OLAFSEN AND POVELSEn's 



This subject has been already noticed,, when speaking of cutting 

 the grass for hay : in like manner, a man employed in cutting turf, 

 ought to cut and stack, in the course of his day, ?00 green turfs, 

 with an assistant, who piles them up accordingly ; or 900 other 

 turfs without such aid. A girl is required, in her day's labour, to 

 collect and dry the hay which has been cut by three men ; and in 

 winter, when she is employed in weaving, she is obliged to furnish 

 weekly either 0,5 ells, or 5 ells per day, of Vadmel, a coarse 

 woollen stuff, with which most of their clothes are made. A 

 man must exert all his strength^ in order to accomplish the task 

 imposed on him for his daily labour. Wages are very moderate ; 

 though somewhat higher, in the southern part, as they have 

 not been fixed there by the laws of the country. A do-< 

 mestic, who is a good labourer, gains annually no more than 

 four rix-dollars; and a female-servant only half" that sum, 

 A day-labourer, who hires himself to a farmer for the harvest, 

 gets 8 rix-dollars ; and, if he is employed throughout the sum- 

 mer in these laborious tasks, he earns ten fish, or a mark of 

 the Empire, equivalent to about 10 schillings per day. Several 

 years have elapsed since this last assize has been followed in the 

 southern part of Iceland : and all the ancient and modern regular 

 tions on this subject prove that the Icelanders think it contrary to 

 the public good, and disadvantageous to every individual, to fix 

 too high the value of a day's labour. Various acts of the go- 

 vernment have enacted that the wages of a stout hearty youth, 

 obliged to do all the work of husbandry, whether abroad or at 

 home, shall (exclusive of board) be 8 ells of Vadmel, and 

 ten oere, or two rix dollars ; together making somewhat 

 more than three rix-dollars. If, however, a man-servant pos-? 

 sess any other talents, for instance, those of making household 

 utensils, whether of wood or iron, he shall be allowed twelve 

 ells of vadmel, and four rix-dollars in money. The wages of a 

 good house-maid, capable of undertaking every thing connected 

 with the family, and who is also skilled in working wool, are fixed 

 at 5 ells of vadmel, and the remainder in money ; amounting in 

 the whole to two rix-dollars annually. 



It was formerly the practice for an opulent countryman, who 

 was not a vassal, always to reward the long and faithful service* 

 of a man or woman whom he had hired, by giving them at 

 their marriage, furniture, utensils, and a sufficient quantity of 

 tools to enable them to begin the world. A cow and some, 

 sheep, or at least a calf and some lambs, w ere sometimes added. 

 This hope of reward was a great encouragement to industry 

 and fidelity ; but that practice has gradually fallen into disuse j 

 and in the l6th century it had nearly become obsolete. 



