HEIDERBAG. 
79 
furnish, and, indeed, there would not have been 
room for more, so completely was the place lum¬ 
bered up with old chests, old clothes, &c. What 
little provision there was in the house was most 
willingly offered, and it was with difficulty I 
could prevent him from killing a lamb, to enter¬ 
tain us better. This man had been secretary to 
the Stif 'tsamptman, who had procured for him 
the curacy of Thingevalle, (there being no church 
at Heiderbag), which would be the means of his 
ultimately obtaining a more lucrative situation. 
At present, his income is extremely narrow, 
being only six rix dollars a quarter (twenty-four 
shillings) from government, but the marriage 
and burial fees amount to something more; the 
former ceremony, I think, is performed for two 
marks; in addition to that, he has a house to 
live in free of expence, and some glebe, which 
enables him to keep five cows, and twenty-eight 
sheep. Three miserable cottages, also, stand 
upon his glebe, for one of which he receives 
four dollars, for another three, and for a third 
two dollars per annum. The chief employment 
of the female part of his family, besides knitting, 
is making butter, skiur, and sour whey, which 
constitute almost their only food. In the winter, 
if the weather is very severe, the priest is obliged 
to kill some of his cows and sheep, for want of a 
sufficient quantity of hay, and in such cases, only. 
