5IO 



NATURE 



{Oct. 14, 1875 



doubt that his object has been to enlighten the British 

 public as to the real condition of Iceland and its inter- 

 esting people. Indeed he hints as much in his preface ; 

 ""the main object of the book," he says, "has been to 

 advocate the development of the island." 



Capt. Burton's method of accomplishing his object 

 will, certainly be effective with those who take a real 

 interest in Iceland, and who are willing to take 

 the trouble to master the contents of his two volumes. 

 The Introduction, covering 260 pages, consists of a con- 

 densed mass of facts compiled from many sources, relat- 

 ing to Iceland in all its aspects, and he who studies them 

 thoroughly will be well rewarded for his pains ; besides 

 the mere pleasure of adding to his knowledge, he will 

 possess an excellent vantage-ground from which to watch 

 the progress of the island and any future attempts that 

 may be made to increase our knowledge of it. Iceland is 

 gradually becoming a popular tourist-ground, and when 

 good hotels are built and the means of travel are im- 

 proved and organised, no doubt it will be included in the 

 programme of the omnipresent Cook, Intending travellers, 

 as well as all who desire to see the most trustworthy in- 

 formation about Iceland put in an accessible form, ought 

 to feel grateful to Capt. Burton. He has indeed acted in 

 a very unselfish manner in thus compiling what is really 

 a valuable monograph on Iceland, instead of concentrating 

 the attention of the public exclusively on himself and his 

 own experiences in the country. So great an explorer as 

 Capt. Burton has long ago proved himself to be would 

 have been perfectly justified in so doing, and therefore the 

 voluntary service he has rendered to Iceland and the 

 British public is all the more enhanced. 



There has been a great deal more written about Iceland 

 than most people are aware of ; in his Introduction, Mr. 

 Burton gives a list of no less than fifty works, mostly 

 English narratives of travel, which have been written 

 during the present century, not to mention all that has 

 been written in previous centuries. The author has not, 

 however, confined himself in collecting his facts and 

 theories to what has been published, but has drawn largely 

 on the liberality of willing friends who have made special 

 studies of various points connected with the country, its 

 history, and its people. The result is, we beheve, a 

 handier and more complete account of Iceland than will 

 be found in any other single work. 



The first section of the Introduction treats " Of Thule," 

 and consists of a formidably learned discussion as to the 

 applications which the classical term has had in various 

 writers and at various times, from Pytheas of Mar- 

 seilles downwards. Of course the important point in such 

 a discussion is to ascertain what Pytheas meant by the 

 term ; and although it seems to us that the few details 

 concerning " Thule " which have been preserved apply 

 more appropriately to Iceland than to any other country 

 which has been proposed, we are inclined to doubt with 

 St. Martin (" Histoire de Geographe," p. 104) whether 

 Pytheas ever saw the country, and to think it more 

 probable that he got his accounts from the inhabitants of 

 North Britain. This, however, is not the place to discuss 

 such a question, even had we space. Capt. Burton, 

 who seems to take delight in advocating improbable 

 theories, makes much more than we think the evidence 

 justifies of the few ecclesiastical remains which the 



first Norsemen found on the island, and of the tradi- 

 tions concerning the Irish ecclesiastics who at one time 

 found their way to the coasts. These latter no doubt 

 found their way to Iceland at first by accident ; after- 

 wards very probably they may have resorted to it in 

 considerable numbers because there they could live in 

 retirement "far from all men's knowing." But, apart 

 from these Irish priests, Mr. Burton is inclined to 

 believe that Iceland may have had a considerable pre- 

 historic population, the remains of which he does not 

 despair of seeing brought to light. At present there 

 is no evidence whatever on which to base such a 

 belief, and had any such population ever existed in the 

 island, we maybe almost certain that some indications of 

 its existence would have been met with during the 

 thousand years that the Norse have possessed it. The 

 Bull of Gregory IV., dated about 835 A.D., in which Ice- 

 land and Greenland seem to be mentioned, cannot but be 

 regarded with the gravest suspicion} and we have a strong 

 impression that quite recently conclusive proof has been 

 found that the names of these two countries are inter- 

 polations. 



Capt. Burton concludes this section by referring to 

 the various etymologies that have been proposed for 

 the term "Thule;" we dare say most readers will be 

 struck with the hopelessness of ever finding an origin 

 for the word, and with the utterly improbable theories 

 which the most learned men allow themselves to ad- 

 vance. Here we may remark that one of the notable 

 points of the work before us is etymology ; Capt. 

 Burton seldom, we might with confidence say never, in- 

 troduces a Norse word — and his pages bristle with them — 

 without ginng its etymology. This is a most commend- 

 able feature, though its value is much diminished by the 

 want of a sufficient index, the three pages at the end of 

 the work being quite inadequate to a book so rich in facts 

 of all kinds. We think it would have added to the value 

 of the work and the comfort of the reader, if a special 

 etymological index had been given. Capt. Burton's 

 flights into comparative etymology are sometimes of the 

 most daring kind. And the reckless way in which he 

 resorts to Semitic and even Turanian languages for con- 

 geners to Aryan roots and even Teutonic words, will 

 rather astonish sober students of the science of lan- 

 guage. 



Besides a sketch of the history of Iceland, the author 

 furnishes in the Introduction valuable details concerning 

 the following matters : — Physical Geography, including 

 Geology, Hydrography, Climate, Chronometry, &c. ; 

 Political Geography, Anthropology, Education and Pro- 

 fessions, Zoological Notes (including notes on the Flora, 

 Agriculture, Fishing, Industry, &c.). Taxation, and a 

 Catalogue-raisonm of Modern Travels in Iceland, besides 

 instructions as to what preparations an intending tra- 

 veller ought to make. Under these various heads there 

 are many points we should like to notice did space per- 

 mit ; under all of them the reader will find a vast amount 

 of useful information, which it must have taken Captain 

 Burton no little trouble to collect and condense. In 

 speaking of the chmate, Capt. Burton doubts much if the 

 Gulf Stream has anything to do with its comparative 

 mildness, and especially the commonly accepted theory 

 that a branch of the great " river in the ocean " bifurcates 



