408 Porsonian Controversy. [June 1, OR AMERICA, BY THE ICELANDERS, II inserted as a note, and not formed a part ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF VINLAND, of the context of the letter itself. Pray do me the favour of giving a place to this gentle correction in your next number; and then I hope that your numerous readers will be kind enough to peruse me over again, and acknowledge, under this alteration, that the line of my reasoning is as correct in keeping, as my opponent has found it irresistible in strength. To that opponent I now make a parting bow, and shall say to him, as Gil Blas said to the Archbishop of Grenada: Je vous souhaite toutes sortes de prosperité, avec un peu plus de gout. I have striven in this pigmy dispute between us to treat him with all manner of gentleness and mercy, and he has had throughout experience of an adversary . parcentis viribus, atque Extenuantis eas consulto.-Horace. I could, had I so pleased, have made cruel sport with him, and have drawn blood (my profession, you recollect, is a little sanguinary!) at every stroke. But in consideration of his decrepitude, and, no doubt, his tender years, I thought it best to overlook the virulent provocation I received in the first instance, and to crush, in its earliest stirring, the growth of a just resentment. My readers will not fail to remember that N. N. was my aggressor, and that I have never acted offensively, but only defensively. Upon future occasions my opponent will do well to avoid taking a leap in the dark, and will not have the mad temerity to grapple with one who is clothed in complete armour, when, poor creature! he has nothing better to protect him than a gossamer night-gown and slippers. The event of such an unequal conflict might easily have been forescen. He has been annihilatedoccidione occisus-to use an emphatic and favourite phrase of Livy, and is now sprawling on the ground variegated with bruises and aching with pain.-There I leave him, though more in pity than derision, and shall beg him to chew the cud of reflection over the following morsel from my Lord Roscommon: Remember Milo's end, [rend! Wedged in that timber which he strove to Essay on Translated Virse. In a day or two, Mr. Editor, I shall send you some miscellaneous criticisms for insertion in your valuable Magazine, and in the mean time remain, with great respect, yours, &c. A PROVINCIAL SCHOOLMASTER. Bath, May 9, 1818. let, the faithful historian of Denmark, THE authorities from which M. Ma has compiled the following account, are of most unquestionable credibility. I land was peopled by a colony of Nu wegians, under Ingulph, in the year 814 The Icelandic chronicles, or annals, a very exact in relating the maritime ex peditions in the northern seas, and pr serving the names of the adventure These annals of Iceland, the authenti of which is undeniable, are said by criti to be a more complete history than is furnished by any other country in E rope, for the same period. The follow ing account stands on the testimony f Torfæus and Angrim Jonas, two writes copied the old historians of their coun of undoubted credit, who had faithful try.* There was, say the ancient chronicles, his son Biarn, made every year a trad an Icelander, named Heriol, who, with ing voyage to different countries, and generally wintered in Norway. H pening one time to be separated from each other, the son steered his course should meet his father; but, on his ar for Norway, where he supposed be Greenland, a country but lately dis rival there, he found he was gone covered, and little known to the Nor wegians.t Biarn determined at all for Greenland; although, says Angri events to follow his father, and set sail he had no body on board who could direct him in the voyage, nor any par ticular instructions to guide him; so great steered by the observations of the stars, was the courage of the ancients! He tion of the country he was in quest of. and by what he had heard of the situa towards the west, but the wind varying During the first three days, he bore forced to run to the southward. The to the north, and blowing strong, he was wind ceasing, in about twenty-four hours, they discovered land at a dis * By the histories and other monuments. of art remaining in Denmark, Sweden, Nor way, and even Iceland, it is almost certan, that those countries were farther advanced in civilization about the ninth century, than England. young Norwegian nobleman, in the year 98 18.1 M. Mallet on the Discovery of America, by the Icelanders. 409 ce, which, as they approached, they ceived to be flat and low, and cored with wood; for which reason he ald not go on shore, being convinced was not Greenland, which had been resented to him as distinguishable at eat distance by its mountains covered snow. They then sailed towards north-west, and discovered a road med by an island, but did not stop After some days they arrived in enland, where Biarn met with his her. e. sperous sailing brought them to a third The following summer, viz. in the 1002, Biarn made another voyage Norway, where, to one of the princilords of the country, named count ic, he mentioned the discovery he had le of some unknown islands. The ant blamed his want of curiosity, and ongly pressed him to prosecute his covery. In consequence of this ad Biarn, as soon as he had returned his father in Greenland, began to nk seriously of exploring those lands th more attention. Lief, the son of same Eric Rufus, who had discoverGreenland, and who was still chief the colony he had settled there-being sirous of rendering himself illustrious his father, formed the design of ng thither himself; and prevailed on father, Eric, to accompany him: they ted out a vessel with thirty-five hands; it when the old man was setting out horseback to go to the ship, his horse ppened to fall down under him; an cident which he considered as an adEonition from heaven to desist from the terprize, and therefore returning home e less superstitious Lief set sail with ut him. son, a German, nameû Tyrker, who was He soon descried one of the coasts guage + signifies a stone, or rock. markys da plaine, says our author. But and rather admities woody land, from gough thicket. mark sylva, a spring; but one of his brothers, named the coasts clothed with fores h nis tant cer gat fur ble fore but con oing rded. and 410 M. Mallet on the Discovery of America, by the Icelanders. [June 1, from each other by small arms of the sea, but no marks of either wild beasts, or of men, except a heap of wood piled up in the form of a pyramid. Having spent the summer in this survey, they returned in autumn to their winter quarters; but the summer following, Thorvald being desirous of exploring the eastern and northern coasts, his vessel was a good deal shattered by a storm, and the remainder of that season was taken up in repairing her. He afterwards set up the keel, which was unfit for service, at the extremity of a neck of land, thence called Kiellarnæs, or Cape Keel. He then proceeded to survey the eastern coasts, where he gave names to several bays and capes which he then discovered. On his landing one day, attracted by the beauty of the shore, he found three little leathern canoes, in each of which were three persons, seemingly half asleep. Thorvald and his companions instantly ran in and seized them all, except one, who escaped; and by an imprudent ferocity, put them to death the same day. Soon afterwards, as they lay on the same coast, they were suddenly alarmed by the arrival of a great number of these little vessels, which covered the whole bay. Thorvald gave immediate orders to his party to defend themselves with planks and boards against their darts, which quite filled the air; and the savages, having in vain wasted all their arrows, after an hour's combat, betook themselves to a precipitate flight. The Norwegians called them in derision Skrælings, that is, small and puny men.t The chronicles tell us, that this kind of men are neither endowed with strength nor courage, and that there would be nothing to fear from a whole army of them. Angrim adds, that these Skrælings are the same people who inhabit the western parts of Greenland, and that the Norwegians, who are settled on those coasts, had called the savages they met with there by the same name. Thorvald was the only one who was mortally wounded, and who, dying soon after, paid the penalty that was justly due for his inhuman conduct. As he desired to be buried with a cross at his feet, and another at his head, he seems * Or as we should say in English, Keel ness. + They also called them Smælings, which signifies the same thing: smael, in Icelandic, being equivalent to small in English. This description agrees well enough with the accounts we have of the Esquimaux on the Labrador coast. to have imbibed some idea of Christianity, which at that time began to dawn in Norwegian Greenland. His body was interred at the point of the Cape, where he had intended to make a settlement; which Cape was named from the crosses, Krassa-næs, or Korsness, (Crossness, or Cape Cross). The season being too far advanced for undertaking the voyage home, the rest of the crew staid the winter there, and did not reach Greenland till the following spring. We are farther told, that they loaded the vessel with vine-sets, and all the raisins they could preserve. Eric had left a third son, named Thorstein, who, as soon as he was informed of his brother Thorvald's death, embarked that very year with his wife Gudride, and a select crew of twenty men. His principal design was to bring his bre ther's body back to Greenland, that it might be buried in a country more agreeable to his manes, and in a manner more honourable to his family. But during the whole summer the winds proved so contrary and tempestuous, that, after several fruitless attempts, he was driven back to a part of Greenland, far distant from the colony of his countrymen. Here he was confined during the rigour of the winter, deprived of all assistance, and exposed to the severity of so rude a climate. These misfortunes were increased by a contagious sickness, which carried off Thorstein and most of his company. His widow took care of her husband's body, and returning with it in the spring, interred it in the burial place of his family. Hitherto we have seen the Norwe gians only making slight efforts to establish themselves in Vinland. The year after Thorstein's death proved more favourable to the design of settling a colony. A rich Icelander, named Thorfin, whose genealogy the chronicles have carefully preserved, arrived in Greenland from Norway with a great number of his followers. He cultivated an acquaintance with Lief, who, since his father Eric's death, was head of the colony, and with his consent espoused Gudride, by whom he acquired a right to those claims her former husband had on the settlements at Vinland. Thither he soon went to take possession, having with him Gudride and five other women, besides sixty sailors, many cattle, provision, and implements of husbandry. Nothing was omitted that could forward an enterprize of this kind. Soon after his arrival on the coast, he caught aˆ 1818.] On a Proposed Application of Balloons. great whale, which proved very serviceable to the whole company. The pasturage was found to be so plentiful and rich, that a bull they had carried over with them, became in a short time remarkable for his fierceness and strength. The remainder of that summer, and the winter following, were spent in taking all necessary precautions for their preservation, and in procuring all the conveniencies of which they had any idea. The succeeding summer, the Skrælings, or natives of the country, came down in crouds, and brought with them various kinds of merchandize for traffic; consisting of furs, sables, and skins of white rats. It was observed, that the roaring of the bull terrified them to such a degree, that they burst open the doors of 'Thorfin's house, and crouded in with the utmost precipitation. Thorfin suffered his people to traffic with them, but strictly forbade their supplying them with arms, which were what they seemed most desirous of obtaining. The Greenland women offered them different kinds of eatables made with milk, of which they were so fond, that they came down in crouds to beg them in exchange for their skins. Some disputes that arose obliged the Skrælings to retire, and Thorfin surrounded the factory with a strong pallisade to prevent surprise. (To be concluded in our next) To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. IN the old Monthly Magazine for March, 1817, I observed an article from Mr. M. A. Parceval B-, upon the application of balloons to navigation, discoveries in geography, &c. to which latter purposes in his view of the subject, I saw they were wholly inadequate; but as bold thoughts for improvement in science deserve at least a careful examination, I deferred noticing the impracticability of his schemes until an opportunity occurred of examining them with some attention, although at that time I had strong suspicion upon the mere glance of the thing, that he had soared much too high. I now offer a few remarks upon this article, and probably by limiting these aerial excursions shall bring that ingenious projector a little nearer to his native earth. I shall pass over the quotation from Mr. Leroy, he has himself refuted this gentleman's speculations. I shall give him credit for the possibility of discovering a little of the interior of an Island by means of a balloon, if that island be a sinall one, 411 and of its use for reconnoitring in war, but after this my incredulity led me to consider what advantages beyond these might be expected at superior elevations. An elevation of 300 fathoms, with an ordinary telescope might do very well for the first purposes he has mentioned. An elevation of 600 fathoms would only enable him to see about 734 miles, and he is somewhat mistaken as to the use of a good astronomical telescope; these instruments can with great difficulty be made use of upon firm ground, and then only under favourable circumstances of weather; the more they magnify, the greater steadiness they require, and what steadiness can be expected in the air, where the balloon, according to all or most who have ascended, is subject to other motions than those of ascent, descent, or progression? Furthermore, has he reflected that the greatest height to which a balloon can ascend, is limited by the rarity of the atmosphere, and the difficulty of existing in consequence of this and the excessive cold, as experinced by aeronauts? Again, if he reached the elevation of 20,000 feet, M. Humboldt, when measuring the highest point of the Andes, arrived at 19,500 feet above the level of the sea, the highest point ever trod by man, and even there, in the midst of the Torrid Zone, existence was barely possible, the air was only half its usual density, and the cold so intense as to draw blood from the ears, lips, and gums; and this elevation was attained without the aid of a balloon. We will now suppose our adventurer at the height of 20,000 feet if possible, and I have some doubts of it, we shall find the immense horizon he supposes, somewhat contracted, for at this elevation he would only be able to see over about 2° 30′ 20′′ of a great circle, or about 173 miles in a direct line to the horizon, and from the station he has himself chosen over Otaheite or the Sandwich Islands, suppose over Otaheite, it would require an elevation of at least 173 miles to enable him to see even the Island of Pitcairn, and the amazing altitude of 6384 to catch a glimpse of the nearest coast of South America, or 28,519 miles. to enable his sight to penetrate to the more distant Kurile Islands. Refraction would certainly cause him to see somewhat further were these vast flights possible; but as they are not, it is needless to consider its effect, and in the foregoing computations it is therefore disregarded. His hypothesis, easy of execution and 412 Singular Test of a Good Housewife-Embalming the Dead. [June 1, gigantic in appearanee, therefore vanishes; his question, Why it has not been endeavoured to ascertain by this means whether the North passage to the South Sea is possible ?" has already been easily answered, and I think, satisfactorily, the questions of a similar nature which follow. We may see by adverting to the details of aërial navigators, that no discoveries are very likely to be made which would astonish the world, or be useful to humanity, and conclude safely that this brilliant discovery after having astonished the world, will probably have no other result than to serve at intervals for the amusement of great cities. It is true that even the Island of Owhyhee would be vastly nearer to the Aleutian and Kurile Islands, than over Otaheite; but as the former of these groups of islands are about 44° of a great circle distant from Owhyhee, and the latter 50°, it is needless to compute the height at which they would become visible, since to see Pitcairn's Island from over Otaheite, and which is only about 16° or 17o from it, would require an elevation of more than 170 miles, and no balloon will probably ever reach beyond three miles perpendicular, the greatest range of sight from which, including the assist ance from refraction, would be but about 166 miles. My intention in refuting these absurd hypotheses, is to serve the younger classes of readers into whose hands that paper may have fallen, by exposing the futility of mere conjecture, built upon unwarrantable assumptions, by those who do not seem to enquire much into the nature of the subjects upon which they write, and I shall be much obliged by your insertion of these remarks if you think they deserve a place in your ma gazine. I am, &c. B. N. B. Since writing the above, 1 find that the greatest height ever at tained by a balloon was by Morveau and Bertrand, who from Dijon ascended to the height of 13,000 English feet, or about two miles and a half. THE CABINET. SINGULAR TEST OF A GOOD HOUSEWIFE. Charles Ulysses von Salis Marschlin, in his Rambles through the French Jura, published at Winterthur in 1805, relates that in the neighbourhood of Poligny it is the business of the younger females to keep the dunghills in order, and to pile them up in neat, regular squares. The smoother and the more symmetrical the dunghill, the higher character does the superintendent of it obtain for housewifery and good management, and the more does she attract the notice of the young men; while, on the contrary, those damsels whose dunghills exhibit marks of neglect, can only obtain admirers by their beauty or wealth. EMBALMING OF THE DEAD, When the art of embalming was lost, the corpses, which it was intended to preserve, were cut in pieces and boiled in water. Thus Juvenal des Ursins relates on occasion of the death of King Henry V. of England, who expired in 1422 at Vincennes :-"His body was cut in pieces and then boiled in a cauldron till the flesh was detached from the bones: the water was poured upon consecrated ground, and the bones together with the flesh inclosed in a leaden coffin with spices and perfumes." COUNT LACEPEDE. Count Lacepede, one of the first na turalists of the present day, who, it is well known, was chancellor of the Legion of Honour under Buonaparte, is now e gaged in writing novels, which do not rank among the most meritorious works of the kind. The first was entituled Ellical and Caroline-a sequel to which he has since published. He has also composed a symphony, which was exe cuted at one of the meetings of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and as the work of an amateur was tolerable. It is strange how men of such distinguished talents as Count Lacepede can quit their own bril liant sphere to wander in others for which they were by no means formed. ANECDOTE OF ROUSSEAU. At the performance of an opera, composed by Gretry, the latter was introduc ed to Rousseau who thus addressed him: "How happy I am to see you! I had long believed my heart to be closed against the soft emotions which your music has excited in it. I must make your acquaintance, Sir; though it would be more correct to say that I am already acquainted with you from your works. But I wish to be your friend. Are you married?" "Yes."-" Have you mar |