r
'
ibme bears *, which come every yeaf
from Greenland with the floating ice ;
thefe, however, are killed as foon as
they appear, partly on account o f
the reward of ten dollars, that the
king pays for every bear, and partly to
prevent them from deftroying their
cattle. The prefent governor has introduced
rein-deer into the ifland •
but out of thirteen, ten died on their
paflage, the other three are alive with
their young*
It is extraordinary that no wood
grows fuccefslnlly in Iceland ; nay,
there is fcarcely a iingle tree to be
found on the whole iiland, though
there are certain proofs of wood liaving
formerly grown there in great abundance*
Corn cannot he cultivated here
to any advantage ; though I have met
with cabbages, pariley, turnips, peafe,
&c. 6cc* in five or fix gardens, whicli
Were the only ones in the whole iiland*
^ The bears here mentioned are the white polar or
arftic carnivorous bears, abfoUitelji a fpecies very
diitincH: from our brown and black bears ; though the
celebrated Linneus only fufpeifed them to be a new
fpecies, not having feen and examined any of thefe
animals.
I muft
1 muft now beg leave to add a
few words about the Icelandic literature.
Four or five centuries ago
the Icelanders were celebrated on account
of their poetry and knowledge
in hiftory. I could name many o f
their poets, who celebrated in fongs
the warlike deeds o f the northern kings ;
and the famous Snorre Sturlefon is
the man to whom even the Swedes are
indebted for the firft illuftration o f
their hiftory. We for this reafon fet
fo high a value upon the antient Icelandic
records and writings, that they
have almoft all been drawn out o f the
country : fo exceedingly fcarce are they
become, that, notwithftanding the pains
I took during the whole time o f my ftay
there, I got a fight o f only four or
five Icelandic manufcripts. In the
inland parts o f the country, our old
language has been preferved almoft
quite pure ; but on the coafts, where
the natives have an intercourfe with
the Danifli merchants, it has beenfome-
what altered. Some fpeak the Daniili
language very well ; but thofe who did
not, could fooner make themfelves intelligible
i i
i ,