a few swords, with a lance and helmet*
which are to be seen at Hlidarende; but
they are said to possess nothing remarkable
in their form. Sepulchral monuments, consisting
of heaps of stones, resembling the
cairns of Wales and Scotland, are scattered
in small quantities over the island.
The principal exports of Iceland are dried
fish, mutton, lamb and beef, butter, tallow*
train-oil, coarse woollen cloth, stockings*
gloves, raw wool, sheep-skins, lamb-skins,
fox-ski'ns, eider-down, and feathers, to which
in former times was added sulphur. They
import timber, fishing-tackle, various implements
of iron, tobacco, bread, spirituous liquors,
wine, salt, linen, with other necessaries
of life for the people in general, and a
very few superfluities for the richer class of
inhabitants. At its earliest period Iceland
appears to have been the rendezvous for all
the disaffected and discontented among the
Norwegians and Danes, and was little mòre
than a nest of pirates ; but after the island
had submitted to the Kings of Norway, and
a security was afforded to commerce, the
vast quantities of wool, tallow, oil, and other
products that were exported, brought back
so large a return of the precious metals, that
it was reckoned a desirable situation for adventurers
to make their fortunes in. Many
concurrent circumstances afterwards occasioned
the decay of this trade, but nothing
so much as the king’s usurping the whole
commerce of the island, and affixing certain
prices to all the produce; so that no
man dared to sell any thing, except to the
royal factors, nor to them at a price above
what was stated in a printed list that was
circulated all over the island. A monopoly
of this nature at first produced great revenues
to the royal treasury, but the people soon became
impoverished by it, and, following the
natural course of things, the factors began
to oppress the natives and to cheat their
master, so that at last the profits were not
equal to the expence of such a commerce.
The Danish government therefore issued
proclamations *, declaring the trade of Iceland
to be free. But, if the island had
suffered formerly by the factors, it suffered
* The nature of the Proclamations relative to the
freedom of Trade will be'seen at Appendix F. of thi*
work, where some of them are translated.