in Iceland respecting the Gare-fowl. 381 
dition ; and in 1639 * four large boats (three from SuiSrnes, the 
district between Skagen and Osar, and one from Grindavik) pro¬ 
ceeded thither; two of which, those from Stafnes and Mars- 
buI5um, were lost at the skerry, while the other two, from 
Hvalsnes and Stabr, only returned with difficulty. It might 
have been some such disaster as this that prompted a metrical 
effusion composed by Sera Hallkiell Stephansson, the clergyman 
of Hvalsnes, who flourished between 1655 and 1697, of which it 
is feared only two lines have been preserved to posterity. In 
these the poet says that he has never trusted himself to Geir- 
fuglasker, as, on account of the surf, boats were broken by the 
waves there. In 1694, a French vessel was wrecked on the 
island, but the crew landed in their boats at MrSnes. 
Soon after our arrival at Reykjavik, we were pleased to learn 
that the public library there contained a short but beautifully 
written manuscript account of the Reykjanes Geirfuglasker. For 
a knowledge of its existence we were indebted to the kindness of 
Professor Konrad Maurer of Munich, well known as one of the 
most distinguished Icelandic scholars, and the pleasure of whose 
company we enjoyed during our voyage to the North, and part of 
our residence in the capital. The liberality also of the librarian 
in allowing us the free use of, and permission to copy, this 
curious document, must not pass unnoticed here. From the 
penmanship and the paper on which it is written, it is believed 
by good judges whom we consulted to be probably a copy. From 
internal evidence, which need not now be detailed, I venture to 
express my opinion that the original must have been composed 
within a few years of 1760. It commences abruptly by giving a 
somewhat minute description of the rock and its unquestionably 
volcanic origin; making, however, no reference to its neighbouring 
islands. It then proceeds to relate the marvellous numbers of 
birds found upon the rock, adding that the “ Gare-fowl is there 
not nearly so much as men supposethat the space he occupies 
* There is an apparent misprint of “ 1439 ” for the above date in Pro¬ 
fessor Steenstrup’s reference to this event ( l. c. p. 83, note). The parti¬ 
culars mentioned in the text were supplied to us by Sera S. B. Sivertsen, the 
clergyman at Utskala, to whom we were indebted for many similar acts of 
kindness. 
