OUTLINE HISTORY

OF THE

NEW ENGLAND STATES.

THERE are good reasons for believing that the first civilized people who visited New England, were a colony of Norwegians, or Northmen. The original Icelandic accounts of the voyages of discovery, performed by these men, are still in existence; and have been recently published by the Society of Antiquaries, at Copenhagen. The following summary of events, and conclusions, respecting the discovery and first settlement of this country are drawn by the authors of that publication.

"In the spring of 986, Eric the Red, emigrated from Iceland to Greenland, and formed a settlement there. In 994, Biarne, the son of Heriulf Bardson, one of the settlers who accompanied Eric, returned to Norway, and gave an account of discoveries he had made to the south of Greenland. On his return to Greenland, Leif, the son of Eric, bought Biarne's ship, and with a crew of 35 men, embarked on a voyage of discovery, A. D. 1000. After sailing sometime to the southwest, they fell in with a country covered with a slaty rock, and destitute of good qualities, and which, therefore, they called Helluland, (Slate-land.) They then continued southerly, until they found a low flat coast, with white sand cliffs, and immediately back, covered with wood, whence they called the country Markland, (Wood-land.) From here, they sailed south and west, until they arrived at a promontory which stretched to the east and north, and sailing round it turned to the west and sailing westward, passed between an island and the mainland, and entering a bay through which flowed a river, they concluded to winter there.

Having landed they built houses to winter in, and called the place Leifsbuthir, (Leifs-booths.) Soon after this, they discovered an abundance of vines, whence they named the country Vinland or Wineland. Antiquarians have been much puzzled to know where Vinland was located, but the Antiquarian Society, to

ANTIQUITATES AMERICANE, sive Scriptores Septentrionales rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America. (Antiquities of America, or Northern writers of things in America before Columbus.) Hafnia, 1837, 4to. pp. 486.

whose exertions we owe the above work, after the most careful examination of all the evidence on the subject, do not hesitate to place it at the head of Narraganset Bay, in Rhode Island. Every thing in the description of the voyage and country, agrees most exactly with this. The promontory extending east and north, corresponds closely with that of Barnstable and Cape Cod, and the islands they would encounter immediately upon turning west, would be Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

Two years after, [1002,] Thorwold, the brother of Leif, visited Vinland, where he spent two years, and was finally murdered by the natives. Before his death, he coasted round the promontory and called the north end, now Cape Cod, Kjalarnes, (Keel-Cape.) He was killed and buried on a small promontory, reaching south from the mainland, on the west side of the Bay, inclosed by the promontory of Kjalarnes, and which answers most accurately to the strip of land on the east side of Plymouth harbour, now called Gurnet's Point. The Norwegians called it Krassanes, (Crossness or Cross-land,) because the grave of Thorwold had a cross erected at both ends.

In 1007, three ships sailed from Greenland for Vinland, one under the command of Thorfinn Karlsefne, a Norwegian of royal descent, and Snorre Thorbrandson, of distinguished lineage; one other commanded by Biarne Grimalfson and Thorhall Gamlason; and the third by Thorward and Thorhall. The three ships had 160 men, and carried all sorts of domestic animals necessary for the comfort and convenience of a colony. An account of this voyage, and a history of the country, by Thorfinn Karlsefne, is still extant, and forms one of the documents in the Antiquitates Americana. They sailed from Greenland to Helluland, and passing Markland, arrived at Kjalarnes; whence sailing south by the shore of the promontory, which they found to consist of trackless beaches and long wastes of sand, they called it Furthustrandir, (Wonder-Strand or Beach ;) whether on account of the extensive sandy shore, or from the mirage and optical illusion so common at Cape Cod, it is impossible to determine. Passing south, they sailed by the island discovered by Leif, which they called Straumey, (Stream-Isle,) probably Martha's Vineyard, and the straits between, Straumfjothr, (Stream-Firth,) and arrived at Vinland, where they spent the winter. The Bay into which they sailed, they called Hopsvatn, and their residence received the name of Hop, (English Hope, Indian Haup,) the identical Mount Hope, so much celebrated as the residence of King Philip. After various successes, Thorfinn returned to Greenland, and finally went to Iceland and settled.

From a comparison of all the remaining accounts of these voyages, the geographical, nautical and astronomical facts con

tained in them, with the natural history and geography of this country when first settled by the whites, there can be little doub that Vinland has been correctly located by the learned society. By similar evidence it also appears, that Markland was what is now called Nova Scotia; that Litla Helluland (Little Helluland) was Newfoundland; and that Helluland it Mikla, (Great Helluland,) was the coast of Labrador. We ought also to have observed above, that Straumfjothr (Stream-Firth) probably included the whole of Buzzard's Bay.

the

Of the climate of Vinland the Northmen say, it was, when they were there, so mild that cattle would live out-doors during year, that the snow fell but lightly, and that the grass continued to be green in some places, nearly all winter. Among the productions of Vinland, were, abundance of vines, a kind of wild wheat (maize,) a beautiful wood which they called mazer (Birdseye-maple, Acer Saccharinum,) a great variety of forest animals, eider ducks in great plenty, and the rivers and bays they describe as filled with fish, among which they reckon salmon, halibut, whales, &c. It is also said by the same historians, that the sun rose at half past seven o'clock in the shortest days, which is the exact time it rises at Mount Hope.

Subsequent to this time, explorations were made to the south of Vinland, along the eastern shore, and judging from the fragments of voyages, it would seem that some penetrated as far south as Florida. The whole country south of Chesapeak Bay is called by them Hvitramannaland, (white-man's-land,) or Ireland it Mikla, (Ireland the Great.) In 1121, Vinland was visited by bishop Eric, and as there is no account of his return, it seems probable that he spent his days there."*

Soon after the first settlement of this part of the country, a remarkable rock covered with hieroglyphics, was discovered in the present town of Berkley, since known as the "Dighton Writing Rock." This rock which has caused much speculation among antiquarians, is of fine grained gray granite, a few feet above the present low water mark, in Taunton river and is partially covered at every tide. The face of the rock is eleven feet long, and rises from the ground about five: the inscriptions are apparently pecked into it, the channels of the letters or marks being about a half, or three fourths of an inch in width.

*For this summary account, the author is indebted to an article published in tae "Chronicle of the Church," by A. B Chapin, Esq. of New Haven, Con.

The above shows the shape of the rock with the inscriptions upon it, being a reduced copy from that taken under the direction of the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1830, and published in the Antiquitates Americana. It is supposed by some, that these inscriptions were made by the Northmen, and signify in Icelandic characters, that Thorfinn Karlsefne arrived here in A. D., 1007, and took possession of the country: others suppose them to be of much earlier origin, and ascribe them to the Phoenicians.

After the discovery of Columbus in 1492, a general spirit of enterprise and inquiry was awakened in the European nations. In 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian, under the patronage of Henry VII. of England, commenced a voyage of discovery. He was accompanied by his son Sebastian, and three hundred men, with two caravals freighted by the merchants of London and Bristol. On the 24th of June they were surprised by the sight of land, which being the first they had seen; Cabot called it Prima Vista, which in Italian, his native tongue, signifies, first sight. This is generally supposed to be some part of the island of Newfoundland. A few days afterwards, they discovered a smaller island which they named St. Johns. Continuing westerly, they soon reached the continent, and then sailed along the coast northwardly, to the latitude of sixty-seven and a half degrees. Finding that the coast stretched towards the east, they turned back, and sailed south "ever with the intention to find the passage to India," till they came to the southernmost part of Florida. Their provisions now failing, and a mutiny breaking out among the mariners, they returned to England, without attempting a settlement, or conquest in any part of the New World.

In 1524, John Verrazzano, an Italian in the service of France,

sailed along the American coast from Florida to Labrador, and named the country New France. In 1534, the French fitted out another expedition under James Cartier. He discovered and named the gulf of St. Lawrence; the year foliowing he sailed up the river St. Lawrence as far as Montreal, built a fort and took possession of the country in the name of the French king. These, and other discoveries and settlements, made by the French, afterwards proved the source of many calamities to the British Colonies, till the conquest of Canada in 1760.

For a long period after the discovery of Cabot, the English monarchs appear to have given but little attention to the country which they afterwards claimed. In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh obtained a patent from Queen Elizabeth, and sent out two ships commanded by Amidas and Barlow to America, to examine the country in order to make a settlement. They landed at Roanoke, and were well received by the natives. On their return they have so flattering an account of the country, that Queen Elizabeth delighted with the idea of possessing so fine a territory, named it Virginia, as a memorial that the discovery was made under a virgin queen. This name was afterwards applied to the country along the whole coast. The exertions of Raleigh, however, to plant a permanent colony proved unsuccessful.

In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold sailed in a small barque from Falmouth, England, with thirty-two persons, for the northern parts of Virginia with the intention of making a settlement. Steering due west, as near as the winds would permit, after a passage of seven weeks, discovered land on the American coast, May 14th. Sailing along the shore the next day they discovered a head land in the latitude of forty-two degrees, where they came to anchor; and taking a great number of Cod at this place, they named it Cape Cod. On the 21st they discovered an island, which they called Martha's Vineyard. On the 28th they concluded to commence a settlement on one of the Elizabeth Islands; so named by them in honor of the Queen. They landed on Cuttahunk the westernmost Island, and in nineteen days, a fort and store house were completed. While the men were occupied in this work, Gosnold crossed the Bay and landed on the main land, where he amicably trafficked with the natives. Upon his return to the island, he found that a portion of his men who were to have remained, so discontented, that he concluded to abandon the design of a settlement, and the whole company returned to England.

The discovery made by Gosnold, incited a spirit of enterprise, and by the influence of Richard Hakluyt, a most active promoter of the English settlements in America, an association of gentlemen was formed, for the purpose of establishing colonies in