TRAVELS IN ICELAND, 



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by men ; otherwise they are conveyed by horses, each of which 

 bears two similar bundles, one slung on each side : There is 

 an ancient assize ; according to which a kapall of good well- 

 dried hay costs 20 lispfound, 20 &ln, or one Danish crown, 

 in spring a kapall of hay fetches thrice the sum it costs imme- 

 diately after the hay-harvest : the reason why these two bundles 

 of hay do not yield much is, because the hay has neither fer- 

 mented nor been pressed. For a kapall of hay, weighing about 190 

 lb. there are paid in summer 8, and in spring 16 lispfound. 

 When hay is scarce, the price increases accordingly ; and even 40 

 lispfound are paid for €0u0 weight of hay. In prosperous years, 

 it is calculated that the quantity of fodder, requisite to support 

 a cow, amounts to 10 ozre, or two Danish rix-dollars. After 

 the hay is thrown up into heaps, trodden, covered, and laden 

 with stones, in order to press it down, the Iceland pea- 

 sants measure their stock by the fathom, and calculate accord- 

 ingly the number of cows for which they have provender. They 

 reckon in general one square fathom for a cow ; varying the cal-^ 

 dilation, however, according to the quality of the hay and the 

 size of the cattle ; and in some districts upwards of a fathom is al- 

 lotted to each cow. The hay, collected on the downs and rich 

 soils, is termed tada ; and that obtained from meadows and marshes 

 is denominated outhey or field-hay. The last sort is excellent for 

 horses and sheep ; while a mixture of the tada with a little of 

 the outhey is preferred for milch kine. The harvest does not 

 finish till September. There are stated periods in the Iceland 

 Calendar, for its commencement and termination : it is there said 

 that it should not begin till the 13th, and at latest on the 20th, 

 of July ; and that it ought to be concluded by Michaelmas or 

 the end of September. The duration of the harvest is di- 

 vided into two periods, the first of which finishes some days after 

 the feast of St. John the Baptist. 



The chief autumnal business of the countryman is, to collect 

 the sheep that abound on the hills, when he selects such as 

 are to be killed for the supply of his family. His next occupa- 

 tion is to procure turfs to cover his house and shelter ium from 

 the raiil and snow of winter. These turfs are different from 

 those which the Icelanders employ for fuel : on each side of a 

 packsaddle they place a kind of barrows, of a peculiar shape, on 

 which they load their building-turfs ; each of which are nine feet 

 in length by three in breadth, The other autumnal labours are, 

 to build their houses and repair such as require reparation ; to get 

 in their turf for fuel ; and manure the downs, after the gru^ lias 

 been made into hay. 



There is a regulation, fixing the task which a stout lad ought 

 to perforin in one day^ according to the nature of his work, 



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