Natural history. ing obliquely through the air towards Eyrarbakki. The nearer it approached the smaller it became, and it darted along with the rapidity of a hawk. This cloud, which then appeared round, flew towards a spot where several persons had assembled, as well strangers as natives, for the purposes of commerce; and on passing rapidly before them, it touched the jaw of a middle-aged man, causing him such pain that he instantly became raving mad and threw himself into the sea! Those who were near him prevented him from drowning; but he remained insane, uttered all sorts of extravagant expressions, and made many forcible attempts to free himself from those who held him. They wrapped his head in flannel, and held him down for some time upon the bed; after two days, the madness abated, but he was not restored to his senses till the expiration of a fortnight. Another account of this phenomenon states that the persons in the company did not perceive the cloud till it came up with them, but simply heard a hissing in the air while it passed: those, however, who were farther off observed its rapid course, and saw it sink and disappear on the sea-coast. The cheek of the man who was touched turned of a deep black and blue colour, which gradually disappeared as he recovered. There can be little doubt that this "cloud" must have been some material flung from Hekla, which erupted that very year. A fireball of a terrific nature was cast up during the eruption of Kötlugjá, in 1755. Hurricanes and whirlwinds traverse Iceland with great rapidity and with enormous violence. One is mentioned in the Gisla Surssonar Saga, which tore the roof off a hall. Olafsen and Povelsen saw a similar whirlwind detach from the shore of Reykja-fjord a large block of stone to which a ship's cable was attached, and whirl it into the sea. Reindeer were Thirteen head were then Of wild animals, foxes are the most plentiful. introduced into the island in 1770. brought from Norway. Of these, ten died during the voyage; but the remaining three increased rapidly, so that at present there are considerable herds in the unpopulated districts of the island, especially in the rolling mountain deserts of the northeast. In winter, the reindeer are hunted down by the natives, for the sake of their flesh and horns. They have never been domesticated, as the country is too uneven and intersected by rivers to render sledging practicable; and, as they devour the esculent lichen, which is an Icelandic staple of food, the reindeer are looked upon with very little favour. Bears come over with the drift-ice from Greenland, but in no great numbers; only from ten to fourteen are killed during each winter. Of There are seven families and thirty-four species of mammals in Iceland; but of these, twenty-four are water creatures. Cetacea alone, there are thirteen varieties. Two quadrupeds appear to be indigenous: the fox, and the somewhat problematical Icelandic mouse; the rest have been brought over since the colonization of the island. The feathered creation is most fully represented in the country. There are six families, and about 90 species of birds. Of these, fifty-four species are water-fowl. No reptiles have ever been discovered in Iceland; no frogs croak in the marshes, no snakes or blind-worms wriggle through the coppice, nor do lizards dart among the rocks. The fish which frequent the numerous lakes, rivers, and fjords are little known. Faber mentions forty-nine varieties, of which seven are fresh-water fish. The list is manifestly incomplete. The most valuable property of an Icelander consists in his National industry. cattle; he possesses cows, horses, and sheep. The Sagas speak of flocks of geese and droves of swine as having formed part of a farmer's wealth; but all the geese are now wild, and there are no swine in the island. The ass is also quite unknown. The dog is of the Esquimaux type, with ruff around its neck, head like a fox, and tail curled over its back. It is of great use to the farmer in keeping his flocks together, and defending his tún or home-meadow, from the inroads of cattle. The swan and eider-duck are the only birds turned to any account. The former is shot for its quills; the latter is preserved, by law, for its down. A severe penalty is inflicted on all who kill this bird; and it becomes so tame in the breeding season, as to build and lay on the roofs and in the windows of the farmhouses. The birds strip their breasts to line their rudelyconstructed nests, and the down thus pulled off is removed by the peasants. The duck at once pulls off a fresh supply, and this is again removed. If the third lining of down be carried off, the bird will desert its nest, and never return. Fisheries are prosecuted with great activity around the coast, chiefly by the French, who keep a man-of-war constantly in the Faxa-fjord, to protect the interests of their fishermen. The natives secure enough of the produce of the sea to supply themselves with food for the winter, but never engage in the fisheries with a view to traffic. Cod, haddock, skate, and halibut abound on the coast, and the lakes are filled with trout and char of great c Learning. size and delicious flavour. Seals and whales are killed for their oil; and shark's flesh is eaten, after having been buried for some months, to free it from its peculiarly rank taste. The rivers teem with salmon, which are caught in creels. The fish are split and wind-dried, then stacked in an outhouse for consumption. No grain is cultivated, but a species of wild corn, growing on the sand-flats by the sea, is much prized. It is reaped with a sickle, and, after having been thoroughly dried, is threshed. The straw is used for thatching, and as food for the cattle; the corn is baked, then ground, and made into thin cakes or wafers, which, when powdered with cinnamon, are very delicious. The meal is also kneaded into lumps of dough, which are eaten in milk or used with butter. The only places where this corn grows in any quantities are the Myrdals and Skeitharár sandur. The amount grown is only sufficient to render it an article of delicacy, and not a staple of food. The food of an Icelander consists of stockfish, rye cakes, boiled trout, Icelandic lichen, rice, rancid butter, and skyr, or curd. The drink is coffee, milk, and corn-brandy. Potatoes and carrots are cultivated in the gardens of the larger farms, but not to any extent. The former have never suffered from the disease which has ravaged the potatofields of Europe. The only dressing given to the gardens is the ash from the peat and sheep's-dung fires of the kitchen.* Every native reads and writes well; he occasionally understands Latin. The clergy are uniformly well educated, reading Greek and Hebrew, and being sufficiently proficient in Latin to converse in it fluently. They are sometimes acquainted with Danish and German. Indeed, there is a talent for languages observable amongst the generality of Icelanders. The rector of the Latin school at Reykjavík is a master of eight languages, and my guide knew three or four very respectably. The number of books possessed by the farmers and priests is small, but they borrow of each other and copy the volumes lent them. Their libraries consist generally of Sagas. The following is a catalogue of the books belonging to a farmer in the Vatnsdal: 1. Bible. 2. Prayerbook. 3. Sermons of Vidallin, late Bishop of Reykjavík. 4. Book of Icelandic plants and their properties, by Hjaltallin. * Further and fuller particulars concerning Icelandic food are given in chap. iv. 5. Saga Thithriks Konungs af Bern, ed. Unger. 1853. 7. Njáls Saga, ed. Ol. Olavius. 1772. 8. Vatns dæla Saga, ed. Sveinn Skúlason. 1858. 9. Bragtha-Mágus Saga, ed. Gunnlaug Thortharson. 1858. 10. Rímur af Gunnari á Hlitharenda. 1860. 11. Hrafnkels Saga, in MS. 12. Asmundar Saga, in MS. 13. Króka-Refs Saga, copied from the printed edition of Marcusson. 14. Latin moral maxims, in MS. 15. Lovsamling for Island, ed. Stephensen. 1853-55. Besides these there were some old numbers of newspapers and odd parts of the Transactions of Althing. These amts are meut. Iceland is subject to Denmark. It is now divided into three Governamts instead of four, as in olden times. subdivided into twenty-three sysla-eight in the South Amt, eight in the West Amt, and seven in the South and East Amt. They are again subdivided into 169 hreppar. Over two of the amts is placed an amt-man, who is subject to the governor-general, under whose special jurisdiction is the third amt. The former resides near Akureyri, at Fredriksgaf, the latter at Reykjavík. Each sysel is presided over by a syselman, to whom are answerable the magistrates of the hreppar. Other officials are the landvogt or sheriff, who controls the financial arrangements of the country, a justice, and two assistants, before whom go all criminal cases. Natives cannot go to law with each other until their complaints have come before certain umpires, of whom are the bishop and dean of Reykjavík, ex officio. The interests of the people are invested in Althingmen, or members of the national parliament, which sits at Reykjavík. This assembly is administrative, not legislative. The syselmen are bound to give out proclamations and notices, also to forward to head-quarters registers of births, deaths, and marriages, which they receive from the magistrates of the hreppar. The governor-general, the landvogt, the amtmen, the chief justice, and the syselmen, are appointed by the Danish crown, but the rest of the officials receive their nomination from the governor. The ecclesiastical division of Iceland was formerly into two bishoprics, those of Hólar and Skalholt. At present, there is but one bishop, whose cathedral is at the capital. The island is portioned into archdeaconries (prófasta-kalla) and parishes Population. (presta-kalla). The clergy are appointed by the crown, subject to the consent of the bishop. The island is further divided into medical districts, of which there are six one medical officer is stationed at Reykjavík, a second in the Vatnsdal, a third in Akureyri, a fourth in the west, a fifth in the south, and the sixth in the Westmann Islands. The population of Iceland is 68,000, scattered thinly through the fjords and along the rivers, only gathered into settlements at Reykjavík, which contains 1,400 souls, and Akureyri 800. Smaller villages, clusters of poor cottages, around two or three merchants' stores, are at Isafjord and Eskifjord. Elsewhere the people are widely separated, an arrangement necessitated by the scantiness of pasture for their cattle. The places marked on the map must not be taken for towns and villages; with the exception of the localities specified above, they stand for single houses; and any one who wishes to know the number of farms in Iceland, may ascertain it with precision, by counting the specks on Gunnlaugson's map. The usual age for Icelanders to marry is from twenty-five to thirty. In 1858, 3 men committed suicide, 65 were drowned, 17 perished by other accidents, and 1,939 died of disease. Death is most common among children. In the same year died 489 children between the ages of one and five; 68 between the ages of five and ten. The most healthy period of life is from fifteen to twenty, during which only eleven died. Fifteen old people lived to ages between ninety and ninetyfive, and five between ninety-five and a hundred. In 1858, there were 487 marriages; the ages of the parties were as follow:: The number of children born in a year is about 2,940. The proportion of illegitimate children to those born in wedlock is 15 per cent. Of 2,937 children, only 48 were born of mothers |