The early Scandinavian Vikings settle on the coast of Scotland and elsewhere—Great skill as seamen—Discovery of ancient ship, and of other early relics—Incursions of the Saxons and Angles into Britain; and its state soon afterwards—London—Accession of Offa, A.D. 755—Restrictions on trade and commerce—Salutary regulations—Charlemagne’s first treaty of commerce with England, A.D. 796—Extension of French commerce, A.D. 813—Commerce of England harassed by the Danes—Their ships, and the habits of their owners—Increase of the Northern marauders—Language of the Northmen still spoken by mariners in the North—Accession of Alfred the Great, A.D. 871: his efforts to improve navigation, and to extend the knowledge of geography—Foundation of a royal and commercial navy—His voyages of discovery and missions to the East—Reign of Edward the Elder, A.D. 901-25, and of his son Athelstan, A.D. 925-41—Edgar’s fleet, and his arrangements for suppressing piracy—The wisdom of his policy—Ethelred II., A.D. 979-1016—Sufferings of the people—Charges on vessels trading to London—Olaf, king of Norway, his ships, and those of Swein—Love of display—Mode of navigating—Canute, A.D. 1016—Reduction of the English fleet—Prosperity of commerce—Norman invasion, A.D. 1066—Number of vessels engaged, and their form—State of trade and commerce—Exports—Manufactures—Wealth—Imports—Taxation—London specially favoured—Chester specially burdened—State of the people at the time of the Conquest. [Sidenote: The early Scandinavian Vikings settle on the coast of Scotland, and elsewhere.] Among the numerous tribes which overran Europe during the third, fourth, and fifth centuries, it would not be easy to give to any one a position of superiority over the others in the theory and practice of maritime commerce. Requiring wider fields for their energy, and a soil more suited for a superabundant population than could be found amidst the barren mountains of Scandinavia or in the northern portions of Germany, the first object of most of them, as was the case with the Goths and Vandals, was, doubtless, to obtain greater means of subsistence. But desolate hills, and a string of small islands along a deeply indented coast, with deep and narrow water between them and the mainland, afforded a natural home for the Vikings’ tribe; while the mainland itself became available as a great sea-fortress for countless fleets.