The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1879-01-23
A Visit to Iceland.

When on shore We soon made &C
quaintancc with many Of the inhabit-
ants. The ladies, for we had bevy Of
ladies' with ms, demanded to be taken
to the jewellers and purveyOrs of knick-
knacks. We bought silver ornaments,
dog whips and shoulder bags--every
lady her silver ornament, her dog whip
and her shoulder bag, and every man
one of the two latter articles. The dog
whips were for The ponies we were to
ride, the bags to carry our small travel
ing gear and the ornaments for our
general deliekt The whips and bags
were made in tie island and were good
as mementoes. The ornaments, we
were told, were the old decorations of
by-gone Icelandis beauties. They had
probably reached Reykjavik from Bir-
mingham, via Copenhagen. They will
now come back to England m UGH raised
in value by their travels. We called in
body, sixteen of us, upon the Gov
ernor, by whom we were received not
only with courtesy c rdially. At
terward we made acquaintance with his
wife, dear motherly woman, handsome
withal, who delighted to make new
friends and to talk about her children.
do love to find human being, a
woman by preference, who under the
sanction of sudden and somewhat unu-
s,lal circumstances can throw herself
into sudden intimacies.. The precoci-
ties OF Mary and the ailments of Jack
become interesting to- rae, and find
myself talking about them as though
my whole heart was there. Ones whole
heayt is not there; but there has been
little green spot which never becomes
wholly dry or desecrate3 afterward.
Tne,e was the Bishop, too, with de-
lightful aughter-Bsaop Pietursson
witt. his wife and his daug.s.er Thora--
with the latter of whom we really did
form sn abiding friendship. There was
Il good deal of pleasant raillsry dis
played by orr young men, four or five
of thenp, at the expense of Miss Thora.
The Icalandic beauty was able to re-
ceive all their shafts on her little shield,
and to return an answer to each from
her own culver of wit. And she had to
do this in English, as none Of her OPP
ponents' could touch her in her own
language. One and all we lost our
hearts to she Bishops daughter. There
were four languages going-Gnglish,
French, Danish and Icclandic. OF the
latter two none among our parsy could
speak word, and yet there seemed to
be very little lack OF the means Of con-
versatioD. I was nstonished 10 find
how MANY there we're who could speak
English. The intercourse between
Iceland and Scotland is no doubt fire.
quent, the regular steamboats, which
come FROM Copenhagen every month
during the summer stopping Srst at
Leith before they make their way up
to Thorshaven in the Farce islands, and
thence to Reykjavik. But such COM
munication between two ports does not
teach us English people a foreign lam
guage. The difference, l suppose, has
to be found in the fact that English is
necessary to their comfort, bat that
1celandic is not needed by us for ours.
The Leith shop-keeper or mariner will
not trouble himself to talk to the stran-
ger in other language than his own; but
the lcelander must trouble himself to
maintain the needed communication
In the old Roman days. the great Ro-
man held i to be below his dignity to
talk to any barbarian in other than his
own language. The normal English
man is somewhat like the great Roman.
The result, however, shows itself in
extended information on their part, and
in intellectual aspirations which cannot
but be useiul.-AnNony Irol!ope.