They Trade With Engroveland Or Greenland, And Get
From Thence Furs, Brimstone, And Pitch.
To the south of Estoitland there
is a very large and populous country, which abounds with gold.
The people
sow corn, and make the liquor called beer, which is drank by the people of
the north as wine is among us in Italy. They have large and extensive
woods; make their buildings with walls; and have a great number of towns
and castles. They build ships and navigate the sea; but they have not the
loadstone, and know nothing about the use of the compass; on which account
these fishermen were held in high estimation, insomuch that the king sent
them with twelve ships to the southward to a country called Drogio. In
their voyage thither, they had such contrary winds and stormy weather that
they thought to have foundered at sea; but escaping that death, they met
with a fate still more dreadful, as they were made prisoners by the
savages, who are cannibals, and most of them were devoured. But the
Frisland fisherman and his companions, by teaching these barbarians the way
to catch fish with nets, saved their lives. This man used to go every day
to the sea or the rivers, in which he caught vast quantities of fish, which
he gave away among the principal people of the country; by which means he
got into such high favour that he was beloved and respected by every body.
The fame of this man spread abroad through the whole country; and one of
the lords, being very desirous to have him, that he might see and learn
this new and wonderful art of catching fish, made war against the lord with
whom he lived, and prevailing in consequence of his superior power and
greater skill in war, the fisherman and his companions were given up to him
as the price of peace. During thirteen years that he resided in these
parts, he says that he was transferred in this manner to twenty-five
different lords, as they were continually at war with each other to procure
possession of him; so that by wandering about the country in this manner he
became perfectly well acquainted with every part of it, He says that it is
a very extensive country, and as it were a new world; but that the
inhabitants are a rude unpolished people, without the enjoyment of any
convenience of life; for, although they take or kill many wild animals in
hunting, they have not the sense to make their skins into garments, but all
go naked, and are miserably pinched with cold. They are besides extremely
uncivilized and savage, continually engaged in wars against each other, in
which they commit horrible ravages, and devour their prisoners. They know
not the use of any metal, and live by the chase, being armed with spears of
wood made sharp at the point, and use bows, the strings of which are made
of slips of hide.
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