frequent. Hence it was free from the monotony which is so deadly
in other regions. When the ice retreated our European ancestors
doubtless followed slowly in its wake. Thus their racial
character was evolved in one of the world's most stimulating
regions. Privation they must have suffered, and hardihood and
boldness were absolutely essential in the combat with storms,
cold, wild beasts, fierce winds, and raging waves. But under the
spur of constant variety and change, these difficulties were
merely incentives to progress. When the time came for the people
of the west of Europe to cross to America, they were of a
different caliber from the previous immigrants.

Two facts of physical geography brought Europe into contact with
America. One of these was the islands of the North, the other the
trade-winds of the South. Each seems to have caused a preliminary
contact which failed to produce important results. As in the
northern Pacific, so in the northern Atlantic, islands are
stepping-stones from the Old World to the New. Yet because in the
latter case the islands are far apart, it is harder to cross the
water from Norway and the Lofoten Islands to Iceland and
Greenland than it is to cross from Asia by way of the Aleutian
Islands or Bering Strait. Nevertheless in the tenth century of
the Christian era bold Norse vikings made the passage in the face
of storm and wind. In their slender open ships they braved the
elements on voyage after voyage. We think of the vikings as
pirates, and so they were. But they were also diligent colonists
who tilled the ground wherever it would yield even the scantiest
living. In Iceland and Greenland they must have labored mightily
to carry on the farms of which the Sagas tell us. When they made
their voyages, honest commerce was generally in their minds quite