[366] The word Völlr (plur. Vellir, and gen. pl. Valla) means a field, and is akin to the German Wald. It often occurs in the plural, e.g., Reyni-vellir (Rowan plains); and “Thing-valla,” the foreign way of writing, is properly Thingvellir.
[367] Tómr, empty, is the Scotch “toom.”
[368] I particularly remarked the beautiful shell, striped white and brick-red, the Hörpu-diskr, Pecten Islandicus, or Iceland clam. The krákuskel, or Mytilus edulis, is eaten by foxes.
[369] Native authorities differ as to the depth where frost extends. I heard a maximum of eight feet, even in the lowlands.
[370] The word Hjallr, the Færoese Kiadlur, is akin to Hjalli and Hilla (English hill), a shelf or ledge in the mountain-side, and hence a scaffold; the full term for the fish-shed is Fisk-hjallr (Cleasby).
[371] Henderson confounds the “Klip-fish” (Danish, Klippe, a rock), which is cleaned, salted, and stacked, with the stock-fish or dry-fish, simply split, washed, sunned, and turned by the women. The latter forms the national staff of life, and is not exported. “Fiskr” in Icelandic is especially applied to cod, trout, and salmon.
[372] The Maskat Arabs eat shark-meat, but they never apply the oil to the skin, considering it a caustic; rubbed into ship bottoms, it is supposed to defend the wood from worms.
[373] There was one corpse at the Hospital; the death had been caused by delirium tremens.
| The “boiled shirt” costs | 12 | skillings | = 3d. |
| Flannel ” ” | 8 | ” | = 2d. |
| Socks and collars ” | 3 | ” | = 1½d. |
| Kerchiefs and white ties | 2 | ” | = 1d. |