Knutson made one in
reply, briefer but quite as polite, and brought out beads, little
knives, and scarlet cloth from his trading stores. The red cloth and
beads were received with eagerness, the knives with interest, and after
a young chief had cut himself, with some awe. The Sagem in his turn
presented the stranger with skins of the sable, the silver fox and the
bear. He and a few of the warriors tasted of the food offered them, and
all the white men were asked to a feast in the village the next day.
So friendly were the Skroelings, in fact, that Knutson determined to
return to Greenland and see what could be done toward founding a
settlement here. He would leave part of the men in winter quarters, with
the _Rotge_ as a means of further explorations, or if necessary, of
escape. Her captain, Gustav Sigerson, was a cautious, wise and
experienced seaman. Anders Amundson, as the best hunter of the
expedition, was to stay, with Nils as clerk and Thorolf as interpreter.
Booths were erected, stores landed, and on a brilliant day in late
summer some forty Norsemen and Gothlanders on the shore watched the
_Gudrid_ slowly fading out of sight.
In talking with the natives Nils and Thorolf observed that their world
seemed to be infested with demons--particularly water-fiends.
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