ICELAND 101 



(a more sickly-looking specimen than the Aku- 

 reyri wonder), then the curious little Parliament 

 house, where the members get 2^. Sd. per day per 

 man during the session, and last, but not least, a 

 wonderful wall made entirely from the skulls of 

 captured whales. 



In the evening we went to a grand ball given in 

 the only two-storeyed building in the place. We 

 all enjoyed the ball very much — so unlike anything 

 else of its kind in Europe. 



After a great deal of forcing and squeezing, 

 rather like a Rugby scrum, we reached the top of 

 the room, where the " quality " of the island were 

 seated in majestic isolation. It reminded one of 

 the old county ball at home, with the self-selected 

 standing ground of local magnates. 



The national dance of Faroe was in full swing. 

 Ye Gods I this was a dance and no mistake. It 

 lasted for twelve hours, without a halt for breath 

 or refreshments in some cases. It was a sort of 

 grand country dance, accompanied by singing, 

 which rose and fell like the wind on a spring day. 

 I believe there was a single fiddler who started the 

 music, but he soon relinquished his efforts as hope- 

 less in the babel of song and conversation. There 

 was no pairing off, every one, from old people to 

 mere children, took hands and joined in the national 

 dance. All kept up a snaky, circling movement, 

 winding in and out like a lowland stream, and 

 chanting the while, with a curiously rhythmic 

 cadence, the songs of old and the sagas of the 

 Northlands. There was something very charming 

 and old-fashioned about it all, and we were much 

 struck by the serious earnestness of some of the 



