To the exhaustive biographies of able historians, whose work gives a wealth of fact and detail concerning the adventurers herein portrayed, I owe a debt of gratitude for their aid in the making of this small volume.

Especially do I tender grateful appreciation to the works of J. S. C. Abbott, Francis Parkman, Washington Irving, Dr. Reuben G. Thwaite, H. D. Traill, John Fiske, Vautier Golding, W. H. Prescott, Julian Corbett, H. C, Buell, J. P. Frothingham, Basil Matthews, L. M. Elton, J.W. Mario, G. M. Trevelyan, and many others whose monographs and magazine articles have given inspiration in the writing of these sketches for young readers.

If the volume gives them a desire to turn to the more comprehensive histories it will have accomplished its object.

From the Foreword