Lief gave him much help and in 1003 he set sail with a crew of thirty men. Good fortune attended them, and they found the rough houses left by Lief still strong and secure. The men spent the winter in hunting and fishing, but, so far as is known, never saw the face of any native of the New World. When spring came, part of the company went on an exploring tour along the coast of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Long Island. There is good reason to believe they entered the harbor of New York, but not a living person beside themselves was to be seen, and where stands to-day the most populous city in the New World, there was not so much as an Indian wigwam.

The records show that in the spring of 1004, Thorvald entered on a more extended voyage of exploration. He sailed slowly northward along the coast of Cape Cod, and was driven ashore by a tempest. It took the crew a long time to repair damages, but when everything was ready, they resumed their voyage, keeping close, no doubt, along the south shore of the Massachusetts Bay. Being favorably impressed with the appearance of a certain spot, they dropped anchor and went ashore. When they had done so, they saw for the first time some of the natives of the new country.

Under a couple of rude tents they discoved nine quietly lolling on the ground with no suspicion of the presence of the strangers who had landed near them. Who would think that the Northmen could offer

harm to the poor savages? There was not the slightest excuse for the dreadful cruelty of the white men, and yet, no sooner did they see the natives, than they resolved to kill them all. Creeping silently forward, they made a sudden rush, and with their heavy swords killed all but one.

Having completed the massacre, the triumphant Northmen lay down under the trees to sleep; but they had hardly closed their eyes when the woods resounded with shouts and yells, and the natives rushed upon them from every side. The single survivor of the slaughter had made haste to tell what had been done by the visitors, who were now compelled to flee to their ship, fighting as they went. Under the shelter of the vessel, however, they were able to beat back the natives, only one of the Northmen receiving a wound: he was Thorvald, who had been pierced so deeply by an arrow that he was past help. He died and was buried near the shore, the grave covered with stones and a cross placed both at the head and foot. Then the survivors sailed back to Vinland and told their countrymen the sad tidings. The next spring the whole colony returned to Greenland.

Thus ends all authentic history of the discovery and settlement of America by the Northmen. Having found one of the great continents of the world, it may be said they lost it, and, during nearly five centuries afterward there is no positive proof that it was known to Europeans.

HE fifteenth century witnessed a remarkable awakening of human thought and enterprise, one of the most important features of which was the activity in maritime undertakings which led to the discovery of lands until then unknown to the civilized world. The invention, and the application to navigation, of the mariner's compass, had enabled the seamen of Europe to undertake long and distant voyages. The Portuguese took the lead in the maritime enterprises of this period, the chief object of which was to find a route by water from Europe to the Indies. The equator had been passed; Bartholomew Diaz had even doubled the Cape of Storms, and had established the course of the eastern coast of Africa; and it was hoped by some of the most daring thinkers that the ports of India could be reached by sailing around

this cape.

Others, still bolde:, believed that although the earth was a sphere, it was much smaller than it is, and that the central portion of its surface was occupied by a vast ocean which washed the shores of what they regarded as its solitary continent, on either side, and that by sailing due west from Eu

| rope, the shores of India, China or Japan could be be reached. Among those who held this opinion was Christopher Columbus. ile was a native of Genoa, in Italy, was bo1 1 about the year 1435, and was the son of weaver of cloth. His ancestors had been sailors, for which calling he, at an early age, evinced a evinced a preference. He received a common school education, and afterwards went to the University of Pavia, where he studied geometry, astronomy, geography and navigation. He stayed at Pavia but a short time, only long enough to gain a decided relish for mathematical studies.

At the early age of fourteen he went or. a voyage with a relative, and followed the calling of a sailor until he had completed his thirtieth year. During this period he had married, and by this marriage he had become possessed of the papers of the former husband of his wife, who had been a distinguished Portuguese navigator. He had learned but little at school, but he had been a close student all his life, and had stored his mind with a valuable fund of information. This habit of study he never abandoned, and his extensive knowledge, added to his years of practical experience, made him one of the most learned navigators of his day. In 1470, being then about thirty years old, Columbus