Early in the ninth century they ravaged France, Italy, Scotland, England, and passed over to Ireland, where they built cities which remain to the present day.

"There is no manner of doubt," writes M.Karamsin in his history of Russia, "that five hundred years before Christopher Columbus, they had discovered North America, and instituted commerce with the natives." It is not until the middle of the ninth century, that we obtain any really reliable information respecting the inhabitants of central Russia.

They are described as a light-complexioned, flaxen-haired race, robust, and capable of great endurance.

Their huts were cheerless, affording but little shelter, and they lived upon the coarsest food, often devouring their meat raw.

The Greeks expressed astonishment at their agility in climbing precipitous cliffs, and admired the hardihood with which they plunged through bogs, and swam the most rapid and swollen streams.