We have already mentioned the laws respecting proper ty, and the conditions on which a tenant holds a farm A farm house in Iceland has the appearance of a small vil lage ; the dwelling house, all the out-houses, and the hay yard, being within a general inclosure of turf, four or five feet high, and seldom less than five or six feet thick. The doors to the different apartments are generally arranged on the south side, and each has a sort of pediment above it, surmounted by a vane. The access to the dwelling house is by a long narrow passage, into which the different rooms open. Each room is separated from the next by a thick partition of tui f, and has also a separate roof, through which the light is admitted by bits of glass or skin. The princi pal rooms of the better sort of people have small glazed windows in front. Ventilation is not attended to, warmth being the chief object in the construction of the houses ; and the consequence is, that the smell is to a stranger al most insupportable. The houses are generally built on a rising ground, and in the middle, or as near as possible to the land devoted to the bay crop. On this land, which is in general much broken into little knolls or hillocks, the manure is spread in the month of May ; and about the end of July the grass is cut, when it is scarcely more than six inches long. In this operation a very short scythe is used, and the Icelanders cut with it very neatly and expeditiously. The hay is kept chiefly for the cows, though in very severe weather the sheep and horses get a small share. As soon as the crop near the house is secured, the farmer gives a feast ; and when the whole is safe in the hay yard, a fat sheep is killed, and another feast takes place.
The cows are very like the Scotch Highland sort, known in England by the name of Kyloes. No attention is paid to breeding stock ; and in general we find the best stock on farms where the winter food is in greatest plen ty. During the summer there is great abundance of pas turage.
The sheep appear to be a mixed breed, carrying long and coarse wool. The wool is removed by pulling it when it appears loose. A great quantity of mutton is salted for exportation in the northern districts.
Very little cheese is made, butter being the chief object in the dairy. It is barrelled without salt, and is thus kept several years. The older it is the more it is prized. In this state it reaches a certain stage of rancidity, beyond which it does not pass ; and it is wonderful how long it keeps.
The horses are of a small breed, but stout, and very har dy. Those used for riding are trained to what is called pa cing ; and, where the ground is tolerably smooth, they go very swiftly, the motion being very easy and pleasant to the rider. The statistical information contained in the fol lowing Tables was partly furnished to the writer of this article by Bishop Vidalin, and is partly taken from Ste phenson's Iceland in the 18th Century.
The manners of the Icelanders are exceedingly simple, and respectful as well to each other as to strangers. The
women, however, appear to be rather restrained, it being customary for them to wait at table, and do every little office usually committed to servants in our own country. There are but few peculiar customs, and those not of par ticular interest. The depressed state in which the Ice landers are kept by the wretched policy of Denmark ef fectually subjugates those dispositions, which, in countries where freedom teaches men to be independent, quickly display themselves in innocent and recreating amusements. The sole occupation of the Icelander is to provide food for the winter season; and when the rigour of an arctic winter confines him to his hut, and the sun scarcely sends aray to illuminate the dreary scene around, he amuses himself with the tales of older times, when his country stood high, and her learned men and warriors were honoured in every European court. That our lamentations are vain, that the Icelanders are condemned to misery yet greater than that they now endure, we fear is too true.
A country less inviting to the enterprise of adventurers than Iceland can scarcely be imagined. The mountains covered with eternal snow, the plains devastated by vol canic fire, seem to present no attractions. The country in general is mountainous ; but in some districts, particu larly those extending horn the south to the north coasts, nearly through the centre of the island, there are exten sive plains, for the most part dreamy wildernesses, and covered with herbage only near the sea, or where morass es have formed. The highest mountains are on the east and west sides of the island. They ate in groups, seldom in chains ; and those called Jokuls, which are coveted with perpetual snow, are chiefly, if not all, volcanic. The coast, except towards the south, is much indented by arms of the sea ; but with the exception of Havnefiurd,on the south west, there is scarcely a sale winter harbour.
There is a considerable number of lakes in different parts of the island, some of which are of great extent. The principal are those called Thingvalla Vain, My Valle and Fiske Vatn. The first of these is about ten miles long, and from three to four broad. There are many large rivers in Iceland, forn,ed by the melting of the snow on the Jokuls ; and these have all a turbid appearance; some of them, being so white as to resemble milk diluted with wa ter, have received the name Huit-aa, or the White River. Several emit a fetid smell, particularly when they issue from the snow. Besides these large rivers, there are many smaller, the water of which is transparent. They rise from the lower grounds. Along almost the whole southern coast eastward from Eyarback, where the great river Elvas empties itself into the sea, there are extensive shoals, formed, no doubt, by the depositions of the rivers proceeding from the great range of Jokuls to the eastward of Mount Ilekla.