nature and construction, could only be useful when the vessel went
before the wind. The ship was steered with a large oar, with a flat end,
very broad, passing by the side of the stern; and this was managed by the
pilot, who sat in the stern, and thence issued his orders to the mariners."
The bird on the mast head, mentioned in this description, appears, from the
account of Canute's fleet, given in Du Cange, to have been for the purpose
of shewing the wind.

The same energy and comprehension of mind which induced and enabled Alfred
to improve his navy so much, led him to favour geographical pursuits and
commere. In his Anglo-Saxon translation of Orosius, he has inserted the
information he had obtained from two Scandinavians, Ohter and Wulfstan. In
this we have the most ancient description, that is clear and precise, of
the countries in the north of Europe. Ohter sailed from Helgoland in
Norway, along the coast of Lapland, and doubling the North Cape, reached
the White Sea. This cape had not before been doubled; nor was it again,
till in the middle of the 16th century, by Chancellor, the English
navigator, who was supposed at that time to be the original discoverer.
Ohter also made a voyage up the Baltic, as far as Sleswig. Wulfstan,
however, penetrated further into this sea than Ohter; for he reached Truse,
a city in Prussia, which he represents as a place of considerable trade.

Alfred even extended his views to India, whether stimulated by religious
views, or by the desire of obtaining its luxuries, is uncertain; perhaps
both motives operated on his mind. We know that the patriarch of Jerusalem
corresponded with him; and that the Christians of St. Thomas, in India,
would probably be mentioned in these letters: we also know, that about a
century before Alfred lived, the venerable Bede was possessed of pepper,
cinnamon, and frankincense. Whatever were Alfred's motives, the fact is
undoubted, that he sent one of his bishops to St. Thomas, who brought back
aromatic liquors, and splendid jewels. Alfred seems to have been rich in
the most precious commodities of the East; for he presented Asser, his
biographer, with a robe of silk, and as much incense as a strong man could
carry. After all, however, the commerce of England in his reign was
extremely limited: had it been of any importance, it would have been more
specially noticed and protected by his laws. It was otherwise, however, in
the reign of Athelstan; for there is a