Nothing is more astonishing in the story of the the great Englishman than that he could find time for literary occupations; but he was steady and persevering, and rigidly systematic. When not in the field against the Norsemen, his rule was, eight hours for sleep, eight for the affairs of state, eight for study and devotion. His mind was ever open to receive fresh information. He took a continued delight in obtaining the details and particulars of strange and foreign lands. Before Alfred, nothing was practically known of the greater outside world by the Anglo-Saxons. But the King drew around him a number of bold and adventurous spirits, men, who had travelled far, and he revelled in the stories which they recited of their own experiences, and the information which they had gleaned of still more remote lands, which they themselves had not seen. One of these was Othere, who had been far north into the Arctic circle, another was Wulfstan, who took a voyage round the Baltic, and gathered many strange and interesting facts concerning those climes. All the information which he collected, the King committed to writing in the plain mother tongue, and in enlarging the text of the Spanish chronicler, Orosius, whose work he translated, he introduced the voyages of Othere and Wulfstan. Having heard stories of the east, possibly from Johannes Scotus, who came to his court, and who had been in the far and distant Orient; and learning that there were colonies of Christians settled on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, Alfred decided to send out his trusted friend, Swithelm, Bishop of Sherburn, to India. Probably his motives were mixed feelings of devotion for Christianity, and a desire for increased geographical knowledge. Anyhow the stout-hearted churchman set out on this, what in those days must have been a tremendous journey; one which then had probably never been made by any other Englishman before. What is more, he succeeded in reaching India and returning safely back again, bringing with him presents of spices and gems. Thus was Alfred's fame increased, and the existence of England made known, probably for the first time, in that empire where to-day the Saxon holds sovereign sway.