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obliged to pass. About midnight we gained the summit of the ridge, where we must have commanded a very extensive prospect, had it not been for the hazy state of the atmosphere. Descending over the eastern base of Skálafiall, we soon reached Mossfell, and, pursuing our course without making any halt, we arrived in Reykiavik about three o'clock in the morning of the 29th of June, within a single day of the period I had fixed before setting out on my journey.

CHAP. XIV.

Handels-tid, or Period of Traffic-Mode of Travelling to Market-Exports and Imports-History of Icelandic Commerce-Benevolence of the British Government-Order in Council-The interest kept up by the National Assembly-Its Abolition-Formation of the Icelandic Bible Society-Letter from its Secretary-Ditto from Bishop Vidalin-Salmon Fishery.

TOWARDS the end of June the Icelander begins to make the necessary preparations for his journey to the factory, or mercantile establishment, at which he is accustomed to trade. By this time the horses of burden are again fit for use; the sheep have had the woollen fleece torn off their backs; * the roads are passable; and, till the setting in of the hay harvest, no particular branch of rustic labour calls for the presence of the peasants. To accommodate them, factories are established by the Danish merchants at different distances around the coast, whither the majority repair; but as there is seldom more than one mercantile house at each station, many of the Icelanders prefer a journey across the deserts in the interior to Reykiavik, where, from the number of houses, there is a kind of competition, and, at all events, they have here the liberty of choice, which, in their estimation, is a matter of no small importance. The prices are generally fixed by the merchants before-hand; yet, in order to obtain a full cargo, they sometimes depart from the rule, and raise the prices towards the end of the market.

It is the duty of the Landfoged and Sysselman to examine

In Iceland the sheep are not shorn as with us, but are suffered to go out till the wool begins to fall off, when they are gathered into a pen, and it is literally torn off with the hand. By this means much of the wool is lost, and what remains in the fields is very seldom picked up, even by the shepherds.

all the weights and measures in the shops, before the summer traffic commences, and, should any be found defective, the owner is liable to a fine. Both weights and measures are according to the Danish standard.

On setting out for the trading station, the Icelanders load their horses exactly in the manner described at the beginning of this Journal; and such of them as visit the south, generally proceed thither in companies; so that about this time it is no uncommon thing for travellers to meet with caravans consisting of sixty or seventy horses in the deserts of the interior. As they pass along, they amuse themselves by relating the incidents of the preceding winter, or take occasion, from local monuments, to repeat and comment on the stories of ancient times. When they reach the vicinity of Reykiavik, they do not proceed instantly with their goods to the market, but encamp on the green spots to the east of the town, where I have more than once fancied myself among "the travelling companies of Dedanim," Isaiah xxi. 13. Sometimes upwards of an hundred tents, and several hundred horses, may be seen here at the same time. Those belonging to the same farm or neighbourhood always pitch their tents close together, and surround them with the baggage to prevent the wind from penetrating below the wadmel which forms the covering of the tent. Their object in not proceeding at once to the market, is to prevent the merchants from gaining an undue advantage over them, by getting possession of their goods before they have had time to ascertain the prices. They therefore leave all to the care of their servants at a sufficient distance, and ride into the town alone, when they go to the different shops, and, after having made the necessary inquiries, agree with the merchant who offers them the best terms, or shews himself the most friendly and obliging in his behaviour. It is to be observed, however, that this custom is chiefly confined to such peasants as come from a distance, and are independent of the merchants; the great majority stand on the debtor side of the shop-books, and are kept in a kind of slavery the whole of their lives. Indeed, it appears to be a fundamental principle of the Ice

landic trade, to keep up a number of out-standing debts, in order to secure the future commodities of the individuals on whom they are chargeable. Should any of them be detected in dealing with another merchant, he is instantly threatened with prosecution.

The principal exports are fish, salted mutton, oil, tallow, wool, and woollen stuffs, skins, feathers, and sulphur. The chief articles of import, are rye, barley, oat-meal, pease, bread, potatoes, rum, brandy, wine, coffee, tea, sugar, tobacco, salt, wood, iron, flax, lines, hooks, indigo, cotton and silk handkerchiefs, &c. The use of tobacco and coffee, as articles of luxury, has of late increased in a degree very disproportioned to the circumstances of the natives. They seldom smoke tobacco, but are excessively fond of chewing it, and prefer it as a present to any thing that might be offered them.

For some time after the occupation of the island by the Norwegians, the inhabitants carried on their own trade, not only with Norway, to which country, for the sake of family connexions, they often repaired; but also with the British Islands, and different parts of the Continent. Yet even during the earlier periods of the Icelandic Republic, considerable mercantile expeditions were fitted out from Scotland and Ireland; and the merchants of these countries, and those of the Hanseatic towns, were allowed the privilege of a free trade, after the incorporation of the island with Norway. Certain duties were imposed on every foreign vessel that arrived for the purposes of commerce; and, with a view to preserve order and regularity, certain harbours were assigned to the different traders. Towards the close of the fifteenth century, serious disputes arose between the Danish and English courts relative to the Icelandic trade, the consequence of which was, that all English vessels were prohibited from entering the ports of Iceland. The commerce of the island was now monopolized by the Hanseatic merchants, who retained it, almost exclusively, till the year 1602; when, in consequence of the grievous complaints of oppres sion made by the inhabitants, they were deprived of their

privilege, but still continued to keep up their connexions, in a clandestine manner, till a royal edict of 1616, ordered their ware-houses' to be razed, and the wood to be appropriated to the reparation of the poorer churches. *

In 1602, the trade was rented by his Danish Majesty to certain merchants in Copenhagen, Malmö, and Elsinore, for twelve years, on condition of their paying 16 rix-dollars for each harbour. This grant was renewed with some trivial alterations in 1614; and the trade remained in the hands of the company till 1662, when it was rented to four principal agents for the sum of 4000 rix-dollars, for the period of twenty years. At the expiration of this period, different modifications took place with respect to the prices of goods, but these alterations were most frequently to the prejudice of the natives. In 1706 the trade was rented to separate merchants, for 20,190 rix-dollars annually, from 1706 to 1724; and from that year to 1733, from 20,000 to 20,300 rix-dollars were given for it. The monopoly again fell into the hands of a private company, who for the ten following years paid only 8000 rix-dollars for their privilege; but it was purchased in 1743 for double that sum by a company of flax-merchants, who oppressed the natives to such a degree, that they ultimately forfeited their privilege in the year 1759. From 1759 to 1764, the trade was carried on for the account of the crown, when it was again rented for ten years to the General Merchants' Company, for the sum of 7000 rix-dollars. It now came once more into the hands of the crown, by which it was retained till the year 1788, when, to the no small joy of the Icelanders, it was made free to all the subjects of his Danish Majesty's dominions. ‡

Previous to this period, the natives were in a state of absolute slavery to foreign merchants. They were prohibited, under pain of whipping and slavery, from repairing to any other mercantile station than that in the district to which

Philosophische Schilderung der gegenwärtigen Verfassung von Island, pp. 223, 224, 225. Altona, 1786, 8vo.

+ Ibid. pp. 232, 233.

Stephensen's Island i det Attende Aarhundrede, pp. 301-305.

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