TRAVELS IN ICELAND. 



113 



Ibut the Greenland fishermen do not search after them, because they 

 contain less fat, and have none at all in the belly. To this class 

 also belong the Balana maxima ventre plic.ato of naturalists, 

 and the Muscidus of Linnaeus ; which are driven to the coast of 

 Iceland from the sea, when the intrepid mariners of the western 

 quarter attack them in the gulphs at a great personal risk. The 

 other kinds are Balccna media, ventre plicato, pinna brevi 

 acuta in medio dorso; Bal&na minima , rostro longissimo et 

 acutisshno ; Delphinus, (minimus), ventre protracto ; and Del" 

 phinus (maximus) pinna in medio dorso majori acuminata. 



There is a species of whale at which the Icelanders are much 

 alarmed on its approaching their coast : they call it the Illhvele, 

 or ill-disposed whale ; and assert that this species is so vora- 

 cious, that it takes whole boats with their crews into its 

 mouth, destroys the vessels, and swallow's the men alive. These 

 whales are said to be so greedy after human flesh, that when they 

 have caught a man in any particular spot, they will wait there a 

 whole year in the hope of devouring another. Hence the fisher- 

 men take great precaution to avoid those parts in which they 

 recognise this species, and do not return to them. The greater 

 number of those met with in the open sea, belong to that just 

 described; and the ancient laws of Iceland, particularly the eccle- 

 siastical laws, forbid the eating of them : the species appears to be 

 the Unicornu marinum. This fish is seldom seen near 

 Iceland, but its valuable horn is often found on the coast. The 

 *' Speculum Regale/' p. 130, asserts, that it avoids man. 



CURIOUS ANECDOTES OF BIRDS* 



Our travellers paid very minute attention to the different spe* 

 cies of birds found in this part of Iceland : because the gulphs and 

 creeks abounded in a variety of water-fowl ; the hunting of which, 

 as has been already stated, forms a principal branch of the em- 

 ployment of the inhabitants. Among the species most nume- 

 rous are the tribe of geese, ducks, and pelicans ; all of which have 

 been previously described. The mountains are inhabited by va- 

 rious species of the Alea ; and the Icelanders, in their endeavours 

 to catch them, often forfeit their lives. Sometimes they go in 

 companies of two or three together, and assist each other in 

 climbing to the summits of the mountains, whence they fre- 

 quently fall and are dashed to pieces ; while others proceed along 

 he base of a mountain which is washed by the sea, till they 

 are overtaken by the tide. It is inconceivable to a stranger how 

 these men can find the way back : indeed they often take the pre- 

 caution of travelling by the aid of a line from thirty to forty 

 fathoms and upwards in length. When two go together, and gain a 

 .mountainous height, one holds the line at the top, while the other 



olafsen.] p 



