*
The whales that liave teeth inilead
of vvhaleboiie are alfo divided into
two claiies, thofe that are eatable, and
thoie that are not. To the firil; clais
belong the hnyfen, hiiyd'ingur, bund-
flfkur, and haahyrningiir : to the lail, to
wliich the name of lllhwelc is given,
are reckoned the rodkammingur and
naahvalur, Thefe are forbidden as
food by ibme antient regulations, and
particalarly by the church laws. The
icelanders believe, that the firil fort
are very fond o f human fleih, and
therefore avoid fiiiiing in fuch places
wliere they appear.
The above kinds of whales are fome-
liines ilruck with harpoons, and fometimes
caught with nets. The Icelanders,
however, feldom venture to
attack the larger ones, as their boats
are fmall, and they unprovided with
iiiilruments proper for that purpofe.
They Hand in fo great dread of fome
o f them, that when out at fea, they are
afraid to mention even their names,
and carry dung, brimftone, juniper-
wood, and fome other articles o f the
fame nature in their boats, in order to
terrify
terrify and prevent their too near ap^
proach. Notwithilanding, it now and
then happens that they catch fome o f
the largefl fort, which is done when the
fiih approach too near the fhore at high
water, and are unable to return as fail
as the water ebbs, where they are killed
with ilones and lances* In this manner
they had caught a large whale the year
before our arrival at Hafnefiordi
To their fiihery likewife may be
reckoned the catching o f feals, which
is very confiderable in fome parts.
They have four forts o f them, roftun-
gur, vade-felur, hlaudu-felur, andgran-
[dur. They are fatteft in winter, and
yield three or four * lijpfund o f fat,
each o f which produces three one half
■' kanne o f oil : in fummer, on the contrary,
they are very lean* Their fleili
is eaten, the fat fold at five yards o f
wad?nal, and the ikin by weight, at
the rate of fixty yards for each lifpfund,
Tiiough the fituation o f Iceland
renders it extremely proper for fiili-
ing, yet the fifliery has decreafed very
* A Lifpfund\% twenty pounds Engliih.
t A Kanne about three quarts Engliih*
I 2 much
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