TRAVELS IN ICELAND. 



5C> 



similar to those in the preceding district, as to be unworthy of 

 a specific comparison. The inhabitants of this district have not 

 much occasion for amusements to dispel melancholy; nor are 

 they addicted to the drinking of spirits, which prevails amongst 

 all the inhabitants of the coasts. The amusements of the youths 

 are throwing the bar, and wrestling, when they meet on Sundays, 

 or when they are conducting cattle to the field. In former 

 times the higher classes of society amused themselves with such 

 exercises ; but this is no longer the case. At present their 

 greatest recreation is the reading of histories, when they assemble 

 in winter evenings, or when the snow and strong winds prevent 

 them from quitting their houses. These recitations enable 

 them to speak their language with much greater purity, than the 

 inhabitants of the coasts. They, nevertheless, amuse themselves 

 with games at cards, chess, and draughts, and have a peculiar 

 manner of playing that last mentioned; they play it without 

 men, and blindfolded, while reciting an ancient song, during 

 which the spectators observe the most profound silence. 



OE THE PECULIAR INSTINCT OE THE HORSES IN THIS 



DISTRICT. 



In the district of Borgarfiord horses are very numerous, each 

 peasant having ten or twelve, while others possess from twenty 

 to thirty, including those for riding; every man in easy circum- 

 stances having on an average three or four for this purpose 

 amongst his family. These animals are of different sizes; but 

 they generally have large bones, and are admirably adapted for 

 sustaining fatigue. A labouring horse is capable of carrying 

 from 300 — 350 pounds weight; while the more robust will 

 carry four cwt. and upwards, for rive or six miles*. 



It is not possible to find animals with a greater degree of 

 instinct than the horses in Iceland; and of this thev incessantly 

 afford unequivocal proofs : they pass in the darkest nights through 

 deep snows and amidst hurricanes and rains, over the most 

 circuitous paths of the mountains, rocks, and vallies, without 

 making a false step, and this even in parts where there are no 

 paths traced out, and which are covered with snow and ice. 

 When the rider thinks he has gone astray, and knows not whither 

 to turn to the right or left, he need only throw the bridle on the 

 horse's neck and suffer him to take his own course, when he may 



* The editor presumes that the measures and weights expressed in various 

 parts of this work, are calculated upon the standard used in Denmark. 

 4s he possesses no means of ascertaining, with correctness, the compa- 

 rative difference of the Danish and English standard, he shall leave this 

 point to the decision of his scientific readeri; it being in his own opinion, 

 a matter of very little importance, 



