JOURNEY TO BORGAFIORD. 
207 
he had made from Petersburg to China. By 
birth he was a German, but could talk English 
and Danish, and, besides acting as interpreter, he 
was of considerable use to me as a butcher, as also 
in cooking, and occasionally in washing for me*. 
I certainly experienced great inconvenience from 
my ignorance of the Icelandic language, as, except 
in a very few instances, I could only obtain in¬ 
formation from the natives, through the medium 
of two interpreters; my question being put in 
English to Jacob, who translated it into Danish 
to my Reikevig guide, and he, again, in Ice¬ 
landic, made it intelligible to the person I wished 
to address. The answer, also, was necessarily 
returned by the same circuitous way. It was 
half past six in the evening, before Jacob and 
myself set out, when we travelled as fast as the 
roads, which are better in the immediate vicinity 
* These few remarks, which I have thought due to the 
short but faithful services of this man, were scarcely written 
down (July, 1810), when I received from Mr. Phelps the 
unwelcome intelligence, that he was no more. A vessel from 
Iceland brought the information, that he, together with 
another of the crew, who after the loss of the Margaret and 
Anne, had remained at Reikevig, and married and settled 
there, had gone out one day to sea on a shooting excursion 
with Mr. Savigniac, when the boat was unfortunately over¬ 
turned, and the two sailors perished. The body of poor 
Jacob was thrown on shore the next morning, but that of 
his companion had not been found. 
