10 APRIL 1897, Page 26

The Tamers of the Sea. By M. Edmond Mukomm. Translated

by Mrs. Cashel Hoey. (Sampson Low and Co.)—M. Mukoraro

tells us in his preface how at Rouen he was directed to search for the records of pre-Columbian discoveries of America, chiefly from the traditions and remains of the Northmen. He certainly has some thrilling stories of how a jarl, fleeing from the decree of Hakon the Bad declaring sole sovereignty, discovers by accident America ; only a glimpse, it is true, but it induces an Iceland exile, Eric the Red, to fit out an expedition to the smiling land.

Then follows a narrative of colonisation, struggles, feuds, and finally, the desertion of the colony of Ouiland when Margaret of Waldemar claimed it. Then follows the story of Cousin's expedition, and the part Pincon played then and subsequently in the Spanish expeditions. It is extraordinarily interesting

because, though so much is traditional, the circumstantial evidence is very strong of the part played by the Vikings in their voyages of involuntary discovery.