The inhabitants have chosen for their villages such spots as are dry, or may be rendered so easily, and which have the advantage of a commodious landing place for boats ; though this last, in a few instances, gives place to the for mer.
Many of the occupiers of land hold it in property ; and others of the crown of Denmark, paying a tax for it of from 20 to 40 skillings for each mark. A mark is an ex tent of land which rarely supports more than two cows du ring the year, though some maintain four. It is generally reckoned to be about 8000 square Danish ells ; hut the mark varies in different places, and is valued at about 600 dollars.
The whole surface of the country is very wet ; and, in general, the soil is thin, and for the most part consists of peat. On such a soil, under a climate, not indeed rigorous but exceedingly moist, and consequently ungenial, from the rays of the sun being so much excluded from the surface, agriculture cannot be supposed to be in a flourishing con dition. The inhabitants being regularly supplied from Denmark with barley and rye, and sometimes with pease, the cultivation of grain is carried to a very small extent, while hay for the cattle during winter is an object of the first importance. By repeated working, the land is thrown up into ridges, a section of which exhibits this form, —the length of the ridge lying along the acclivity. This is undoubtedly the best form that could be devised for car rying off the surface-water with the least damage to the soil. When barley or turnip seeds are to be sown, or po tatoes planted, a large dose of manure, made up of dung and ashes, is spread upon the first ridge. The turf is then cut from the next, aid laid with the grassy side downwards on the dung. This is chopped with a spade, and a little more soil is laid on, and the seed scattered over it, when it is again stirred with the spade. No grass seeds are sown; and, before a miserable crop of hay can be reaped, the land must lie waste for three years, when a coarse herbage, the greatest part of which consists of sorrel, is collected by nature. It is a fact for which no good reason can be discovered, that the vegetative power of the grain import ed from Denmark is previously destroyed by kiln-drying; and thus the poor Faroese are compelled to sow their own shrivelled and unripe corn. The turnips which grow in Faroe are a yellow sort, hut small and hard ; and the pott toes are diminutive and watery. Such, however, is the in clugtry of the people in some places, that soil is often seen laid on the flat surfaces of large stones, in which potatoes of very good quality are produced.
The cattle are very small; and no pains being taken to select the best for breeding from, few are to be met with that are well shaped. They yield but a small quantity of milk; but it is sweet and rich. The sheep vary a little in appearance, and in the quality of their wool. This is ow ing to a supply having been brought to the country, after a season of unexampled fatality among the native sheep, partly from Iceland, and partly from Zetland. From the wool, excellent strong stockings are manufactured, and likewise close jackets, which are worked, like stockings, on wires, and ornamented with figures done with variously coloured worsted, dyed in the country. To give a yellow colour, the ?Inthericum ossifragum, Polygonum hidropiper, Polygonum persicaria, and the Lycopodium complanatum, are used; for black, the Geranium sylvaticum; for red, the Lichen calcereus and the Lichen tartareus; for brown, Li chen saxa+ilis and Omphaloides; and for orange, the Lichen parietinum.
The wool is torn from the sheep when the fleece begins to loosen ; but frequently that event is not waited for, and the skin of the animals is often cruelly lacerated. The horses are small, and in general not well shaped. The best are to be seen in the island of Suderoe. They are
very seldom used, except for carrying home fuel from the mosses; there being no roads and no wheel carriages.
It might be supposed, that the sea around these islands was a never-failing source of subsistence and profit to the people who inhabit them. Formerly a considerable fishe ry for cod was carried on; but now it appears, that the on ly bank in the vicinity (which is about two miles north of Kalsoe) is almost totally destitute of fish. The accounts of this failure, which the writer of this article received, may, however, be somewhat exaggerated. It is indeed true, that fish are not abundant on the coasts; but there appears no inducement to prosecute the fishery with vigour. It seems to be the policy of the Danish government, to keep the natives of their distant possessions in a state of poverty and perpetual dependence, and to encourage merchants from Denmark to provide them with grain and other necessaries, which arc exchanged for the woollen jackets and stockings, the manufacture of which is the chief employment both of the men and the women. Of these goods a very large pro fit is made on the continent. The price of grain, howe ver, is never raised to the Faroese, whatever it may cost in Denmark ; and when it is brought to Faroe, it is divided with scrupulous accuracy, and distributed according to the circumstances of the different classes of inhabitants. Barley is the principal article; pease, rye meal, and oats, being less commonly used. In the year 1812, 5650 barrels of grain and meal were imported ; and this quan tity vas considered as a sufficient supply. There being 5120 people in all the islands together, each person, supposing the provision to be equally divided, would have per diem about hair au English pint of barley or meal. But the distribution is not equal ; and there are a variety of considerations which render it a complicated and trouble some business. The people of the principal town, Thors havn, not being farmers, receive a stated annual allowance of one barrel and five-eighths each person; and this is not given to them all at once, but at weekly distributions. The peo ple in the country have an allowance proportional to the stock on their farms, and their success in fishing and fowl ing. The greater the stock, &c. the smaller is the propor tion of corn ; as it is supposed that a rich farmer can pur chase a larger quantity if he requires it. The sysselmen or sheriffs, and the clergy, send certificates of the cases of their respective districts to the commandant, who makes his calculations, and distributes the corn accordingly. The farmers are divided into four classes, which respectively receive one-fourth, three-eighths, one-half and three-fourths of a barrel of corn, when there is a full supply. it appears, that the house of niche & Co. of Copenhagen, have the monopoly of the Faroe trade, on condition that they supply the islands with a sufficient quantity of corn at a fixed mo derate price. The government, at the same time, binds itself to remunerate the merchant in the event of his losing. How the accounts are settled seems to be a mystery ; but it is probable that, miserable as Faroe is, the monopoly of its trade is not unprofitable. The returns on woollen goods are said to be between 300 and 400 per cent. and that on oil to be no less than 1500 per cent. Tobacco being in very great request, it is likely that the exchange of this article yields immense profit, as a good jacket has been seen exchanged for a few leaves. But it is needless to take up more room with conjectures respecting what it seems to be the interest of the merchants to keep carefully con cealed. It ought to be stated, however, that the writer of this article was informed by the commandant, that since the year 1808 there has been a loss on the Faroe trade of half a million of dollars.