54 



OEDINAEY GENEEAL MEETING* 



The Earl of Halsbuey, D.C.L., F.E.S. (Peesident), in 

 THE Chaie. 



The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed, and 

 Dep. Surgeon-General W. P. Partridge was elected Associate. 



The following paper was read by the Author : — 



ICELAND: ITS HISTORY AND INHABITANTS II. 

 By Dr. JoN Stefansson, Ph.D. 



THE earliest inhabitants of Iceland in historical times were 

 Celts, who called the island ThuU (Thyle, Thile). The 

 Greek traveller, Pytheas of Massilia, made voyages of discovery 

 in the north-west of Europe in 330-320 B.C. He relates that 

 he had found the northmost country of the world, " Ultima 

 Thule," of which he gave a somewhat fantastic description. 

 We only know of this discovery of Pytheas through the quota- 

 tions of the Greek geographer, Strabo, and other ancient writers. 

 Strabo himself seems to have got his knowledge of it not from 

 Pytheas, but indirectly through the historian Polybius. Yet it 

 is possible that Strabo may have seen Pytheas' own account, 

 which, however, has been lost. All descriptions and accounts 

 of Ultima Thule found in writers before A.D. 825 are indirectly 

 derived from Pytheas as a primary son rce. It is true that P)e(le 

 (died A.i). 735) mentions Thule three times in his writings, and 

 his description of its site is suitable to Iceland ; but he may 

 have taken his account from Plinius, who again derived his 

 from Pytheas, It is more probable that Bede heard of Iceland 

 from monks in the British Isles who had been tliere. 



* 1st January, 190G. 



