[257] 1: Naturalisation is wisely made easy in Iceland. The foreigner swears allegiance, pays $2, and straightway becomes a citizen.
[258] In the secluded parts of the island fish and butter still form a currency of exceedingly variable value.
[259] No Cayenne is procurable, and those who ask for it will probably be served with curry powder in bottles, that do not suffice for a single dish, but cost one shilling.
[260] Coffee did not come into general use before the end of the eighteenth century; tea and tobacco are mentioned in the satirical poem, “Thagnarmál,” 1728, by Eggert Ólafsson, who died in 1768 (Cleasby).
[261] The Consular Report says, “1 lb. per annum for every man, woman, and child.”
[262] The Report has it that the duty of eight skillings per pot or quart has been laid upon ale, wine, and spirituous liquors, when imported in casks or hogsheads, and a duty of equal amount per one and a half pint, when imported in bottles, jars, or kegs.
[263] Iceland home-made butter is poor, white, full of hairs, and made in a way peculiarly unclean. It is mostly of ewes’ milk, that of the cow not sufficing. Travellers of course prefer the imported, but it is not always to be had at the shops. The favourite native form is “sour butter,” which, like the Ghi of Hindostan, lasts twenty years, though if salted it becomes rancid: it takes the place of salt and seasoning; it is considered to assist digestion, and it “diffuses an agreeable warmth over the stomach.” The climate demands such carbon-producing food, and “Fat have I never refused!” is a saying with the islanders.
[264] Flat fish, not being flat, is a misnomer for the sun-dried preparation which is unknown abroad, and unfit for European markets.
[265] This salt fish on the eastern coast is chiefly for home use, the catch being too late for curing, and dry weather being mostly wanting at that season.
[266] Only two pelts were sent in 1872.