Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1854-08-16

From the book Of Mr. Miles, recent traveller in Ice,
land make the following extracts:
The lcelanders live principally by farming and fishing
They take cod and haddock from FIVE to forty miles out
to sea- Whales often visit their harbors and bays and
are surrounded by boats and captured Their
seafshing is from the LIST of February TO the middle OF
May In the Summer they catch large quantities OF trout
aud salmon in their streams aud lakes. They have no
agricultural productions OF much value except grass
Grain Ia not cultivated and their gardens are very small
only producing few and vegetables The climate
OF the country not what we would suppose from its
location. Columbus who there in February tells Us
he found no ice on the Ii is cold in Winter
az in tho Northern States Of America the thermometer
seldom showing greater degree of severity than from
twelve to eighteen above Ia Summer from June
September, Is delightfully."- mild aud pleasant neither
cold hot The cold does not usually commence
until November or December; and sometimes during the
entire winter there but little snow and frost
10 bridge their lakes and streams with ice In summer
fires needed and climate during this sa,son Ia
more agreeable than that of Great Britain or the United
States having neither the chilly dampness the one nor
the fierce heat OF the other Thunder storms in Iceland
occur in the Winter, bu. not in the Summer.
Their domestic animals sheep, cattle horses and
dogs lhey rarely keep domestic fowls, but from the
nests OF the wild cider duck they obtain large quantities
OF eggs, ~ well as down. Reindeer wild in the ipte-
rior but not domescated. Blue and white foxes are
common, and these with eagles hawks aud ravens de-
stroy many of their sheep and lambs White bears are
not found in the country, except "mpored" article
when they float from Greenland on the drift ice Tire
domestic animals ia iceland estimated 10 the following
numbers 100000 sheep $4,000 horses and 40 600 cat
te All their animals are OF rather small size as com
pared with those in more temperate regions Their
horses are size larger than the ponies of shetland an
average from twelve TO thirteen hands high Their bay ia
short growth, but very sweet, excellent quility
The lcelanders speak their "orests"-mere bnnches
OF sbubbery from two to six feet high These are min
cpay birch and wiio%. The beautiful heath 80 common
in Scotland and the norh OF Europe is found
Iceland Their game birds the ptarmigan the carev
the plover aud the Nearly every variety of w,ts
fowl common TO Great Britain America abonnds in the
bays islands and shores Of Iceland and in the
numbers. The lcelanders export WOOL abou. 600 900
pounds annually and from two three hundred thou and
pairs each Of woollen stockings and mttens sij.s
these articles they sell dr. led aud sailed Goldfish snoksd
salmon, fish and seal oil whale bnbber seal and FOX skns
feathers, elder down. beef and mutton hides taow and
sulphur They import their principal luxnrea -l,ur
rye and barley meal beans, potatoes wine brandy rum
ale and beer, Tobacco coffee sugar tea salt timber Goa,
iron cutlery fish hooks aud lines cotton and silk eoo1.
leather crockery and furniture. From thirty to forty ye,
ses sail from Denmark to Iceland every year.
Mr. Miles saw one tree, green and hou .shng one no
ess than FIVE feet high. He thought afterwards that he
might have seen them before and mistook them for
bushes The o1y native fruit is blue berry that grows
on tree nearly as high as a horses back And one
species OF rose ourshes there The people not fond
OF amusemeuts but spend much Of their time about their
turf sresde', reading aloud to each other and quietly
listening. They exceedingly hospita baud strangely
honest, They are poor snd--litcrary. In ls4T aud
1913 there we're thirty four volumes published on the
island and that Tor community Of 10000 people The
most common forms OF publication duodecimos aud
ocavos The record Of their Congress for 1877 was the
largest book published that year reaching one hundred
and tWenty.eight pages