That this would grow
abundantly is proved by the little elevations which rise from above
the marshes, and which are thickly covered with grass, herbage, and
wild clover. I also passed large districts covered with good soil,
and some where the soil was mixed with sand.
I frequently debated with Herr Boge, who has lived in Iceland for
forty years, and is well versed in farming matters, whether it would
not be possible to produce important pasture-grounds and hay-fields
with industry and perseverance. He agreed with me, and thought that
even potato-fields might be reclaimed, if only the people were not
so lazy, preferring to suffer hunger and resign all the comforts of
cleanliness rather than to work. What nature voluntarily gives,
they are satisfied with, and it never occurs to them to force more
from her. If a few German peasants were transported hither, what a
different appearance the country would soon have!
The best soil in Iceland is on the Norderland. There are a few
potato-grounds there, and some little trees, which, without any
cultivation, have reached a height of seven to eight feet. Herr
Boge, established here for thirty years, had planted some mountain-
ash and birch-trees, which had grown to a height of sixteen feet.
In the Norderland, and every where except on the coast, the people
live by breeding cattle. Many a peasant there possesses from two to
four hundred sheep, ten to fifteen cows, and ten to twelve horses.
There are not many who are so rich, but at all events they are
better off than the inhabitants of the sea-coast. The soil there is
for the most part bad, and they are therefore nearly all compelled
to have recourse to fishing.
Before quitting Iceland, I must relate a tradition told me by many
Icelanders, not only by peasants, but also by people of the so-
called higher classes, and who all implicitly believe it.
It is asserted that the inhospitable interior is likewise populated,
but by a peculiar race of men, to whom alone the paths through these
deserts are known. These savages have no intercourse with their
fellow-countrymen during the whole year, and only come to one of the
ports in the beginning of July, for one day at the utmost, to buy
several necessaries, for which they pay in money. They then vanish
suddenly, and no one knows in which direction they are gone. No one
knows them; they never bring their wives or children with them, and
never reply to the question whence they come. Their language, also,
is said to be more difficult than that of the other inhabitants of
Iceland.
One gentleman, whom I do not wish to name, expressed a wish to have
the command of twenty to twenty-five well-armed soldiers, to search
for these wild men.
