OLAFSEN AND POVELSEN ? S 



substitute, to whom they pay a rix dollar or Danish crown. As 

 soon as the ice is melted, they begin to work their peats, as 

 already mentioned, putting them to dry, and heaping them in 

 small squares. It is then left till autumn, when each person 

 carries home his supply for the year : some of them houging it 

 while others leave it in the open air, with the simple precaution 

 of covering it as a security against rain. 



In spring and summer it is the employment of the women 

 and children to watch and attend upon the cattle, but in winter 

 this task devolves on the men. As soon as the thawed waters 

 have run off, they begin to clear the meadows with forks, or a 

 kind of rake, carrying off the straw and other substances, that 

 have been drifted by the wind, or conveyed by the water, and 

 which would prevent the shooting of the grass. They then lay 

 on a little dry manure, which on the first rainy day they spread 

 over the ground. The peasants of Mosfell-Sweit generally 

 leave to the women all household affairs and attention to the 

 land till autumn, in which interval they are engaged entirely in 

 fishing. Those, however, whose station is at no great distance 

 from their houses, contrive to return every Saturday evening, 

 and go back again every Sunday afternoon. 



OF THE HAY-HARVEST. 



Tins harvest is commenced as soon as the grass has acquired 

 its full height, and most of the plants run to seed, which gene- 

 rally happens about the middle of July ; though in some years 

 the' season is earlier or later, according to the weather. The 

 scythe used by the Icelanders is a Danish ell long by two inches 

 broad ; the blade is fixed by means of a leather string to a handle, 

 from one to three ells long, and forming a right angle with the 

 blade. The Icelanders raise the blade of their scythe to sharpen 

 it much oftener than is customary in most European nations ; 

 and the stones used for this purpose are imported by the Iceland 

 Commercial Company. The workmen, at least once a day, sub- 

 mit the blade to the fire, in order to thin it, when hot, with the 

 hammer. According to the laws already mentioned, a mower, 

 who is not very expert, is supposed to be able to cut about thirty 

 square fathoms per day, provided the ground be flat and level. 

 When the grass is cut, it is the task of the women to make it 

 into hay, and collect it in cocks to dry. If they are surprized by 

 rain in this season, they speedily heap up the hay in small oval stacks, 

 with their ends towards the wind ; these are generally four or five 

 feet high, by one or two in breadth, and eight or ten in length. 

 As soon as the hay is well dried, it is carried home and stacked, 

 ff the farm-houses be not very distant from the meadows, 

 tliey make the hay into large trusses, which are carried home 



