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 famous law made by him, by which the rank and privileges of a thane are conferred on every merchant, who had made three voyages across the sea, with a vessel and cargo of his own.  By another law passed in this reign, the exportation of horses was forbidden.

From this period till the conquest, England was prevented from engaging in commerce by the constant irruption of the Danes, and by the short duration of their sovereignty after they had succeeded in obtaining it.  There are, however, even during this time, some notices on the subject; as appears from the laws of Ethelred:  by these, tolls were established on all boats and vessels arriving at Billingsgate, according to their size.  The men of Rouen, who brought wine and large fish, and those from Flanders, Normandy, and other parts of France, were obliged to shew their goods, and pay the duties; but the emperor’s men, who came with their ships, were more favoured, though they were not exempt from duty.

From what relates to the geographical knowledge and the commerce of the Scandinavian inhabitants of England, we shall now pass on to the geographical discoveries and commerce of the other Scandinavian nations.

About the year 861, a Scandinavian vessel, probably on its voyage to Shetland or Orkney, discovered the Feroe islands.  This discovery, and the flight of some birds, induced the Scandinavians to believe that there was other land in the vicinity of these islands.  About ten years afterwards, Iceland was discovered by some Norwegian nobility and their dependants, who were obliged to leave their native country, in consequence of the tyranny of Harold Harfragre.  According to some accounts, however, Iceland had been visited by a Norwegian pirate a few years before this; and if the circumstance mentioned in the Icelandic Chronicles be true, that wooden crosses, and other little pieces of workmanship, after the manner of the Irish and Britons, were found in it, it must have been visited before the Scandinavians arrived.  The new colonists soon acquired a thorough knowledge of the size of the island; for they expressly state, that its circumference is 168 leagues, 15 to a degree, which corresponds with the most accurate modern measurement.