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Article A DESCRIPTION OF ICELAND. ← Page 2 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Description Of Iceland.
The vegetables make no great article : trees are rare ; but you see , here and there , some bad willows , or juniper shrubs . The soil , however , is not quite sterile , as in Greenland , since it produces grass ; and there are even very fine and rich pastures by the sides of brooks aud torrents , which serve to feed vast numbers of sheep , that make part of- the commerce of the island . Cocblearia , ( scurvy-grass ) an infallible remedfor the the Lichen ii Folio ( kind
y scurvy ; Eryng , a of Liverwort , with a leaf like Erytigo " ) and the Alga marina ( a sort of sea-weed ) are the most useful herbs . This last is called Sol b y the inhabitants ; under its leaves there crystallizes a kind of sweet salt , which they honour with the name of sugar , and feed their cattle , with it when hay is scarce ; the people themselves , who cannot be supposed very nice of taste in these climateseat it also .
, The most remarkable animal in Iceland is a kind of little horses , peculiar to this island , and pretty much in use among young princes and nobles , when they learn to ride . The sheep , who happen not to be housed in winter , are sometimes surprised-with the snow : in this extremity ,-they know , bv a particular instinct , the best way to preserve their lives .-They huddle
all together into a round close body , the united heat of which melts the snow , and raises a train of vapours , that directs the shepherd to the place where his flock is buried : he hastens thither , removes the snow , and often comes time enough to save these poor creatures . The Iceland sheep have another peculiarity , which is , that many of them have four , and some ei ght horns ; and this is the more observable , in that those few oxen and cows which live on the island have
none . The manner in which the inhabitants kill the animals whose flesh they eat , is very particular , and a true anatomical experiment . They take a smal £ narrow knife , and thrust it between the head ancl the first vertebra of the neck ; this wound penetrates the spinal marrow , and the beast falls dead on the spot . No corn grows in , the whole islandand they keep no poultry ; but birds of prey are in great
, abundance :- from hence are brought the finest falcons in the world . The king of Denmark sends , every year , an officer of his game to fexh them , and allows him a good salary : the price of a white falcon is ten crowns . Owls abound in this country , where the length of the nights gives them a fair occasion of exercising their talents . All the rocks and insects about the island are full of sea-fowls ; hence come
the finest downs , which are the plumage of a bird called Aiclur , or Eider ; the best of it is what this fowl pulls from itself , to make its nest . These birds lay their e ; igs in small crevices of the rocks , and p laces inaccessible to any but Icelanders , whom necessity teaches the art of clambering up the steepest rocks , for the sake of those eggs , and the dam . besides , when they can surprise her .
But , though the land of Iceland be sterile and unfruitful , its barrenness is amply recompensed by the fecundity of the seas about it , which are full of innumerable shoals of fish , that make almost the whole of its commerce .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Description Of Iceland.
The vegetables make no great article : trees are rare ; but you see , here and there , some bad willows , or juniper shrubs . The soil , however , is not quite sterile , as in Greenland , since it produces grass ; and there are even very fine and rich pastures by the sides of brooks aud torrents , which serve to feed vast numbers of sheep , that make part of- the commerce of the island . Cocblearia , ( scurvy-grass ) an infallible remedfor the the Lichen ii Folio ( kind
y scurvy ; Eryng , a of Liverwort , with a leaf like Erytigo " ) and the Alga marina ( a sort of sea-weed ) are the most useful herbs . This last is called Sol b y the inhabitants ; under its leaves there crystallizes a kind of sweet salt , which they honour with the name of sugar , and feed their cattle , with it when hay is scarce ; the people themselves , who cannot be supposed very nice of taste in these climateseat it also .
, The most remarkable animal in Iceland is a kind of little horses , peculiar to this island , and pretty much in use among young princes and nobles , when they learn to ride . The sheep , who happen not to be housed in winter , are sometimes surprised-with the snow : in this extremity ,-they know , bv a particular instinct , the best way to preserve their lives .-They huddle
all together into a round close body , the united heat of which melts the snow , and raises a train of vapours , that directs the shepherd to the place where his flock is buried : he hastens thither , removes the snow , and often comes time enough to save these poor creatures . The Iceland sheep have another peculiarity , which is , that many of them have four , and some ei ght horns ; and this is the more observable , in that those few oxen and cows which live on the island have
none . The manner in which the inhabitants kill the animals whose flesh they eat , is very particular , and a true anatomical experiment . They take a smal £ narrow knife , and thrust it between the head ancl the first vertebra of the neck ; this wound penetrates the spinal marrow , and the beast falls dead on the spot . No corn grows in , the whole islandand they keep no poultry ; but birds of prey are in great
, abundance :- from hence are brought the finest falcons in the world . The king of Denmark sends , every year , an officer of his game to fexh them , and allows him a good salary : the price of a white falcon is ten crowns . Owls abound in this country , where the length of the nights gives them a fair occasion of exercising their talents . All the rocks and insects about the island are full of sea-fowls ; hence come
the finest downs , which are the plumage of a bird called Aiclur , or Eider ; the best of it is what this fowl pulls from itself , to make its nest . These birds lay their e ; igs in small crevices of the rocks , and p laces inaccessible to any but Icelanders , whom necessity teaches the art of clambering up the steepest rocks , for the sake of those eggs , and the dam . besides , when they can surprise her .
But , though the land of Iceland be sterile and unfruitful , its barrenness is amply recompensed by the fecundity of the seas about it , which are full of innumerable shoals of fish , that make almost the whole of its commerce .