Page 119 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

108 History and Science of Knots

point the recorded history about this part of the Arctic is closely linked to
that of navigation, polar exploration and whaling. In crude outlines the first
two started around A.D. 800 if, as is claimed, Irish monks in hide boats visited
Greenland and continued their way over to Newfoundland. This impressive
feat was followed by Vikings settling in south Greenland a century or two later.
Their interaction however did not remain restricted to that area. Archaeolog-
ical evidence has shown Viking influence on Inuits living as far north as Smith
Sound. Due to climatic changes that area was left derelict during the 17th
century. The Inuit had travelled southwards towards renewed meetings with
Europeans, the Vikings having vanished by this time. The earliest recording
of a re-encounter appears to be with Sebastian Cabot, who claimed to have
had contact with Inuits in Hudson Bay in 1498 [11, pp. 185-186].

Fig. 1. Map of the Arctic, from Hudson Bay to Greenland
The British expeditions to find gold, riches and the northerly seaway
to the Orient date from the last half of the 16th century. A few of these
pursuits reached far north along the Greenlandic west coast. Around the
17th century the Spitsbergen whaling industry had followed the whales which
were fleeing the climatic change. They had come south along the Greenlandic