continue for that depth with some regularity. A shaft was then commenced a little distance to the south-east of the outcrop of the mass, the object being to prove its nature at a depth of about ten fathoms from surface. This reached a depth of between seven and eight fathoms, when the quantity of water met with was such as required the aid of pumping machinery to enable the work to be proceeded with, and the same was in consequence suspended.

From the foregoing remarks, the existence of copper ore over a large area of the Eastern Townships, along the divisions laid down in the able Geological Report of Sir W. E. Logan, as described in the three synclinals, may be regarded as fully established.

That copper mines in the Eastern Townships present features of future promise, and inducements for the investment of capital for their more perfect and permanent development, will, I have the fullest belief, become patent within the next few years to capitalists seeking legitimate enterprise.

I must not, however, forget to lay great stress on the economical expenditure of labor, as well as capital, in all mining operations; as much injury might be done to the mining industry of the country by injudicious management of labor or disadvantageous. expenditure of capital.

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In conclusion, it must not be supposed that the mere discovery of copper ore constitutes a mine, as was the case at Acton, which may be truly regarded as one of the most extraordinary occurrences ever met with in the history of mining. On the contrary, it will be found in Canada, as in other countries, that it most frequently requires a large expenditure of capital, and the patient and persevering prosecution of works of an exploratory nature, for several years, before the long hoped-for return finds its way into the treasury of a company.

PAPER IV.-THE ANCIENT SCANDINAVIANS,THEIR MARITIME EXPEDITIONS, THEIR DISCOVERIES, AND THEIR RELIGION.

BY PROFESSOR PAUL C. SINDING, OF COPENHAGEN, Denmark, COR. MEM. OF QUEBEC LIT. AND HIST. SOC.

(Read before the Society, 5th April, 1865.)

History has scarcely recorded the annals of a people who have occasioned greater, more sudden, or more numerous revolutions in Europe than the Scandinavians, the Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, or whose antiquities, at the same time, are so little known. At what period of time these three ancient kingdoms began to be inhabited, historians have never been able te ascertain with any full degree of certainty. But it is very probable that the first Danes, Norwegians and Swedes, who belonged principally to the Gothic tribe, were, like the Teutonic nations, a colony of Scythians who dwelt round about the Black Sea, and that from them the first colonies were sent into Denmark. From this people, I mean that branch of them which was called the Cimmerian Scythians, they, in all probability, inherited the name of Cimbri, which name they bore long before they got that of Danes. They inhabited, a long time before the nativity of Christ, the country that had from them the name of the Cimbrica Chersonesus or Cimbric Peninsula, which now is called Jutland, and is a part of the Danish monarchy. But all that passed in Denmark before Christ would be entire darkness to us, if the famous expedition of the Cimbri and Teutons, 150 years before Christ, into Italy, had not drawn upon them the attention of a people who enjoyed the advantage of having historians. More than 300,000 men, consisting both of Cimbri and Teutones, left their country, and roamed wildly about in Germany, killing and plundering wherever they went. The Gauls also were overwhelmed with this torrent, whose course was then

for quite a long time, marked by the most horrible desolation; and when at length it was reported in Rome that they were disposed to pass into Italy, the consternation there became general. Upon entering Italy they sent an embassy to the Romans to offer them their services, upon condition that they would give them land to cultivate. The Senate, unwilling to enter into any kind of accommodation with such ruthless enemies, returned a direct refusal to their request. The Cimbri and Teutones now resolved to take by force what they could not gain by entreaty, attacked the Roman provinces in Southern Germany, and defeated the Romans five times in succession with immense slaughter. The Teutones (the Germans) now separated themselves from the Cimbri, the Teutones going into Spain, the Cimbri into France. In this melancholy conjuncture the Romans appointed the great and brave Marius commander-in-chief, and he saved Rome. He marched into France, and pitched his camp opposite the Teutones, who had now returned from Spain. In the camp of the Teutones were heard continued howlings like those of savage beasts, so hideous, that the Romans, and even their general himself, could not but testify to their horror. At length the battle commenced with great impetuosity, when finally the victory declared itself entirely in favour of the Romans. This victory, Marius, the Roman general, gained at Aquæ Sextiæ in Southern France, in the year 102 B.C., and the Roman historians relate that the inhabitants of Marseilles made inclosures for their gardens and vineyards with the bones of the slaughtered Teutones, and that the soil thereabout was so much fattened that its increase of produce was prodigious. But the Cimbri (the Danes) who had separated themselves from the Teutones, still threatened Rome. Marius was charged to raise a new army with the utmost speed, and to go and engage them. The Cimbri sent a message a second time to demand an allotment of land, which demand again met with an unconditional refusal. Then the Cimbri prepared immediately for battle, and their General approached the Roman camp to agree with Marius on a day and place of action. Marius announced that although it was

not the custom of the Romans to consult their enemies on this subject, he would, however, oblige them, and appointed the next day but one, and the plain of Verceil, in Northern Italy, for the hostile meeting. The Cimbri were, after a most desperate engagement, routed, and 120,000 of this fierce and valiant nation were mowed down. This battle was fought in the year 101 before Christ, and put an end to their invasion of Rome. I do not pretend to decide whether the first inhabitants of the three Scandinavian countries were, all of them, without any mixture, Cimbri and Teutones; for although it appears probable with regard to Denmark, it cannot be denied that the Finns and Laplanders anciently possessed a much more considerable part of Scandinavia than they do at present, and were formerly spread over the southern parts of Norway and Sweden, whence in process of time they have been driven out by new colonies of Scythians, and banished amongst the northeru rocks, in like manner as the ancient inhabitants of Britain have been dispossessed by the Saxons of the greatest and most pleasant part of their island, and forced to conceal themselves amongst the mountains of Wales, where to this day they retain, as we know, their peculiar language. But to return to Denmark. Up to this very year, 101 B. C., when the Cimbri were, as we have heard, defeated by Marius, and even until 250 years after Christ, the Danes were called Cimbri. In Christ's time Frode Fredegod (Pacific) is said to have been king of Denmark. The rulers of that time, however, were not called kings, but Drosts, that is to say, generals; and Rig, ruler of Skane, a province in the southern part of Sweden, adopted first the title of king. A new generation begins with Dan Mykillati (the Splendid), whom all historians consider the founder of the country called Denmark, 250 A.D. Some have from him derived the name Denmark, but it is more probable that it has originated from the word Dan, denoting low or flat, and from Mark, denoting overgrown with wood, the name Denmark thus signifying a flat land overgrown with wood. About 150 years before the time of Dan Mykillati lived Nor, a prince from Finnland. He went through

Lapland into Norway, conquering most of this country. All that he subdued he called Norway, and this country has always since borne this name.

But how formidable soever, as we have seen, the ancient Scandinavians were by land to most of the inhabitants of Europe, it must yet be allowed that their maritime expeditions occasioned still more destructive ravages. We cannot read the history of the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries without observing with surprise the ocean covered with their vessels. During the space of two hundred years, they almost incessantly ravaged England, often invaded Scotland and Ireland, and made incursions on the coasts of Livonia and Pomerania. Charlemagne is known to have shed tears on hearing that these barbarians had, on some occasion, defied his name, and he foresaw what his people would suffer from their martial spirit under his successors. And his fear was well grounded. They soon spread like a devouring flame over Lower Saxony, Holland, Flanders, and the banks of the Rhine, and wherever they went, they went as lords and rulers. They pillaged and burnt Paris, Bordeaux, Angoulême, and many other cities. In short, they ruined France, levied immense tribute on its monarchs, and burnt the palace of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle. They often carried their arms into Spain, and in the year 844, a band of these sea-rovers attacked Sevilla, which they soon made themselves masters of. The better to account for that strange facility with which the Scandinavians so long plundered, and so frequently conquered the Anglo-Saxons and the French, we must remark that their cruelty, which gave no quarter, had impressed these nations with such terror, that they were half vanquished at their very appearance. The profession of piracy was so far from appearing disgraceful to them, that it was in their eyes the certain way to honors and fortune. Hence it is that in the ancient chronicles, more than one hero boasts of being the most renowned pirate in the North, and that often the sons of the great lords and kings made voyages in their youth, in order to make themselves illustrious. This is what we see happen very frequently after