abbot of Croyland, to Jerusalem, in 1064_[1].

I, Ingulphus, an humble minister of St Guthlae, in his monastery of Croyland, born of English parents, in the most beautiful city of London, was, in, my early youth, placed for my education first at Westminster, and afterwards prosecuted my studies at Oxford. Having excelled many of my fellow students in learning Aristotle, I entered upon the study of the first and second rhetoric of Tully. As I grew up towards manhood, I disdained the low estate of my parents, and quitting the dwelling of my father, I much affected to visit the courts of kings, delighting in fine garments and costly attire, And behold William, now our renewed sovereign, then only Earl of Normandy, came, with a splendid retinue to London, to confer with King Edward his kinsman. Intruding myself into his company, I proffered my services for the performance of any speedy or important affairs; and accordingly having executed many commissions with good success, I became known to and much beloved by the ill.u.s.trious earl, and sailed with him to Normandy. Being there appointed his secretary, I governed his court at my pleasure, though envied by several, abasing whom I thought fit, and preferring others at my will. But, prompted by youthful pride, I began even to be wearied of this place, in which I was advanced so far beyond my birth; and, with an inconstant and over-ambitious mind, I vehemently aspired, on all occasions, to climb to higher elevation.

About this time there spread a report through Normandy, that several archbishops of the empire, and some even of the secular princes, were desirous, for the salvation of their souls, to go in pilgrimage to Jerusalem, there to pay their devotions at the Holy Sepulchre. Upon this, several of us, who were of the household of our lord, the earl, both gentlemen and clerks, of whom I was the princ.i.p.al person, having received permission from the earl, addressed ourselves for the voyage; and, being together thirty hors.e.m.e.n or more, in company, we went into Germany, and joined ourselves to the Archbishop of Mentz. The whole being a.s.sembled, the company of this archbishop amounted to seven thousand persons, all properly provided for the expedition; and we travelled prosperously through many provinces, arriving at length at the city of Constantinople. We there did reverence to the Emperor Alexius, visited the church, of Sancta Sophia, and devoutly kissed many sacred relics.

Departing from Constantinople, we travelled through Lycia, where we fell into the hands of Arabian thieves; and after we had been robbed of infinite sums of money, and had lost many of our people, we escaped with extreme peril of our lives, and at length entered joyfully into the most anxiously wished-for city of Jerusalem. We were there received by the most reverend, aged, and holy patriarch Sophronius, with a great melody of cymbals by torch-light, and were conveyed in solemn procession, by a great company of Syrians and Latins, to the church of the Most Holy Sepulchre of our blessed Saviour. Here, how many prayers we uttered, what abundance of tears we shed, what deep sighs we breathed forth, is only known to our Lord Jesus Christ. From the most glorious sepulchre of Christ, we were conducted to visit the other sacred monuments of the holy city; and saw, with weeping eyes, a great number of holy churches and oratories, which Achius the Soldan of Egypt had lately destroyed. And, having deeply bewailed all the ruins of that most holy city, both within and without its walls, and having bestowed money for the re-edifying of some of these, we expressed the most ardent desire to go forth into the country, that we might wash ourselves in the sacred river Jordan, and that we might visit and kiss all the holy footsteps of the blessed Redeemer. But the Arabian robbers, who lurked in every part of the country, would not suffer us to travel far from the city, on account of their numbers and savage manners.

About the spring of the year, there arrived a fleet of s.h.i.+ps from, Genoa, at the port of Joppa; and when the Christian merchants had exchanged all their commodities in the towns upon the coast, and had likewise visited the holy places, we all embarked. After being tossed about upon the seas by many storms and tempests, we landed at Brundusium; whence, with a prosperous journey, we travelled through Apulia to Rome, where we visited the habitations of the holy apostles St Peter and St Paul, and performed our devotions at various monuments of the holy, martyrs in different parts of the city. From thence, the archbishops and other princes of the empire Journeyed towards the right hand for Germany, while we declined to the left hand into France, taking our leaves of each other with indescribable courtesey and kindly greeting. And at length, of thirty hors.e.m.e.n of us who went from Normandy fat and l.u.s.ty, scarce twenty poor pilgrims returned, all on foot, and reduced almost to skeletons with fatigue and hards.h.i.+ps.

[1] Hakluyt, II. 41. Ingulph. Ab. Croyl. apud finem.

CHAP. II.

_Original Discovery of Greenland by the Icelanders_.[1]

Although the discoveries contained in this and the next subsequent chapter were certainty preceded, in point of time, by the voyages of the two Mahomedans, in Chap. IV. and the insertion of these two chapters, II. and III. in this place may therefore be considered as a deviation from the chronological order of our plan; it seemed proper and even necessary, that they should be both introduced here, as presenting an unbroken series of the discoveries of the Norwegians, and as fully authorized by the geographical principles of our arrangement.

Among the many petty sovereigns, vikingr or chieftans of Norway, who had been reduced to subjection by Harold Harf.a.gr, or the fair-haired, was one named Th.o.r.er. Thorwald, the relative of this person, had lived at the court of Earl Hayne, whence he had been obliged to fly, on account of having committed a murder, and went to Iceland, where he settled a considerable track of country with a new colony. Eric-raude, or red-head, the son of Thorwald, was long persecuted by a powerful neighbour named Eyolf Saur, because Eric had killed some of Eyolf's servants; and at length Eric killed Eyolf likewise. For this and other crimes he was condemned to go into banishment for three years; and knowing that a man named Gunbiorn had previously discovered certain banks to the west of Iceland, named from him Gunbiorn's Schieran, or Gunbar banks, and likewise a country of considerable extent still farther to the westwards, he determined on making a voyage of discovery to that country. Setting sail therefore from Iceland, he soon fell in with a point of land called Hirjalfs-ness; and continuing his voyage to the south-west he entered a large inlet, to which he gave the name of Erics-sound, and pa.s.sed the winter on a pleasant island in that neighbourhood. In the following year he explored the continent; and returning to Iceland in the third year, he represented his new discovery in the fairest light, bestowing lavish praises on the rich meadows, fine woods, and plentiful fisheries of the country, which he called Greenland, that he might induce a considerable number of people to join with him in colonizing this new country. Accordingly, there set out for this place twenty-five vessels, carrying people of both s.e.xes, household furniture, implements of all kinds, and cattle for breeding, of which only fourteen vessels arrived in safety. These first colonists were soon followed by many more, both from Iceland and Norway; and in a few years their number is said to have increased so much, as to occupy both the eastern and western coasts of Greenland.

This is the ordinary and best authenticated account of the discovery and settlement of _Old_ Greenland, which rests on the credit of the great northern historian, Snorro Sturleson, judge of Iceland, who wrote in the year 1215. Yet others a.s.sert that Greenland had been known long before, and ground their a.s.sertion on letters-patent from the Emperor Lewis the Pious in 834, and a bull of Gregory IV. in 835, in which permission is given to Archbishop Ansgar to convert the Sueones, Danes, Sclavonians; and it is added, the Norwaehers, Farriers, Greenlanders, Halsingalanders, Icelanders, and Scridevinds. Even allowing both charter and bull to be genuine, it is probable that the copy which has come down to our time is interpolated, and that for Gronlandon and Islandon, we ought to read Quenlandon and Hitlandon, meaning the Finlanders and Hitlanders: Quenland being the old name of Finland, and Hitland or Hialtaland the Norwegian name of the Shetland islands. It is even not improbable that all the names in these ancient deeds after the Sueones, Danes, and Sclavonians, had been interpolated in a later period; as St Rembert, the immediate successor of Ansgar, and who wrote his life, only mentions the Sueones, Danes, and Sclavonians, together with other nations in the north; and even Adam of Bremen only mentions these three, and other neighbouring and surrounding nations[2]. Hence the authority of St Rembert and Snorro Sturleson remains firm and unshaken, in spite of these falsified copies of the papal bull and imperial patent; and we may rest a.s.sured that Iceland was not discovered before 861, nor inhabited before 874; and that Greenland could hardly have been discovered previous to 982, or 983, and was not inhabited before 985 or 986.--_Forst_.

[1] Forster, Voy. and Disc. 79.

[2] Vit. S. Anscharii, ap. Langeb. Script. Dan. I. 451. Ad.

Brem. Hist. Eccles. Lib. I. cap. 17.

CHAP. III.

_Early Discovery of Winland by the Icelanders, about A.D. 1001_.[1]

The pa.s.sion which the Nordmen or Normans had always manifested for maritime expeditions, still prevailed among them in the cold and inhospitable regions of Iceland and Greenland. An Icelander, named Herjolf, was accustomed to make a trading voyage every year to different countries, in which latterly he was accompanied by his son, Biorn. About the year 1001, their s.h.i.+ps were separated by a storm, and Biorn learned on his arrival in Norway that his father had sailed for Greenland, to which place he resolved to follow his father; but another storm drove him a great way to the south-west of his intended course, and he fell in with an extensive flat country covered all over with thick woods; and just as he set out on his return, he discovered an island on the coast. He made no stay at either of these places; but the wind being now fallen, he made all the haste he could to return by a north-east course to Greenland, where he reported the discovery which he had made.

Lief, the son of Eric-raude, who inherited from his father an inordinate desire of distinguis.h.i.+ng himself by making discoveries and planting colonies, immediately fitted out a vessel carrying thirty-five men; and taking Biorn along with him, set sail in quest of this newly discovered country. The first land discovered in this voyage was barren and rocky, on which account Lief gave it the name of h.e.l.leland, or Rockland. Proceeding farther, they came to a low coast having a sandy soil, which was overgrown with wood, for which reason it was called Mark-land, or the Woody-land. Two days after this they again saw land, having an island lying opposite to its northern coast; and on the mainland they discovered the mouth of a river, up which they sailed. The bushes on the banks of this river bore sweet berries; the temperature of the air was mild, the soil fertile[2], and the river abounded in fish, particularly in excellent salmon. Continuing to sail up the river, they came to a lake, out of which the river took its rise; and here they pa.s.sed the winter. In the shortest day of winter, the sun remained eight hours above the horizon; and consequently the longest day, exclusive of the dawn and twilight, must have been sixteen hours. From this circ.u.mstance it follows, that the place in which they were was in about 49 of north lat.i.tude; and as they arrived by a south-westerly course from Old Greenland, after having cleared Cape Farewell, it must either have been the river Gander or the Bay of Exploits, in the island now called Newfoundland. It could not be on the northern coast of the Gulf of St Lawrence; as in that case, they must have navigated through the straits of Belleisle, which could not have escaped their notice. In this place they erected several huts for their accommodation during winter; and they one day found in the thickets a German named Tyrker, one of their own people, who had wandered among the woods and been missing for some time. While absent, he had subsisted upon wild grapes, from which he told them that in his country they used to make wine; and from this circ.u.mstance Lief called the country _Winland det G.o.de_, or Wine-land the good[3].

In the following spring they returned to Greenland; and Thorwald, Lief's maternal grandfather, made a trip with the same crew that had attended his grandson, in order to make farther advances in this new discovery; and it is not at all to be wondered at, if people of every rank were eager to discover a better habitation than the miserable coast of Greenland, and the little less dreary island of Iceland. In this voyage the coast of the newly discovered land was examined towards the west, or rather the north-west.

Next summer Lief sailed again to Winland, and explored the coast to the east or south-east. The coast was so much covered with wood and beset with islands, that they could not perceive a human creature, or animals of any kind. In the third summer they examined the islands on the coast of Winland, and so damaged their s.h.i.+p that they found it necessary to build a new one, laying up their old vessel on a promontory, to which they gave the name of Kiaeler-ness. In their new vessel they proceeded to examine the eastern or south-eastern sh.o.r.e of Winland, and in their progress they fell in with three boats covered with hides, having three men in each. These they seized, but one man found means to escape from them, and they wantonly butchered all the rest. Soon after this they were attacked by a great number of the natives, armed with bows and arrows, from which they screened themselves in their s.h.i.+p with a fence of planks; and they defended themselves with so much spirit that their enemies were forced to retire, after giving them battle for an hour. Thorwald received a severe wound from an arrow in this skirmish, of which he died; and over his grave, on a cape or promontory, two crosses were erected at his request; from which the cape was called Krossa-ness, or Cross Point.