<P> The colony began to decline in the 14th century . The Western Settlement was abandoned around 1350, and the last bishop at Garðar died in 1377 . After a marriage was recorded in 1408, no written records mention the settlers . It is probable that the Eastern Settlement was defunct by the late 15th century . The most recent radiocarbon date found in Norse settlements as of 2002 was 1430 (± 15 years). Several theories have been advanced to explain the decline . </P> <P> The Little Ice Age of this period would have made travel between Greenland and Europe, as well as farming, more difficult; although fishing and seal hunting provided a healthy diet, there was more prestige in cattle farming, and there was increased availability of farms in Scandinavian countries depopulated by famine and plague epidemics . In addition, Greenlandic ivory may have been supplanted in European markets by cheaper ivory from Africa . Despite the loss of contact with the Greenlanders, the Norwegian - Danish crown continued to consider Greenland a possession . </P> <P> Not knowing whether the old Norse civilization remained in Greenland or not--and worried that if it did, it would still be Catholic 200 years after the Scandinavian homelands had experienced the Reformation--a joint merchant - clerical expedition led by the Dano - Norwegian missionary Hans Egede was sent to Greenland in 1721 . Though this expedition found no surviving Europeans, it marked the beginning of Denmark's re-assertion of sovereignty over the island . </P> <P> According to the Icelandic sagas--Eirik the Red's Saga, Saga of the Greenlanders, plus chapters of the Hauksbók and the Flatey Book--the Norse started to explore lands to the west of Greenland only a few years after the Greenland settlements were established . In 985 while sailing from Iceland to Greenland with a migration fleet consisting of 400--700 settlers and 25 other ships (14 of which completed the journey), a merchant named Bjarni Herjólfsson was blown off course, and after three days' sailing he sighted land west of the fleet . Bjarni was only interested in finding his father's farm, but he described his discovery to Leif Erikson who explored the area in more detail and planted a small settlement fifteen years later . </P>

Which of the following events did not lead to the settlement of north america