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23 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
A P REFACE to a book, is a sort of pedestal where the author gets up to make a speech; frequently an apologizing ground, where he “drops in—hopes he don’t intrude;” a little strip of green carpet near the foot-lights, where he bows to the audience, and with a trembling voice asks them to look with lenient eyes on his darling bantling that is just coming before the world. Very likely he tells of the numerous difficulties and disadvantages under which he has labored; perhaps apologizes for his sty
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
H EIGHO ! for Iceland. The little schooner “S ÖLÖVEN ” rides at anchor before Copenhagen. His Danish Majesty’s mails are on board, and at 4 o’clock, A. M., July 1st, we are set on deck. Yes; “we,” and a nice lot we are,—at least a round dozen, and a cabin scarcely six feet square, with only six berths and a sofa. “Every berth’s engaged,” said the captain; “and you can’t go with us.” “Yes, but I can though, if I sleep on deck.” So I ran my chance; and when sleeping hours arrived, I was stretched
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
T HE geographical features of Iceland, and the manners and customs of the people, are no less interesting than the history of the nation. Iceland lies just south of the polar circle, between sixty-three and a half and sixty-six and a half north latitude, and between thirteen and twenty-four degrees west longitude from Greenwich. Its length from east to west, is about two hundred and eighty miles, and its average width one hundred and fifty. In extent of surface it is nearly as large as the State
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
W E landed at Reykjavik at six o’clock in the morning. Though the sun was near five hours high, scarce a person was up. At this season the sun evidently rises too early for them. Sleep must be had, though, whether darkness comes or not. Reykjavik with its 1,200 people, for a capital city, does not make an extensive show. The main street runs parallel with the low gravelly beach, with but few houses on the side next the water. In one respect this is a singular-looking place. Nearly all the houses
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
O N a bright and beautiful morning, as my agreeable company of the day previous disappeared behind the walls of the Almannagjá, my small party turned towards the east, the bridle-path leading through a forest several miles in extent. Before getting into the thickest of the wood, we found the ground covered with immense rocks of lava, and look which way we would, except a few feet of the path directly before us, the country appeared quite impassable. It may excite a smile to talk of a forest, wit
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
M ONDAY , July 26th, 1852, I spent at the Geysers. They rise out of the ground near the base of a hill some three hundred feet in height. Most of the hot springs I have seen in Iceland are at the base of hills. The Geysers are on ground that is nearly level, sloping a little from the hill, and cover fifty acres or more. The springs are over one hundred in number, and of every size and form, some very large, others small, scarcely discharging any water at all. The Great Geyser—“ the Geyser” par e
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
O UR pleasant stay at the Geysers was finished, the last look taken; the last piece of bacon that we had boiled in Dame Nature’s cauldron, had disappeared; the farmer of Haukadalr had given us his good benediction and a hearty grip of the hand, while he pocketed the dollars that we gave him; and, our ponies being ready, we prepared to leave. The old raven, too,—for here in Iceland “the raven croaks him on the chimney top,” as he did when and where Richard the III. was born,—the old raven had cro
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
A LL pleasant sojourns must end; all oases must fade in the distance as we journey o’er the desert sands of life. Though it rained hard, an hour after I stopped with “mine host,” the intelligent clergyman of Hruni, we were in our saddles, and the white, the black, and the chestnut ponies were scampering “over the hills and far away.” The farmer of Haukadalr left us here, and Mr. Briem sent one of his farm servants to show us the way. It is two pretty good days’ ride from the Geysers to Hekla; an
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
V OLCANIC eruptions in Iceland have presented some remarkable features. There are volcanoes that are much higher than any in this country; but, in the amount of lava thrown out at one time, no eruption on record ever equaled that of Skaptar Jokull in 1783. A notice of this may not be considered out of place. In May, about a month before this eruption, a volcano rose up from the bottom of the sea, over seventy miles from land, to the southwest of Cape Reykianes, and more than a hundred and fifty
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
A FTER our sojourn of two days in explorations of Mount Hekla, we took leave of the farmer of Næfrholt and his family, and traveled towards the southwest coast, the Reykir Springs, and the Sulphur Mountains. There are some pleasing and original customs among the Icelanders; and with these are their ways of saluting, at meeting and parting. Young and old, male and female, have the same affectionate greeting and parting compliments. They first shake hands, then embrace with arms about each other’s
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CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV
N O , I did not stay at the sysselman’s; but I had a ride of a couple of hours, through a bog meadow, and arrived about sunset at Hraungerthi— Islandsk —“Garden of Lava.” This, like many other towns that may be seen laid down on the map of Iceland, contains nothing but a farm and farm-house, the residence of a clergyman, and his church. The pastor owns the farm and pastures, and labors in his own vineyard, as well as in the vineyard of the Lord. During the week he looks after his flocks and herd
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CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI
W HETHER Americans will ever have the opportunity of returning any of the hospitality that the Icelanders extended to one of their countrymen, is uncertain. At any rate, their guest was made welcome. Mr. Stefan Thorarensen insisted on presenting me with a fine copy of the poems of Jonas Hallgrimson, one of the modern poets of Iceland. Perhaps, some day I’ll translate it into English verse! The pleasantest meetings must have an end; and, after the sun had passed the meridian, we had our horses ca
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CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII
H AVING seen the Reykir springs, I prepared to leave. I paid the man the usual sum for the privilege of sleeping in the parish church, and for the grass for our horses, and milk for ourselves. He was evidently dissatisfied; returned no thanks, and did not offer his hand as a token of satisfaction. From his demeanor now, and more from some circumstances hereafter to be related, I think him a bad man. He was of a much darker complexion than the most of the Icelanders, and a morose, churlish-lookin
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CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII
K RISUVIK is not a very flourishing city. It contains a church and one farm-house, the latter comprised in several edifices, as the farmers’ houses here usually are, and all covered with green grass. Sir George Mackenzie’s book, which I have with me, gives a picture of this place; and every building and object now, even to the garden wall, are an exact facsimile of the Krisuvik of forty-two years ago. Two and three miles to the north are the sulphur mountains, and at this distance show plainly t
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CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XIX
O N and about the sulphur mountains are a great many curious sights, and none more singular than the various-colored clays. At the distance of several miles the contrast between the sulphur beds and the different kinds of clay was so great, that the hills looked as if they had been experimented on by a company of painters, so clearly did they show their coats of many colors. I stopped some time admiring the great steam-blast and its blubbering neighbor, the gigantic cauldron of boiling mud. Fury
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CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XX
I F a man wishes to study ornithology, let him go to Iceland. The most beautiful birds in the world, those having the most brilliant, and finest, and warmest plumage, are to be found in the Arctic regions. Some of the game-birds of Iceland, I have spoken of. The greatest favorites and the most valuable of all the feathered tribes here are the eider ducks. Their down is the lightest and softest of animal coverings, probably the worst conductor of heat, and therefore the warmest clothing, that is
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CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXI
A MONG the birds of the far North, the snow-bunting— Emberiza nivalis —is one of the most interesting. Who has not seen the pretty “snow-bird” during a driving snow-storm, come round the barn for some hay-seed, or to the house for a crumb? But where do they go in summer? Why, they go to Iceland, and a nice time they have of it. They build their nests in the crags; and the male perches on some rock in the vicinity and sings all day long, while the female lays five small round eggs. The male bird
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BANNOCKBURN.
BANNOCKBURN.
We give the original, so they may be readily compared....
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BANNOCKBURN.
BANNOCKBURN.
These examples, though but disjecta membra poetæ , are sufficient to show something of the structure and appearance of Icelandic poetry; and, probably to the general reader, as interesting as a dissertation that would fill a volume. One more specimen, however, of their verse, shall be given; a couple of stanzas of a very popular Icelandic hymn. It is entitled, “The weeping of Jacob over Rachel,” or,...
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GRÁTUR JACOBS YFIR RAKEL.
GRÁTUR JACOBS YFIR RAKEL.
We will now have a specimen of Icelandic prose. See how queer our good old plain philosopher Franklin looks in a Northern dress. Here is his “Story of a Whistle.”...
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HLJÓTHPÍPAN.
HLJÓTHPÍPAN.
Það bar til einhvern helgidag þegar eg var eitthvað sjö vetra gamall, að kunningjar mínir fylltu vasa mína koparskildingum. Jeg gekk þá strax beina leið til búdar þar sem barnagull voru seld; en á leiðinni mætti jeg dreng, sem hjelt á hljóðpípu , og þótti mjer svo fallegt hljóðið í henni, að jeg bauð honum af fyrra bragði allt fje mitt fyrir hana. Siðan fór eg heim og gekk um öll hús blásandi á hljóðpípuna mína, og var hinn kátasti þó eg gjörði öllum heimamönnum ónæði. Bræður mínir, systur, og f
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From the Þjoðolfur[38] of Aug. 20th, 1852.
From the Þjoðolfur[38] of Aug. 20th, 1852.
Eptirfylgjandi GREIN bað ferðamaðurinn herra P LINY M ILES rektor herra B JARNA J ÓNSSON að láta prenta í Þjóðólfi, og senda honum svo til Vesturheims. Herra Pliny Miles , Vesturheimsmaður og meðlimur Sagnafjelagsins í Nýju Jórvík, hefur um bríð dvalið á Íslandi og farið víða um hjeröð landsins. Hann hefur skoðað Geisir , litla Geisir , brennisteinnámurnar í Krisuvik , og hann kom upp á tindinn á Heklu . Herra Miles hefur skoðað og aðgætt nokkrar bækur landsins, og hefur hann haft heim með sjer
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CHAPTER XXIX
CHAPTER XXIX
A FINE morning in August found our little schooner dancing over the waves of the Greenland strait. Towering up on our right, was the lofty Snæfell Jokull, one of the highest mountains in Iceland. It has the regular conical shape of most volcanoes. It is six thousand feet high, being one-third higher than Vesuvius. At this season about two-thirds of its height is black, and the rest is covered with perpetual snow. When more than fifty miles to the south, I took a drawing of it. It is near the end
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