It was a great stroke of luck meeting Eric, for he was able to give me
some idea of how things stood before I was shown into the presence of
Kenna, the leader of this particular ship. The crew, as I learned
from him, was entirely made up of three tribes or families--those of
Kenna, of Lanc, and of Hasta. Each of these tribes gets its name by
putting the letters "ing" after the name of the chief, so that the
people on board would describe themselves as Kennings, Lancings, and
Hastings. I observed in the Baltic that the villages were named after
the family who lived in them, each keeping to itself, so that I have no
doubt if these fellows get a footing on shore, we shall see settlements
with names like these rising up among the British towns.

The greater part of the men were sturdy fellows with red, yellow, or
brown hair, mostly the latter. To my surprise, I saw several women
among them. Eric, in answer to my question, explained that they always
take their women with them so far as they can, and that instead of
finding them an incumbrance as our Roman dames would be, they look upon
them as helpmates and advisers. Of course, I remembered afterwards that
our excellent and accurate Tacitus has remarked upon this characteristic
of the Germans. All laws in the tribes are decided by votes, and a vote
has not yet been given to the women, but many are in favour of it, and
it is thought that woman and man may soon have the same power in the
State, though many of the women themselves are opposed to such an
innovation. I observed to Eric that it was fortunate there were several
women on board, as they could keep each other company; but he answered
that the wives of chiefs had no desire to know the wives of the inferior
officers, and that both of them combined against the more common women,
so that any companionship was out of the question. He pointed as he
spoke to Editha, the wife of Kenna, a red-faced, elderly woman, who
walked among the others, her chin in the air, taking no more notice than