INTRODUCTION. 
yiii 
too small a scale to give an adequate idea of the 
originals, which would do honor to a large and 
copious history of Iceland, but parvum parva 
decent , and they are well suited both to the size 
and pretensions of the book they are designed to 
illustrate. 
The reception I met with from the merchants 
and owners of the vessel in which I sailed, Messrs. 
Phelps, Troward, and Bracebridge, and the as¬ 
sistance I derived from them, demand my most 
sincere thanks. The readiness with which the 
former of these gentlemen, in particular, whose 
society I enjoyed during the voyage, entered into 
all my views, and the willingness with which he 
supplied me with every thing that could afford 
me accommodation or further the object of my 
pursuits, have left a lasting impression of gra¬ 
titude upon my mind. 
Neither can I suffer to pass in silence the ci¬ 
vility of Sir George Mackenzie in collecting plants 
for me in his late excursion to Iceland ; nor the 
attention shown me by Doctor Wright of Edin¬ 
burgh. Though a stranger to him, till my arrival 
at that city on my return from Iceland, he par¬ 
ticipated feelingly in my misfortunes, and begged 
me to make any use I pleased of the subjects of 
natural history in his possession, which had been 
collected in Iceland by his nephew, the late 
