1. Reykjavik to Reykir.
2. To near the Tindafjallajökull, south of Hekla; very rough path.
3. Over the deep Mælifellssandr to east, where the valleys are grassy.
4. To the Búland farm.
5. To Kirkjubær cloister, on the Skaptá.
6. To the Núpstaðr farm, a long day’s march. Here provisions and forage are
procurable.
[138] Mr Tom Roys, an American, accompanied by his four brothers, established himself at Seyðisfjörð, and used a rocket harpoon patented by himself, and so much “improved” that it will hardly leave the gun: the shell explodes in the body, kills the animal instantly, and, by generating gas, causes the carcass to float; if not, the defunct is buoyed and landed at discretion. He first hunted with a small sailing craft, and in 1865, after bagging seven to eight animals, each worth $2000, he brought from England a screw of 40 tons burden to tow his whaling boats. He calculated that 365 whales would allow 1 lb. of food to 68,000 souls every day in the year: he also proposed pressing the meat for feeding dogs and fattening pigs (!). In that year his total bag till August was twenty-five whales, of which he landed thirteen. I was told, however, that the speculation proved a failure, and that Mr Roys went off to Alaska. At Seyðisfjörð, distant two days’ march, there was a Dutch steamer, which last year had killed thirteen whales. When reduced to the last extreme, we thought of travelling home in her, but future explorers must not count upon such opportunities.
[139] Uno Von Troil (129, 130) gives interesting notices of the whale. He divides the mammals into two kinds: (1.) “Skidis-fiskur,” or smooth-bellied, with whalebone instead of teeth; the largest, “Stettbakr,” or flat-back, measures nearly 200 English feet, and the “Hnufubakr” is only 50 feet shorter. Of the Reydar-fiskur, or wrinkle-bellied (No. 2), the largest is the “Steipereidur,” attaining nearly 240 English feet; the “Hrafnreyður” and the “Andanufia;” all are considered very dainty food; and the Icelanders say the flesh has the taste of beef. The whales with teeth are (1.) the eatable, such as the Hnysen, the Hnyðingur, the Hundfiskur, and the Maahyrningr; and (2.) the ice-whale, or uneatable, with its subdivisions, the Roðkammingur and the Náhvalur, were both “forbidden as food by some ancient regulations, and particularly by the Church laws. The Icelanders believe that the first sort are very fond of human flesh, and therefore avoid fishing in such places where they appear.” The carnivorous whales were frightened away by carrying “dung, brimstone, juniper-wood, and some other articles of the same nature, in their boats”—an idea worthy of the black tars who navigate Lake Tánganyika.
[140] Professor Paijkull adds the Reyðr (whence Reyðarfjörð), Physeter or Catodon macrocephalus, a large spermaceti whale; he also gives to the Iceland waters the Arctic walrus (Icel. Rosm-hvalir; Trichecus rosmarus), and the narwhal (Monodon monoceros). The Sagas specify twenty-five kinds of whales.
[141] The Ork. Hockla is the dog-fish, Squalus acanthius or archiarius. Mr Vice-Consul Crowe gives the names “Nákarla or havkalur,” probably misprints; he adds, however, that the Greenland shark rarely attacks man unless molested by him. This assertion, which is made in all popular books, may, I believe, be modified by the reason given in the text. He also tells us that the hide is cheaper than either seal or lamb skin, but is neither strong nor durable—this again I doubt. The Greenland shark is called by some travellers Háskerðingr, and it can swallow, they say, a reindeer.
[142] Properly short-breeks, or curt-hose, from Stuttr, stunted, stinted, scant (Cleasby).
[143] Iceland does wisely to preserve her seals. Argyleshire in the olden time, and especially the holms south of Skye, were famed for them; now they are very wild and not likely to be caught basking on the rocks, or bathing in shallow water. Old bull seals, who may measure 5 feet 6 inches, are wary in the extreme, and seldom allow the use of the club. Phoca must also be hit on the head, or the hunter will see no more of him. In Greenland the packs have been almost killed out by the scores of vessels which Dundee and Peterhead, Norway and Sweden, Denmark and Germany, send every year, and it is reported that without a “close time,” the breed will become, like the oyster and the crab, almost extinct. San Francisco has been sensible enough to preserve the flocks of Proteus by the strong arm of the law—I wonder if grim old “Ben Butler” still tries to stare man out of countenance as he floats off the Ocean House.
[144] Mr Blackwall satirically suggests that our Huggins and Muggins may descend from this respectable parentage, whilst he trusts that the Smiths, Smyths, and congeners, “will duly acknowledge the sturdy Scandinavian yeoman, Smiðr Churlsson, grandson of the jovial old fellow, Grandfather, who had the honour of pledging a bumper with a celestial deity, as their common ancestor.”
[145] A fourth; hence our farthing.
[146] Evidently from Caballus, the word which has so successfully ousted the more classical Equus. The Dictionary makes the horseload = 5 trusses; Uno Von Troil, 12 to 15 lispunds, each about 17 Eng. lbs. avoir.