92 Freminttille't Voyage to the North Pole. 



with songs or odes that turn on the heroic traditions of the 

 most distant times, and were recited by the bards, called 

 Scaldes. Their ancient mythology is exactly that of the 

 Scandinavians, from whom they are descended: thus their 

 traditions report the names of Odin and Frega; of Hella and 

 the goddesses Valkiries; the aerial combats of the Shades; 

 the delicious residence of Valhalla, or the palace of Odin, 

 wherein the spirits of departed heroes enjoy true felicity after 

 their decease. 



I could only find in Iceland one single kind of antique 

 monuments ; these are tumuli, or tombs of pebbles and small 

 stones heaped together ; three of this description we recog- 

 nised on the point of Vatneyre. All the voyagers who have 

 made mention of them, have represented these pyramidal 

 forms as raised expressly to point out the places of anchorage, 

 and to serve as beacons to vessels entering the bay ; but the 

 director of the Danish factory assured me that they were an- 

 cient sepulchres, and he earnestly recommended to us to forbid 

 our men from despoiling or degrading them, as it would be a 

 serious affliction to the natives, who could not see us even ap- 

 proach them without symptoms of pain and uneasiness. 



In France we have a great number of similar monuments, 

 which may be traced to the Celtic times ; among others, is 

 one in the Morbihan, near the famous men-Mrs of Carnak, 

 that stand in a row, and which rises nearly a hundred feet in 

 height, 



The wood necessary for constructing their fishing-vessels 

 is brought from Denmark, for not a single tree is to be seen 

 on the island. The only fuel the inhabitants have is fish- 

 bones, with turfs of peat-moss, and a sort of lignite, or wood half 

 mineralised, and very bituminous, that is found in the moun- 

 tains. 



The Icelanders are extremely sober, but their unwhole- 

 some diet is productive of different diseases ; it chiefly con- 

 sists of raw fish, dried in the sun, and of sheep's-heads, pre- 

 served in a sort of vinegar, which they make with the juice 

 of sorrel. They eat also a sort of sea-weed (fucus sacchari- 

 nus), boiled in milk; and they make soup of the lichen 

 Islandicus reduced to powder. They are strangers to our 

 bread, and a fragment of worm-eaten biscuit was a treat to 

 them. Water and milk are their only beverage, and they ever 

 testified a great dislike for our wines and strong liquors. 



Iceland may be considered as a very singular country, in 

 respect of its natural history, as yet but little known, and still 

 more so in a geological view, as teeming with observations 

 most curious and important. The mineralogist might here 



