32 
REIKEVIG. 
Friday, Another day of rain kept me almost 
June 23 . en |.j re jy confined to the town. In the 
morning, accompanied by Mr. Jorgensen, I made 
a visit to the Bishop Videlinus. He has a good 
library; indeed, very much better than I expected 
to have seen in Iceland : it appeared to contain 
five or six hundred volumes, among which are 
several Dutch editions of the Classics, a perfect, 
but uncolored, copy of the Flora Danica , and a 
fine folio edition of an Icelandic Bible, printed 
in the island, in 1584, which has a curious and 
well-executed frontispiece, cut in wood, by the 
hands of Bishop Guthrandr Thorlaksen, without 
any other instrument than a penknife : the same 
person, also, set the letter-press. Bishop Vide¬ 
linus has, besides, a very beautiful Icelandic ma¬ 
nuscript, written in the year 1525, in defence of 
the Christian religion. Till within a few years, 
the residence of the bishops (for there were two) 
was at Skalholt, but it was found more convenient 
to have the see removed to the principal place of 
resort and traffic, so that the clergy have now 
the opportunity of transacting business with the 
bishop and the merchant at the same time. 
When they come, they take up their abode with 
the bishop, who, on this account, can hardly 
live upon his salary of fifteen hundred dollars a 
year, which is all that is allowed him by the 
