54 



OLAFSEN* AND POVELSEVS 



be certain that be will bring him to his residence, but parti- 

 cularly if it be an old horse accustomed to travel. The peasants 

 are superstitious enough to believe that their horses can see, in 

 the dark, spectres and evil spirits ; and the reason of this absurd 

 idea is, because these animals when travelling in the dark, often 

 shew little caprices, such as stopping short when in full gallop, 

 rearing, and refuting to go forward even in spite of the whip. 

 Vk hen it is necessary to pass marshes or other dangerous places, 

 they advance with ail possible prudence, and some are so active, 

 that they will leap over parts with their rider or burden, in which 

 others will sink, that it requires the greatest difficulty to get them 

 out. On arriving near a swampy place which they are obliged 

 to cross, they first stop, and smell the ground, as if they would 

 sound its depth; after which they either venture on it, or turn 

 back: in the latter case no chastisement will force them to go 

 forward ; and if by chance one of them should be compelled to 

 enter the swamp, it may be relied on that he will sink in. 

 When this happens to a horse, he loses his courage for the 

 remainder of the journey, and darts into all the marshes that 

 he meets with, notwithstanding others that may have gone before 

 him, leave the traces of their route and pass without difficulty. 

 We have ourselves had experience how 7 disagreeable and weari- 

 some these roads are, from the number of swamps and marshes 

 they contain ; and we should not make a proper conclusion, if 

 we did not relate some of the w onders which the ancient in- 

 habitants have transmitted relative to the instinct of their horses. 

 It is said, that some of them will swim over the largest rivers, 

 either with their rider or a very heavy burden; though they 

 admit, that they do not try such experiments, except on the 

 most pressing exigencies. They also add, that their horses have 

 been known to pass in mild weather over the gulphs of sea- 

 water, which are upwards of a mile wide, and to rest at intervals 

 on the shore. It is certain and well known, that the horse swims 

 well ; but we never saw any that crossed a river with such ease 

 as those of the eastern part of the country. Some of these horses 

 sell for four rix dollars, and others for as much as eight or ten; 

 but the last price is seldom given. 



In the district of Borgarriord, the meanest peasant has six or 

 eight cows, as well as a bull and some oxen. They castrate 

 the calves, when they are eight days old; while such bulls, as 

 they intend to convert into oxen, do not undergo the operation 

 till after three years, at w hich period they run the risk of pe- 

 rishing; and the former are much more adapted to fattening 

 than the latter, though they are smaller and not so strong. In 

 summer the inhabitants of this district turn out their cattle to 

 the pasture in the open country, where they become very wild. 



