New-York tribune., 1874-08-27

eth. usnal signs of profound respect among Tue
neople often the stodty Of the man spoken TO- the
.teadv unconscious stare of interest, 30 forgeuu'
that his greeting is frequently not returned oe
uuite new experience for Christian IN ne can
not aiwavs quite conceal feeting expression Oh
veariness OF disappointment; yet am sure tha' no
is every hour making friends In lceianu nav
taken the trouble to ask as many OF tne veop,e "'
ean understand me- what they think Oh 'ne Mug
and the one answer Is: nc Is '0iS
We are sure be Is honest.
At the door of the large pavilion the chorus was
stationed. and we had new song-Hinni ho"""es
A TkiaorelE. written by Jochumsson, to the grand
old Danish air of King Christian lays aside MS
Sword II was superbly sung, and the auditors
we're silently but very deeply moved AT the close
we were ushered into the pavilion, and assigned
places with the other foreign guests Inc oreahiS'
was substantial and sufficiently national consisting
of salmon, mayonnaise OF hsh coiu NUT
ION. and excellent Rejkiavik bread, Win claret
sherry. and finally champagne 1t was ID
fact rather dinner than break
fast or served as such for the Royal party. Thoms
sen of Bre.ssastadr first arose and made pleasant
semi-humorous speech in Danish. BE repeated the
old legend of the first discoverer of Iceland meeting
q dragon a bull breathing flame, and giant coming
down from the mountains with an iron staff, all
could possess the land; and then kening Christian
X to the hero left in doubt as to whom OF what
was typifed by the three monsters. However exact
smile is not always required; the compliment to
the King found the Icelanders warmed and pre-
pared to receive it, and the end was His Majesty's
health. with nine tremendous cheers. The King
returned thanks with evident feeling, and gave as
a toast: Prosperity to sublime Iceland"
After health TO Queen Louise of Denmark, pro-
posed by Chief Justice Jonasson. our friend, ETlkr
Maqndssen made the speech of the occasion. Ii was
In Icelandc. and / could only guess little OF It's
substance here and there; but the rich rhythm and
resonance of the ancient tongue we're a dehght 10
the ear Its contrast with the previous Danlsn
speeches was surprising The natives present KID
died and warmed as the speaker proceeded, untll
there was a burst of Bravo" after almost every
sentence. In fact in spite of the open 10y
atty of the speech. 1t was powerfully cal
culated to arouse the national pride Mag
nilsson spoke of the Icelanders being themselves
Of kingly blood as obedient only 10 honor and
honesty and as caiming an equal measure of respect
with that they yielded. His words were manly, not
defiant: the very beginning of the address" Sir
King instead of Your Majesty struck the old
independent keynote and the close hoping that the
second thousand years of Iceland's history might
find the same dynasty in power, was only uttered
after a distinct declaration of what was expected
from tine dynasty in the mean time
This was a fitting close to the celebration When
We issued from the pavilion it was raining more dis
IDally than ever The horses for the Kings party
were in readiness and by o'clock they were IN the
saddles meaning to reach Rejklavlk the same even
ing. The members of the choir went in advance TO
the Almannagj4 and there, under the lava walls OF
the tremendous cleft. sang parting song. One by
he Il
che sharp crest and Thngvalla was left to the peo-
pie of Iceland.
Near the national pavilion there was large tent
belonging to the merchants of Rejkiavik then a
second for the students and third for the mechan-
les. looked into each of them u the hope OF dis
covering some characteristic grouplGr happy OF being
invited to share in some festvity but the owners
were scattered over the valley, and only few ladies
had taken shelter from the rain. We climbed the
roc Ks to get a view OF the Axar-foss. and looked
into the pool where witches and caIially-condemned
criminals were drowned in the old davs, then wan
dered back to and waited, but without much
confidence for a change in the weather
had several visitors during the afternoon. With
one of them, farmer named Halldar Bjarneson.
managed TO infuse enough Icelandic words into
Danish TO have some conversation about the
ancient sagas. He informed ME that he was
descended from Sigurd the Dragon-slayer, and that
Hradevald. a King of Denmark 1.2OO years ago.
was also his ancestor in direct line. Immediately
after him came of the few beautiful girls saw
in Iceland, the daughter of clergyman on the
Breidi-F Fjord, thorough lady In ber manners. She
had studied English during the long Winters, but
had never spoken the language; vet, IN bali an
hour, with little encouragement, she began to
speak it. very slowly and deliberately, set with
surprising correctness.
There were 10 have been many more speeches aud
songs from the tribune on the mound but the rain
seemed TO have disturbed the programme. After
the Kings departure the people broke up into little
companies. some of which were jolly enough, and
all, imagine, made the best of their situation.
Our party however was already soaked to the skin,
and could do nothing else than crouch under our
tent-covers for the rest of the day. B.I.