EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH OF ICELAND. 403 



I was armed with magisterial authority to procure all I needed ; 

 provided I made arrangements with the farmers in the different 

 districts I visited, and paid them for permission to get specimens 

 on their ground. I was led to understand distinctly that the 

 land belonged to the farmers, and whatever that land produced 

 was their property. There is practically no unclaimed land in 

 the North of Iceland. My trusty guide and interpreter — he is 

 one of the best guides in Iceland — who I had engaged for the 

 whole length of my stay, used this magisterial permit — and per- 

 haps amplified it — with such success wherever we went, that I 

 was almost everywhere received with the greatest kindness and 

 respect, the people certainly trying their very utmost to assist 

 me in procuring all I needed ; and in the more remote districts 

 no small potentate could have expected greater consideration 

 than was accorded to me. I have said almost everywhere ; there 

 was one solitary exception, and this at the time — and the point 

 farthest north which I had reached — when I was becoming 

 utterly worn out with hard work, and during the last and most 

 disastrous journey I made, which so disheartened me that I 

 determined to bring my wanderings in Iceland to a close. 



The plan I adopted was to have a base of operations in the 

 different districts, and make journeys in different directions from 

 that base ; none of these journeys exceeded three days in dura= 

 tion, but it was at such times that I occasionally felt the need of 

 a tent and proper provisions. 



The land was to me a veritable paradise, teeming with bird- 

 life almost everywhere ; the birds appearing in such a manner 

 that it was easy to observe their habits. It is so different with 

 our wild and wary creatures at home. 



Somewhere about sixty-six species came under my observa- 

 tion either directly or indirectly, and to the bulk of them I shall 

 have to refer in the briefest possible manner, enlarging only in 

 the more important cases. To refer to all the interesting traits 

 of character I studied would need a volume of ' The Zoologist ' 

 instead of a few pages. I consider that I accomplished more 

 useful work in the few weeks I spent in the land than I could 

 have done in many years at home. 



Although great fields of snow can be seen on the mountains 

 everywhere, the climate in the valleys is mild and delightful ; 



2i2 



