and storing their hay and wood, their butter and fish and game in so many more separate buildings or cabins; which, all together, constituted the "Gaard" or settlement of the ancient Northmen, and even until this day make up the hamlets and villages of northern Norway.1

We acknowledge that all these statements do not afford a satisfactory solution of the problem as to the number of people that, centuries ago, inhabited the great island of North America; and we should not wonder if the learned, at a loss to find sufficient data, should build scientific reasonings on such hypotheses as may give a semblance of correctness to the presumption that Greenland contained then the same number of colonists as it does now. Such is the system of a contributor to the account of the Congress of Catholic Scientists in Paris, in A.D. 1891. His final estimate of ancient Greenland's population is nearly one thousand families, and thus almost exactly coincides with its modern census; for we know from Maltebrun3 that Greenland's population was five thousand one hundred and twenty-two souls in the year 1789, and five thousand six hundred and twenty-one in 1802; while Hayes states that to-day it amounts to about seven thousand.

4

When, however, we observe from several reports of the ancient sagas that the intercourse between Greenland, Iceland, and Europe was, in olden times, more frequent, and the facilities of communication much greater than they are now, the ocean route being then considerably shorter and more secure than it is since the Denmark Strait and all the bays of southeastern Green

1 Cf. Gravier, p. 150, n. 4.

2 Congrès Scient., sec. v. p. 177. 3 T. v. p. 255.

Terra di Desolazione, cap. viii.

p. 22.

land have been obstructed by accumulating icebergs; when we take notice of the resources which the Northmen derived from the American continent, and of which the Danish colonists avail themselves no longer; and when, above all, we take into consideration the great change of temperature and climate, the consequent increase of daily hardships, and the gradual failure of farming in Greenland, we are necessarily led to believe that the number of hardy and enterprising Northmen must also have been considerably larger than that of the modern settlers on the frozen island. In connection with this presumption, Dr. Hayes says, "The fiord, on the banks of which stands the modern town of Julianashaab, extends some forty miles; but while the modern town now stands alone, in ancient days hamlets were dotted beside it everywhere, thousands of cattle once browsed where there are now but a few cows, and peace and plenty reigned here once among a Christian people." 1

To prove that this opinion in regard to Greenland's ancient population is fully justified, we have one, though only one, reliable evidence,-namely, the contemporary, authentic accounts of St. Peter's Pence paid into the papal treasury by the inhabitants of Greenland in the year 1327.

It is known that each family in Sweden and throughout the kingdom of Norway paid one penny, current money, as yearly filial tribute, or St. Peter's Pence, to the Roman pontiff.2

This contribution of the diocese of Gardar amounted in the year 13273 to three "liespfunds" or forty-eight

1 Land of Desolation, p. 37. See Document XXXVII., a. 3 We must admit that this yearly contribution was for one year only, when we notice that the collectors

were very particular in stating the number of years for which the various amounts were received, whenever this number exceeded one. See Document XL.

1

common pounds of teeth "de roardo" 2 or of walrus ivory, which, when sold, brought six sols tournois of silver.3

A sol tournois of silver was equal to twelve pennies tournois of silver, and to one mark of Norwegian money.* Greenland had consequently paid for St. Peter's Pence the sum of six marks of Norwegian coin.

We also know that the Norwegian "mörk" was divided into eight "aurar" or ounces, and each ounce or "eyrir" into one hundred and forty-four skillings.5 The skilling was thus the minutest specie of the Scandinavian monetary system, the penny due and paid by each family in Greenland as a yearly tribute to their spiritual father, the pontiff of Rome.

Reducing the six marks to the small Norwegian change, we find that six thousand nine hundred and twelve families had contributed to Greenland's St. Peter's Pence for the year 1327.

There is another way which we may follow in making this calculation of the number of ancient Greenland's people.

The collectors of St. Peter's Pence in the year 1327 have left us an interesting record of the exchanges and relative values of northern and of southern Europe's moneys at that time. The worth of the mark of Norwegian small coin is given in sound standard specie of both tournois and sterling silver denominations, and even of the precious Tuscan florin of gold. From this

1 Anderson, Nachrichten, S. 131. 2 Generally written "rosmaro," the technical name being Trichechus rosmarus, from the Flemish "ros," horse, and the Latin "mare," sea. To this latter root corresponds the Flemish "wal,"

wharf, sea-coast; and hence "walros" or the English "walrus," seahorse or sea-cow, as the animal is often called.

3 See Document XL.

4 See Document XLI.

5

Supra, p. 169.

we must conclude that the Norwegian mark of minute coins, whatever its weight in copper, was understood to be a marc weight of standard fine silver.1

Thus, there remains only the question, How many Norwegian pennies were represented by the six marks of international specie? This question is hard to answer correctly. But it is stated that about the year 1400 from twelve hundred to fourteen hundred pennies were required to make up a marc of fine silver.2 Should one marc have equalled twelve hundred pennies, the answer would be seven thousand two hundred; and, consequently, there would have been seven thousand two hundred families in Greenland.

But since St. Peter's Pence was paid before the year 1400,-in 1327,-we must suppose that Norway's small coin was still of a higher standard, and that somewhat less than seven thousand two hundred pennies may have equalled the six marcs.

This brings us exactly to the conclusion of our former method, and we may logically admit that Greenland's population was little more or less than seven thousand families.3

Such is the conclusion of our calculations from the authentic documents, but the actual number of families was undoubtedly greater; for, when we consider the immense extent of colonized country, we cannot help assuming that several of the most distant and secluded families could not appear before the collectors of the pious tribute. Moreover, it is evident from similar cases that the walrus ivory was not sold by the collectors as high as it had been estimated in Greenland.

1 See Document XLI.

2 Herder, art. Pfenning.

3 Instead of nine hundred and

seventy-two, as supposed in Congrès Scient., cinq. sec. p. 177.

See Document XXXIX.

Gravier1 justly remarks that the families of the Northmen were generally large; and, in fact, all Europe: was for a whole century wondering in dismay where all the swarms of Northman invaders might come from. We would not exaggerate, therefore, if we should allow ten persons to each family, and estimate the colonial population of ancient Greenland at seventy-five thousand people.

The various sums of money received at the same time as yearly St. Peter's Pence will afford the reader a means of establishing a comparison between the numbers of the faithful belonging to the different dioceses of the province of Drontheim: