Their
clothing was woven from the wool of their sheep. Commerce with
neighbouring countries opened to them another field of occupation.
The doctrines of Christianity were first introduced into Iceland, in
the year 981, by Friederich, a Saxon bishop. Many churches were
built, and tithes established for the maintenance of the clergy.
Isleif, first Bishop of Skalholt, was ordained in the year 1057.
After the introduction of Christianity, all the Icelanders enjoyed
an unostentatious but undisturbed practice of their religion.
Greenland and the most northern part of America are said to have
been discovered by Icelanders.
In the middle of the thirteenth century Iceland came into the power
of the Norwegian kings. In the year 1380 Norway was united to the
crown of Denmark; and Iceland incorporated, without resistance, in
the Danish monarchy. Since the cession of the island to Norway, and
then to Denmark, peace and security took the place of the internal
commotions with which, before this time, Iceland had been frequently
disturbed; but this state of quiet brought forth indolence and
apathy. The voyages of discovery were interfered with by the new
government, and the commerce gradually passed into the hands of
other nations. The climate appears also to have changed; and the
lessened industry and want of perseverance in the inhabitants have
brought agriculture completely into decline.
In the year 1402 the plague broke out upon the island, and carried
off two-thirds of the population.
The first printing-press was established at Hoolum, about the year
1530, under the superintendence of the Bishop, John Areson.
The reformation in the Icelandic Church was not brought about
without disturbance. It was legally established in the year 1551.
During the fifteenth century the Icelanders suffered more from the
piratical incursions of foreigners. As late as the year 1616 the
French and English nations took part in these enormities. The most
melancholy occurrence of this kind took place in 1627, in which year
a great number of Algerine pirates made a descent upon the Icelandic
coast, murdered about fifty of the inhabitants, and carried off
nearly 400 others into captivity. {26}
The eighteenth century commenced with a dreadful mortality from the
smallpox; of which disease more than 16,000 of the inhabitants died.
In 1757 a famine swept away about 10,000 souls.
The year 1783 was distinguished by most dreadful volcanic outbreaks
in the interior of the island. Tremendous streams of lava carried
all before them; great rivers were checked in their course, and
formed lakes. For more than a year a thick cloud of smoke and
volcanic ashes covered the whole of Iceland, and nearly darkened the
sunlight. Horned cattle, sheep, and horses were destroyed; famine
came, with its accompanying illnesses; and once more appeared the
malignant small-pox. In a few years more than 11,000 persons had
died; more than one-fourth of the whole present population of the
island.
Iceland lies in the Atlantic ocean; its greatest breadth is 240
geographical miles, and its extreme length from north to south 140
miles. The number of inhabitants is estimated at 48,000, and the
superficial extent of the island at 29,800 square miles.
CHAPTER III
On the morning of the 16th of May I landed in the harbour of
Havenfiord, and for the first time trod the shores of Iceland.
Although I was quite bewildered by sea-sickness, and still more by
the continual rocking of the ship, so that every object round me
seemed to dance, and I could scarcely make a firm step, still I
could not rest in the house of Herr Knudson, which he had obligingly
placed at my disposal. I must go out at once, to see and
investigate every thing. I found that Havenfiord consisted merely
of three wooden houses, a few magazines built of the same material,
and some peasants' cottages.
The wooden houses are inhabited by merchants or by their factors,
and consist only of a ground-floor, with a front of four or six
windows. Two or three steps lead up to the entrance, which is in
the centre of the building, and opens upon a hall from which doors
lead into the rooms to the right and left. At the back of the house
is situated the kitchen, which opens into several back rooms and
into the yard. A house of this description consists only of five or
six rooms on the ground-floor and a few small attic bedrooms.
The internal arrangements are quite European. The furniture - which
is often of mahogany, - the mirrors, the cast-iron stoves, every
thing, in short, come from Copenhagen. Beautiful carpets lie spread
before the sofas; neat curtains shade the windows; English prints
ornament the whitewashed walls; porcelain, plate, cut-glass, &c.,
are displayed on chests and on tables; and flower-pots with roses,
mignonnette, and pinks spread a delicious fragrance around. I even
found a grand pianoforte here. If any person could suddenly, and
without having made the journey, be transported into one of these
houses, he would certainly fancy himself in some continental town,
rather than in the distant and barren island of Iceland. And as in
Havenfiord, so I found the houses of the more opulent classes in
Reikjavik, and in all the places I visited.
From these handsome houses I betook myself to the cottages of the
peasants, which have a more indigenous, Icelandic appearance. Small
and low, built of lava, with the interstices filled with earth, and
the whole covered with large pieces of turf, they would present
rather the appearance of natural mounds of earth than of human
dwellings, were it not that the projecting wooden chimneys, the low-
browed entrances, and the almost imperceptible windows, cause the
spectator to conclude that they are inhabited. A dark narrow
passage, about four feet high, leads on one side into the common
room, and on the other to a few compartments, some of which are used
as storehouses for provisions, and the rest as winter stables for
the cows and sheep.
