TRAVELS IN ICEiAND. 



59 



Mr. Anderson has asserted the contrary. The only domestic 

 birds here, are a few hens, as the scarcity of grain will not 

 allow them their maintenance. 



SWANS. 



The environs of the gulf of Borgar are filled with swans, 

 which resort thither on account of the numerous marshes. They 

 collect and remain in a space of the country from eight to ten 

 miles long, and three or four broad, consisting mostly of swampy 

 spots and lakes of fresh water. Here in August they shed their 

 plumage, and the inhabitants take great pains to collect the fea- 

 thers, and catch the swans ; young as well as old people availing 

 themselves of the time when they cannot fly. In spring also, 

 when they begin to lay, the inhabitants collect the eggs. On 

 hunting the swan, they repair on horseback, but on this occasion, 

 they make use of strong horses, and such as are not skittish ; they 

 also bring dogs, which have been taught to seize the swans by the 

 neck, which deprives them of their courage and strength. When 

 they first arrive, they find the swans with their young in the field, 

 which, on perceiving the hunters, immediately take to the water, 

 and on this occasion, it is ascertained, that the bird runs nearly as 

 fast as the most active horse. Having had ocular demonstration 

 of what we assert, we were surprized at the account which Hill 

 gives of the swan in his history of animals, by stating it to have 

 a heavy gait, on account of the conformation of its feet. But 

 the same may be said of all the duck species, while a little re- 

 flection will convince us, it is in this kind of progression that 

 nature exhibits the greatest perfection in her works, and that 

 she has no occasion like man, to act according to fixed rules; 

 but that she can deviate from them, and adopt others at her 

 pleasure. We have ourselves often seen a species of duck run 

 with- great celerity in the field; even when young, when the 

 rapidity of their motion is such, that it is impossible to remark 

 any changes or movements of their limbs. The hunting of swans 

 is not only advantageous to the Icelanders, on account of the 

 feathers that they sell to foreign traders, but they also have the 

 down and the carcase, which bring a good revenue ; they eat the 

 flesh, though tough and hard, and skin the feet in such a way, that 

 the nails remain after the skin is taken off, which, when dried, re- 

 sembles shagreen, and is made into purses and other trivial articles. 



The birds of this district are, with scarcely any exception, 

 the same as those in the southern. We met with a peculiar 

 kind of pelican, which appears to be the fourth species men- 

 tioned by Linneus, # or the sixth species, which Bassan calls the 



* Pelicamis cinereo- alius, cauda cuneiformi) rostro serratrat, remigibus 

 primoribus apice 7iigris. 



H 2 



