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 ICELAND 151 vantage. The luxuriant herbage on the sloping sides of the fields consists of several kinds of grasses mingled with the leaves of stunted willow, which is greedily devoured hy the sheep, and with dwarf mountain birch. On the marshes grow several kinds of sedge, and the tun or home field is overstrewn with the yel- low ranunculus. Iceland is almost a treeless country ; in certain spots are low coppices of birch, the trees being mere shrubs 10 or 12 ft. high, and in one or two protected places only a few mountain ashes about 30 ft. high excite the admiration of the natives. Hay raised in the lowlands is the chief crop ; a few patches of oats are occasionally seen in sheltered situ- ations, but even these do not always ripen. No other kind of grain is raised ; but a species of wild corn (elymvs arenarivs) growing on the sand flats by the sea affords a much prized har- vest ; the straw is used for thatching and fod- der, and the meal, flavored with cinnamon, is made into very palatable thin cakes. Pota- toes, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, pars- ley, cresses, and radishes are cultivated in small patches. The only other valuable vegetable production is the Iceland moss of commerce. Agriculture has greatly improved of late years. Among the wild animals are several kinds of foxes which are hunted for their skins, the blue fox especially. Bears are frequent visi- tors, borne to the island on the ice drifts from Greenland. Reindeer were imported from Denmark about 1770, and now roam in large herds in the solitudes of the interior ; though so valuable for locomotion, their utility is al- together overlooked. The seal breeds every- where on the coast and its numerous islands ; the whale is also seen, sometimes in flocks, in the fiords and bays, as well as a shark indi- genous to these waters (scymnus microcepha- lus). The cod, herring, haddock, halibut, trout, salmon, and eels abound in the fiords and the fresh-water lakes and rivers. Shell fish, the mussel especially, are present in enor- mous quantities. There are in Iceland 7 fam- ilies and 34 species of mammals, of which 24 live in the water, and 13 varieties of cetacea. Birds swarm everywhere; among the indige- nous ones are the Iceland falcon, ptarmigan, goldeneye, harlequin duck, and northern wren. The eider duck is jealously protected by the inhabitants. There are 6 families and about 90 species of birds, of which 54 are water fowl. No reptiles have ever been discovered. Of fish, which are as yet but little known, Faber mentions 49 varieties, of which 7 are fresh- water fish. Domestic animals constitute the great wealth of the Icelander ; these are cows, horses, and sheep, and goats in the north. In 1B70 there were in the island 352,443 sheep, 30,078 horses, and 18,189 cattle. The early colonists introduced geese and swine ; but the geese are now all wild, and the hog has dis- appeared. The dog is of the Esquimaux type, and of great use to the farmer. Mineral de- posits, showing the presence of copper, iron, lead, and silver, are found in many places; but, from their poorness and the absence of fuel, no attempt has been made to work them. Plumbago was discovered near Krafla by Ba- ring-Gould, and magnetic iron abounds among the volcanic rocks. The chief sulphur depos- its are at the vapor springs of Hengill near Thingvalla lake, at Krisuvik, and in the neigh- borhood of Myvatn. In the latter region is "Obsidian mountain," a ridge in many places composed of pure obsidian, which might be a source of public wealth. There are feld- spar, chalcedonies, zeolites, amethysts, topaz, opal, porpyhry, and malachite. One of the most singular formations of Iceland is a kind of brown coal called surtitrbrandr, which lies in beds between clinkstone and trap ; it con- sists partly of carbonized stems of trees, partly of a more coherent layer of coal mixed with schist, and is of no importance as a source of national wealth. The modern Icelanders are the descendants of the Norwegians who settled in that country in 874 and the following years ; a few colonists from Ireland and Scotland had also settled in the country previous to the Nor- wegian discovery, or came thither afterward. The language spoken by all is the purest Norse. The men are tall, fair-complexioned, and blue- eyed, with frames hardened by constant expo- sure to the weather. Recent travellers com- plain of their tendency to idleness and intem- perance ; but they are strictly upright, truth- ful, generous, and hospitable. The women are industrious and chaste. Religious faith and the domestic virtues are traditional in every household. Education is universal ; it is al- most impossible to find an adult unable to read and write. The settlements are chiefly scat- tered along the coast, and in certain sheltered valleys and lowlands, the most populous dis- trict being in the neighborhood of Skagafiord in the north. Social as well as commercial intercourse is extremely limited. There is nothing in the whole island that can be called a road ; no vehicle of any kind is used on land ; locomotion both for man and merchandise is only practicable on horseback and at certain seasons. A very few houses are of stone, a few of wood, but the greater number are part- ly of turf and partly of lava blocks pointed with moss and thatched with sod. Coal is only to be had in the towns ; elsewhere the only fuel consists of sheep dung mixed with fish bones. No fire is made save in the small kitchen even in winter, and that only to pre- pare food, the other rooms in the farm house remaining damp and foul. In the Vestmanna islands and in many places on the mainland, portions of the sea parrot and petrel are dried, mixed with manure, and used for fuel. The main staple of food is stock fish, which is eaten with sour butter. The only meat is mutton, which is boiled, then pressed dry, cut into lumps, and laid by without salt; sometimes it is also stewed in milk. The first necessaries of life are imported. The least mortality (128)