FOOTNOTES:
[39]. “Island er hinn besta land, sem solinn skinnar uppá.”
[40]. “Tiðindi frá Alþingi. Annað þing, 1 Juli til 7 Agust, 1847.”
[41]. From “Mackenzie’s Iceland;” “Preliminary Dissertation” on the Literature and History of the country, by Dr. Henry Holland.
[42]. This may be thought barbarous and cruel; but probably it is not; for it is pulled at two or three different times, and only that portion pulled off that comes easy. Then, perhaps, too, custom is something, like the adage of the eels, &c.
[43]. A vessel—the “BALDAUR,” as it was printed in the newspapers—seems to have derived its name from Northern Mythology—“Baldur, the Fair.” This ship was spoken of as having sailed near a steamer on the track of the missing “Glasgow.” Now and then, it seems, a name, or maritime event, connects us with the far north.
[44]. Since the above was in type, intelligence has arrived from Denmark, that a law has just been passed, throwing open the ports of Iceland to the trade of the world. For this, none will rejoice more than the Icelanders themselves; for a more relentless, grinding, and hated monopoly never oppressed a poor people. The resident Danish merchants will now not be able to have every thing their own way. As the law takes effect in April, 1855, a trade between Iceland and England, and Iceland and America, will soon spring up. The articles that the Icelanders most require from foreign countries, and the productions of the island which they have to export, will be found enumerated in preceding chapters.