After passing through two editions, it
was reprinted in 1841, at a cheap price, in the valuable people's
editions of standard works, published by Messrs. Chambers of
Edinburgh. - ED.
{25} It is related of Ingold that he carried with him on his voyage
the door of his former house in Ireland, and that when he approached
the coast he cast it into the sea, watching the point of land which
it touched; and on that land he fixed his future home. This land is
the same on which the town of Reikjavik now stands. These old sea-
kings, like the men of Athens, were "in all things too
superstitious." - ED.
{26} These sea-rovers, that were to the nations of Europe during
the middle ages what the Danes, Norwegians, and other northmen were
at an earlier period, enjoyed at this time the full flow of their
lawless prosperity. Their insolence and power were so great that
many nations, our own included, were glad to purchase, by a yearly
payment, exemption from the attacks of these sea-rovers. The
Americans paid this tribute so late as 1815. The unfortunate
Icelanders who were carried off in the seventeenth century nearly
all died as captives in Algiers. At the end of ten years they were
liberated; but of the four hundred only thirty-seven were alive when
the joyful intelligence reached the place of their captivity; and of
these twenty-four died before rejoining their native land. - ED.
{27} This town, the capital of Iceland, and the seat of government,
is built on an arm of the sea called the Faxefiord, in the south-
west part of the island. The resident population does not exceed
500, but this is greatly increased during the annual fairs. It
consists mainly of two streets at right angles to each other. It
contains a large church built of stone, roofed with tiles; an
observatory; the residences of the governor and the bishop, and the
prison, which is perhaps the most conspicuous building in the town.-
-ED.
{28} As Madame Pfeiffer had thus no opportunity of attending a ball
in Iceland, the following description of one given by Sir George
Mackenzie may be interesting to the reader.
"We gave a ball to the ladies of Reikjavik and the neighbourhood.
The company began to assemble about nine o'clock. We were shewn
into a small low-roofed room, in which were a number of men, but to
my surprise I saw no females. We soon found them, however, in one
adjoining, where it is the custom for them to wait till their
partners go to hand them out. On entering this apartment, I felt
considerable disappointment at not observing a single woman dressed
in the Icelandic costume. The dresses had some resemblance to those
of English chambermaids, but were not so smart. An old lady, the
wife of the man who kept the tavern, was habited like the pictures
of our great-grandmothers.
