They came to land again after some time, and again
they cast anchor and launched a boat and went ashore. This land
was flat. Broad stretches of white sand sloped gently to the sea,
and behind the level plain was thickly wooded.
"This land," said Leif, "shall also have a name after its nature."
So he called it Markland or Woodland.
Then again Leif and his companions returned to the ship, and mounting
into it they sailed away upon the sea. And now fierce winds arose,
and the ship was driven before the blast so that for days these
seafarers thought no more of finding new lands, but only of the
safety of their ship.
But at length the wind fell, and the sun shone forth once more. Then
again they saw land, and launching their boat they rowed ashore.
To the eyes of these sea-faring men, who for many days had seen
only the wild waste of waters, the land seemed passing fair. For
the grass was green, and as the sun shone upon it seemed to sparkle
with a thousand diamonds. When the men put their hands upon the
grass, and touched their mouths with their hands, and drank the
dew, it seemed to them that never before had they tasted anything
so sweet. So pleasant the land seemed to Leif and his companions
that they determined to pass the winter there. They therefore drew
their ship up the river which flowed into the sea, and cast anchor.
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