Chapter XIII: Section VIII

TAXATION--COINS, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES--PRICES AND IMPORTS--COMMUNICATION AND COMMERCE--VISIT TO THE STORE.

§ 1. TAXATION.

The system has the serious drawback of being complicated and troublesome; on the other hand, it dates from olden days, and is familiar to the people. The island is not, and of late years never has been, self-supporting. The whole revenue does not exceed $44,000, and the expenditure for official salaries, ecclesiastical and legal establishments, and education, being about one-third more ($62,000), the Home Government must supply the deficiency.[242]

It has before been observed that property in Iceland, as in older England, is measured not by extent, but by produce, the area in fact never being ascertained. The basis of calculation is the ell of Wadmal, or its equivalent, two heads of fish and a fraction bringing it up to nearly 2·50. The hundred[243] was either tísætt hundrað (the decimal hundred, 10 × 10), introduced with Christianity, and now chiefly used in ecclesiastic and scholastic matters, or tólfrætt hundrað (duodecimal, 12 × 10), the latter being the root of the English system, which has hitherto successfully resisted foreign innovations. Hence our farmers long retained in selling cheese the great hundred (120 lbs.) and the little hundred (112 lbs.) The old adage says--

“Six score of men, money, and pins,
Five score of all other things.”

And the “shock,” or half (60), is preserved in the German threat, “Shock schweren noth” (You want five dozen)!

In old times, there was a double standard: (1.) The hundrað talið, hundred (of wool, etc.) by tale = 120 ells; and (2.) The hundrað vegið (weight) or sifrs (of silver), in rings, coin, and so forth, the latter = 2½ marks = 20 ounces = 60 örtugar, the half örtug being probably the unit. The phrase, “Six ells to an ounce” (_i.e._, 120 ells = 20 ounces), refers to silver and Wadmal at par; but, as the coinage was debased, the 6 became successively 9, 10, 11, and 12.

In 1810, the absolute value of the hundrað represented:

One milch cow or two horses (each = 60 ells).

A proportionate number of sheep (= six to eight) and lambs (= eighteen); each milch ewe = 20 ells in spring, and each wether = 10 ells.

One fishing-boat, with six oars, nets, and lines.

$46 in specie.

In 1872, the proportion was:

One bull, bullock, ox, or cow, calf-bearing or not.

Two horses or three mares, four years old or upwards; riding-horses = two-thirds of the hundred.

Six milch or eight milkless ewes; six wethers, three years old, and older; ten wethers, two years old; or eighteen sheep, one or two years old.

All boats, large and small:[244] the oars are not counted, but the nets and lines which follow the boat are reckoned at half-a-hundred. The half-decked vessel, with nets and lines, ranges from 100 to 1·50.

$40 in specie: $20 represent the half hundred, and nothing below it is cessible.

240 head of fish, which must weigh 2 lbs. In 1770, 48 head were = $1 (specie); the value often changes, but the modern rate of the Fiskvirði (worth) may be assumed at about 12⅜ skillings (or in round numbers, 3d.).

In 1770, 24 ells of Wadmal = $1: now the ell may represent 24¾ skillings.

Former travellers represented the direct taxes to be tithes, church and poor rates, with the Sýslumenn’s stipends ($1·50 specie, according to Hooker). They also divided the items of taxation into five, viz.:

1. Skattr, Scat, or tribute,[245] originally the poll-tax levied by the king on the franklins (Skattbændr), and afterwards more generally applied. This cess is paid when movable property in hundreds (cows, sheep, etc.) exceeds the number of individuals composing the household, or to be maintained upon the form. De Kerguelen describes it as a “tax of twelve francs contributed by heads of houses whose income surpasses sixty francs.” In 1810 it was represented by 4·50 skillings per ell of Wadmal, converted into specie, or so many fishes, twenty-four to thirty head being = $4 to $5. In 1872 it is neither more nor less than forty; for instance, a household of seven souls and eight hundreds pays forty fishes, and the same sum would be levied upon seven souls and ten hundreds. All officials, priests, and candidates of theology, are exempt from this tax.

2. Gjaf-tollr (gift toll) was so called because at first it was supposed to be, or rather it was, a voluntary payment to the Sýslumaðr and Prófastr for overlooking or winking at small offences punishable by a fine. It is said to have been paid as early as 1380. The French traveller, who held it to be a voluntary contribution for supporting legal establishments, lays it down at sixty centimes to six francs. The rate of Gjaf-tollr, which also is levied only on movable property, now represents:

1 fish per 50 2 ” 100 3 ” 200 4 ” 300 5 fish per 400 10 ” 500 to 900 12 ” 1000 to 1200 20 ” 1200 And above 1200 nothing more is taken.

3. Lögmannstollr dates from the days of Icelandic independence, and, representing the salaries of the Presidents of Things (assemblies), was preserved in memory of the ancient grandeur of the island. Formerly, it was thirty-five centimes per head of house. It is independent of hundreds, and paid in money at the rate of 6¾ skillings per farm. In case of sub-letting, it increases; for instance, if a proprietor leases half his land to another man, both pay 4½ skillings. The Sýslumaðr receives one-sixth for the trouble of collecting it, and the rest is paid into the public Treasury of Reykjavik under the Landfógeti.

4. Althingistollr was a property tax paid, according to Cadastre, for the support of the Diet. Each deputy formerly received nine francs per diem, and now $3, besides his travelling expenses coming and returning home.

5. Tíund, or tithe, paid to the Crown: these have been discussed in the ecclesiastical section.

The present complicated system will best be explained by a copy of the Thinggjaldskvittunarbók or Receipt Book for the Thinggjald, the general taxes. Each large farmer keeps one, and the forms are printed either at Reykjavik or at Akureyri. The following will be filled up as the specimen of cesses levied upon a large merchant who hires a farm from the Church:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |ÁR (year) | FÓLKSTALA | JARÐARHUNDRAÐ | LAUSAFJARHUNDRAÐ | | 1868. | (number of household),|(landed property), | (movable property), | | | 22. | none. | 27 hundreds. | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | Fiskar | Rixdollars. | Skilling | | | (fishes). | $ | (estimated at | | | | | 96:$1). | | Skattur, | 40 | | | | Gjaftollr, | 20 | | | | Tíund (royal tithe), | 16·2 | | | | |-----------| | | | Til Samans (total), | 76·2 | 9 | 50½ | | | | | | | Lögmannstollr, | ... | ... | 4½ | | Thinghústollr, | ... | ... | 4 | | Jafnaðarsjóðsgjald, | ... | 2 | 24 | | Althingisgjald, | ... | 0 | 0 | | | |-------------+---------------| | Allt gjaldið samlagt | | | | | (grand total), | | 11 | 83 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Skattur forms the chief item of the income of the Sýslumaðr.

The Lögmannstollr is still devoted to paying law taxes.

The Thinghústollr, or charges for provincial assemblies, is always four skillings; the householder where the meetings take place pays the same sum, and receives it back as part of the hire of the room. It directly derives from the old Thingfarar-kaup (fee for travelling to the Parliament, as judges, jurors, witnesses, etc.) levied upon every franklin; and those who did not pay it could neither sit as arbiter nor as “neighbour.” The Thingheyjandi (Thing-performer) received a sum proportioned to the number of days’ journeys he and his retinue had to travel.

The Jafnaðarsjóðsgjald is also called Sakamálatollr, _i.e._, a repartition fund paid to the Amt or Quarter for public purposes, posts, roads, criminal prosecutions, and other unforeseen expenses. All who have one and a half hundreds in movable property must contribute, and the Amtmenn settle every year the sum required, and the proportion appertaining to individuals.

The merchant contributes no Althing-money, because he is not a landed proprietor. This tax is taken from all landed property in the country, except that belonging to the Crown and the Church; three-fourths are paid upon immovable, and the remaining one-fourth upon all movable possessions. Every year, the Hreppstjórar, aided by two landowners of the parish, estimates how much Landskyld (rent) is paid either by the owner of the farm or by his tenants and sub-tenants. The Stiftamtmaðr (governor) having decided upon the sum required, the amount is duly reparted on landed property.

In addition to these taxes the Iceland farmer pays three other tithes--viz., to the priest, the Church, and the poor (16·2 ells, or $4 each)--besides a ljóstoll or light-tax = 4 lbs. of tallow, to illuminate the church: its equivalent being seventy-two skillings. He feeds one lamb for the priest (lambsfóður, or heytollur--hay-tax), or pays its forage = $1, 48sk. Those who own property, movable or immovable, to the amount of twenty hundreds, must also make offur (offertory) to the priest, amounting to not less than $3. Those who own less property than five hundreds, work one day for the priest during the hay-making season, or pay an equivalent of $1, 4sk. By the law of 12th February 1872 an annual tax is levied on landed property, 1½sk. per hundred. For the money thus raised model farms are to be established and young men taught farming. By far the heaviest item of taxation is, however, the poor-rate (fátækra útsvar), over and above the poor tithes, for it is nowhere less than equal in amount to all the other taxes put together, and in some parishes it is even double the amount of all the other taxes. This tax is levied by the Hreppstjóri at the autumnal parish meeting. The pauperism is an evil fraught with imminent danger to the island, and requires the immediate attention of the legislature. It need hardly be suggested that emigration is the perfect cure for the sturdy vagrants who infest the land, and that free passages to America, or elsewhere, would be well laid out.

The taxes in kind (Wadmal, yarn, woollen stuffs, fish, butter, hay, oil, cattle, sheep, tallow, hides, skins, and all vendibles) are estimated by the Hreppstjóri, who transmits his account to the Sýslumaðr, and the latter checks the report by referring to the mean value of the parish. He then commutes what is paid to him into money, through some trading firm; and, as he is liable to loss by the fluctuations of the market, he is allowed to retain one-third by way of remuneration. A “crack collector,” to use an Anglo-Indian term, may make as much as $3000 per annum--though less than half that sum would probably be a high average.

The Sýslumaðr again reports to the Amtmaðr, who checks his accounts by reference to the mean amount of previous revenue, whence results the Kapitulstaxti verðlagsskrá, or chapter value. The specie is then remitted to the Bæarfógeti,[246] or assistant treasurers. These officers are three in number; at Reykjavik, where the holder is also the Sýslumaðr, at Ísafjörð (west), and at Akureyri (north). Thence the total revenue finds its way into the hands of the Landfógeti, or chief treasurer.

The taxes on movable property are considered just and equal. Those on land are not, because the meanest soil pays as much as the best. Another grievance is the unequal distribution of the poor-tax, which is managed differently in different Quarters. For instance, a clerk with a salary of $300 per annum will be charged $10, whilst the priest of the same parish with treble the revenue pays only $20.

§ 2. COINS, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.

Accounts in Iceland are kept in skillings, marks, and dollars (rigsbankdaler or rixdollars, and specie). The following table shows the comparative English value in

1809. 1872.
1 Skilling = 1 halfpenny = { 1 farthing and one-eighth, in
{ round numbers a farthing.

16 Skillings or 1 mark = 8 pence, the = { 4 pence and four-fifths, say
local shilling { fourpence halfpenny.

{ 2 shillings and 3 pence, or 60
6 Marks or 1 Rigsbankdaler[247] = { cents (U.S.), the local
= 4 shillings { half-crown.

2 Rigsbankdalers = 1 specie dollars = { 4 shillings and 6 pence (the
= 4 shillings and 6 pence { crown).

The silver mark originally was worth eight ounces (eyrir)[248] of pure silver; and the eyrir = 6 peningar = 3 ertog. Each of the eight parts represented six ells of Wadmal, and thus the total was = 48 ells. In old times we read of the Örtug, a coin worth one-third of an ounce (eyrir) or twenty peningar (pence). In these days the Ort is worth only one-fifth of the specie dollar, and, being a Norwegian coin, it does not circulate in Iceland. The traveller must beware of Norwegian money, especially paper, which may be offered him by the Leith agent of the Danish steamer--it is perfectly useless, and Hr Salvesen must know it.

The following is the coinage current on the island:

_Copper._--One skilling and a few old two-skilling bits.

_Base metal._--Two (the penny), three, four, and eight skillings, the latter being half a mark. Of half-marks there are three or four issues. The old is inscribed “2½-Skillings Schleswig-Holstein’s Courent;” the second bears only “8 skillings,” and the third, or newest, has the figure 8 above and 2 below.

_Silver._--One mark: of this coin also there are three issues; two old, marked respectively 5 and 6 skillings, and one new, marked 16 skillings. Two marks: now rarely seen. Three marks, or half the rixdollar: very common and very useful. Four marks: an old coin almost obsolete, and generally called “one-third specie,” because equal to eight rigsbank skillings. One specie dollar: presenting our crown, and very cumbrous.

According to a royal proclamation of 25th September and 29th December 1873, a new coinage is to take the place of the old one next year. It will consist of

SILVER MONEY. NEW COIN (Crowns). OLD ICEL. ENGLISH EQUIVALENT. 1 Króna (100 aurar) = $4 3 0 £0 1 1½ 1 Eyrir = 0 0 0½ 0 0 0 ½ farthing. 4 Krónur = 2 0 0 0 4 6 2 ” = 1 0 0 0 2 3 50 Aurar = 0 1 8 0 0 6½ 25 ” = 0 0 12 0 0 3½ 8 ” = 0 0 4 0 0 1¼ GOLD COIN.[249] NEW COIN (Crowns). OLD ICEL. ENGLISH EQUIVALENT. 20 Króna peningur (20 } = $10 0 0 £1 2 3 crown-piece) } 10 ” = 5 0 0 0 11 1½

In travelling through the island it is advisable to carry a few dollars (specie), many half-dollars, and an abundance of marks and half-marks, with smaller pieces useful to pay minor charges. And it is useless to burden one’s self with a huge bag on board ship: silver can generally be bought at Reykjavik, with a loss of some five per cent. The Danish bank-notes with Icelandic words on the back are to be avoided, as the peasants distrust an article which a wetting may reduce to a rag. In Denmark there are $5 notes (grey paper, with blue border); $10 (yellow paper, with brown border); $20 (light-green); $50 (brown paper, with straight lines in the ground); and $100 (light-brown paper, with wavy lines). For Iceland there are no bank-notes, but when Paraguay manages to raise a loan, she need not despair of civilising her currency.

In July 1810, according to Mackenzie, the war had made the English sovereign worth 15 paper rixdollars on ‘Change; and in 1812 it further rose to $25 paper. The rixdollar at par was then worth four shillings English; as has been seen, like all the smaller coins, it has fallen to a little more than half. In 1872 the metallic value of the English sovereign in Denmark was = $8, 5m. 0sk.; but at Copenhagen it was readily exchanged for $9 to $9, 0m. 4sk. The pound sterling in English silver was worth only $8, 1m. 11sk. At Reykjavik the merchants will not hesitate to offer $8, 4m. 0sk., and some will even attempt $8, 2m. 0sk. The author was once assured by one of the principal tradesmen that the Exchange at Copenhagen was $8, 5m. 0sk; but on consulting the newspaper it was found that this was the price of bills. Thus money-changing becomes a profitable business, realising from five to ten per cent., and strangers will call upon the traveller with the object of “turning” a quasi-honest penny. Yet the simplest way is to take from England sovereigns and ten-pound notes. The foreigner can hardly expect to have a cheque honoured after what has lately happened. The last blow to the English traveller’s credit was dealt in October 1871, when two yachtsmen “did a little bill” with Hr Thomsen, converted their dollars into sovereigns, and went their way. The names of the delinquents are well known, but that is no reason for quoting them.

Weights and measures in Iceland are simply Danish:

3 Kvints = 1 Lod[250] (half-ounce avoird.). 32 Lods = 1 Pund (= 1 lb. 1 oz. 8½ grs.). 16 Punds = 1 Lispund[251] (roughly our stone).

Sometimes the Norwegian weights are used, viz.:

2 Lods = 1 Unze.
8 Unzes = 1 Mark.
2 Marks = 1 Skaalpund (10 per cent. more than the English pound
avoird.).
12 Skaalpunds = 1 Bismerpund.
3 Bismerpunds = 1 Vog (36 lbs.).
16 Skaalpunds = 1 Lispund.
100 Skaalpunds = 1 Centner (the hundredweight of Germany, Austria, etc.).
20 Lispunds = 1 Skippund (320 lbs.).

Of the length measures:

12 Danish inches = 1 Foot (= Eng. meas. 12.356 in. or about 67 : 69 ft.).
2 Feet = 1 Ell (Alen).
24,000 Feet = {1 Mile[252] (or 4 = 1° = 4½ English statute miles in
{ round numbers).

The Norsk measures are the same, but the foot is = 1·029 English, and the mile is of 36,960 feet (= 13,320 English yards = 7½ English statute miles). The only Icelandic measure of length is the Thingmanna-leið, or journey of the Thingman, about twenty English statute miles.

The Danish Pot is = 0·300 gallons; the Kanne is about three quarts, and the barrel of oil contains between twenty-five and twenty-six English gallons.

§ 3. COMMUNICATION AND COMMERCE.

Export trade began in Iceland from the date of its official colonisation. Long before the Norman Conquest, the Norwegian kings and jarls trafficked with the island. Snorri Sturluson mentions that King Ólaf Haraldsson (Helgi, or the Holy) made much profit by his transactions with Hallur Thorarinsson of Haukdal; and an edict of King Magnús Erlingsson (A.D. 1174) alludes to the annual cargoes of flour and other merchandise sent by the Archbishop of Nidarós. Already in the thirteenth century we find Iceland in commercial relations with England, and a little later with Germany. This “free trade,” which was on a considerable scale, presently fell before protection, and it did not recover itself till about the middle of the present century.

In a historical sketch of the island trade, published in 1772, an Icelandic author makes the following deductions:

I. The native trade was most advantageous to the island.
II. The Norwegian was honest.
III. The British was matchless; of every foreign trade it was the most complete
and the most advantageous to the island.
IV. The German trade was unjust; it was, however, more tolerable than the
V. Danish trade, which took its place.

The union of Calmar (A.D. 1397) made it a royal monopoly, carried on only in vessels belonging to, or licensed by, the Crown. This system lasted till A.D. 1776, and, practically closing the country to all but a few privileged Danes, it was injurious as unjust. The island was thus threatened with the fate of Greenland, whose utter desolation probably resulted from want of home-supplies rather than from Eskimo attacks. English merchants were the principal interlopers, receiving fish in barter for meal and clothes: and in A.D. 1413 one of the first acts of Henry V. was to send five ships to Iceland with letters proposing that the harbours be opened to British hulls.

In A.D. 1602, and again in 1609, Christian IV. prohibited intercourse with the Hanse Towns, the powerful confederacy which had taken the commerce from the hands of the Norwegians and Danes; and in 1620 he bestowed it upon the guilds of Copenhagen, Malmoe, and other ports. They established the first Iceland company, which lasted from A.D. 1620 to 1662. The concession was granted on condition of its paying a small sum for the use of each haven, $2 to the governor for every ship that broke bulk, and contributing to the royal magazines in the Vestmannaeyjar. But when the great piratical irruptions in A.D. 1627 to 1630 proved them unable to provide for, and to protect, the island, as they had undertaken to do, the resentment of the Crown caused the shares of $1000 each to sink to half-price and eventually they fell to nothing.

After A.D. 1662 the trade of each haven was sold to the highest bidder once in every six years. In A.D. 1734 arose the second Iceland company, which paid an annual sum of $6000 to the Crown, and sent twenty-four to thirty ships, frequenting twenty-two havens. This monopoly again was a great grievance; it was injured by smugglers and interlopers, and, by its working, the island fell to its lowest condition. In A.D. 1776 arose the third Iceland company, nominally headed by the Crown, which directed a fund of $4,000,000, provided by the country. At the end of ten years, when the ships and stock were sold, the loss proved to be $600,000; the residue was placed under commissioners, and the latter had the power of lending money to those who embarked in the trade at the rate of 4 per cent.; 10 per cent. being then the legal limit. In A.D. 1787 the commerce, averaging $45,000 per annum, was exempted from all imposts for a period of twenty years, afterwards prolonged for five (A.D. 1812). As has been said, during the Danish war with Great Britain, a humane order in Council (1810) saved the island from absolute starvation. At length, after 250 years of a grinding monopoly, not, however, confined to Denmark, Iceland was finally reopened to free trade by the law which came into action in April 1854. At present there are no restrictions beyond taking out a licence or maritime passport at a cost of two shillings and threepence per ton of the ship’s burden. There are, or rather till 1872 there were, no duties on merchandise outwards or inwards, and foreigners now enjoy the same rights of trade, residence, and holding property as the natives.

After April 1854 the imports rose within ten years to a million and a half of rixdollars. Yet something remains to be done in facilitating trade, and especially in the matter of communication, seven mails a year being now utterly inadequate to local requirements.

Sea-passes are usually taken out by foreign ships from Copenhagen, after submitting to medical examination if not provided with clean bill of health, and paying all the legal shipping dues before bulk can be broken, otherwise they must be bought at one of the six following places:[253]

1. Reykjavik, in the south-west. 2. Vestmannaeyjar, south. 3. Stykkishólm, west. 4. Ísafjörð, north-west. 5. Eyjafjörð (Akureyri), north. 6. Eskifjörð, east.

Thus the “Queen” steamer, sent in 1872 for ponies to Berufjörð, could not land cargo without going to Eskifjorð, and returning to her destination--a useless or rather an injurious restriction. She had to pay the Sýslumaðr $1 per ton register, for transmission to the Danish treasury. This compensation for admitting goods duty-free, is a severe tax upon a small charter, and it would certainly be better and fairer to the merchant if the equivalent were levied upon the freight not upon the bottom. Where trade is so poor, every form of nursing should be attended to, and the minimum of protection is here the maximum of benefit.

The whole system of Iceland trade, like that of Shetland and the Færoes, is the “Trust” of the West African oil rivers, so troublesome to consuls and cruisers. The storekeeper must advance goods to the farmer, and the latter refunds him when he can, especially in June and July, September and October, when wool is pulled and wethers are killed. A few of the farmers have money at the merchants, who do not, however, pay interest; many are in debt, and the two classes hardly balance each other. Prices are generally high, but the prohibition category is unknown.

Formerly it was the practice to hold fairs or markets at the chief comptoirs upon the coast;[254] these “Markaðr” lasted for a week or ten days in early July, a period known as Höndlunartið (Dan. Handelstid). The peasants came, often after a week or more of riding, with their goods carried in crates and panniers by pack-horses; pitched their tents, and began the year’s business, which was enlivened by not a little gross debauchery. The canniest of their canny calling, each party sent forward some noted “knowing hand” to find out which merchant gave the largest price, and all went to him _en masse_. Consequently the traders were obliged to defend themselves by a counter-union, all conforming to a certain tariff; and now, if one store pay a skilling less than any comptoir within reach, the purchaser will claim to be refunded.

The fair system is becoming obsolete; many merchants have opened new trading stations, and even the most secluded bays are visited by market-ships. These “Spekulants,” however, are not allowed to visit the out-havens where there is no comptoir--another scrap of protection to the storekeeper which calls for abolition. They are limited, reasonably enough, to four or five weeks of yearly trade at each place, but they may divide the time at several bays. Moreover, they must sell and buy only from the ships, and they cannot set up shops on shore.

Regular postal communication is perhaps the first want of the island; there is hardly any for the three and a half months between November 29 and February 15. A steamer would take very few passengers at such seasons, but a stout and ably handled schooner-rigged craft of 120 tons (minimum), with a crew of seven men, should find no difficulty in carrying the mails. Yet the history of such attempts is not encouraging. The first postal packet, the “Sölöwen,” went down, “man and mouse,” off Snæfellsnes, a dead horse cast ashore giving notice of the calamity: about the same time another ship was lost with all on board. The first steamer was the “old Arcturus,” Clyde-built, 280 tons register, and eighty horse-power; the captain (Andresen) and crew were Danes, and the engineers were Scotch. Messrs Henderson of Glasgow, who hazarded the speculation, obtained from Denmark a subvention of $6000 per annum for six years, besides an advance of $30,000 purchase money, at 4 per cent. interest for outlay. This “cockle-shell” made four, then six, annual voyages, the first in March, the last in October; and she touched at Grangemouth when outward and homeward bound. Her charges were cheap--£2, 2s. for eight days, board, wine, and whiskey included. She is now, they say, trading for the United Steam Company between Copenhagen and the Baltic.

But private companies, though receiving a grant of $15,000 per annum, did not thrive. The “Arcturus” was succeeded by the Danish “Póst-skip” “Diana,” which was put upon the line in 1870. She is a converted man-of-war, formerly stationed at the island, with flush decks for guns. A “slow coach” and a fast roller, she formerly made five trips a year, now increased to seven; and the Appendix (No. I.) will give all necessary information about her movements. She offers the advantage of touching at the Færoes, and at Berufjörð, but it has been proposed to give up the latter station. On the other hand, she is exceedingly inexact, often lagging behind her time at Granton, and other places. During the season she is painfully crowded; “a state-room may be had against payment for all the berths therein;” but unless the kind and hospitable Mr Berry,[255] Consul-General for Denmark at Leith, or the civil Vice-Consul, Hr Jacobsen, telegraph to Copenhagen, none will be vacant. The food is greasy, and soaked in fat. As long as Captain Haalme and Lieutenant Loitved commanded the “Diana,” there was little official interference with passengers. Afterwards she fell into the hands of a martinet, and matters changed for the worse. She seems cheap, but she is really dear, as these figures show:

First-class cabin from Granton to Iceland, £4 0 0 Table, without wines (at 3s. 9d. per day), 1 13 9 Wines, etc., . . . . . 1 0 0 Baggage, only 100 lbs. free; overweight (say 100 lbs.), at 9d. per 10 lbs., 0 8 0 Fees, etc., 0 8 0 -------- £7 9 9

She does not pay, and no wonder, when the Reykjavik traders sail their own ships. But these gentry have also determined so to monopolise the traffic, that often the smallest parcel, even of medium size, is refused, under the pretext of there being no room. In fact, they have made the “Diana” peculiarly unpopular. “It is difficult,” says a friend, “to find any reason for such conduct, but that the Copenhagen merchants who furnish the stores of Reykjavik with their poisonous liquors, which they pass off for genuine, take every means to prevent anything like competition.”

In 1872, when the author visited Iceland, the export of ponies, sheep, and meat cattle had caused a rapid development of communication. Already the “Yarrow” of Granton had been run for three years by her owner Mr Slimon, who had bought and floated her after she had been wrecked off Burntisland. She at first refused, but afterwards consented, to carry mails. With as many as 450 head of horses on board, and towing a sloop with fifty more, she was terribly down in the stern; and a pooping sea would have been no joke for her solitary passenger. The “Jón Sigurðsson” was also sent in May by her owners, a private Norwegian company, and she was followed by the “Queen.” Concerning these two, ample details will be found in the Journal.

§ 4. THE STORE.

The present is an age of “manufactures and diffused wealth,” which calls for as many observations on trade and business as the traveller can make. Before visiting the stores, however, a few words must be bestowed upon an interesting detail.

Foreigners are apt to complain that Icelanders are uncommonly “sharp practitioners;” sleuth-hounds after money, and bull-dogs in holding it, like Yorkshiremen. It has become the fashion to say that the islanders are kind and hospitable at first, but succeed in jewing the stranger at last; and, like most of such generalisations, it contains a partial truth. Upon this subject an Englishman who knows the island well, wrote, “So far as my experience goes, I have never met with an Icelander who was a rascal; there are, however, men in Iceland, and especially at Reykjavik, who are pretty specimens of that form of animal life.... I have heard some travellers regard it as a swindle that horses are dear when wanted to purchase, and cheap when sold; but they forget that in early summer there is plenty of work for beasts, and the demand raises their price by the natural law. At the approach of winter there is no work for them and scanty food, consequently the value falls.”

The traveller, as a rule, will meet but little imposition, except in two notorious cases, alluded to in many a page. One is the rapacious Rev. Mr Bech, now Prófastur (archdeacon) of Thingvellir, who charged Prince Napoleon 220 francs for camping ground, and who is said to have demanded $47 from Lord Dufferin. The other is Pétur Jónsson, the farmer at Mý-vatn, who has fleeced generations of tourists; he was made by nature to keep an inn at Palermo, or lodgings at Dover. Against these and a few other instances, may be set off many a small farmer who will declare that he has been paid too much; and often the boatman seems surprised at being paid at all. The people appear eminently honest in the country parts. About the capital this can hardly be expected: a revolver and a silver snuff-box if dropped will not be recovered.

In business the foreigner will fall into the hands of the Danish storekeepers, who certainly have more than a “theoretical knowledge of the value of money;” and he will be fortunate if he escape unscathed. One of these gentry, attempting to extort 500 francs from the Capitaine Le Timbre for throwing a seine, without taking a fish, into an unpreserved part of his river, failed, as he deserved. The bad example has to a certain extent infected the Iceland trader. Messrs Henderson & Anderson were ruined by their agent. An English storekeeper came out in 1872, with the object of recovering certain debts from the present owner of the “Glasgow House.” He had spent some years on the island, he knew Danish well, and he was accustomed to treat with the people; yet he wholly failed, and the worst part of his failure was, that no Procurator (lawyer) would undertake the foreigner’s case against a brother islander.[256] But if these two were disappointed, Messrs Ritchie and Messrs Hogarth have been successful. And many of our countrymen who land in Iceland for trade should certainly not throw stones at the islanders. One of these clerks, a decidedly “sharp” young man, not to use the comparative form of the adjective, attempted to make himself richer and the author poorer by £25, on the pretext that he had bought ponies, for which the hirer should be responsible.

The storekeepers at Reykjavik are called merchants (kaupmaðr = chapman), and their establishments, which lack signs and names, are the conspicuous buildings fronting the sea. Mostly, they are paid employés of Copenhagen firms, who receive fixed salaries. The following is a list, beginning from the west:

1. Hr Egill Egilsson (Icelander), of the Glasgow House, and agent of the “Jón Sigurðsson” steamer.

2. Hr Fischer, a Dane, married to an Icelandic wife, settled at Copenhagen, and occasionally visiting the island. He occupies the corner tenement to the right of the Bridge House; and he has large stores fronting his shop.

3. Hr Havstein (Dane), who has not long been established; his private dwelling is attached to his store at the west end of Harbour Street, but he usually lives at Copenhagen. This house charters two or three ships a year to carry its goods.

4. Hr Hannes Jónsson, an Icelander, son of the former Bishop Steingrimur Jónsson. His stock is furnished by Hr Jonsen of Copenhagen, who has also establishments at Hafnafjörð, Papós, and Seyðisfjörð.

5. Hr Robb, the son of an English merchant, who settled at and was naturalised in Iceland.[1] He speaks German, but not a word of English. It is the smallest of all the establishments, and seems to do business only in lollipops.

6. Hr P. C. Knutzen, a Dane, whose agent is Hr Sivertsen. He trades on his own account, without a company; and, being young and wealthy, he prefers Copenhagen to Reykjavik. At Hafnafjörð he has another establishment, and an agent (Hr Zimsen).

7. Hr Möller. The Club is held at his house.

8. Hr Schmidt (Danish), who hires a house at Reykjavik, and passes the winter at Copenhagen. He is Consul for Holland.

9. Hr Th. A. Thomsen, a Dane of Flensburg, born in Iceland. He passes the winter at Copenhagen; and, besides being one of the principal traders, he is well-known for his civility and kindness to strangers.

10. Hr Edward Siemsen, at the east end of the town. He is agent for his brother and their nephew, and he also acts Consul for Denmark.

Including M. Randrŭp, Consul de France, the Consular Corps, none of them belonging to _la carrière_, consists of three, England, of course, being unrepresented, though she does the largest business in coal and salt. Thus the tricolor is the only foreign flag seen in the island, the other two staves bear Danish colours. As has been shown, most of the traders pass only the summer in [257] Iceland, and they solace themselves with frequent rides and picnics at the Laxá River.

Kerguelen has left us an excellent description of the Iceland trade in A.D. 1767. It was managed by a Danish company (No. 2, before alluded to), which had bought an exclusive privilege from the king, and which kept factors and warehouses at the several stations. The only money was fish and butter,[258] whilst one ell of pig-tail (tobacco) = one fish. The fisheries were very extensive, and would require four frigates thoroughly to protect them. Exports were included under salt meat, beef, and mutton; tallow; butter, close packed; wool in the grease; skins of sheep, foxes, and seals; feathers, especially eider down; oil of whales, sharks, and seals; fine and coarse jackets of Wadmal, woollen stockings, and mitts; stock-fish and sulphur. The imports were fishing-tackle, horse-shoes, carpenters’ woods, coffee and sugar, tobacco and snuff, beer, brandy, and wine, dry goods (calicoes, etc.), flour (wheat and rye), bread and biscuit.

The imports of the present day, to mention only those of chief importance, are timber, salt, coals, grain, coffee, spices, tobacco, and liquor. The timber consists of pine and fir, mostly the latter; the forms are beams for roofing and framing, twenty-two to twenty-four feet long, one-inch boards for side-lining of houses, three-inch planks, and finer woods for the joiner. Salt comes chiefly from Liverpool, which is ousting the Spanish trade, and the average price may be $2 per barrel = 176 pots = 44 gallons. The people declare that they cannot afford the expense of salt-pans, and that the sun is hardly hot enough for evaporation: this was not the case a few years ago, but Iceland, like Africa, finds it cheaper to import the condiment. English coals are carried in British bottoms, either direct or viâ Copenhagen; from the latter only small quantities come; birch wood, sawn and split for fuel, is introduced for private use, not for the general market; and there is no charcoal at Reykjavik, although birch “braise” is found inland. The cereals, whose consumption ranges from twenty-four to thirty bushels a head, are wheat and rye, in grain, flour, and biscuit; baking-ovens are found only at the capital. The rice is more often cheap “Rangoon,” than fine “Carolina;” the people, who are fond of rice-milk, do not appear to know the difference, and the import quintupled between 1864-70. The spices are chiefly cinnamon, generally mixed with black pepper; pepper,[259] cloves, and nutmegs. Coffee,[260] whose consumption is 6·7 pounds per head, is chiefly the Brazilian growth; tea is very rare, and a little chocolate is brought from Copenhagen. In hard times, for instance after 1855, the consumption of these luxuries notably falls off. The tobaccos are usually the common Danish article; foreign growths are represented by twist, for chewing as well as smoking; by shag, bird’s-eye, and some specimens of the thousand mixtures which have become so popular of late. As may be expected, the cigars are dear and bad; the best, or at least the most expensive, are the Hamburg “Havannahs,” which are pretentiously wrapped up in a plaintain-leaf, veritable “cabbage.” Perhaps the favourite form is snuff (= about $3 per pound), which is loved by males of all classes and ages. There are few men who “take nothing between their fingers;” the consumption of this Tupi article is about two pounds per head of males.[261]

The list of wet goods in a general store is extensive, including port and sherry, claret and champagne, rum and cognac, with liqueurs like cherry-brandy. These are mostly dear and bad; the beer imported for tavern use, and the Brennivín, Kornschnapps, or rye-spirits, are too cheap to be adulterated, except for the peasantry. Not a few country merchants can sell per annum of this liquor twenty barrels, each containing thirty gallons. The Althing imposed an import tax, to come into force on July 1, 1872, of $0, 0m. 8sk. (about 2½d.) per pot or quart, upon every bottle of wine and spirits, beer only being excepted.[262] But the law unhappily said “drinkable spirits,” and the merchants were able to exempt pure and methylated alcohols from the impost. Consequently “brandies” were made at Reykjavik and at other trading stations, greatly to the detriment of public health as well as of morality, and despite the exertions of sensible men like Dr Hjaltalín, the “Land-physicus.” The duty upon twenty barrels would be $200; it is paid into the Treasury under the charge of the Landfógeti, superintended by the Stiftamtmaðr. The sooner an “Adulterations Act” is passed the better, but in Iceland as elsewhere _magna est pecunia et prevalebit_. The island is not cursed with a Manchester school and its moral mildew, but commercial interests are amply sufficient for more than self-protection.

It may be useful to compare the prices in 1810 by Stephensen (History of Iceland), with those of 1872, on the western and eastern coasts:

In 1810. In 1872. On East Coast. 1 pair trade mitts, $0 0 4--6 $0 2 0 $0 0 14--20 1 pair stockings $0 0 12--18 $0 4 0 $0 2 0 1 pair fine socks, $0 0 64 to $1 $1 0 0} 1 common Wadmal jacket, $0 0 40--60 $3 to $4} none made for 1 fine Wadmal jacket, $2 to $3 $6 0 0} sale. 1 lb. (Dan.) wool, $0 0 12--20 $0 3 4 $0 2 to %0 4 1 lb. eider down, $2 3 0 to $3 $7 3 0 $7 0 0 1 lb. feathers, $0 0 17--20 $0 2 0 $0 2 0 1 lb. tallow, $0 0 16--22 $0 1 4 $0 1 0 1 lb. butter,[263] $0 0 10--28 $0 2 0 $0 1 0 1 Skippund (320 lbs.) “flat} fish,”[264] } $12 to $20 $26 0 0 $20 0 0 1 Skippund klip-fish,[265] $15 to $30 $30 to $40 none. 1 barrel sharks’ liver oil, $12 to $20 $30 0 0 $25 0 0 1 skin, white or Arctic fox} $3 0 0 $1 4 6} (_C. lagopus_), } } none on East 1 skin, blue (_i.e._, deep iron} $3 0 0 $8 0 0} Coast grey) fox, } } 1 brown (_C. fuliginosus_), $5 0 0 $8 0 0} 1 Rein-deer skin,[266] $5 0 0 $5 3 0 100 Swan-quills, $2 to $3 $8 0 0 very rare. A horse, $6 to $40 according to demand, £3 to £10 A cow, $16 to $24 $50 to $80 and upwards. A wether,[267] $2 to $5 $9 0 0 $9 0 0 1 ewe and lamb, $2 to $2½ $12 0 0 $9 0 0 A lamb, $1 2 0 $3 0 0 not for sale.

Details of imports for 1865, occupying nearly a page and a half, will be found in the Consular Report of that year; the total importations represented £21,468. The kind, weight, and value of the primary items are thus tabled in 1870-71: the account applies to the whole island, but only the principal articles are mentioned:

------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | 1864. | 1865. | 1866. | | | | | | | | | | | | |---------+---------+---------+ | Rye and rye-flour, } | 35,620 | 41,596 | 37,968 | | barrels, } | | | | | Barley, | 17,490 | 19,960 | 16,708 | | Pease, . | 4,524 | 4,177 | 4,481 | | Wheaten bread, lbs., | 317,216 | 339,511 | 252,511 | | Rye bread, lbs., | 18,033 | 26,869 | 21,389 | | Spirits, quarts, | 567,675 | 608,864 | 529,426 | | Coffee, lbs., | 393,164 | 462,227 | 483,852 | | Chicory, lbs., | 87,864 | 120,602 | 108,753 | | Sugar candy, lbs., | 347,745 | 429,467 | 385,942 | | Loaf sugar, lbs., | 101,918 | 152,840 | 135,350 | | Brown sugar, lbs., | 27,751 | 47,020 | 41,602 | | Treacle, lbs., | 16,199 | 19,257 | 14,289 | | Rice, lbs., | 80,946 | 127,304 | 251,201 | | Snuff, lbs., | 72,422 | 69,172 | 83,625 | | Leaf tobacco, lbs., | 5,449 | 11,619 | 8,448 | | Chew tobacco, lbs., | 35,011 | 39,908 | 37,081 | | Tobacco, lbs., | 9,953 | 14,854 | 14,865 | | Cigars (pieces), | 274,000 | 236,100 | 262,800 | ------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | Average | | | 1867. | 1868. | 1869. | Yearly | | | | | | Value in | | | | | | £. | | |---------+---------+---------+----------| | Rye and rye-flour, } | 29,426 | 27,973 | 28,905 | 40,044 | | barrels, } | | | | | | Barley, | 12,992 | 10,463 | 10,455 | 24,463 | | Pease, . | 3,158 | 3,173 | 2,775 | 4,953 | | Wheaten bread, lbs., | 244,754 | 182,783 | 196,068 | 3,494 | | Rye bread, lbs., | 18,844 | 13,754 | 20,714 | 210 | | Spirits, quarts, | 479,285 | 385,273 | 351,752 | 12,402 | | Coffee, lbs., | 403,840 | 403,707 | 389,544 | 12,011 | | Chicory, lbs., | 102,089 | 102,762 | 133,909 | 9,488 | | Sugar candy, lbs., | 410,558 | 335,501 | 344,842 | 9,487 | | Loaf sugar, lbs., | 118,229 | 113,960 | 111,229 | 3,087 | | Brown sugar, lbs., | 36,456 | 34,268 | 32,043 | 786 | | Treacle, lbs., | 12,100 | 9,972 | 12,807 | 208 | | Rice, lbs., | 230,338 | 236,965 | 388,938 | 2,535 | | Snuff, lbs., | 69,402 | 45,651 | 61,492 | 1,691 | | Leaf tobacco, lbs., | 3,665 | 4,496 | 2,234 | 176 | | Chew tobacco, lbs., | 34,727 | 30,617 | 34,527 | 2,972 | | Tobacco, lbs., | 10,730 | 10,531 | 11,459 | 254 | | Cigars (pieces), | 191,900 | 170,000 | 301,000 | 266 | -----------------------------------------------------------------

The peculiarity of this table is that while the consumption of colonial goods remains at the usual average, and while rice has nearly quintupled, there has been a decrease in the import of rye, barley, pease, and wheaten bread, a circumstance not easy to account for, with a growing population in an island which produces no cereals.

The collective value of these imports is somewhat over $1,100,000 = £122,222, which is but $100,000 less than the total value of the exports of 1869 ($1,200,000 = £133,333); and, as only the most important items have been mentioned,[268] we may conclude that the two totals almost balance each other. The consumption of brandy, coffee, sugar, and tobacco is alone equal to about $418,000, or one-third of the whole value of the exports.

In 1869, the number of foreign vessels that visited the trading stations was

From Denmark direct, 99 vessels, with 9,358 tons. ” other countries, 50 ” 4,555 “ ” other island stations, 137 ” 13,913 “

Of the 149 direct foreign arrivals

Cleared in to Reykjavik, 31·1 per cent.
” Akureyri, 9·3 “
” Seyðisfjörð, 9·3 “
” Ísafjörð, 8·2 “
” Berufjörð, 6·4 “
” Hafnarfjörð, 51·0 “

We will now enter the establishment, and see the stock-in-trade of a general “merchant.” The usual dwarf entrance-hall, after the outer door is passed, opens upon two rooms to the right and left: one is the public shop, filled at the “fair season” with jostling boors and drunken loafers; the other is the private store, mostly provided with railed pen for the benefit of the clerk and account-keeper. Besides the mainstays of commerce before mentioned, the rooms will contain the following articles: Dry goods, broad cloths and long cloths, woollen comforters, threads, and a few silks and satins. Hardwares of every description; iron for the blacksmith’s use; hoop-iron and bar-iron (no pig), the metal being preferably Swedish, for the best of reasons; a little steel and brass wire, but neither copper nor zinc; farriers’ and carpenters’ tools; cooking utensils; spades and scythes; sewing machines; and fish-hooks, the smaller sort for long lines, the cod-hooks large and of tinned iron. The arms and ammunition, especially old military muskets and muzzle-loaders, are fit only for the Gold Coast: Copenhagen weapons are cheap and good, £2, 5s. being the average price of a breech-loading single-barrelled rifle. Pistols are not seen, and there is a tradition of the barrels being cut for alpenstock rings. Besides cereals, the stores supply sugars, brown, candy, and white, refined at Copenhagen; hams (rare, and no potted meats, so much wanted by travellers); sausages and sardines; butter (foreign sometimes); figs, raisins, prunes, and olive oil. The Quincaillerie consists of pots and pans, boxes, funnels, kettles and watering-pots, lamps and lanterns. The walls are hung with leather for saddles, thongs, straps, and raw hides for shoes. There is an abundance of cheap crockery and glass ware. Paraffin and petroleum have lately come into general fashion; stearine candles are kept mostly for private use, and the peasants make their own farthing dips.

A narrow back passage, often connecting the public and the private shop, will have a ladder leading to the usual cock-loft, scattered with boxes and bales. Here a few skins and birds stuffed for sale, some of them sadly damaged by rats, hang from the beams; and the following are the chief items:

The falcon[269] (_F. islandicus_, Icel. Fálki, a foreign word, or Veiðifálki); a good white, stuffed specimen costs $10. This bird, so much valued during the Middle Ages, and considered the elder brother of the gerfalcon (_F. gyrfalco_) or peregrine, was protected by kings and bishops, who claimed the right of exporting it. A royal mews was established at Reykjavik. In 1770, the falconers paid $7 for the grey bird, $10 for the dark-grey, and $15 for the white, which was considered the most beautiful and docile. Many were sent to England as late as the seventeenth century: in 1871, a few birds were bought for the Hindostan market. This falcon is very destructive to ducks, and ranges far, making upwards of 1300 miles per diem.

Whoopers, hoopers, or wild swans (_Cycnus ferus_, Icel. Álpt or Svanr in poetry, the Fær. Svener), are now, from the rarity of the skins, sold at fancy prices.

The Iceland golden-eye (_Clangula islandica_, Icel. Húsönd) fetches, according to quality, $0, 5m. to $1, 2m.

The gulls (_L. glaucus_, Icel. Hvít-máfur or Hvít-fugl) and the great black-backed _L. marinus_ (Svartbakur) are cheap, and good specimens may be bought for $0, 2m.

The great northern diver (_Colymbus arcticus seu glacialis_, Icel. Himbrimi or Brúsi), if good, costs $1, 4m.; usually it is sold when the coat is changing from winter to summer wear, and is not worth buying.

The red-throated diver (_Colymbus ruficollinus seu septentrionalis_, Icel. Lómr or Therrikráka) is worth $1, 2m. when in good condition, with red around the throat and about the breast.

The other skins are the whimbrel or curlew-knot (_Numenius phaeopus_, Fær. Spogvi, Icel. Nefvoginn-Spói); the pretty red-headed pochard (_Fuligula ferina_), extending from the Himalayas to North America, from Italy to Greenland; the beautifully painted harlequin, or stone duck (_Histrionicus torquatus seu Anas histrionica_, Icel. Straum-önd or stream-duck); the white-breasted and crooked-bill’d goosander (_Mergus castor_, Icel. Stóratoppönd or Gulönd), so different of robe in male and female; the red-breasted mergander (_Mergus serrator_, Icel. Lilla Toppönd), whose brick-hued bill, ending in a white horny nail, has various serrations, according to sex; the shag, scarf, or cormorant (_Phalacrocorax carbo_, _Carbo cormoranus_ or _Pelicanus carbo_, Icel. Skarfur, Toppskarfur, and Dílaskarfur), never taught in Europe to fish; the gannet (_Sula bassana_ or _Pelicanus bassanus_, Icel. Súla or Hafsúla); the various skuas or Arctic gulls (_Stercorarius_ Icel. Kjói); the Iceland gull (_L. leucopterus_, Icel. Hvít-máfur), white, with ash-blue back; the guillemot (_Uria troile_, Icel. Svartlag, Langnefia, or Langvia), whose flesh is eaten, and whose feathers sell for twenty-eight skillings per lb.; the black guillemot (_Uria grylle_, Icel. Tejsti); the grey-lag goose (_Anser ferus_); the scaup-duck (_Fuligula marila_); the black scoter (_Oedemia nigra_); the long-tail duck (_Harelda glacialis_); the pin-tail duck (_A. acuta_); the red-necked phalarope (Icel. Óðin’s-hani, _Phalaropus hyperboreus seu tringa borea_); the gadwall (_A. strepera_); the wigeon (_A. Penelope_); the mallard (_A. boschas_); the teal (_A. crecca_).