106 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



slops and offal of diverse unctuous kinds. Smoke fills all the cavities in the air 

 not already occupied by foul odors, and the beams, and posts, and rickety old 

 bits of furniture are dyed to the core with the dense and variegated atmosphere 

 around them. This is a fair .specimen of the whole estabhshment, with the ex- 

 ception of the travellers' room. The beds in these cabins are the chief arti- 

 cles of luxury." 



The poverty of the clergy corresponds with the meanness of their churches. 

 The best living in the island is that of Breide'-Bolstadr, where the nominal 

 stipend amounts to 180 specie dollars, or about £40 a year; and Mr. Hol- 

 land states that the average livings do not amount to more than £10 for each 

 parish in the island. The clergymen must therefore depend almost entirely 

 for subsistence on their glebe land, and a small pittance to which they are 

 entitled for the few baptisms, marriages, and funerals that occur among their 

 parishioners. The bishop himself has only 2000 rix-dollars, or £200, a year, 

 a miserable pittance to make a decent appearance, and to exercise hospitality 

 to the clergy who visit Reykjavik from distant parts. 



It can not be wondered at that pastors thus miserably paid are generally 

 obliged to perform the hardest work of day laborers to preserve their families 

 from starving, and that their external appearance corresponds less with the dig- 

 nity of their office than Avith their penury. Besides hay-making and tending the 

 cattle, they may be frequently seen leading a train of pack-horses from a fishing- 

 station to their distant hut. They are all blacksmiths also from necessity, and 

 the best shoers of horses on the island. The feet of an Iceland horse would be 

 cut to pieces over the sharp rock and lava, if not well shod. The great resort 

 of the peasantry is the church ; and should any of the numerous horses have lost 

 a shoe, or be likely to do so, the priest puts on his apron, lights his little char- 

 coal fire in his smithy (one of which is always attached to every parsonage), 

 and sets the animal on his legs again. The task of getting the necessary char- 



THE pastor's house, THINGVALLA. 



