ZOOLOGICAL NOTES (ANIMALS WILD AND TAME)--NOTES ON FLORA--AGRICULTURE
AND CATTLE-BREEDING--FISHERIES AND FISHING--INDUSTRY AND EMIGRATION.
§ 1. ZOOLOGICAL NOTES AND SPORT.
Iceland, which is an exaggeration of Scotland, whilst Greenland
exaggerates Iceland, is supposed to number seven families and
thirty-four species of mammals, but of these twenty-four are “water
creatures.” Two quadrupeds have been considered indigenous, though
evidently imported, the first is the mouse of many fables, the second is
the fox. An old Iceland tradition asserts that Reynard was spitefully
imported by a king of Norway, as magpies were sent to Ireland by the
hated Saxon. Some are still floated over on the ice, but they seldom
appear upon the east coast. A premium upon vulpecide dates from olden
days, and increased demand for the robe has made the animals
comparatively rare. Formerly they did immense damage amongst the
newly-dropped lambs, and the farmers ignored the Scotch “dodge” of
applying a streak of tar to the shoulder or to any part of the
youngling. The people divide foxes into tame and wild: the latter
grapple the sheep by their wool and never loose them till they fall
exhausted.
Horrebow the Dane (Nat. Hist. of Ice.) mentions dark-red foxes, but
Hooker neither saw nor heard of them. Kerguelen refers to red as well as
to black,[209] blue, and white foxes. Uno Von Troil declares that some
of the animals ate called “Gras tóur” (or grass-eating tod);[210]
usually two varieties are recognised, _C. lagopus_ (Mel-rakki) and _C.
fuliginosus_; but the _Isatis_ or white Arctic and the sooty-brown are
probably the same animal at several seasons. Some assert the former to
be white all the year round, but no hunter ever pretends to have found a
white cub. The blue fox, which haunts certain places, very seldom comes
to market, because the chief chasseur is dead. The white coat is cheap,
the fine brown is rare and dear. Iceland, of course, abounds in
folk-lore and Æsopian tales of Skolli (the skulker), as well as of mice,
gulls, and ravens; the string of foxes hanging over the cliffs, and the
contrivance of the vixen to escape from the hounds, show ingenuity in
the inventor.[211]
The history of the imported reindeer (_C. tarandus_) is well known. In
1770 Hr Sörensen, a merchant, embarked thirteen head from Norway; of
these ten died on the passage, and three fawned before 1772. They were
never used for sledges: as the mule is the familiar of the Latin family,
and the camel of the nearer East, so the reindeer can be developed only
by the Lapps, Finns, and Tungusians. Moreover, the reindeer is fitted
only for a snowy country; the skin and hair do not readily throw off
water, and the animals suffer severely from wet--hence Iceland proved
anything but the expected paradise. The average life of the Havier
(stag) is said to be sixteen years. The young horns were eaten by the
old Norwegians, and, when hard, they were cut into cramp-ring like those
of the elk (_Alce equicervus_)--a _curatio per contrarium_. Some of
these attires are grand as those of the Canadian Wapiti. There are now
only two known herds upon the island, and details concerning them will
be given in the Journal.
The Fjárhundr or shepherd-dog (_C. Islandicus_), according to Mackenzie,
is of the Greenland breed; the “prick-eared cur” certainly resembles the
Eskimo, sometimes with a dash of our collie. Formerly they were far more
numerous than men; and old authors mention several breeds--“lubbar” or
shag-dogs; dýr-hundar, deer or fox hounds, and dverg-hundar, dwarf
hounds or lapdogs. Foreign animals are now rare; the common sort is a
little “pariah,” not unlike the Pomeranian; stunted, short-backed, and
sharp-snouted, with ruffed neck and bushy tail, or rather brush, curling
and recurling. The colour is mostly brown-black, some are light-brown,
deep-black, white, and piebald. Those brought to Reykjavik appear shy,
savage, and snappish as foxes. Formerly they were trained to keep
caravan-ponies on the path; now they guard the flocks, loiter about the
farms, and keep cattle off the “tún.”[212] Good specimens easily fetch
$6; a horse may be exchanged for the most valuable, those which, they
say, can search a sheep under nine ells of snow. They are accused of
propagating amongst their masters, hydatic disease and intestinal worms
(_Tænia echinococcus_); and this consideration induced the Althing, in
1871, _magno cum risu_ of the public, who asked why the cats were not
assessed, to impose an annual dog-tax of $2 per head upon all exceeding
a certain number on each farm--it will cause the premature death of many
a promising pup. Half of the amount is the perquisite of the
Hreppstjórar, the other moiety goes to the Treasury. The danger would be
less if the dogs were not so often allowed to lick the platters clean,
and to perform other and similar domestic duties.
Cats are common, especially in the capital, showing that defence is
necessary against rats and mice. Herds of swine are alluded to in the
island Sagas; and Iceland, like the Færoes, is full of such names as
Svína-fell, Svína-dalr, and Svína-vatn. Not a single head is now seen
except at Reykjavik, where a few are annually imported for immediate
slaughtering. The peasants cannot afford to rear such expensive animals,
which, moreover, damage the “tún.” A few goats are said to linger about
the northern parts of the island; formerly they were common, but about
1770 they began to be proscribed for injuring the turf-roofs--where they
can find no vines.
There are six families and some ninety species of birds, fifty-four of
the latter being water-fowl. A valuable list of the air-fauna may be
found in Appendix A. to Baring-Gould’s volume, “Notes on the Ornithology
of Iceland,” by Alfred Newton, M.A. Almost every traveller has dipped
into the subject, but Mr Newton has twice visited the island to study
his specialty. His conclusion is thus stated: “The character of the
avi-fauna of this country, as might have been expected from its
geographical position, is essentially European, just as that of
Greenland has American tendencies.” Of course many are emigrants from
the south, and, treating of this subject, we should not forget the
poetical, and apparently practical, theory of Runeberg the Skáld of
modern Sweden. He makes the object light, not merely warmth: “The bird
of passage is of noble birth; he bears a motto, and his motto is ‘_Lux
Mea Dux_.’”
The most interesting of the game denizens is the ptarmigan (_Tetrao
lagopus_). The people recognise only one species, but in these matters
they are of no authority, and foreigners suspect the existence of two as
in Norway. The small mountain-ptarmigan (_Lagopus vulgaris_) of the
Continent is white in winter and grey speckled black at other times; its
note is compared with the frog’s croak, the sheep’s cough, or the harsh
cry of the missel-thrush. The Danish Skov or Dal-rype (wood or dale
ptarmigan) is some seventeen inches long, white-plumed in winter, and
during the rest of the year clad in warm yellow-brown, like the red
grouse; the “cluck” can be heard a mile off. Metcalfe recognised in
Iceland a modified cluck, while Faber and Yarrell believe the islander
to be a new species. The cock is locally called Rjúpkarri, and the hen
Rjúpa (Reb-huhn), evidently from the cry. It carries the young on the
back, and is said to be stupid as the Touraco; this was not the author’s
experience. Mackenzie appears to be in error when he makes the Scotch
ptarmigan haunt the hills, and the Icelander prefer the lowlands. The
bird enters largely into folk-lore: the fox of fable blinds it by
throwing the snow in its eyes; and when the ger-falcon pierces its
heart, he screams for sorrow to find that he has slain a sister.
Flocks of geese, also mentioned by the Sagas, are now found, like swans,
only in the wild state; yet there is little apparent reason for the
change. The raven will be treated of in another place; there are no
crows except stragglers blown to sea by the southern gales. Poultry is
still bred in small numbers about the farms, and, if the proportions
were greater, they would be useful in clearing the ground of the
injurious lumbrici. But the traveller observes that gallinaceous birds,
originally natives of the tropics and of the lower temperates, though
easily acclimated to the higher latitudes, will not thrive beyond the
habitat of the civilised cereals. At any rate in Iceland their
productiveness is limited.
It is generally known that there are no snakes in Iceland as in Ireland.
Islands disconnected from continents by broad tracts of sea like Annobom
and St Helena, notably lack venomous reptiles; the latter, however, have
passed over the nineteen miles between Fernando Po and the Camarones
mainland. Papilios and sphinxes, newts and lizards, frogs and toads,
also shun the cold damp air. Mackenzie found a coccinella near the
Geysir; and Madame Ida Pfeiffer secured two wild bees which she carried
off in spirits of wine. The pests are gnats, midges, and fleas; the
pediculus is well known, but the cimex, as in older England, has not yet
become naturalised.
Mr J. Gwyn Jeffreys kindly obliged the author with the following note
concerning a small collection forwarded to him.
“WARE PRIORY, HERTS,
_5th October 1872._
“MY DEAR SIR,--.... The Iceland shells are as follows:
_Marine_--
1. Littorina obtusata, Linné; var. = L. palliata, Say. = L. limata,
Lovén.
_Land_--
2. Helix arbustorum, L.
3. Succinea putris, L.; var. Groenlandica, Beck.
_Fresh-water_--
4. Pisidium nitidum, Jenyns; var. Steenbuchii, Müller.
5. Limnæa peregra, Müller; var. Vahlii, Beck.
“Most of the land shells of Iceland are usually thin, from a
deficiency of lime or calcareous material. This is not the case
with the succinea, or with the fresh-water shells, and much less
with the marine.
“Nearly all your shells were broken.--Yours truly,
(Signed) “J. GWYN JEFFREYS.”
Baring-Gould (p. 114) found “fossil fresh-water shells on the sand
formations between the trap-beds.”
The sportsman must not expect to see in Iceland that “abundance of
game,” promised by old and even by writers of the last decade; he may
content himself with No. 5 shot--No. 1, or swan shot, being now useless.
Fur is hardly to be had; no foreigner has yet brought down a reindeer;
and the seals belong to the owner of the shore. The people kill Reynard
with “fox-shot”--but vulpecide will scarcely commend itself to the
Englishman. Feather is nearly as rare. Eider ducks are defended by law,
and the author, after visiting the most likely places, can count the
ptarmigan flushed; they are generally “potted” sitting in the snow when
they approach the farms. Only four whoopers showed themselves _dulcibus
in stagnis_; these singing swans, whose music is mentioned by every
winter-traveller, are becoming strangers as in the Orkneys and
Shetlands. The great auk is gone--for ever gone; all his haunts have
lately been ransacked in vain. Eight or nine years ago the lakes and
ponds swarmed with duck; now their places know them no more. Sandpipers,
common and purple; malingering golden plover,[213] oyster-catchers,
curlew, and whimbrel, and the characteristic whimbrel (_Numenius
phæopus_, Icel. Spói), all of them detestable eating, with an occasional
snippet or snipe, especially the Hrossa-gaukr[214] (“horse-snipe,”
_Gallinago media_), so called from its neighing cry, and, perhaps, from
the popular idea of its throwing somersaults in the air, can hardly be
called inducements--except to a Cockney gun. The one sufficient reason
for this disappearance of birds is the systematic robbery of their
nests; an ever-increasing population with decreasing means must eat up
everything eatable.
§ 2. NOTES ON THE FLORA.
The vegetation of Iceland, like Greenland, is that of Scandinavia, which
Dr Hooker has shown to be one of the oldest on the globe. The popularly
adopted computation gives 407 species of Phanerogams, of which
one-eighth are grain-bearing; one-eighth leguminous; one-ninth
cyperaceæ; one-seventeenth composite, and about one-eighteenth
crucifers.
That the present poverty of bread-stuffs is comparatively modern, may be
proved by such names as Akrey, Akureyri, Akranes, Akra-hverar, and a
host of others, all derived from Akr, a corn-field; the Aker of Lappland
(ἀγρός, ager, acker, acre). We have also the distinct testimony of
ancient literature. The Landnámabók (p. 15) mentions the Arðr[215]
(aratrum) and ploughing with cattle. The Njála says, “Bleikir akrar en
slegin tún”--the corn-fields are bleached (to harvest) and the tún is
mown. Though the island is now placed north of the barley-limit, crops
of barley and rye have apparently been grown.
Forbes and other writers attempt to explain away the significance of
“akr,” by suggesting that the indigenous wild oat might have been
cultivated in former days, and hence the traces of tilled and furrowed
fields which have been allowed to relapse into the savage state. This
grain of many names (_Avena arenaria_, _Elymus arenarius_, _Granum
spicatum_, _secalinum maritimum spicâ longiooe_, and _arundo foliorum
lateribus convolutis acumine pungente_) is popularly called Melr;[216]
and old authors divide the “sea-lyme grass” of Iceland into two
species--(1.) _Avena arenaria_, and (2.) _Avena foliorum lateribus
convolutis_. The opinion is untenable for two reasons. Firstly, the
cereal is a local growth, nourishing chiefly in the Skaptarfells Sýsla
and in the Mýrdals and Skeiðarár Sandur; it exists in the north-east of
the island; but it does not yield food. Secondly, transplantation has
often been tried during the last few years, for instance, to the
Borgarfjörð, and other highly favourable spots, with one effect--like
Kangaroo grass in Australia, the grain refused to ripen. Finally, we may
observe, Ólafsson and Pállsson on their journey through Iceland, nearly
a century ago, mention wheat growing in the southern districts.
The cause of the change, sometimes attributed to oscillations of
temperature, is simply disforesting, which has promoted the growth of
bog and heath now covering half the island, which allows storm-winds to
sweep unopposed over the surface, and which, since the Saga times, has
necessarily rendered the cold less endurable to cereals. A number of
local names, beginning with Reynir, the sorb apple (_Sorbus
edulis_),[217] proves that groves of the wild fruit-tree, whose
pomaceous berries, rich in malic acid, were munched by the outlaw, once
flourished where there is now not a trace of them. The Landnámabók
(chap, i., p. 7) expressly declares that Iceland was wooded from the sea
to the mountains, or inner plateau (var thá skógr milom fjalls og
fjöru); and tells us how, as in Madeira Island, the woods were destroyed
by fire. Vain attempts have been made to remedy an evil which is now all
but irreparable; without nurseries and walls, the young plants are
always wind-wrung. As in the Orkneys and Shetlands, the only trees now
growing wild are rowans; birches (_Betula alba_, _nana_, and
_fruticosa_), and ground-juniper (_J. communis_, Icel. Einir); the
dwarf red, grey, and green-grey willows (_Salix Lapponum_, etc., Icel.
Grá-Víðir), of which sixteen species have been collected, hardly ever
exceed the size of sage, which, indeed, the Selja (_S. caprea_) greatly
resembles. The twiggy birch-thickets seldom surpass six feet in height,
the northern part of Iceland being the extreme limit of the growth; and
a tree whose topmost leaves rise fifteen feet excites general
admiration. The verdant patches labelled Skógr (forest), and scattered
in the map, especially about the Lagarfljót, the Thjórsá, and the Hvítá,
denote this scrub. Yet the bogs supply tree stumps a foot and more in
diameter.
The wild flora of Iceland is small and delicate, with bright bloom, the
heaths being especially admired; and the traveller is at first surprised
to find no difference in the vegetation of the uplands and the lowlands.
Baring-Gould (Appendix C.) gives of Dicotyledons, Ranunculaceæ (14
species), Papaveraceæ (2), Cruciferæ (22), Violaceæ (4), Drosereæ (2),
Polygalaceæ (1), Caryophyllaceæ (25), Linaceæ (1), Hypericaceæ (1),
Geraniaceæ (3), Leguminosæ (8), Rosaceæ (20),[218] Pomeæ (2), Onagraceæ
(9), Haloragaceæ (2), Portulacaceæ (1), Crassulaceæ (17), Saxifragaceæ
(19), Umbelliferæ (7), Araliaceæ (1), Cornaceæ (1), Rubiaceæ (10),
Valerianaceæ (1), Dipsacaceæ (2), Compositæ (26), Campanulaceæ (2),
Vacciniaceæ (4), Ericaceæ (7), Pyrolaceæ (3), Gentianaceæ (15),
Polemoniaceæ (1), Boraginaceæ (6), Scrophulariaceæ (18), Labiatæ (8),
Lentibulariaceæ (2), Primulaceæ (3), Plumbaginiæ (2), Plantaginaceæ (6),
Chenopodiaceæ (3), Sceleranthaceæ (1), Polygonaceæ (13), Empetraceæ (1),
Callithrichaceæ (2), Ceratophyllaceæ (1), Urticeæ (2), Betulaceæ (3),
Salicaceæ (17), and Coniferæ, only one J. Communis.
The Monocotyledons are Orchidaceæ (13), Trilliaceæ (1), Liliaceæ (1),
Melanthaceæ (3), Juncaceæ (11), Juncaginaceæ (2), Typhaceæ (1), Naidaceæ
(7), Cyperaceæ (47), and Gramineæ (50). The Acotyledons are Polypodiaceæ
(13), Ophioglossaceæ (2), Lycopodiaceæ (8), and Equisetaceæ (6).
The traveller refers for details to his own pages, to Hooker’s Journal
(1813), to Zoega’s “Flora Islandica,” to Preyer and Zirkel’s “Reise nach
Island,” to Dr W. L. Lindsay’s “Flora of Iceland” (Edinburgh New
Philosophical Journal, July 1861), and to Dr Hjaltalín’s “Grasafræði”
(Handbook of Icelandic Botany, 8vo, 1830).
Building-wood is wholly imported. Fuel, here used only for the kitchen,
is supplied by the Argul of the Tartar, “chips” (_fimo bubulo pro lignis
utuntur_); by peat, which varies in depth from two to twenty-seven
yards; and by driftwood, which adds considerable value to the shores
receiving it. There are two chief deposits, the northern supplied by
Septentrional Europe, and the western by the New World; the latter has
of late years so much diminished that the islanders expect soon to see
it cease.
Concerning the origin of that miocene growth, Surtar-brand,[219] or
Iceland lignite, there are two conflicting opinions. Older writers
believe it to be a local production, a growth like that which created
the coal of the carboniferous period. The more modern support the theory
that it is accumulated driftwood, semi-fossilised like Zanzibar copal,
by heat and pressure. The question is still open to new light; but as
fossil leaves of plants were brought from Disco by Sir Edward Belcher’s
Expedition; as we have convincing proofs that those latitudes were once
inhabited by forests presenting fifty to sixty species of arborescent
trees, elm, oak, pine, maple, and plane; and, what is more remarkable,
by apparently evergreen trees and quasi-tropical flora, showing that
these regions must have had perennial light; we must incline to the old
opinion. Early in this century, the Danish Government promised rewards
to “persons who shall find out easier methods of breaking and using
Surtar-brand from the rocks” (Hooker), but we do not hear that any one
has deserved such generosity.
The greatest deposits of Swart-brand are on the north-western Fjörðs,
where it has been mined to a small extent, and whence specimens have
been sent to England. It is mostly found bedded in layers three or four
inches thick, alternating with trap. The surface is usually black and
shiny, flaking, and otherwise behaving like lignite; burning with a weak
flame and a sour smell like wet wood. The smiths formerly preferred it
to sea-coal, “because it did not waste the iron;” when powdered, it
preserved clothes from the moth, and, being an antiseptic, it was used
internally against colics. The author was shown a specimen of true
pitch-coal from the Hvítá valley; it is mentioned by Mackenzie (p. 368),
who describes it as highly combustible, but not existing in large
quantities. This source of wealth, as well as Iceland spar, Iceland
moss, cryolite, and especially the sulphur fields, will be noticed in
future pages; further details about the interesting Surtar-brand will
also be given in the Journal.
§ 3. AGRICULTURE.
At present the grass lands are the wealth of the island, as they pasture
the flocks and herds, which form the chief means of subsistence, and the
most important articles of industry and commerce. The meadows are
grassed over by nature, not ploughed nor harrowed, such implements being
rarely used. Nor are they seeded, although Dillon (p. 125) speaks of the
weedy grass crop being _sown_ in May, growing about June in weedy
pastures where, shortly before, no vegetation had been, and being fit
for mowing in later August, when the snow is off the hills,[220] and
when garden-stuff is ripe. The grass is soft and thick, much like our
red-top, and about six inches high; only in rare places the ponies wade
up to their knees in through the rich meads. The hay is carefully
“sheared,” and is exceedingly sweet. White clover (_Trifolium repens_,
Icel. Smári) flourishes; and on the streams it is found growing
spontaneously with carraway (_Carum carui_); the red species wants, they
say, the fructifying insect.
Mackenzie, and other old travellers, assure us that the island requires
nothing but active and intelligent men, able to combat the prejudices
and to stimulate the exertions of the peasantry. The latter complain of
the neglect of the Danish Government, and call upon Hercules, but will
not help themselves. It is conceded that draining, ploughing, and
manuring would improve the soil. But the question still remains, Is the
short summer sufficient to ripen grain? Late experiments with seed-corn
have proved failures, one quarter of a barrel yielded only half a
barrel; this suggests that in the older day seed was imported. Moreover,
the taxes and the tenure of land militate against improvement; whilst
the excessive labour and expense required for the first steps, such as
levelling the soil, place the preliminary operations beyond the reach of
most Bændr. Governor Thodal (1772) sowed barley, which grew very
briskly: a short time before it was to be reaped, a violent storm
scattered the grains from the ears (U. v. Troil, p. 47). Governor Finsen
tried oats in his compound, but they stubbornly refused to ripen. Many a
summer will pass before an island poet will again sing the “Georgics of
Iceland,” and before the island can bear the motto, “Cruce et Aratro.”
At the close of the eighteenth century the Crown of Denmark established,
in the northern district of the Húnavatn, model farms, chiefly directed
by foreigners. The grains experimented upon were mostly oats, barley,
and rye, autumnal and vernal (_Secale cereale, hybernum et æstivum_).
When protected by walls, the rye almost ripened, but the ears were
seldom fecund. Still remain for trial various German ryes
(_Johanniskorn_ or _Studentenkorn_); spelt (_Triticum spelta_); the
buckwheat of Tartary (_Polygonum Tataricum_); the _Triticum monococum_,
and sundry kinds of barley, the square autumnal (_Hordeum vulgare
hybernum_); the square vernal, so useful to middle Europe (_H. v.
æstivum_); and, above all, the Lapland barley, which Linnæus says may be
planted at the end of May, and reaped on July 28. Abyssinia and the
Western Hemisphere will supply the island with edible meadow-grasses
and millet-grasses, Poas, and Festucæ (_Ovina_ and others),[221] and
especially with the Quinoa (_Chenopodium quinoa_) of the Peruvian Andes,
which ripens where no other corn grows. And let us hope that the
indigenous cereals have not yet had a fair chance.
In the last century Hr Haldorsen introduced the potato, which has now
extended over the island. Dillon calls it a pigmy, and compares it with
a tennis ball; but it has improved since his day. Turnips would
flourish, especially upon the warmer coasts, where the sub-soil is
palagonitic sand, and where manure of seaweed abounds. Radishes, as now
cultivated, are hard, coarse, and woody: spinach is a success, and much
might be done to fatten the indigenous sorrel. The Stranda Sýsla to the
north-west has attempted with various fortunes, sundry kinds of caules;
the broccoli, which grows quickly; the turnip-cabbage (_Brassica
oleracea gangloides_), eaten in summer; the curled cole-wort (_B. o.
sabellica_), kept for winter use; the red cabbage, strong to resist
cold; the large growing white variety (_B. o. capitata alba_), and the
cauliflower, which hardly exceeds the size of a man’s fist--it is found,
however, that the two latter refuse to seed. The other pottage-plants
are lettuces, common in gardens; beetroot, red and yellow; carrots;
onions, garlic, and shalots (_Al. asculonicum_); chervil (_Scandix
cerefolium_); black mustard, which, considering the climate, attains
unusual dimensions; water cress; radishes; horse radish (_Raphanus
niger_); and parsley, the latter taking six to seven weeks before it
rises above ground. In 1865, there were about 7000 garden plots.
The tenure of land is either by lease from the Crown and the Church, or
held in fee simple; the latter is the old Óðal,[222] preserved in modern
Norway. Since ancient times, there has been a fourfold division of
estates: (1.) King’s land, bearing a succession duty of 1 per cent., and
assigned to a family as long as it pays its rent; (2.) Church land; (3.)
Freehold, held by contributing land-tax; and (4.) Land charitably
bequeathed to the poor. Crown property may be granted either by the
Sýslumaðr, whose income is often eked out by a temporary tenure gratis;
or by the Umboðsmenn,[223] of whom there is generally one for every two
Sýslas. They are also paid by grants of Government farms; they receive a
percentage upon those they lease, and they report to the Land-fógeti
(treasurer). Church property is under the Amtmaðr, controlled by the
bishop, but, as a rule, it is sub-leased by the parish priest in whose
living it is. A large proportion of farms is thus held. The poor lands
are let by the rector and the Hreppstjórar, superintended by the
Sýslumenn. The tenant, besides agreeing to support one or more paupers,
pays ground-rent for all buildings upon the farm, and he can underlet it
in parts, the sub-tenant paying, perhaps, a barrel of rye per annum.
Mackenzie compares the tenure of land leased to the farmer with the
Scotch “steel-bow;” the rent is paid in two ways:
1. Landskuld, lease-money or rent owed by the tenant to the Crown, the
Church, or the landowner. It is taken in specie or in kind, at the rate
of $2 to $3 per $100. The latter is supposed to be fixed by ancient
valuation; practically, it is very unsettled; and in Iceland, as
elsewhere, the landlord will strive to obtain the terms most favourable
to himself.
2. Lausa-fè, the rent on movable property, especially kine and sheep,
opposed to land, or even land with its cattle. It is generally levied in
butter, one of the articles of currency. Each tenant is bound to take
over from his predecessor the permanent stock on certain conditions, and
to leave the same number when he quits.
Property cannot be entailed. The estates of those dying intestate are
distributed amongst the children; formerly, whole shares fell to sons,
half shares to daughters--all now share equally. This process justifies
De Tocqueville, who, expressing his surprise that ancient and modern
publicists had paid so little attention to succession laws, regarded
them as the most important of political institutions.
Dufferin seems to think (pp. 141, 142) that almost perpetual leases are
the rule in Iceland: the contrary is the case; and the small proportion
of freehold is a crying evil. Many farms are let to tenants at will from
year to year, with six months’ notice: evictions are allowed by law for
neglect or misconduct, easily proved by the rich against the poor; and
the ejected farmer’s only remedy is to disprove the charges by a survey
of the Hreppstjórar, and of two respectable neighbours. The instability
of landed tenure, the undefined state of the tenant-right,
and the certainty of rents being raised by the parson or the
Umboth-superintendent, if profits increase, for instance if minerals be
discovered, are potent obstacles to regular and energetic improvement.
The remedy evidently lies in the sale of Crown property, and in the
secularisation of Church lands, with due compensation to the actual
holders.
The farms are all named, mostly from natural features. There are,
however, not a few which have borrowed from the outer world, for
instance a Hamburg in the Fljótsdalr: even “Jerusalem” is not
unknown--the result of Crusading days. The best are on the north side of
the island; yet the three most generally cited as models are Viðey off
the west coast, and Hólmar and Möðrudalr, to the east. The south-western
(not the southern) shore supports a fishing rather than a pastoral or
agricultural population. The non-maritime people live in scattered
homesteads, which nowhere form the humblest village: this is the unit of
the constitutional machinery of Iceland, as the township was amongst the
Anglo-Saxons. The only settlements are the trading-places on the
sea-shore.
Drainage and fencing are not wholly neglected. In 1856 there were 40,202
fathoms of ditching, and 44,671 fathoms of railing, these improvements
being all modern work. Each farm has, besides the “tún,” a bit of
lowland upon which grass is grown, and a large extent of barren hill and
moorland, where the sheep graze during the fine season; this is always
assumed to belong to the property. Hence the Shetland phrase, “fra the
heist off the hill to the lawest off the ebbe” (milli fjalls og fjöru).
The “Bær” is divided from its neighbours by Vörður (“warders”), or
landmarks, natural and artificial; the latter are stone heaps, the
former some marked limit, as a hill, a rock, or a stream. The boundaries
are a perpetual cause of dispute, and some of the most complicated
lawsuits have thus arisen. Not a few of the wilder peasantry live in a
chronic state of land-feud; they “make it up” over their cups, and they
return to the natural belligerent condition when sober.
The tenants of an Iceland farm usually number six classes.
1. Bonders (Bændr),[224] the Shetland Boonds, franklins, farmers, or
yeomen; the “upper ten.”
2. Húsmenn, or tómthúsmenn, who have houses upon the farm, but are not
allowed pasturage or haymaking. They have been confounded by travellers
with--
3. Kaupamenn, labourers working for hire.
4. Hjáleigumenn (crofters), those who occupy the hjáleiga, or a small
farm, an appendage to the larger establishments.
5. Servants (Icel. Vinnumenn).
6. Paupers (Icel. Ómagar or Niðursetningr).
Much harm is done by the multitude of lazy loons that gathers round the
farmer, a practice dating from ancient days, all striving to live upon
the best of the land, with the least amount of work.
Thus we see that “agriculture,” being absolutely confined to haymaking,
is a mere misnomer in Iceland, nearly three-quarters of whose population
is pastoral, though not nomad. The wealth of the country consists of
sheep, horses, and black cattle; goats are spoken of in the north, but
the author did not see a single head.
Since the first third of the nineteenth century, Iceland has witnessed a
gradual and regular increase of population, and a proportionate decrease
of live stock.[225] The following are the numbers of animals given by
Mackenzie for 1804:
Cows, 15,595
Heifers, 1,556
Bulls and oxen, 1,132
Calves, 2,042
-----
Total of cattle, 20,325
Milch ewes, 102,305
Rams and wethers, 49,527
Lambs, 66,986
-------
Total of sheep, 218,818
Total of horses, 26,524
In 1834-35, according to Mr John Barrow, jun., repeated in 1854 by Mr
Pliny Miles, the total of sheep, the chief staple of the land, was
500,000. M. Eugène Robert gives 617,401 for 1845. But in 1855 appeared
the disease (_scabies_) which, according to the “Oxonian” (p. 389), in
two years killed off 200,000 head: in many parts of the island it still
rages.
In 1863 Paijkull assigned 350,000 sheep and 22,000 head of black cattle
to 68,000 souls. In 1871 the official numbers are:
Milch ewes and lambs, 173,562
Barren ewes, 18,615
Wethers and rams above one year old, 55,710
Yearlings, 118,243
-------
Total, 366,130
or a falling off of 134,000, where the population has gained since
1834-35 upwards of 13,700.
The next source of profit in Iceland is breeding black cattle. According
to the same traveller, the total in 1834 was 36,000 to 40,000 head. The
official tables for 1871 give:
Cows and calves, 15,634
Bulls and bullocks above one year old, 828
Yearlings, 2,649
------
Total, 19,111
or a falling off of nearly half, when the population has increased about
one-fifth.
The following table shows the comparative numbers:
1855 there were of sheep, 489,132 of horned cattle, (?) of horses, (?)
1860 ” 309,177 ” (?) ” (?)
1866 ” 393,295 ” 20,357 ” 35,241
1867 ” 368,591 ” 19,003 ” 33,768
1868 ” 351,167 ” 17,968 ” 31,796
1869 ” 356,701 ” 18,342 ” 30,835
1870 ” 352,443 ” 18,189 ” 30,078
1871 ” 366,130 ” 19,111 ” 29,688
Thus, not including 1871, the number of horses since 1855 has decreased
upwards of 25 per cent., horned cattle 23 per cent., and sheep a little
more than 31 per cent.
Black cattle, according to Mackenzie, resemble the largest Highland
breed; the author thought them far more like our short-horns in general,
and especially Alderneys. Dillon makes them generally hornless,[226] and
the breed has remained unchanged. The cows yield an abundance of milk,
sometimes ten to twelve quarts a day. There has been no disease amongst
the “slaughter-creatures,” as Icelanders call black cattle, but the gold
of California and Australia has affected even Ultima Thule. In 1830-40
the price of a cow, $4, had increased to $28 in 1870; in 1872 it had
risen to $50-$80, and the animal often cost $100 to $120 in rearing.
Twenty years ago the pound of beef fetched eight to ten skillings
(farthings); now it averages one mark (fourpence) to one mark three
skillings. Few householders own more than eight head of cattle, and
probably half that number would be a high average. The community lives
chiefly upon milk and fish; hence the sale of a cow is to the children
the death of a friend, causing tears and lamentations.
The large but scattered flocks of sheep are the chief support of the
islandry. The peasants pay rent and debts in June and July by the wool
which is then washed and ready for sale; and in September and October by
wether-mutton smoked and cured; by grease and tallow, and by sheep-skins
and lamb-skins with the coat on. They reserve the butter and cheese
mostly for bargains and for household use. In 1770 the wether sold for
$1; in 1810 it had risen to $2, and even $5, and in 1872 to $9. Besides
supplying food, the animals yield material for local industries--coarse
cloth, clothes, frocks and jackets, mittens, stockings and socks, made
by the women, and used or exported. The fleece, which may average two to
four pounds,[227] is not sheared, but “roo’d,” or plucked when loose,
with little pain to the wearer. Though coarse it is long, while under
the hard outer coat (Icel. Tog or Thel) there is a fine soft tog, not a
little resembling the “Pashm” of Persia, Afghanistan, and Northern
India. The price varies considerably, the usual limits being tenpence to
a shilling. Of course it depends greatly upon the export, which in some
years has reached 1,750,000 lbs.; in 1868 about 625,000 lbs. were
shipped to England. The “scraggy,” long-legged animal suggests, on the
whole, the old Scotch breed. Intermixture of merino and other blood has
been partially tried, but it is a disputed point whether improved form
and quality of wool have or have not brought increased liability to
disease. The surest way to improve the island-sheep is to feed it
better, but the peasant is too lazy to shear the hills for hay not
absolutely necessary.
The exportation of live stock unaccompanied by proportional emigration
may end in a calamity. Fatal famines deform the island annals, and in
any year another may result from an inclement summer, producing scarcity
of grass. It would be justifiable to part with necessaries if the
profits were laid out upon improvements; but this is far from being the
case. The peasant sells his cattle and sheep to buy for himself vile
tobacco; “bogus” cognac; brennivín or kornschnaps, and perhaps even
“port” and “sherry;” and for his wife chignon and crinolines, silks and
calicoes, instead of the homely but lasting frieze cloth. His
grandfather infused Iceland moss; he must drink coffee, while raisins or
cassonade are replaced by candied or loaf sugar. Figs boiled with rice
and milk were then offered to guests, and angelica root was a _boccon
ghiotto_. And so with other matters. The Althing has attempted to curb
the crying evil of ever increasing drunkenness, the worst disease of the
island because the most general, by a tax which will be described under
the head of cesses; and sensible men would see it increased.
During the last forty years the number of horses has gradually fallen to
half; in 1871 the total was only 3164 over the 26,324 which Mackenzie
gave for A.D. 1804. In 1834, according to John Barrow, jun., a careful
observer, though apparently his figures do not come from official
sources, the census varied from 50,000 to 60,000; and the same is given
for 1835 by Mr Pliny Miles (1854), who may have copied his predecessor.
In 1845 the census numbered 34,584. In 1862 the late Professor Paijkull
counted 37,000, or 0·5 per head of population; during that year 828 (?)
were exported to Scotland viâ Belgium. The last census, for June 6,
1871, shows:
Horses and mares, four years old and upwards, 23,059
” ” under three years, 6,629
------
Total, 29,688
The following figures denote only the exportation from the capital;
though many animals are bought in other parts of the island, they are
usually driven to Reykjavik, and the people complain that the west,
where horse-flesh is scarcest, sends out the most. Those embarked at the
chief port, sometimes in troops of 400, were either two-year olds or
upwards of ten-year old, and many appeared to the author fit only for
the knacker’s yard.
In 1861 (Consular Reports, 1865) were imported into Great Britain, 444 head.
” 1862 total export (Paijkull) 828 head; Parl. Rep. give 856 “
” 1863 Consular Report ” 345 “
” 1864 ” and official figures on island ” 470[228] “
” 1869 official figures ” 507 “
” 1870 ” ” 906 “
” 1871 ” ” 1018 “
” 1872 a conjecture perhaps understated ” 2000[229] “
For three years Dr Hjaltalín advised the Althing to impose a heavy tax
on exported horses, and to expend the income upon road-making: the plan
was too sensible to suit the majority. The theorists, who are not a few
in Iceland and Denmark, object to unfree trade, and look only at present
profits--when will nations learn that to imitate one another often
produces not a copy but a caricature? Upon the subject of horse-flesh,
further details will be found in the Journal.
To resume: Mr Consul Crowe (Report, 1870-71) gives the following
value-tables of farm-produce:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| | 1864. | 1865. | 1866. | 1867. |
| |-----------+-----------+-----------+------------
| Salt meat, brls. | 1,902 | 716 | 2,206 | 2,985 |
| Tallow, lbs. | 453,279 | 461,193 | 452,261 | 556,254 |
| Salted sheep- | | | | |
| skins, pieces, | 8,438 | 2,870 | 11,552 | 14,592 |
| Sheep-skins, do. | 8,411 | 31,649 | 30,729 | 26,886 |
| White wool, lbs. | 1,215,162 | 1,393,161 | 1,547,169 | 1,223,580 |
| Black ” ” | 15,893 | 21,858 | 25,886 | 8,303 |
| Mixed ” ” | 109,538 | 116,241 | 132,394 | 96,881 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
| | 1868. | 1869. |
| |-----------+-----------|
| Salt meat, brls. | 2,003 | 2,758 |
| Tallow, lbs. | 530,798 | 451,655 |
| Salted sheep- | | |
| skins, pieces, | 8,861 | 14,746 |
| Sheep-skins, do. | 12,393 | 15,862 |
| White wool, lbs. | 1,423,392 | 1,218,067 |
| Black ” ” | 7,779 | 7,942 |
| Mixed ” ” | 122,456 | 97,618 |
--------------------------------------------
Of which the annual exported value is--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | S. AMT. | W. AMT. | N. & E. | WHOLE ISLAND. |
| | | | AMT. | |
| |----------+----------+----------+----------------+----------|
| | Value | Value | Value | Quantities. | Value |
| | Rix dols.| Rix dols.| Rix dols.| | Rix dols.|
| |----------+----------+----------+----------------+----------|
| Salt meat, | 3,150 | 2,185 | 35,910 | 2,095 brls.| 41,245 |
| Tallow, | 15,334 | 5,813 | 61,394 | 484,240 lbs. | 82,541 |
| Salted sheep- | | | | | |
| skins, | 826 | 112 | 8,602 | 10,176 pcs. | 9,540 |
| Sheep-skins, | 525 | 331 | 893 | 20,988 ” | 1,749 |
| White wool, | 121,218 | 65,847 | 205,354 | 1,336,755 lbs. | 392,419 |
| Black ” | 2,253 | 835 | 1,201 | 14,610 ” | 4,289 |
| Mixed ” | 6,922 | 4,126 | 12,394 | 112,521 ” | 23,442 |
| |----------+----------+----------+----------------+----------|
| Total, | 150,228 | 79,249 | 325,748 | ... | $555,225 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
§ 4. FISHERIES.
Faber mentions forty-five species of fish, seven of them being
inhabitants of fresh waters; but the list is evidently incomplete. Of
Cetaceæ alone the Iceland seas produce thirteen varieties: we shall
visit the headquarters of whale-catching on the eastern coast. The
Hákall, or edible shark, is also an animal of importance far surpassing
the seal. The halibut (Spraka) is rare in the south, but it is found in
abundance in the north-west; the sole is wanting, and the herring (Síld)
is unaccountably absent, except in the north and east; the latter
sometimes enters the bays and gives a little work about Seyðisfjörð and
Akureyri, but it does not pay.[230] Mackerel, lobsters and oysters,
shrimps and prawns, are unknown; there are crabs which contain little
meat, and a variety of limpets (_Patella_), and mussels (_Mytilus
edulis_), eaten and used for bait. The principal fish upon the coast are
the true cod (_Gades morrhua_); the ling (_Lota morrhua_), with the long
dorsal fin; the hake (_G. merlucius_); the haddock (_G. æglefinnus_);
the coal-fish (Icel. Isa; _G. carbonarius_); the skate (_Raia_; Icel.
Skata), and the stinging-ray (_R. trygon_; Icel. Graðskata or
Tindabikkja). The rivers teem with salmon (_S. salar_); the lakes and
ponds with trout (Silungr) and char (_Salmo Alpinus_).[231]
Ichthyological study is everywhere in its infancy, and awaits its full
development, when the greatly increased density of earth’s population
will enhance the difficulty of supplying it with a sufficiency of food.
The late Professor Agassiz ably vindicated the superiority of fish-diet
for brain-workers, as well as for the poor classes of society,--it
abounds in phosphorus and “ohne Phosphor keine Gedanken.” The noble
fisheries of Iceland are still in the most primitive style of
development; the appliances are of the poorest, and the people display
neither energy nor intelligence, which must be aroused by an impulse
from without. The returns, as we shall see, are considerable, but they
might be indefinitely augmented if modern improvements and commercial
enterprise were enlisted to make the best of this generous source of
wealth.
For the ocean is emphatically the poor man’s larder. With equal capital
and labour it is made far more productive than the earth, and the ratio
is ever increasing in its favour. Whilst land-animals give birth to one
or two young at a time, fish produce their millions, and the bulk far
exceeds anything that walks the earth. Whilst, at most, one-eighth of
Iceland is capable of yielding food in any appreciable quantities, the
circumpolar seas swarm with profuse life, tier upon tier extending
thousands of feet deep. “In hot latitudes the deep-sea temperature
diminishes till the mercury stands at 40° (F.); in the parallel of 70°
the ocean, many degrees warmer than the land-surface, is of the same
temperature at all depths.”[232] And as the voyager advances toward the
poles, the diffusion of animal life increases prodigiously. The waters
around Iceland, as about Greenland, produce endless forage for their
tenants, such as the squids (_Sepiadæ_), and the _Clio Borealis_, the
favourite pasture of the whale; whilst fine and nutritious grasses
occupying the shore and the shallows yield pasture for the seals.[233]
The rivers rolling glacier-water, and the white streams tinged by
_detritus_, are, it is true, barren; but they bear down the alluvium of
cultivated lands, and the drainage serves to augment the supply of food.
The abundant sea-harvests, especially of cod, soon attracted the
attention of foreign nations; and as early as A.D. 1412, thirty European
ships or crafts frequented the coasts of Iceland. Until 1872, the
maritime territorial limits of four Danish, or nearly twenty English,
miles, laid down by the law of 1787, were preserved with all its
wholesome provisions, pains, and penalties. The new retains the old
ordinance in case of necessity, but annuls certain objectionable parts;
for instance, it allows the necessary landing and warehousing of
fishermen’s stores on the payment of a moderate and conditional charge
to the local poor-box.
It has been shown that the fisheries of Iceland are worked by 3500
boats, manned by upwards of 5000 souls, only one-tenth of those employed
upon the farms. But this would give a false idea of the important
industry which, depending upon the peculiar character of the people, has
determined more than anything else the modes and the inspiration of
national life. Especially between February and May, the “fishing
peasants” flock to the shore; the seaboard farms and factories become
populous, and the whole energy and interests of the island are turned
to its characteristic occupation. Off the south-western county there is
perennial fishery--salmon in spring, and cod nearly all the year.[234]
Cod fishing is carried on along the coast generally, sometimes even in
the inner harbours. The western shores are peculiarly rich; and that
most favoured is the southern coast between Keflavík and Hafnafjörð.
Desolate in appearance beyond all other regions, excepting the giant
Jökulls to the south-east, the south-western peninsula has deserved the
name Gullbríngu Sýsla, “gold-bearing county,” from its sulphur diggings
and magnificent fisheries.[235] And a glance at the map will show the
admirable spawning-grounds off the western coast.
A royal decree, dated A.D. 1292, forbids the sale of dried cod to
foreigners on the ground of an expected famine. Before the Reformation,
England fished for herself; and as late as James I. the Iceland waters,
where few are now seen, employed 150 vessels. Little by little, France,
with patient and strenuous action, established a hold on, and afterwards
a monopoly of, the Iceland deep-sea fishery; thus securing, as in
Newfoundland, not only a source of national wealth, but a powerful
reserve of experienced seamen. Certainly, no better school for sailors
can be imagined than the dangerous and intricate navigation of the
Iceland Fjörðs. In 1859, there were 269 French smacks and ships, varying
from forty to eighty tons burden, and manned by 7000 fishermen; in 1872,
even after the Prussian-French war, these figures were 250, averaging
ninety tonneaux, and 3000 hands (_Revue Maritime et Coloniale_). They
are protected by two, formerly three, men-of-war, which cruise about,
repressing disorders, and aiding their compatriots with spars,
provisions, and medical comforts. Collisions between natives and
foreigners take place when the latter are driven, by the weather, the
currents, and the movements of the fish, within the prohibited limits,
now one league (= three miles) from the coast: also entanglement of gear
often ends in a free fight. Forbes (Commander, R.N.) tells us (p. 208)
that no such powerful reserve of trained seamen exists, except those
engaged in the same occupation, and under similar regulations, on the
cod-banks of Newfoundland.
Mr Consul Crowe (1865-66 and 1870-71), whose exhaustive Reports must be
consulted for details which cannot find room in these pages, divides the
Iceland “fisheries of the present day into three kinds, viz., the
cod-fishery, shark-fishery, and whale-fishery.”
According to him (p. 30), the large cod, here not a migratory fish,
remain during the winter near the island, and from February to March
approach the south and west coasts to spawn, their course being from the
west and south. The earliest and best fishings begin with early spring
in the more temperate waters, and farther northwards about latter June
or early July, ending with August. The fish, where it keeps close to the
bottom, is landed by small drift-nets; it is “more squat and plump, with
smaller head,” than those caught on the hook. Fishing with the ordinary
long lines, and deep-sea or hand lines, opens about mid April; the
little extension given to it arises from the poverty of the people. From
one to four lengths of a strong thick line, each measuring sixty
fathoms, are spliced together; and hanging lines six feet long are
fastened at distances of from six to nine feet: the French can afford to
use lines measuring 1500 to 2000 fathoms. The hook is the ordinary
tinned English (No. 5), baited with mussels. “In order to obtain a white
flesh, the first operation is to rip up the belly, the head is cut off,
and the body is gutted, the liver and roe being separated and carefully
kept. The backbone (blód-dalkr) is next extracted, as far as the third
joint below the navel, after which the carcase is washed in salt water,
and salted, one barrel (about 224 lbs.) being used to 352 lbs. After
lying in salt for three or four days, the fish is washed and laid out
singly on the rocks to dry; it is protected from dust and damp, and is
frequently turned by the women, that both sides may be alike.” For home
consumption, the cod is split and hung up unsalted in the “wind-house.”
It is known by its shrivelled appearance, and, like the refuse heads, it
is eaten uncooked. Although Hamburg pays 12s. 6d. per cwt. for fish
guano, Iceland neglects this exportation. Finally, the cod-fish is sent
in great part to Northern Europe (Denmark and Hamburg), and at least
one-half to Spain and the Mediterranean; in fact, wherever the old world
keeps Lent, and eats “baccalá.” The French, although great consumers, of
course supply themselves.
Details concerning the whale and the shark will be found in the Journal
(chap. xiii.). The supply of salmon from the northern and western coasts
has been pronounced “literally inexhaustible;” yet mismanagement of
rivers shows that they can greatly be damaged. The Laxá, near Reykjavik,
in Mackenzie’s day (1810), yielded from 2000 to 3000 lbs. per annum; in
1872, the catch was nearly nil, although in the summer of 1873 it
somewhat improved. Salmon was exported as early as 1624, but in small
and irregular quantities, till taken up by Messrs Ritchie of Peterhead
and Akranes. The house still employs nine Scotch hands to preserve the
fish caught in the Borgarfjörð, the embouchure of the great Hvítá. But,
although salmon began to appear in the returns as a regular article of
export, the 22,000 lbs. of 1858 fell to 4000 in 1868, on account of the
river being overworked. During the early season of 1872, the take was
small, but it afterwards so increased that tins were wanting for
preserves: the superintendent at Akranes pays thirteen skillings (3¼ d.)
per lb. to the Borgarfjörð fishermen.
Iceland lacks the _Otaria_ or eared seals, sea lions, elephants, and
wolves, of which one species, the _O. Falklandia_, supplies such
valuable pelts; all its Phocæ are inauriculate. Naturalists give six
species, viz.:
1. _Phoca fœtida._
2. _Callocephalus vitulinus_ or _Phoca littorea_, the common land-seal.
3. _Phoca barbata_, the great seal.
4. _Phoca Grœnlandica_ or _oceanica_, the harp-seal.
5. _Cystophora cristata_ or _leonica_, hooded or hood-cap seal
(_Stemmatopus_).
6. _Phocula leporina_, haaf-fish or open-sea seal.
Old authors mention four kinds, viz., Rostungr (walrus), Vöðruselr,
Blöðruselr, and Gránselr. Modern Icelanders preserve, like the
Scotch,[236] three great divisions: 1. The land-seal, which keeps near
the shore, and breeds there in spring; 2. The open-sea seal, that
affects the distant rocks and reefs; and 3. The Greenland seal, which,
during winter, haunts the Fjörðs. Further details will be found in the
Journal.
The Iceland waters show four porpoises, viz.:
1. _Delphinus phocœna_, the common porpoise, smallest of the Cetaceæ.
2. _Delphinus bidens_ or _bidentatus_, Baleine à bec, the bottle-head or
bottle-nosed whale; the “ca’ing whale” of the Scoto-Scandinavian
islands.
3. _Delphinus orca_, the grampus.
4. _Albicans_ or white Beluga.
The following are approximate returns for fish and their products
exported from Iceland in--
1806 1849 1870
Fish, 650,000 lbs. (Danish) ... ...
Dried fish, 750,000 lbs. 938,080 lbs. 527,040 lbs.
Salt cod, 150 barrels 5,248,000 lbs. 7,507,840 lbs.
Cod oil, 807 ” }
Shark oil, 1,663 ” } 3,259 barrels 9,424 barrels
Seal oil, 24 ” }
Fish liver, 12 ” ... ...
Salted salmon, 28 ” 5,810 lbs. 245,392 lbs.
Salted shark skins, 1,568 ” ... ...
The subjoined table shows what has been the export of cod and oil during
the last six years.
-------------------------------------------------------
| | 1864. | 1865. | 1866. |
| |-----------+-----------+-----------+
| Salt-fish, lbs. | 6,296,224 | 2,917,024 | 3,855,104 |
| Dried do. | 139,040 | 13,728 | 79,904 |
| Salt-roe, brls. | 2,390 | 452 | 770 |
| Liver oil, | 6,572 | 9,520 | 8,952 |
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
| | 1867. | 1868. | 1869. |
| |-----------+- ---------+-----------|
| Salt-fish, lbs. | 8,026,656 | 3,916,000 | 5,243,744 |
| Dried do. | 335,280 | 266,464 | 442,816 |
| Salt-roe, brls. | 1,962 | 578 | 977 |
| Liver oil, | 13,083 | 8,757 | 7,744 |
-------------------------------------------------------
The noteworthy point is the falling off of the salt-fish: perhaps the
reason may be the expense of imported salt. During the last century the
State established a saltern at Ísafjörð, but it was soon closed for want
of patronage--Mr Consul Crowe remarks, “The very high temperature of the
numerous hot springs which are quite accessible, would give an ever
ready heat applicable for evaporation, and, I believe, a fresh attempt
to utilise them would repay itself.” But salting is ever difficult.
It must be observed, of this table, that no account is kept of the
quantity reserved for home consumption, which is doubtless large--the
daily bread of some 70,000 souls. The general belief, however, is that
the greater proportion of the catch is exported. Mr Consul Crowe thus
calculates, according to the prices current during their respective
years, the value of the average year’s export.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | S. AMT. | W. AMT. | N. & E. | |
| | | | AMT. | WHOLE ISLAND. |
| |-----------+-----------+-----------+---------------+-------------|
| |Value Rds. |Value Rds. |Value Rds. |Quantities |Value in Rds.|
| |-----------+-----------+-----------+---------------+-------------|
|Salt-fish, | 215,229 | 87,171 | 609 |5,078,898 1bs. | 303,009 |
|Dried do. | 12,120 | 5,370 | 720 | 213,664 ” | 18,210 |
|Salt-roe, | 5,910 | 30 | ... | 1,188 brls.| 5,940 |
|Liver oil, | 33,352 | 65,890 | 101,068 | 9,105 ” | 200,310 |
| |-----------+-----------+-----------+---------------+-------------|
|Total, | 266,611 | 158,461 | 102,397 | ... |Rds. 527,469 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following figures show the export of cod from the beginning of the
seventeenth century when the system of monopolies was introduced.
In A.D. 1624 it was of lbs. 2,273,440
” 1743 ” 2,057,680
” 1772 ” 3,091,200
” 1784 ” 2,845,920
In A.D. 1806 it was of lbs. 1,440,400
” 1840 ” 5,375,040
” 1855 ” 7,705,280
” 1868 ” 4,202,240
The peculiarity of this table is the immense irregularity of the
figures.
A few model establishments, like the Newfoundland, scattered round the
island would teach the best and cheapest way of curing fish--now a
barbarous process of turning, scraping, splitting, and housing, without
“stages,” “platforms,” or other necessaries. The substitution of
improved decked and half-decked smacks for the open row-boats actually
in use, would save the time and toil at present wilfully wasted:
improvement of the fishing lines is also urgently wanted. But the
initiative must come from Denmark or, at least, from abroad; Iceland has
remained so hopelessly in the background that she has not the means,
even if she has the will, to help herself.
Piscator in Iceland will do somewhat better than Venator: he will find
the lakes, lakelets, and rivers which do not issue directly from
snow-mountains, rich in fish. The salmon ascends the streams as far as
their cataracts; it is finer for the table than that supplied by our
home market. The trout, speckled and white-fleshed, is not worth eating:
the Forelle,[237] or red char (_Salmo Alpinus_), called “sea-trout” in
the Scoto-Scandinavian islands, and elsewhere “salmon-trout,” is coarse
and rank--too trouty, as the red mullet of the Levant is too mullety.
Some travellers limit the weight to four pounds; others increase it to
ten and even fifteen. At the outlet of the Thingvalla Lake the maximum
of twenty-five, brought to bank in a few hours, was seven pounds, and
only two were under six pounds; but the char does not give such good
sport as the white-fleshed. Fishing may be had within a few hours of
Reykjavik, and a day shadowed with dense clouds after a burst of sun
will soon fill the basket. But the sport is uncivilised like the land.
The fish either rush at the bait, “snapping at flies,” as Icelanders
say, and swallowing the food before it touches water, or they lie
sulking and will not be persuaded to rise. Some travellers curiously
assert that in a region full of gnats and midges, the fish, and
especially the trout, are “unaccustomed to flies.” The contrary is the
case, but the preference greatly varies; some find the only rule that
darker colours are usually bit at most greedily; while others declare
the fish fondest of artificial minnows, spoon-bait, or flies with any
kind of tinsel, when not to be tempted by the ordinary loch fly. The
author’s friends tried in turns the black midge; the grilse; the black
hackle, with silver wing; the Hofland’s fancy, red body and partridge
wing; the common cow-dung; the marsh brown; the red fly, with jay’s
wing; and the woodcock wing, with body banded red and orange. The
fisherman should bring out the ordinary trout-hook and salmon-bait which
he uses at home, always remembering that the spring in Iceland is a
month to six weeks later than that of Scotland. He must not neglect to
provide himself with gloves and face-veil to keep out the “midges”
which, under that humble name, sting as severely as the mosquitoes of
the tropics.
§ 5. INDUSTRY.
The principal occupation of the women is spinning yarn during the
summer, and knitting and weaving in winter. A rude loom fixed and
upstanding, not a little like that of ancient Egypt and of modern
Central Africa, and worked, as in negro-land, by both sexes, stands in
every farm.[238] A good hand can weave three yards a day. The
Vaðmál[239] is the Danish Vadmel, and the Wadmaal, Wadmal, or Shetland
Claith of the Scoto-Scandinavian archipelago; it much resembles the
tweeled cloth or frieze worn by the Leith fishermen and the Media-lana
of Northern Italy.
There is only one kind of Wadmal generally worn, but in most parts of
the island, and especially in the east, there are finer qualities used
for “store-clothes” and woman’s attire. The Ormadúkr is worked like
drill, the Einskepta like twill. It is sold by the ell, or two Danish
feet (= 2⅜ English feet), at the following rates--the breadths being 2
to 2·5 feet and the length indefinite:
Coarse or common, $0 3 0 to $0 3 8 per ell.
Middling, 0 4 8 ” 0 5 0 “
Fine and thin (skarlat), 0 5 0 ” 1 0 0 “
The manufacture varies in the several Quarters. The usual colours are
grey, black, light-blue, and murret (Icel. Mórautt), the moret or
russet-brown of the undyed wool; white is sometimes seen, but not the
red--now confined to tradition. It is excellent stuff, durable, and,
after a fashion, waterproof. The moderns prefer to this home-made
article the cheap broad-cloths and long-cloths of European machinery;
and so in West Africa we find the admirable “native” _pagnes_ becoming
too expensive for everyday work.
Details concerning the goldsmith’s trade will be found in the Journal.
The principal is silver filagree, which will compare with that of
Norway, but poorly with the work of Genoa, Malta, Delhi, and
Trichinopoly.
A few hands find employment as pilots.[240] They are licensed without
fee by the Sýslumenn; and in the district of a professional pilot, men
cannot ply the trade without this permission. Found at all the
commercial establishments, they are generally farmers; he of Vopnafjörð
is a cooper: a flag hoisted at the fore is the usual signal. The pay is
not settled; upon the eastern coast they demand $2 per mast; the “Queen”
paid $6, her funnel, it is presumed, being counted as a mast. The
Reykjavik pilot may make £10 per annum. All these gentry come or stay
away as they please, even when the Danish steamer heaves in sight.
The post office, that best of standards for taking the measure of
civilisation, also employs a few hands. The postmaster-general resides
at Copenhagen; the departmental-chief at Reykjavik is Hr O. Finsen, an
Icelander, brother to the Amtmand of the Færoe Islands. He keeps a
book-store, and sells stationery, plain and fancy, in the Parson’s
Green, opposite the French Consul’s; he speaks English, and nothing can
exceed his civility to strangers. The tariff which he gave the author
was as follows: Ship letters weighing three Danish kvints, or
half-an-ounce English, pay 14 skillings for three postage stamps, one
of 8, and two of 3 skillings, a total of 3½d., which is exorbitant. A
similar sum is charged for every three additional kvints, or 8d. an
ounce. Newspapers pay 3½d. for eight kvints; parcels 1s. 6d., and larger
packages 9d. per cubic foot.
“Postal delivery” is of course unknown, even at the capital; the same
was the case at New York fifteen years ago. The inland post was very
poorly managed, but something was done in 1872 to remedy the main
grievance. At Copenhagen the ship-postage could be paid, not the land
transit; consequently the letters for the out-stations, unless re-posted
by a friend, lay for an indefinite time at the Reykjavik office. It was
common to see despatches written in January received on the eastern
coast in July. The Althing has now established branches at the several
stations where the steamers stop; and the sum of $30 per annum is paid
for an immense amount of work; perhaps Iceland is not singular in this
matter. There is a northern courier-road which takes five days viâ
Reykholt and Arnarvatnsheiði to Akureyri, but in winter it is
impassable. No regular overland communication connects the western with
the eastern coast, which the postman visits a few times during the year;
and if there be any duly prepaid letters for the dangerous southern
shore, the same courier will run that way.
A favourite occupation in Iceland is gathering the eider down
(Æðar-dún)--the _Édredon_ so celebrated as a non-conductor of heat. It
is best in the coldest climates, like Greenland; here it is good,
especially after a wet season, when the birds lay most. In the Færoe
Islands, and off the Northumberland coast, it is not worth collecting
for sale; and the same is the case in the Orkneys and Shetlands. For
instance, the people of Rousay, an island of some thirty square miles,
do not preserve their “dunters” (_Somateria dispar_?); they eat the bird
after the breeding season, in August or September, and they pickle the
eggs for winter use. The eider is found in the Pacific, but only on the
northern coasts of Asia and America.
The first lay of eggs, beginning in May and ending six or seven weeks
afterwards, is from four to six; the second from two to four, and the
third from two to three; if not carried off, they will accumulate from
ten to sixteen. The duck gives about an ounce of down each time the
house is robbed, or three nests yield a total of half-a-pound. After the
third _ponte_, the drake contributes an ounce and a half of whiter
material, easily distinguished; and if further outrage be offered, the
unhappy couple quit the bereaved home. Older authors speak only of eggs
(eggver), never of the down; and it is believed that the English trade
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries brought the name and the
article into foreign markets. Jón í Brokey (born A.D. 1584), who learned
the art and mystery of cleaning in England, introduced it here; and the
rude process is still preserved. An open sieve is made of yarn stretched
over a hoop, and the feathers are stirred with a pointed stick. Thus the
finer material (gras-dún) remains above, the coarser stuff (thang-dún,
or seaweed down) and the heterogeneous matter fall through--this
operation reduces the yield to about half. The work is done by men and
women, in autumn and winter. The _Édredon_ taken from the dead fowl
loses elasticity, and is of little value.
The annual supply of Iceland was 2000 lbs. in 1806; it gradually rose to
5000 or 6000, valued at about £5000; and in 1870 it was 7909 lbs. The
two islets, Yiðey and Engey, off Reykjavik, have produced as much as 300
lbs. in a year. About 1½ lbs. are required for an average coverlet. The
clean lb. in 1809 cost $3; in 1854 (Pliny Miles), 50 cents = 2s. 2d.; in
1860 (Preyer and Zirkel), from $2·66 to $4·53; in 1862 (Shepherd), 12s.
to 15s.; and in 1872, $7 to $8. As the cleaned material sells in England
for 18s. to 19s. per lb., and the uncleaned for 8s., little profit can
be made out of it. In “Some Notes on Greenland, etc.” (Alpine Journal,
Aug. 1873), Mr Edward Whymper says still more: “At Copenhagen, eider
down is worth 20s. per lb., yet in London, quilts weighing 4½ lbs. are
sold for 36s. How much chopped straw and old feathers has the British
tradesman to insert in order to realise his honest profit?”
Eider down is the _haute volée_ of its kind. Most of the sea-fowl,
especially the Lundi or puffin (_Fratercula Mormon_), when purified of
its peculiar pediculus, supply feathers for exportation. Since 1866,
this branch of industry sent annually some 18,000 or 19,000 lbs.; and in
1870 it was 32,081 lbs. Almost every bed has its feather quilt; and the
Devonshire superstition that no one can die comfortable on a mattress
stuffed with goose feathers is quite unknown.
Iceland moss (_Lichen Islandicus_, _Cetraria Islandica_), by the people
called Fjalla-grös (neut. plur.), is still an article of export. As the
native name shows, it is the gift of the hills. We find it on the
Brocken, in the Carpathians, the dolomites of Tyrol and Italy (where it
is called “Lichene”), and in other parts of Europe. The brown-green
leaf, with deeply palmated edges, much resembles sunburnt and withered
dandelion. It must be washed in several waters, to remove the bitter
astringent taste, before it is eaten with cream and sugar. Of late
years, it has been partially superseded by the amylaceous “Carrigeen
Moss,” grown on the green terraces of the Ardmore Cliffs. This
succedaneum, after being sun-dried, and allowed to receive one or two
showers, is again dried, packed in bags, prepared for sale, and used to
make tea or blancmange. Uno Von Troil (p. 108), or rather Eggert
Ólafsson, gives a list of five lichens, each with its Icelandic name;
and Baring-Gould (p. 438) names eight lycopods. Peirce (p. 82)
distinguishes this “Fell-grass” from a “sort of fjall-grass, which is
used for making gruel.”
A small quantity of wild Angelica (_Archangelica_; Icel. Hvönn), though
held to be poisonous in the United States, is exported for comfitures;
in Iceland, it no longer, as of old, flavours ale, nor is it used as a
vegetable. The warm root is chewed, or put into soup; and when cut into
pieces, it is stored in bottles of brandy and schnaps, giving an
aromatic taste. The Umbellifer, grown near houses, is less valued than
the hill plant; animals seem to despise both. The Færoese “Quonn” has a
stem thick as a man’s wrist; the bitter, astringent rind is removed
before the plant flowers and becomes woody, and the stalk, preserved in
sugar, is eaten like the leaves, with sweetened milk.
The simples collected for use are the Holta-rót (_Silene acaulis_, or
moss campion); the Alchemilla or Burnet, a sanguisorb; the Geldinga-rót
(_Statice armeria_); the Speedwell (_Veronica officinalis_); and various
gentians. The “ptarmigan-leaf,” or mountain avens (_Dryas octopetala_,
the Holta-Sóley of older travellers, and the modern Rjúpa-lyng) makes a
tea good for jaundice; the root also is eaten. The half-digested
flowers of the blaeberry (_Vaccinium myrtillus_) and the bog-whortle
(_V. uliginosum_) are taken from the ptarmigan’s crop to make ptisane.
The reindeer moss (_Cenomyce rangiferina_), a small pale-green species,
with hollow stem, is gathered for sheep-feeding. The wild geranium also
produces a blue tint, of old called Odin’s dye.
Of late years, a little business has been done in women’s hair for the
European market. First three Jews came out, then two, and lastly one was
found sufficient to manage the trade--we shall meet him in the Journal.
They cleared about £300, exaggerated to £3000, especially by the _blond
cendré_, the most expensive item of the £300,000 annually imported by
England. As a rule, Iceland demands, instead of supplying, false hair;
in 1871 about 200 lbs. were introduced in the shape of chignons and
braids.
Another produce of the island is Iceland spar, which is mentioned in
Fortia’s “Sweden” as “calcareous spar which doubles the object.” This
“Silfr” or “Silbr-berg,” the “Calcite” of Dana, is crystallised
carbonate of lime, useful for polarising-instruments. The main axis
being disposed at a different angle from the minor or bi-axis, causes it
to be doubly refracting; moreover, the former expands, whilst the latter
contracts. Thus all blood-crystals, to specify no other rhombs and
hexagons, show two parallel lines where only one exists: the white
spaces receiving the light transmit it to the retina.
Calcite is produced chiefly on the eastern coast, but its existence is
reported in many places where the peculiar tenure of ground deters the
farmer from attempting to better his property. The author heard of it on
the slopes of the Esja and at Berufjörð. The principal mine is at
Reyðarfjörð--not at Seyðisfjörð as generally asserted. The present
contractor is a certain Hr Tullenius, who, by private arrangement, pays
one-fourth to the Crown and three-fourths of the lease to the Church in
the person of his father-in-law, pastor of the Hofs parish. His
establishment is at Eskifjörð to the north-west of Reyðarfjörð, and he
transports the material in winter by sledges to the coast where it is
shipped direct for England.
The spar is taken from calcined basalt, apparently infiltrated there in
small veins alternating with a green mineral supposed to be the plutonic
stone transformed; the surface is often rough with a zeolitic or
calcareous coat. Large pieces have been found: Paijkull mentions one in
the Copenhagen museum which was bought for $400 and weighed 176 pounds.
Till late years it was rare and expensive; the geological museum in
Jermyn Street contained (1872) only a shabby little bit, and a certain
professor bought for £6 what was worth £60. In these days Mr T. Tennant
(naturalist, the Strand) and Mr J. Browning (optician, Strand and
Minories) can produce hundreds of pounds lying useless. The smaller
pieces now cost one shilling to one shilling and sixpence per pound. The
best and most valuable specimens are the large prisms; the worst when
cut show spotted surfaces or prove full of flaws running right through;
some, like amber, contain red clay, drops of water, and other
heterogeneous substances. They can be tested only by the electric light,
and even that sometimes fails to detect faults which appear after
working. A friend commissioned the author to bring home a large
specimen, purchaseable after trial--he knew little of the islandry. It
is dearer, as usual, in Iceland than in London: the people think that
all the world wants their one popular mineral.
The following branches of industry still await development:
Iron-ore certainly exists, but it is hard to see, with the present
scarcity of coal and wood, what use can be made of it: should peat
companies prove a success, it may still appear in the market. Copper has
been reported to occur in the jasper formation, and cupriferous
specimens have, it is said, been brought to Reykjavik from the great
Hrauns of the Skaptárjökull, the centre of supply being at the Blængr
mountain in the Vestr Skaptár Sýsla. Professor Winkler of Munich found,
_on dit_, quicksilver at Möðruvellir on the way to Akureyri. The
Tindastóll Range, west of the Skagafjörð, has yielded galena embedded in
amethyst-quartz: and we shall see silver glance. The cryolite, so
abundant in Greenland,[241] is found here and in Norway: the late Mr
Anderson met with large blocks, they say, at Vestdalr; and the Abbé
Baudoin assured the author that he had seen it on the Seyðisfjörð, which
opens to the north-east, near a stream north of, and about twenty
minutes’ walk from, Vestdalr. There are large supplies of fine obsidian,
jasper, zeolites, and chalcedonies.
Mr Consul Crowe (Report, 1870-71) supplies the following statistics of
“domestic industry,” which, however, is confined to woollen articles:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | 1864. | 1865. | 1866. | 1867. | 1868. | 1869. |
|----------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Two-threaded guernseys, | | | | | | |
| pieces, | 85 | 143 | 50 | 134 | 185 | 85 |
|One-threaded do. do. | 22 | ... | ... | ... | ... | 59 |
|Two-threaded stockings, prs.|41,561 |34,347 |37,422 |41,025 |60,976 |76,816 |
|One-threaded ” ” | 1,008 | 298 | 412 | 884 | 908 | 1,092 |
|Socks, | 3,254 |37,101 |10,930 | 7,673 | 5,247 |28,431 |
|Mittens (one-fingered), |14,672 |14,736 |26,904 |53,267 |29,873 |55,601 |
| ” (full-fingered), | 1,623 | 1,325 | 744 | 825 | 976 | 69 |
|Wadmal, yards, | 176 | 549 | 249 | 805 | 569 | 280 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of which the annual exported value is:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | S. | W. | N. & E. | WHOLE ISLAND. |
| | AMT. | AMT. | AMT. | |
|------------------------|-------+-------+---------+-------------------------|
| | Value | Value | Value | Quantities. | Value. |
| | Rds. | Rds. | Rds. | | |
|------------------------|-------+-------+---------+---------------+---------|
|Two-threaded guernseys, | ... | ... | $95 | 114 pieces | $95 |
|One-threaded ” | $6 | $3 | ... | 14 ” | 9 |
|Two-threaded stockings, | 57 | 120 | 14,024 | 48,691 pairs | 14,201 |
|One-threaded ” | ... | 32 | 112 | 767 ” | 144 |
|Socks, | ... | 9 | 3,554 | 17,106 ” | 3,563 |
|Mittens (one-fingered), | 93 | 497 | 2,119 | 32,509 ” | 2,709 |
| ” (full-fingered), | ... | 23 | 286 | 927 ” | 309 |
|Wadmal, yards, | 15 | 9 | 188 | 657 yards | 212 |
| |-------+-------+---------+---------------+---------|
| Total, | 171 | 693 | 20,378 | ... | $21,242 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The same Report shows:
“Total value of collective exports, Rds. 1,103,936
Equal to, for each individual, ” 15·88
“The value, therefore, of an average year’s export of fish,
farm-produce, and domestic industry was in 1870 $1,103,936; to this may
be added the other known articles of export, such as”--
Eider-down, Rds. 38,064
Feathers, ” 9,848
Horses, ” 10,472
Salmon and other fish, swan-down, fox-skins, etc., ” 96,064
----------
Making the total exports from the island, $1,200,000
----------
Or, sterling, £133,333
Equal to about £1, 18s. 4d. per head of population.
The conclusion to which the reporter arrives from these tables is, that
“nearly all the cod and roe is fished and exported from the western
districts, and that the shark fishery and export of liver-oil takes
place from the north side.
“On the other hand, the cattle and sheep-rearing, whose produce is
greater than that of the fisheries, centres in the northern and eastern
parts of the island, where the excellent natural grass pastures are
formed in abundance.”
§ 6. EMIGRATION.
Modern emigration was not attempted till fourteen years ago, and the
islanders chose the worst destination they could find--the Brazil. In
1862, the trial was renewed by some eighty head, with the same want of
success, except in two or three instances; and ten years later, about
fifty left to “plant man” in the tropical empire. The report is, that
they were decimated by cholera at Hamburg. A far more auspicious
movement was made to Minnesota, Milwaukee, and Wisconsin: the head was a
retired trader, Einar Björnsson, who bought an island in Lake Superior.
Shortly before the author’s arrival at Reykjavik, a small party of
fourteen or seventeen had sailed, not 714, as asserted by certain
English papers. The later emigrants sent home glowing reports of the
country and, although those in the towns were not so successful, the
rural settlers did remarkably well. And the movement will be beneficial
to the islander, who, instead of dawdling away life at home, will learn
to labour and to wait upon a more progressive race.
In the summer of 1873, these pioneers were followed by 200 to 220
recruits, of whom a portion preferred Canada, and is said to be doing
well. The autumn of 1874 sent out 340; the men were employed on the
Toronto railway, and some 40 women went into service. As yet, emigration
has not had a fair trial; and Icelanders, a pastoral and fishing race,
are wholly unaccustomed to agriculture and manufacturing. At the same
time, they have the advantage of being to a certain extent mechanics as
well as labourers. The Norwegian papers, which are translated and spread
over the island, strongly recommended the movement; consequently the
authorities at Reykjavik, and the official class in general, as strongly
opposed it; but, it need hardly be said, their prejudices are not shared
by the distinguished Dr Hjaltalín. If this be, as we apprehend, the
movement of a people seeking, like the Irish and the Basques, a new
“racial baptism,” it may assume important dimensions. It might well be
worth while for the Dominion to secure a number of these sturdy and
strong-brained Northerners, who would form admirable advanced posts
along the valley of the Sasketchawan. The author’s companion in travel,
Mr Chapman, had the acuteness at once to see the use that might be made
of the movement, and proposed recommending the Government of New Zealand
to take advantage of it. The common order of Icelanders show the
greatest interest in America, and strangers are always subjected to
cross-examination on the subject. If the current be allowed to set that
way, efforts to arrest it will not be easily checked: for many years the
author has wondered how and why a poor man ever lives in Europe, or a
rich man in America.