86 



THE POLAR WORLD, 



THE GIANT-AUK. 



seize tl\e first opportunity for storming the Geirfugl's stronghold. They wait- 

 ed for several months, but in vain, the stormy summer being more than usually 

 unfavorable for their undertaking ; and they were equally unsuccessful in the 

 north, whither they had sent an Icelandic student specially instructed for the 

 purpose. The giant-auk is three feet high, and has a black bill four inches and 

 a quarter long, both mandibles being crossed obliquely with several ridges and 

 furrows. Its wings are mere stumps, like those of the Antarctic penguins. 

 Thirty povmds have been paid for its egg, which is larger than that of any 

 other European bird; and there is no knowing the price the Zoological Society 

 would pay for a live bird, if this truly " rara avis " could still be found. 



The waters of Iceland abound with excellent fish, which not only supply the 

 islanders with a great part of their food and furnish them with one of their 

 chief articles of exportation, but also attract a number of foreign seamen. 

 Thus about 300 French, Dutch, and Belgian fishing-sloops, manned with crews 

 amounting in all to 7000 men, annually make their appearance on the southern 

 and western coasts of Iceland, particularly those of the Guldbringe Syssel, or 

 gold-bringing country : thus named, not from any evidence of the precious 

 metal, but from the golden cod- harvests reaped on its shores. Between thirty 

 and forty English fishing-smacks yearly visit the northern coast. When they 

 have obtained a good cargo they run to Shetland to discharge it, and return 

 again for more. 



The Icelandic fishing-season, which begins in February and ends in June, 

 occupies one-half of the male inhabitants of the island, who come flocking to 

 the west, even from the remotest districts of the north and east, to partake of 

 the rich harvest of the sefls. Many thus travel for more than 200 miles in the 

 midst of winter, while the storm howls over the naked waste, and the pale sun 

 scarcely dispels for a few hours the darkness of the night. In every hut where 

 they tarry on the road they are welcome, and have but rarely to pay for their 



