The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-10-01
Notes ON Iceland.

I 4
a JafI that Never Held Prisoner-AEors
than Three In Bed-A Bashfua Mission
/ ary-Icelandie Kitchen DelfeaeIes.
The best building that we have seen
on the island, says Murat Halstead, is
the jail at Reikiavik. and the most re,
maj kable thing in its history is that
it never contained a prisoner. Il
would not hold an energetic prisoner
anyhow, unless he was chained, for
there are no bars across the windows,
but the experiment has not in any case
been tried; and the Reikiavikers are
not seriously disinclined to mention
the subject, for it is the strongea pre-
sentiment that can be made of the uni
versal prevalence of virtue.
The church is built wholly of wood,
and tarred. II is as black as the spot
on the ace of clubs, and right over The
door there is little black knob, vary
ing from ten to twenty feet in height,
that passes for the spire. Inside is an
altar opposite the door, adorned with
candles and pictures, representing the
sufferings of Christ, and on the right
hand side of the door, and two thirds
of the way to the altar, is the pulpit.
The room for the people is carefully
divided into pews, which are number
ed boxes. The churches, as all the
books of travel in Iceland state with
elaboration, are open to travellers
not as houses of entertainment, but
for shelter. The sacred roof is made
hospitable, to the extent of keeping
off the wind and rain, but you must
find yourself. The Icelanders, who
have no scruples or thought of them
about public balls on Sunday, and put
their dancing and praying very close
together, do not see that the church
can be less holy and venerable because
it is used as a tavern when not Occu-
pied for religious exercises.
The farm house seems the most
dreary institution in Iceland. and the
most hopeless. The Ieelandic farmer
builds his walls of blocks of lava laid
in turf. Sometimes there is mud or
lava paste used instead of turf. When
the wall is i've or six feet high, the
architect puts up wooden frame to
support the roof, and is careful to
place the gable in front, and to board
that up, and put window of about
four small panes of glass in it. The
roof-frame is covered with bark or
grass, or plank Sometimes by all
three), aud then heavily sodded. A
row of three of these tenements-
stone walls with sod Hoofs-and
long passage between two of them,
constitute house. believe there is
occasionally another pen, with a
square wooden box In the center of it,
for a kitchen, though usually one of
the three is used for that purpose and
at hand a COW house of
similar construction. The worst of
these houses is that they are damp,
and therefore unhealthy, and that
is not possible within
You enter them through q long, mar
row passage, dark, and ia rainy wealth
er wet, stumbling over an uneven
place of rough stones, and STOPPING
TO avoid dingy rafters. The entrance
looks and generally smells as though
it might be the disagreeable course
necessary to pursue to get into cav
ern, the occupants of which should be
reserved for a menagerie. 1t the
(and there are great many
children about) are not ont of doors,
they are pretty certain TO be III bed,
md as rule, they look as if soap and
water, and hair, cutting and combing,
would do them power of good, The |
bed rooms are not sumptuous. Two
thirds of the space in them is occupied |
with beds, which are very low and |
very broad and the happy people are |
said to enjoy the fashion of lying in |
bed ''end for end''- that is, the nose |
Of one fellow will be next the toes of |
another, which must be very nice, and
20 on. The primary effect of this sys-
EN- of bedding is to save space, bed |
'oom being scarce and precious.
Speaking of beds and hospitalities
n Iceland, there is an old ceremony |
If showing civility to strangers that
S said to be still prevalent in the re-
note rural districts. 1t is that the la
lies of the house shall pull off the
rousers of the fatigued and disconso-
ate travellers. There is not among
he Icelanders who perform this SOL
mn rite the remotest suspicion that
here is any indelicacy in the pertorm-
nee. It is related of the most pious
nd famous missionary who ever Wis
ted the island, Henderson, who dis
ributed Bibles throughout the Ice
andic settlements fifty years ago, that
his business of pulling of his trousers
vas sad embarrassment to him. He
ould not refuse to accept the hospit-
,lity of the good people among whom
le distributed the good book, for
which they were grateful in the ex-
RENE, and he finally managed to ar
ange a compromise and systematic
t. He insisted upon at first rolling
himself i'll a blanket, and then upon
himself, as to suspend
rs and waistcOat, and then, and not
ill then, he allowed the ladies to
elze the unoffending garment by the
traps, (Which he uniformly wore to
Ieep his trousers legs down when
.iding), and pull them off, So while
hey took the trousers in triumph, he
pared his modesty all the rudeness of
he terrible shocks that would other
wise have been inflicted. This philo-
ophical and ingenious Christian min
ster published large volume about T
lis troubles in Iceland, and the story
le tells about his trouble with his
rousers is very droll-and, in fact, is
Iuite pathetic and prOfusely garnished
with piOus reflections.
The Icelandic kitchen in the farm
houses, presents a spectacle not cheer
al nor in any sense fascinating. The I
Lrticle of fuel almost exclusively used /
s peat. We saw but one wood pile in
Iceland, and that was brush heap.
The peat is burned at Que end of one
If the pens of stone that form the
louse. In the center of the roof of
his pen is hole as large as half
,arrel, to which is fitted wooden
,ox, tapering slightly towards the top,
md this must be called the chimney,
or the smoke is expected to go out
hat way. The peat fire produces a
ioot. peculiarly its own. 1t is not as
ouf fas coal SCOT, but there is more of
t. Perhaps it might be more correct
% call the dust of the burnt peat ashes,
put it does not bear vivid resem-
jlance to the ashes of hickory or ma
logany. 1t is dirt, anyhow, and it
prevails in the kitchen. About the
fireplace will be found pile of peat,
| parcel of stock fish Chat is, fish dried /
salf) and some cheese. um-
pressed, sour aud white, barley meal