30 AfitKÊVMw
of perfection. Probably, thé best garden, bótti
in point of soil and situation, in the town, waé
that of Mr. Savigniac; certainly, tiônë waS
half so much attended to. Here we had, ift
the month of August, good turnips about thé
size of an apple, and potatoes as large as thé
common Dutch sbrt. Radishes and türnip-
radishes were very good in July and Augusti
Mustard and cresses grew rapjdly and Well.
Mr. Phelps ordered some seeds of hemp and
flax to be sown as soon as we landed ; but, With
all the care and attention that was given up to
them, at the expiration of two months, thé
former had not reached to more than one foot
high, nor had the latter exceeded six or eight
inches: neither showed any appearance of
flowering, but, on the Contrary, both had
ceased to grow, becoming materially injured
by the frosts. I would not wish to bè
understood, that this garden is by any means
a fair criterion to judge of the progress of
vegetation in Iceland; for a more sheltered
spot and richer soil were hardly to be met
with. In other gardens, and especially out
of the town, vegetation was extremely languid,
and, even in the month of August,
when the cabbages ought to be in their best
B EÏKEV IG. 31
state, I was in many gardens where a half-
crown piece would ¿have covered the whole
of the plant, and where potatoes and turnips
came to nothing. It must be remarked,
however, that this was an extremely cold
and wet season: in finer summers, with care
and well-sheltered gardens, some of our
more hardy vegetables may, doubtless, repay
the natives for the labor of cultivating
them*. On the outskirts of the town are
* It was not till after njy return from Iceland, that
I met with Horrebow’s Natural History of Iceland,
where I was somewhat surprised to find a chapter on
the fruits of the earth; containing an account of the
•vegetables, which may be, and which are, produced
there, differing extremely from what I have above stated.
That author begins, by saying, All kinds o f things
may be produced, fit for a kitchen-garden, and
brought to proper maturity; (and, why not?) for
this island is as proper for vegetation as Norway,
having large plains and fields, and a great deal of good
ground.” I believe I need only mention, on the one
hand, the total want of timber in Iceland, and, on the
other, the immense forests which are met with in Norway,
to convince any one that the former country is
not so proper for vegetation as the latter.—« In the
year 1749, when I came to Bessested, one of his majesty’s
palaces or seats, in Iceland, I found the garden
in excellent order, and full of all kinds of vegetables.