in what part of this vast continent he would try his luck, only 

 that he would go to Quebec and see some of Canada to begin 

 with. But on board the steamer which brought him across, he 

 became acquainted with an elderly Scotchman from Ontario, 

 who had gone home to Scotland on a visit and was returning 

 to Canada. This gentleman gave the writer advice on two 

 heads in particular : First, not to drink any of the St. Law- 

 rence water without mixing a " wee drop" of whiskey with it, 

 and second, to go to Ontario, assuring the writer that that 

 province was the finest part not only of Canada, but of the 

 whole North American continent ! 



Whether or not the writer followed the Scotch gentle- 

 man's advice regarding the first point, he did not feel any 

 bad effects from the St. Lawrence water, but he followed his 

 advise as to the second point and stopped in Ontario — in the 

 southwestern part of the province — and did not regret it. 



The writer (who is, as far as is known, the first Ice- 

 lander that settled in Canada) wrote some letters to friends 

 in the north of Iceland during his first winter in Ontario and 

 gave his impressions of the province, which were favorable. 

 Whether this had anything to do with directing attention to 

 Ontario is not clear, but it is a fact that Ontario was discussed 

 at a meeting held at the port of Akureyri, in July, 1872, by 

 the first large party of emigrants which left Iceland. The in- 

 tending emigrants discussed their destination at that meeting, 

 some advocating settling as near the Atlantic coast as pos- 

 sible — in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick — others advocating 

 Ontario, and some advocating the Western States, particular- 

 ly Wisconsin, where some of their countrymen had already 

 settled, as stated above. 



The result of these deliberations was that it was decided 

 that the whole party, numbering some 180 souls, should — 

 with the exception of a few who had relations and friends in 

 Wisconsin — go to Ontario in a body. 



The bulk of the party — 153 souls — sailed from Akureyri 

 for Scotland, by a steamer engaged in the sheep and pony 

 trade, on August 4th, arriving in Granton on the 10th. (The 

 balance, 20-30 souls, came on later.) The party sailed from 

 Glasgow August 12th, arriving at Quebec on 25th. Thence 



