Ultima Thule; or, A Summer in Iceland. vol. 2/2

by Sir Richard Francis Burton

As pointed out by the history of the country, and sufficiently proved by the experience, the produce of the mines in the north, if worked in the right way, ought to outweigh by far the lease-rent offered by Mr Lock; it would consequently be a downright loss to the country now to lease out those mines to this foreigner, who would not be able to give any satisfactory guarantee for his working the mines in the right manner, but might, after a lapse of several years, return them so spoiled that the country might, for a long time at least, miss the profit which it ought to have by these mines: indeed the lease-rent offered by the memorialist seems to be comparatively high when compared to what was paid for the mines in the beginning of the present century, but when it is taken into consideration that the rent now offered is only the tenth part of the net profit which the mines yielded in the sixteenth century, the offer is by no means advantageous, neither is it desirable that foreigners should be allowed for many years to import into this country a great number of foreign workmen, as this might lead to the Icelanders being deprived of a profitable business in their own native land.[204]

The population of Iceland is, as it is well known, constantly increasing, but several branches of trade are rather in a state of decadence. Nothing could, therefore, be more beneficial to this country, than if here were to be found profitable mines, in which labourers might work in all sorts of weather, and this may be done in sulphur and other mines, as the experience showed at Krisuvik last winter; ten and sometimes upwards of twenty labourers were at work there, almost the whole winter, earning good daily wages. There is nevertheless no security to be had, that the inhabitants shall be able to benefit by this, if the mines are made over to strangers, neither can it be controlled that they shall not destroy the mines altogether, and render them completely useless after a lapse of some years.

The Icelandic sulphur mines are in such a condition as not to be worse for waiting, on the contrary they will improve by it, and it would be greatly beneficial to them, not to be worked for the present.

The sulphur mining at Krisuvik has shown that these mines are better and richer than had been expected; and this may be the case too with the mines in the north, which have most frequently been deemed richer and more extensive than those of Krisuvik.

When sulphur trade has been carried on in this country, both in past centuries and at present, the mode of proceeding has been very inappropriate and unpractical, for partly the sulphur has been carried, with all the dross in it (which often goes up to forty per cent. or more), down to the sea-coast, and from there to Copenhagen; partly the method of cleaning has been so unsatisfactory and inappropriate, as to render the cost of cleaning the double of what is needful. It appears from the writings of the late Bishop Hannes Finsson, that in the time of King Frederick II., the sulphur was cleaned by means of train-oil, and this method has been continued down to the middle of the present century. This was sheer insanity, as it made the cleaning many times more expensive than was necessary, and than it was at the same time in other countries, where sulphur was then cleaned by means of sublimation. But this was not all, the grease moreover that got into the sulphur, rendered it unfit for powder manufacture, as may be seen from the writings of Mr Jón Eiríksson and others. Of late a new method has been hit upon in France, namely, to clean the sulphur by condensing hot steam, and as hot springs are to be found in the neighbourhood of all the Icelandic sulphur mines, this might now be turned to a good account for the sulphur trade; besides it would make the cost of transport by far less heavy, if the sulphur could be carried down to the sea-coast and marketed in a clean state.

It results from all this that Mr Lock’s offer is by no means so acceptable as some might suppose, for the local government (when established here) might, with the greatest facility, make the mines in the north many times more profitable than they would be if Mr Lock’s offer were to be accepted; moreover, the mines being at the disposal of the said government, a sufficient control may be had that they shall not be overworked or destroyed.

Were the Danish Government, therefore, to grant the request of the memorialist, as it is framed, this might easily, as the matter now stands, lead to suits of law between the Government itself and him, on the one hand, and between the said Government and some private landowner, on the other; for it is quite certain that the Government has no right whatever over the sulphur trade in all the localities pointed out by the memorialist. As clearly evinced by the late Bishop Hannes Finsson, the sulphur trade in Iceland can, in no way, be considered as a “regale;” and, accordingly, the Government ought to be very circumspect in this matter, lest it hurt the right of private landowners.

From the above-mentioned motives, it seems to the Committee that it is unadvisable to accept the offer of the memorialist, and, consequently, submits to the honourable “Althing” to dissuade the Government altogether from granting the concession requested by Mr Lock.

But as some members of the Committee have uttered the opinion that it might be considered as partiality, altogether to exclude foreigners from the sulphur trade in Iceland, provided that it could be sufficiently controlled, that this should neither be detrimental to the country in general, or to the mines in special, the Committee has thought it its duty, if this consideration should prevail in the honourable assembly, to submit a secondary or modified proposal, to the effect that it shall be requested of the Government to make the concession dependent on the following conditions:

1. The memorialist shall himself make the necessary arrangements with the parties concerned concerning pieces, lots, and parcels of land, which he may be in need of, for the cleaning and transport of the sulphur, and which are not at the disposal of the Government.