ICELAND, one of the largest islands in Europe (being little inferior, in point of superficial extent, to Ireland), is situated in the north part of the Atlantic Ocean, between the 63d and 67th degrees of north latitude, and the 12th and 25th degrees of west longitude. Its extreme length from east to west is about 280 miles, and its breadth from north to south varies from 180 to 200.

The precise period at which this island was discovered and first colonized is unknown; but, from the Landnamabok, an ancient Icelandic chronicle, and a work generally relied upon as authentic, we learn that the Norwegians were the first settlers upon its coasts. Naddodr, a famous pirate of that adventurous nation, was, on his return to the Feroe Islands from a predatory excursion, about the year 860, driven by a tempest upon the coast of Iceland. He ascended to the summit of a mountain, but observing around him neither the vestige of a human residence, nor aught else than vast and trackless fields of snow, he immediately abandoned it. Probably aware of this discovery, Gardar Svarfarson, a Swede, followed the same track a few years afterwards, and, succeeding in circumnavigating the country, discovered it to be an island. He there spent the winter, but finding little inducement to make it a permanent residence, he in the following spring returned to Norway. The third adventurer on this coast was one Floki, another celebrated Norwegian pirate, who, during two seasons, explored a considerable portion of the southern and western coasts. His attempt at forming a permanent settlement proved, however, like that of his predecessor, a failure; his cattle-died, his expected crops were ruined, and, after experiencing numerous distresses and hardships from the inclemency of the weather, he determined to repair to a warmer region, and gave to the island at his departure the name by which it has ever since been known. That this name, and the report which he spread on his return, of the inhospitable nature of the island, were principally the effect of prejudice and disappointment, is evident from the contradictory account given of it by his companions, one of whom thought he could only convey an adequate idea of its richness and fertility by declaring that butter dropped from every plant.

These expeditions, though affording a slight knowledge of the country, would probably not have led to its colonization, had not disturbances in Norway induced some of the inhabitants of that country to quit their native soil. Harold Harfagra having subdued most of the petty princes of that country, put an end to the system of liberty and independence which the inhabitants of Norway had hitherto enjoyed; and thus drove many even of its nobility, with their families and dependents, from their homes. A body of these voluntary exiles, under the conduct of Ingolf, one of the discontented subjects, sailed from Norway, a. D. 874, from which year the Icelanders date the occupation of their island. When Ingolf approached the coast of Iceland, we are informed that he threw into the sea the wooden door of his former habitation in Norway; and finding it some time afterwards cast upon the shore at Reikiavik, he fixed his abode on the spot where the capital of the island now stands. He was followed by several others, and in a short time considerable portions of the southern and eastern districts of the island were taken possession of. Harold, it appears, did not at first oppose the emigration of his subjects; but afterwards finding it carried on to a great extent, he imposed a fine of four ounces of fine silver upon every person who should leave Norway to settle in Iceland. The Landnamabok, already mentioned, whose object was to afford a picture of the colonization of the island, describes with singular minuteness the arrival and spreading of the different settlers, and records, together with those of the Norwegians, the names of many Danes and Swedes, and even some Scotch and Irish, who at this period selected Iceland as their place of residence. The natural consequence of progressive colonization under the feudal tenure which was thus produced, was frequent contention between the new comers and those who had already settled in the country. To obviate these, a chief was named, under whose guidance and direction the concerns, interests, and feelings of the yet separate communities might be regulated and assimilated. This beneficial change was effected A. d. 928, and a republican form of government was thus established, well calculated to provide for the emergencies which gave it birth. We say a republican form of government; because, though there was only one supreme magistrate, who decided all disputes, and presided at the all’ thing, or great general assembly of the nation, still he was elected to this office by the free choice of the people, and retained it no longer than while he preserved their confidence. This state of liberty the Icelanders enjoyed with uninterrupted harmony for the space of nearly 400 years. During this period, education, literature, and even the refinements of poetical fancy, flourished amongst them; and the well-known sagas or talcs of the country, the most remarkable literary productions of that dark age, were principally penned prior to the fourteenth century.

The ancient Icelanders possessed, as is still the case with their posterity, few of the luxuries or refinements of life; and were occasionally exposed to severe privations, from the nature of their soil, and the seasons under which they lived. There is reason, however, to believe, though the fact cannot with perfect accuracy be ascertained, that the climate of Iceland was once less austere than it now is, and that not only trees and shrubs, but even corn, were grown upon the island. Of the ancient existence of the former, the trunks occasionally discovered in the bogs afford pretty satisfactory evidence. Corn of any description is not now a native of the island; and a few birch twigs afford the only approach towards timber. Like the present inhabitants, the ancient Icelanders were much dispersed over the country, their habitations being seldom grouped together, but placed wherever the situation and nature of the soil appeared suitable. Their occupations and modes of life appear also to have borne much similitude. The produce of the farm, and the capture of fish, afforded them, as they do their posterity, the principal means of subsistence; and their traffic with foreign countries made a valuable addition to their domestic comforts. The moral habits of the people were good, though, prior to the introduction of Christianity, in the year 1000, they were blended with superstition and some unnatural customs, such as the exposure of their infants. The putting down of heathenism is not the least remarkable event in the early history of Iceland. Frederic, a bishop of Saxony, was the first who preached Christian doctrines in this distant land. The propagation of his tenets, however, met [7:12:143]with every species of opposition; but the numbers who adopted them gradually increased so considerably, that the national assembly which met at Thingvalla in the year 1000 took the matter into consideration. Whilst the question was warmly debated, the story told is, that a messenger hurried into the assembly and announced that fire had burst from the earth in the southern part of the country, and was carrying destruction before it. The heathen party instantly exclaimed that this was the vengeance of the gods against the presumption of their opponents. But Snorro, who was a zealous advocate for the Christian cause, immediately demanded, “For what reason was the anger of your gods kindled when the very rock was burning on which we stand ?” Thinġvalla being in the midst of a volcanic country, and precipitous cliffs of lava surrounding the place of public assembly. The promptitude of the reply had the desired effect, and ultimately procured a decision in favour of the Christians. On the promulgation of Christianity, all religious contest was suspended; the whole people espoused the new faith; and a church establishment was soon afterwards formed. The Icelanders appear to have equalled the blindest of their fellow Catholics in their attachment to the hierarchy; and it was not till the year 1551 that the Reformation, under Christian III. of Denmark, found its way into the island. Since that period the form and ceremonies of the Icelandic church have been strictly Lutheran, though, from the poverty of the country, their churches are in general extremely wretched, and the pittances allotted to their clergy still more so.

But to return to earlier periods. We are indebted to the enterprise of the ancient inhabitants of Iceland for the discovery both of Greenland and Newfoundland. A mariner named Eric accidentally approached the former of these countries about the year 972, and was so delighted with his discovery, that he gave it the name which it still bears. His flattering accounts of the country had the desired effect of alluring his countrymen to its shores; and in this he so far succeeded, as in a short time to form an extensive and thriving settlement. The colonists maintained a constant commercial intercourse with Iceland and Norway; and the records of the settlement come down uninterruptedly to the beginning of the fifteenth century, when at once every trace and vestige of it was lost. The causes of this singular fact have never yet been fully ascertained, although the most probable supposition is, that an accumulation of ice took place about this time on the Greenland coast, which prevented the access to it by sea. The breadth of the sea between the two countries does not exceed 100 miles; and yet the fate of this ancient colony, commonly called by distinction Old Greenland, is quite unknown. The northern shores of America were first known from Biono Heriolforn, a native of Iceland, being driven upon them during a voyage to Greenland in 1001. Attracted by the account of this discovery, Leif, another enterprising navigator, pursued the same route considerably farther southwards, and finding an agreeable and pleasant country, he wintered there, giving it, from the circumstance of wild vines growing on it, the appellation of Vinland. This was subsequently, to a partial extent, colonised by the Icelanders; but few particulars are known of their progress, and what ultimately became of the colony is now a mere matter of speculation.

The independent and happy state of Iceland was not destined to be uninterrupted. About the year 1250, party disputes and internal feuds arose, which the ambition of the mother country enabled Haco, the then king of Norway, to foment. In 1261 a formal proposal was consequently made in the national council, to submit to that sceptre; but in doing so, the Icelanders stipulated that they should be allowed to retain their ancient laws and privileges, that they should be exempt from taxes, and that the annual importation of the most necessary articles of foreign produce should be secured to them. For upwards of a century Iceland was under the dominion of Norway, without any occurrence taking place of the slightest importance; and when in the year 1380 that country became subject to Denmark, the island was transferred to the same power, without tumult or opposition. The change in the constitution of the island, from its annexation to a European monarchy, naturally produced a corresponding change in the character and habits of the people. Not that the foreign yoke was a tyrannical one, otherwise a portion at least of the ancient vigour and activity of the inhabitants would have displayed itself in occasional acts of insurrection. On the contrary, the Danish monarchs not only exercised their sway with a lenient and forbearing hand, but paid much attention to the welfare and the wants of this remote part of their dominions; and thus repose and security succeeding to internal broils, produced a state of comparative apathy and indolence. Rank and property became more nearly equalized, and the trade of the country was gradually transferred to the natives of other kingdoms. A plague which devastated the island in 1402, and carried off, it is said, nearly two thirds of the whole population, tended still further to depress the spirit of the people, and destroy the strength and prosperity of the country. The reformation of religion, which, as above stated, took place in Iceland in the year 1551, was the first dawn of an improvement amongst the natives, which the introduction of printing and the establishment of a press about the same period aided greatly in extending. The recent history of Iceland is principally characterised as a record of physical calamities, which, from 1707, when the ravages of the small-pox carried oft' sixteen thousand of its inhabitants, down to 1753 and 1759, when the inclemency of the seasons created the most dreadful and distressing famines, and lastly, the memorable year 1783, when the great eruption from the Skaptaa Yokuil took place, have rarely ceased in one form or another to devastate the island.· The scene of this last-mentioned eruption is amongst lofty mountains in the interior of the island, known only to the natives by the remote view of their snow-clad summits. From this desolate and unfrequented region, Sir George Mackenzie remarks, vast torrents of lava issued forth, overwhelming all before them, and filling up the beds of great rivers in their progress towards the sea. For more than a year, a dense cloud of smoke and volcanic ashes covered the whole of Iceland, extending its effects even to the northern parts of continental Europe; the cattle, sheep, and horses of the country were destroyed; a famine, with its attendant distresses, broke out amongst the inhabitants; and the small-pox invaded the island at the same time, with its former virulent and fatal effects. From these combined causes, more than eleven thousand people perished during the period of a few years; an extent of calamity which can only be understood, by considering that this number forms nearly a fourth part of the whole population of the country. The destruction of the fishery upon the southern coasts of the island by these volcanic eruptions was another more permanent source of distress, and one which is not even now fully removed.

The government of Iceland is committed to an officer appointed by the crown of Denmark, who is occasionally a native of the island, but more frequently a Dane by birth. This supreme magistrate has the title of Stiftamt-man, and is intrusted with a general superintendence of every department. Under him are the amtmen or provincial governors, each of whom rules one of the four provinces of the island, and possesses a similar jurisdiction [7:12:144]over his respective quarter, as his superior officer does over the whole island. Each province again is divided into syssels or shires, over which the sysselmen preside. This office is likewise in the appointment of the crown; and, on account of its importance, it is always given to one of the most respectable landed proprietors within the district. The rank of sysselman corresponds in some degree to that of sheriff in this country. The hreppstiore is a subordinate parochial officer, whose duty it is to attend to the condition of the poor, and to assist the sysselman in the preservation of the peace. He is usually chosen from among the farmers; whilst the forlikunarmen are those appointed as arbiters for the decision of disputes among the parishioners. The laws of Iceland, like the general form of government as established nearly six hundred years ago, have undergone little important alteration; but the judicial changes have been more considerable, and the forms of justice in most respects now resemble those of Denmark.

Crimes are rare; the gentle and peaceable disposition of the natives, their moral and religious education and sober habits, act as preventives of such as are of a flagrant description. Small thefts, especially of sheep, are the most frequent; but the high court has seldom to decide more than six or eight cases annually. The whip is the only punishment applied in the country, excepting fines; those who are punished with hard labour or banishment being sent to Copenhagen.

There are about 194 parishes or livings on the island; but the clergy number at least 300, as many of the parishes have two churches, the great distance and the danger of travelling, particularly in winter, when the rugged fields of lava are covered with snow, making it frequently impossible for all the peasantry of the same parish to attend at one church. The clergy are partly supported by a species of tithes, which are mostly paid in kind. These stipends, however, are extremely miserable; the largest in the island not exceeding 185 dollars, and the average being little above 35 dollars, or L.6 sterling, per annum. They must therefore depend almost entirely for subsistence on their glebe land and their stock of cattle, and a small pittance they are entitled to for the few baptisms, marriages, and funerals that occur among their parishioners. “The clergy,” observes Mr Barrow, “almost universally submit to every species of drudgery from necessity. Their incomes are too small to allow them to hire and feed labourers; and nothing is more common than to find the parish priest in a coarse woollen jacket and trousers, or skin boots, digging peat, mowing grass, and assisting in all the operations of haymaking. They are all blacksmiths also from necessity, and the best shoers of horses on the island. The feet of an Iceland horse would be cut to pieces over the sharp rock and lava if not well shod. The great resort of the peasantry is the church; and should any of the numerous horses have lost a shoe, or be likely to do so, the priest puts on his apron, lights his little charcoal fire in his smithy (one of which is always attached to every parsonage), and sets the animal on his legs again.” Their poverty was quaintly but very contentedly alluded to by one of themselves, when he said, in a few lines he composed on occasion of Mr Henderson’s visit to his mansion :—“Ever since I came into the world I have been wedded to poverty, who has now hugged me to her bosom these seventy winters all but two; and whether we shall ever be separated here below, is only known to Him who joined us together.”

The clergyman of the parish having thus to undergo the same toils and hardships as the most humble of his flock, and enjoying no superior comforts or refinements, must feel that it is by his intellectual attainments only he çan retain that station, and command that respect from his parishioners, which it is so necessary for him to possess. Literary pursuits are therefore the principal occupation of the clergy during the long and dreary period of winter; and it is astonishing, considering the difficulties in their way, the progress most of them have made. The history and literature of the more refined nations of Europe now form a part of their studies. The English language, in which they find so many words of their own, and so many borrowed from the Latin, is cultivated by many of the clergy. The German they find still more easy; the Danish and Norwegian languages approximate to their own; and many of the choicest works in all these dialects have been translated into Icelandic. The present state of literature in Iceland thus appears to be of a different description from what it was in ancient times. Its supposed decline is the subject of general complaint, though in point of fact it has only changed its character from the'heroic and romantic to the useful and intelligible. Von Troil, in comparing the state of the sciences in the island to the four stages of human life, remarks that “their infancy extended to the year 1056, when the introduction of the Christian religion produced the first dawn of light. They were in their youth till 1110, when schools were first established, and the education and instruction of youth began to be more attended to. Their manly age lasted till about the middle of the fourteenth century, when Iceland produced the greatest number of learned men. Old age appeared towards the end of this same fourteenth century, when the sciences gradually decreased, and were almost entirely extinct, no work of any merit appearing. History now drooped her head, poetry had no relish, and all other sciences were enveloped in darkness.” But a new dawn of knowledge spread rapidly over the island after the Reformation; and the introduction of the printing press produced the same beneficial effects in Iceland as in other parts of Europe. A very important change took place in the nature of the studies pursued; and the clergy in particular, instead of occupying their time in making and transcribing eddas and sagas, that is, political and historical romances, have turned their attention to sober history, to the collection and registration of events, and to other literary productions of more intrinsic value, which the printing press, still actively employed on the small island of Vidoe, opposite Reikiavik, affords them the opportunity of turning to account.

There are no public hospitals, or charitable institutions of that description, on the island; the sick and the poor being almost wholly supported by their own families. Indeed a sort of disgrace attaches to those who send them away to be taken care of by strangers, even though maintained at their own expense. On the other hand, there is an important collegiate school at Bessestad, which may well be considered as the only public institution of importance in the country. It is intended principally for the education of young men destined for the church, and is attended by about forty scholars. There are three masters, the one, professor of theology, instructs the pupils in Hebrew and Greek, as far as the Greek Testament, and Xenophon; the second, who is the lecturer, teaches them Latin, history, mathematics, and arithmetic; and the third the Danish, Norwegian, German, and Icelandic languages. Their attendance is constant from October to May, the intermediate months being the period of vacation, when the students go to their several homes. The funds appropriated for this excellent institution are said to be sufficient to pay the teachers, and to afford board, books, and clothing to the scholars gratis.

Property is held either of the crown or in fee simple; the crown lands and many others are let to farmers, on what may almost be called perpetual leases. The rent is paid in two parts; the land rent, fixed at an old valu»- [7:12:145]tion, which it has not been found necessary to alter, and a rent for the number of cattle which it is calculated the farm is able to support; and these are transferred from one tenant to another, each succeeding one taking them, and leaving a similar number on quitting the farm. This, however, does not prevent a farmer keeping as much stock as he can maintain, without paying an additional rent. The tenant is for life, provided he does not injure the farm; but he may quit whenever he pleases, on giving six months’ notice. His rent is generally paid in produce, on the coast in fish, in the interior in wool, tallow, butter, sheep, &c. or, according to agreement, in money. Individuals who cultivate their own properties, and tenants who are in easy circumstances, generally employ one or more labourers, who, besides board and lodging, have from ten to twelve dollars of annual wages. In Iceland, as in Norway, there is no such thing as entailed property, and the law of descent excludes primogeniture. If an individual dies intestate, his estate is sold or valued, and divided amongst the children, so as to give equal shares to the sons, and half shares to the daughters. If, however, any of the brothers can pay the shares to his brothers and sisters, it is generally arranged that the freehold estate be made over to him, in order to retain it in the family.

The gross population of Iceland is about 53,000, a very scanty proportion for an island whose surface is to that of Ireland as four to five; but that surface, it is true, from its nature, and the character of the climate, is perhaps as unfavourable as any which exists between the limits of the two arctic circles. Deducting the areas of the numerous fiords with which it is intersected, the square contents of the land may be calculated at 37,388 statute miles; but as the centre of the island consists entirely of snowy and uninhabited mountains, the peopled portion cannot be considered more than 25,000 square miles; and the population therefore will not much exceed two persons on each square mile. The number of births in the year 1832 was 2516; and the number of deaths during the same year amounted to 1390, of which 784, considerably more than one half, were children under ten years of age. The whole population is employed either in farming, which occupies about three fourths of them,' or in fishing. Other employments do not exist, nor is there any other class of people or townsmen, save the small number of merchants in Reikiavik and the other trading establishments. Every branch of industry is therefore domestic, and confined chiefly to articles of clothing, such as coarse cloth, gloves, mittens, and stockings. The peasantry are generally ingenious, and manufacture such simple pieces of furniture as their cottages require; some also aspire to make trinkets of silver, and articles from the walrus tusks. The trade of Iceland has never been managed in a way to be of important benefit to its inhabitants, those who are engaged in it being almost exclusively Danes, and other foreigners. Of late years, however, there has been an annual export of from 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 pounds of raw wool, besides about 200,000 pairs of knitted stockings, and 300,000 mittens, or gloves without fingers. The Iceland sheep have remarkably fine fleeces of wool, which the farmers in the spring of the year take oft’ whole; their weight being usually from four to five pounds. The other exports of Iceland are dried fish, salted cod, and other species, for the quality of which the fishing banks of the island are celebrated, but which latterlyjiave been much invaded by the French and Dutch fishermen, to the great grievance of the nation. Fish-oil, whale-blubber, skins, eider-down, feathers, and the lichen Islandicus for medicinal purposes, may also be included amongst their list of exports. These the natives dispose of to the Danish merchants in exchange for coffee, sugar, tobacco, snuff, a small quantity of brandy, rye and rye-bread, biscuit, wheaten flour, salt, soap, and such other small articles as are in constant use for domestic purposes. Those who can afford it purchase a supply of linens and cottons, which of late years have become of more common use, and which must tend greatly to cleanliness, and the prevention of those diseases which woollen clothing worn next the skin tends to engender. The traffic thus occasioned takes place in the early part of summer, and whilst it lasts creates a kind of fair, with no little bustle and business, in the capital. All the articles brought from the interior for sale at the sea-ports, and all those taken back for winter consumption, are transported on pack-horses. There is not, in fact, in all Iceland such a machine as a wheel-carriage; and indeed if there were, they would be useless, as there is nothing in the shape of a road on which they could move.

The Icelanders are generally middle sized and well made, though not very strong. Their manners are exceedingly simple, and they are very respectful as well as obliging to strangers. Though their poverty disables them from imitating the hospitality of their ancestors in all respects, yet they cheerfully give away the little they have to spare, and express the utmost satisfaction if the gift shall have proved acceptable. They possess but few peculiar customs, and those not of particular interest. Their sole occupation during summer is to provide means of subsistence for the winter season; and when confined during the dreariness of an arctic winter to their huts, their great source of amusement is the tales of olden times, when the learning of their country rendered it renowned in every quarter of Europe. “Being of quiet and harmless dispositions,” says Sir George Mackenzie, “having nothing to rouse them into a state of activity, nothing to inspire emulation, no object of ambition, the Icelanders may be said merely to live. But they possess innate good qualities, which, independently of the consciousness of their former importance, have preserved their general character as an amiable community. They have indeed become negligent with respect to the cleanliness of their persons and dwellings, but they deserve a high place in the scale of morality and religion. To religious duties they are strictly attentive; and though the clergy are not generally raised above the level of the peasantry in any respect but in their sacred office, yet they have been able to preserve the regard due to those who are considered as peculiarly the servants of the Supreme Being.” The poor Icelander, too, is strongly attached to his native soil, and, like the Swiss, has been known to throw up lucrative appointments which he held elsewhere, for the sake of rejoining his family and friends on the island, being never so happy as when he sees a prospect of returning to it.

Few countries in the world present a more forbidding aspect, or have less apparently to invite the approach either of the traveller or the merchant, than Iceland. The appellation given it by its first discoverers seems still peculiarly its own; and if the statement be accurate, of its having in former days grown considerable forests, whilst now scarce a shrub will rear its head, there is little probability of that name ever being belied. “Imagine to yourself,” says Von Troil, “a country which, from one end to the other, presents to your view only barren mountains, whose summits are covered with eternal snow, and between them fields divided by vitrified cliffs, whose high and sharp points seem to vie with each other to deprive you of the sight of a little grass, which scantily springs up among them. These same dreary rocks likewise conceal the few scattered habitations of the natives, and nowhere a single tree appears which might afford shelter to friendship and innocence. The prospect before us, though not pleasing, was uncommon and surprising. Whatever presented itself to our view bore the marks of devastation; and our eyes, accustomed[7:12:146] to behold the pleasing coasts of England, now saw nothing but the vestiges of the operation of a fire, Heaven knows how ancient.” Nor does Reikiavik, the capital of the country, the residence of the governor, the centre of its trade, present a much more inviting prospect to a stranger on his arrival, “He perceives,” says Mr Barrow, “only a long row of houses, or rather the upper parts of houses, running parallel to and close behind a rising beach of a black shingle, their red or brown roofs being the most conspicuous, and the tops of the doors only, and perhaps about half of a row of windows, peeping above the said beach; but he sees enough of them to satisfy himself that they are of a low, mean character. On each extremity of this line of houses he will observe a rising eminence, scarcely deserving the name of a hill, on which he will perceive a number of sod or turf huts, raised a little, and but a little, above the level of the ground; their roofs, and generally their sides too, verdant enough and well clothed with grass, the abodes chiefly of fishermen, labourers in the merchants’ employ, and idlers, of which there are not a few sauntering about. Among these hovels, or rather above them, on the western eminence, stands conspicuously the house of the physician-general of Iceland, or perhaps more properly surgeon and apothecary of Reikiavik; for he acts in all these capacities; which tall building, speaking comparatively with its neighbours, is kept in countenance by a still taller one, the only windmill on the island.” “The lower part of their turf huts is built of rude stones to the height of about four feet, and between each row layers of turf are placed with great regularity, to serve instead of mortar, and in fact to keep out the wind. A roof of such wood as can be procured rests upon these walls, and is covered with turf or sods. A window is a luxury; a cask or barrel, with the two ends knocked out, answers the purpose of a chimney; but the smoke is frequently allowed to escape through a hole in the roof. The only fire ever burnt within their walls is that of the kitchen, which forms a small separate apartment, frequently detached.”

The surface of the country is for the most part highly mountainous and rugged; some of the yokuls or snowcapped eminences, as the Snaefeil, the Skaptaa, Kateja Torsa, and Hecla, rising to the height of from 4000 to 6000 feet above the sea. The centre of the island, however, is traversed by considerable plains, some of which are covered with tolerable pasture, whilst others form extensive wastes, morasses, and fields of lava. It is also watered by a number of large rivers, which, from the rapid melting of the snows in summer, present a turbid, and some of them so white an appearance, that they are denominated from that circumstance. The smaller streams which rise in the lower grounds are however transparent, and are celebrated for the abundance and beauty of the salmon which frequent them. There are also a number of lakes, of which the principal are called Thingvalla Vatn, an expanse of water from ten to fifteen miles in length, and six to eight in width, on whose banks the great assemblies of the nation used to be held; My Vatn, in the north-eastern extremity of the island; and Fiske Vatn, a lake so designated from the fine fish it affords to the inhabitants of the midland districts.

The coast, like that of Norway, is in every direction deeply indented with creeks and arms of the sea; few of them, however, afford safe anchorage; and along the southern coast, eastward from where the great river Elvas empties itself into the sea, there are extensive shoals, formed partly, no doubt, by the depositions of the rivers proceeding from the great range of yokuls to the eastward of Mount Hecla, but principally from the remains of volcanoes, which, like the Sabrina and Graham Islands, have at one period appeared above the surface, but from the action of the waves have subsequently sunk below it.

It is extremely probable that Iceland owes its origin to some great convulsion of nature; for no part of the globe presents such a number of volcanic mountains, so many boiling springs, or such immense tracks of lava. The frequent and long-continued eruptions of its volcanoes are all on record in the historical annals of the island; their number since the year 1004 is stated at sixty-five. Of Hecla no less than sixteen great eruptions are mentioned; but, with the exception of that in 1818, this celebrated mountain has been in a quiescent state since the middle of last century. By far the most dreadful occurrence of this description was that already mentioned, which took place from the great range of the Skaptaafell Yokul in the year 1783; an eruption which devastated the finest portion of the island, and produced famine and disease amongst its inhabitants to an extent scarcely credible.

The boiling springs of Iceland have long attracted the attention of scientific men, and they are assuredly amongst the most curious and most remarkable phenomena which it presents. These are very numerous in many quarters of the island; but it is to the fountains termed the Geysers that we would now particularly allude. These extraordinary springs are situated in the western part of the island, in a small plain sixteen miles north of the village of Skalholt. The siliceous depositions of the waters of the Great Geyser have formed for it a basin about fifty-six feet in the greatest diameter, and fifty-two in the narrowest, a projection from one side causing the circumference to deviate from a perfect circle. A mound has thus been produced, which rises considerably above the surface of the plain, and slopes on all sides to the distance of a hundred feet or thereabouts, from the borders of the basin on its summit. The basin is from four to five feet deep, and slopes a little, like a saucer, towards the centre. At this point there is a cylindrical pipe or tube, about twelve feet in diameter and seventy feet deep, up which the boiling water rises and the eruptions burst forth. At intervals of some hours, when the basin is full, explosions are heard from below like the distant firing of cannon, and at the same time a tremulous motion of the ground is felt around the basin. “We observed,” remarks Sir John Stanley, “the water in the basin to be much agitated; it boiled violently, and heaved as if some expansive power were labouring beneath its weight, and some of it was thrown up a few feet above the basin. Again there were two or three shocks of the ground, and a repetition of the same noise. In an instant the surrounding atmosphere was filled with volumes of steam rolling over each other as they ascended, in a manner inexpressibly beautiful, and through which columns of water shivering into foam darted in rapid succession to heights which at the time we were little qualified to estimate, but afterwards ascertained by means of a quadrant to be about ninety-six feet. At last, the water having filled the basin, it rolled in great waves over its ed e, and forming numerous rills, made its way down the sides of the mound. Much was lost in vapour also, and still more fell to the ground in heavy showers of spray. The intervals at which the several jets succeeded each other were too short for the eye to distinguish. As they rose out of the basin, they reflected by their density the purest and most brilliant blue. In certain shades the colour was green, like that of the sea; but in their farther ascent all distinction of colour was lost, and the jets, broken into a thousand parts, appeared white as snow. Several of them were forced upwards perpendicularly; but many, receiving a slight inclination as they burst from the basin, were projected in beautiful curves, and the spray which fell from them, caught by a succeeding jet, was hurried away still higher than it had been perhaps before. The jets were made with inconceivable velocity, and those which escaped uninterrupted terminated [7:12:147]in sharp points, and lost themselves in the air.” After continuing for some minutes, the explosions cease, when the pipe and basin are both found empty.

Such are the phenomena presented during an eruption of the Great Geyser. In external appearance, as well as in the magnitude and violence of its ejections, this Geyser differs materially from the other two principal springs in its vicinity. Indeed, although it has been satisfactorily ascertained from historical records that they have been playing for the last six hundred years, yet very material changes are evidently taking place from time to time amongst them. One which Sir George Mackenzie mentions as being particularly active when he visited the island in 1809, and whose eruption Sir John Stanley describes as incessant, is now, by Mr Barrow’s account, extinct; and the surface of the neighbourhood has been so totally altered, that it is with difficulty the accounts of recent travellers can be made to coincide with those at the commencement of the century. It is admitted, however, that the phenomena they all exhibit are occasioned by the production and confinement of steam in cavities, so formed, that when the accumulation arrives at a certain point, the pressure of the water opposing its escape is overcome, and the water is thrown out before it. The siliceous incrustations which are formed around the brim of the basin, and along the edge of the streamlets running out of it, are not the least remarkable productions of the Geyser. They consist of little tufts or knobs, grouped in such a manner as to bear a resemblance to the heads of cauliflowers; of so delicate a texture, however, that it is almost impossible to remove them in a perfect state. This deposit is principally formed from the condensed steam or vapour. The sides of the tube and the bottom of the basin, on the contrary, are, doubtless from the constant friction of the water, perfectly smooth, and as hard as agate.

Another very remarkable hot spring is the mud volcano of Reykialid, near Myvatn, towards the north-eastern extremity of the island. This occupies the crater of Mount Krabla, one of the principal volcanoes of Iceland, and is thus described by Henderson, who made the circuit of the island during the year 1815. “At the bottom of a deep gulley lay a circular pool of black liquid matter, at least three hundred feet in circumference, from the middle of which a vast column of the same black liquid was erupted with a loud thundering noise. This column is equal in diameter to that ejected by the Great Geyser at its strongest eruptions. The height of the jets varies greatly, rising on the first propulsions of the liquid to about twelve feet, and continuing to ascend, as it were, by leaps, till they gain the highest elevation, which is upwards of thirty feet, when they again abate much more rapidly than they rise; and after the spouting ceases, the situation of the aperture is rendered visible only by a gentle ebullition, which distinguishes it from the general surface of the pool; the eruptions take place every five minutes, and last about two minutes and a half.” In the same vicinity are the hot springs of Husavik, which, though they bear no comparison in magnificence to those of Skalholt, are extremely interesting in many respects. The pipe of one of them, the Oxalwer, which is said to have derived its name from the circumstance of an ox having fallen into it, is about eight feet in diameter, is surrounded with a strongly incrusted brim, and shortly below the surface trends to one side, and becomes quite irregular. Its jets rarely exceed twenty feet in height, but, according to Henderson’s account, they are conducted with the utmost regularity in point of time. It was amongst the beautiful incrustations formed around the basin of this spring that Mr Rose of Edinburgh, during his mineralogical excursion a few years ago, observed that variety of apophyllite, to which the synonyme of Oxalwerite was subsequently applied.

Though it cannot be denied that these springs have some communication with the volcanoes which abound in the island, yet it is a remarkable fact that they are seldom found very near them, although dispersed throughout the whole country. They possess unequal degrees of heat, ranging from 188° to 212°, and are generally devoid either of taste or smell, although the flavour of sulphur is occasionally perceptible. When their situation suits, they are turned to good account by the inhabitants, both as bathing quarters, and for various culinary purposes, in boiling fish, evaporating sea-water, and the like. At Reikholt there is a celebrated bath of this description, which was constructed six hundred years ago by the famous Snorro Sturleson. It is fourteen feet in diameter and six feet deep, being supplied, by means of covered conduits, both with hot and cold water, from springs about a hundred yards distant, so that any desired temperature might be obtained.

The contents of the Geyser water Dr Black ascertained to be, in 10,000 grains, or about one sixth of a gallon, of water,

Soda 0*95 gr.

Alumina 0∙48

Silica 5∙40

Muriate of soda 2 ’ 46

Dry sulphate of soda 1 ∙46

Total 10∙75

Though Iceland has been visited at different periods by several scientific men, little is comparatively known either of its geology or its mineralogy. To Sir George Mackenzie the world is indebted for a pretty minute description of the mineral products of the south-western portion of the island;^[1. The Museum of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is enriched by an extremely interest-ing suite of minerals, collected by Sir George Mackenzie in this part of Iceland, and presented by him to the Society. ] but of the east coast, which has long been celebrated for its magnificent zeolites and splendid calcedonies, little has as yet been made public. The island, from one extremity to the other, exhibits undoubted demonstrations of volcanic origin; immense tracks of lava, extensive beds of tuff, basaltic columns, greenstone, and amygdaloid, appear in succession at every step. The surfaces of some of the lavas which Sir George Mackenzie observed in Iceland he describes as not unlike coils of ropes or crumpled cloth; in other respects they appear to resemble the lavas of recent volcanoes elsewhere, being, like those of Aetna, thrown up into large flattened masses. These, it is well known, are produced by the formation of a crust on the lava during its course, which, as it accumulates, breaks through the hardened surface; and thus, when it cools, leaves a wide extended plain of the most ruggedand impassable description. In some places the surface has swelled during the course of the lava into knobs, from a few feet in diameter to forty or fifty, many of which have burst, and disclose caverns lined with melted matter in the form of stalactites. Of these some remarkable instances are mentioned amongst the extremely rugged lava of Buderstad, in the vicinity of the Snaefell Yokul, where several of the caverns extend to the depth of forty yards. Stappen i in the same part of the island, presents, for the extent of about two miles, the most striking columnar appearances, both in the cliffs which form the shore, and in the numerous insulated rocks which appear at different distances from the land. In general, the ranges of columns assume a vertical position, and an elevation of about fifty feet; but in some places [7:12:148] they are disposed indiscriminately upon one another in bundles, and in several instances appear diverging from a centre. Sir John Stanley describes a cavern on this coast which his party rowed into, as more curious even than the cave at Staffa; the columns, which were very lofty, diverging considerably from the roof towards the base. Frequently these columnar basalts are associated with or imbedded in tuffa, a volcanic production of the most universal occurrence. “Lava and tuffa,” says Sir George Mackenzie, “are sure indications of each other. The mountains of the Guldbringé GysSel are almost entirely composed of tuffa. The hills round Mount Hecla, near the Snaefell Yokul, and in the neighbourhood of every lava I met with, consist of that substance; in fact, it appears to be the predominant rock.” Amygdaloid forms the larger portion of the eastern extremity of the island, and it is imbedded in this that those splendid specimens of calcareous spar par excéllence denominated Iceland-spar are found. This rock is likewise the matrix of all the different varieties of the zeolite tribe, of the magnificent calcedonies, and in fact of most of the fine minerals which have long rendered Iceland so celebrated a locality among collectors. Fossilized wood is found in several places; that variety termed Surturbrand is peculiar to the north-eastern volcanic district. It is remarkable that the specimens hitherto brought home of this last substance appear to be oak. It burns with flame, and can be cut and shaped like jet; but from its brittleness does not admit of being sliced into shavings. Pumice, obsidian, and other volcanic minerals appear in great beauty in many districts of the island, particularly near Hecla, and to the north of Krabla.

There is little remarkable in the zoology of Iceland. The only wild animals are foxes, which in some parts of it are very numerous, and do much damage to the farmers in destroying their lambs and other produce. Rein-deer were introduced from Sweden about the middle of last century, and have since increased and run wild. The Iceland horse is small, but hardy, active, and capable of sustaining considerable fatigue. Dogs and cats they have in abundance, and rats and mice are proportionally numerous. The floating ice occasionally transports a polar bear or two from the Greenland coasts during spring, which, however, are no sooner heard of than the neighbouring country are up in arms to kill them, and they are consequently hunted down and destroyed without mercy. The skins of the foxes, particularly those of the blue species, are valued as an article of commerce.

Amongst the land-birds of the island are the sea-eagle or erne, a very destructive bird among the eider-ducks; the falcon, which used formerly to be a valuable item in the exports of the island; and the raven, which is a larger and more powerful bird than those of Britain, frequently pouncing upon and carrying off young lambs, and destroying poultry; it is met with in great numbers, particularly on the cliffs near the sea-coast. The ptarmigan, snipe, golden plover, wagtail, and curlew, are well known. Waterfowl of every description, common to northern latitudes, are met with on the coasts and in the lakes. Of these the most valuable to the inhabitants is the eider-duck, which is strictly preserved, a penalty of half a dollar being exigible for shooting one of these birds. From this circumstance they become so remarkably tame, especially in the breeding season, that they frequently make their nests close to the houses, and in spots which have been prepared by ridges of stones artificially built up for them; and in such places, during the process of incubation, it is not unusual for the female to remain on the nest, and suffer herself to be fondled. The lining of their nests, being the downy substance plucked off their own breasts, is taken away, even a second and third time, until the poor bird has plucked herself nearly naked. Their eggs, too, are removed once or twice, and are eaten in the same manner as plovers’ eggs. Swans are very numerous in some of the lakes of the central part of the island, where they remain unmolested until the ice sets in, when they betake themselves to the sea-shore. The eggs, the feathers, and the down of this fine bird, like those of the eider-duck, supply the peasantry with an article of food, and also of commerce.

The vegetable productions of the island, as already stated, are the reverse of luxuriant. With the exception of a few stunted birch, rarely above six feet high, and some dwarf willows, in the southern and eastern districts, nothing in the shape of a tree occurs; and, even in the sheltered situations afforded by the gardens surrounding the merchants’ houses near Reikiavik, all attempts to raise the most common culinary vegetables occasionally fail. Even in good years, Dr Hooker remarks that in many of these little enclosures the cabbages were so languid and small that a half-crown piece would have covered the whole of the plant. It is a curious fact, however, that timber has in former periods grown in more abundance, as is evident from the logs so frequently met with in the morasses and peat-bogs of the country. These the peasants are in the habit of extracting and using for firewood. The Surturbrand, already mentioned, has nothing to do with the antediluvian state of the island.

The scanty produce of the land is, however, to a great degree compensated for by the abundance of fine fish which occurs on the coast. In several parts of the island, particularly on the north and north-west, the shark fishery is a regular occupation. Strong hooks fastened to chains arc baited and anchored a little way out to sea, and the fish when caught are thus towed to shore. Of the skin shoes are made, a considerable quantity of oil is extracted, and some parts of the flesh are occasionally smoked and used by the natives for food. The cod is very plentiful; the haddock grows to a large size; ling, skate, flounders, and halibut arc likewise very common; the herring, too, frequents the fiords in vast shoals, but this branch of the fishery has hitherto been little attended to. The salmon in the rivers are said to be very fine, and no country in the world produces them in greater quantity. Seals are particularly numerous on the shores of the Breide-fiord and the western coast.

Such is a rapid sketch of the most remarkable features of Iceland. The ardour, however, with which the sciences of natural history and geology are now pursued in Britain, coupled with the increasing facility every year afforded by means of steam navigation, will no doubt, in the course of a very few summers, present us with more minute and more accurate information respecting the truly extraordinary natural productions of this wild but wonderful island.

(See Letters on Iceland, by Von Troil, in 1772; Travels in Iceland, by Sir George Mackenzie, in 1810; Journal of a Residence in Iceland during the Years 1814 and 1815, by Ebenezer Henderson; and Visit to Iceland in the Summer of 1834, by John Barrow, Esq. Jun.)