—— a ee oe 
de ee i 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
15 
FASTINATIONS OF ICELAND. 
Former Manchester Teacher Writes of Visit to 
“Land of Heroic Scenery" the last Summer. 
——— 
BY Wi... S. C.e RUSSELL. 
Il 
The Sturdy Icelanders. 
The Icelanders are the direct descend- 
ants of the best blood in Scandinavia in 
the days when Harold, the fairhaired, by 
his tyranny drove from Norway the bar- 
ons and rulers of the petty kingdoms. 
To this day they have maintained their 
independence. Originally a liberty-lov- 
ing race they have fostered the better 
traits of civilization which they crystalized 
into a republican form of government 
centuries ago. The true type is found 
upon the farms. Cladin homespun and 
sheepskin slippers, with beard long, 
heavy and sandy, with hands and face 
sunbrowned, the Icelander is not pre- 
possessing. Modest and timid, he greets 
the stranger with reserve, but this man- 
nerism is superficial. His confidence 
won, he becomes a genial and hospitable 
host. He provides you with his best, 
and does it notso much for the kroners 
you may pay him on taking your depar- 
ture as for his wish to be sincerely hos- 
pitable. 
Descended from generation to genera- 
tion for centuries upon the same farms, 
often separated a half day’s journey from 
his neighbor literally earning his bread 
by the sweat of his brow, one might sup- 
pose the Icelandic farmer to be ignorant. 
This is not the case. He is well versed 
in history, knows the old sagas by heart 
and often speaks a second language. 
Many of them are well versed in the 
Latin authors. Iceland has produced 
some excellent scholars. Her physic- 
ians are well known in Europe. One 
of the greatest authorities on leprosy to- 
day is a quiet, modest native of Reykjavik 
with whom it was my good fortune to 
associate for eight days onshipboard. In 
the remote locality of Hruni I found a 
botantist who has really done some won- 
derful work. He has made himself an 
authority in Europe upon grasses and 
sedges.. I count one of my pleasantest 
evenings in Iceland the one I spent in 
his study, when he showed me a full 
collection of all the Icelandic flowers. 
Imagine my surprise when [| learned that 
his faxen-haired boy of 12 years had col- 
lected and identified most of this col- 
lection while tending the sheep. 
The Icelandic home consists of sev- 
eral stone houses built side by side with 
their gable, inarow. The roofs are sod 
covered. The rear of the houses is us- 
ually a mound which slopes downward 
from the gable. The passage ways and 
kitchens usually have earth or lava floors. 
In the poorer quarters at least one room 
is well finished in wood, painted, furn- 
ished with a bed, a small table and a few 
simple chairs andanorgan. These peo- 
ple are all deeply religious and very fond 
of church music. 
Since the introduction of corrugated 
sheet iron the hayricks and the fronts of 
the dwellings are frequently covered with 
it. Doubtless this is better economy for 
the farmer but it detracts from the pic- 
turesqueness which has been characteris- 
tic of Icelandic homes for a thousand 
years. [he buildings and a spacious 
garden are always enclosed with a wall 
of turf and lava blocks. Our New Eng- 
land farmers should go to Iceland and 
learn howto build stone walls. They 
surely have the material and the Iceland- 
er can show him how to build it to stand 
500 years and be a thing of beauty and 
utility when completed. They are built 
with alternate layers of lava slabs and 
turfed and the whole is then turfed over. 
Within these enclosures we saw better 
patches of potatoes, turnips and rhubarb 
than it is possible to find in New Eng- 
land. These fences frequently enclose 
all the mowing land. A description of 
the process of haymaking in Iceland 
would be of great interest but it would 
require a special paper for an apprecia- 
tive description. 
Once and for all let me state that 
there are no Eskimos in Iceland. It 
should also be understood that the cli- 
mate is much less severe than in Spring- 
field. [he mean temperature for the 
four summer months is 39 Fahrenheit 
and it sometimes rises to 77 Fahrenheit. 
In the winter the temperature is more 
often above freezing than below. 
An Overland Journey. 
With a train of eight ponies and a 
guide who spoke a little English, Mrs. 
Russell and I left Reykjavik for a ride of 
400 miles, visiting Thingvellir, Geysir, 
Hruni, Mt. Hecla, Eyrabakki, Krusivik 
and Hafnarfjordr. During our journey 
we “‘passed through many rough and 
rugged’’ portions of the county, fording 
glacial torrents, crossing range after 
range of volcanic craters, skirting lakes 
fed by boiling springs, exploring many 
acres of hot solfataras, winding a tor- 
tuous passage over miles of naked and 
horrent lava, passing our leisure hours in 
the homes of the cordial Icelandic farm- 
ers. [he trail from Reykjavik winds 
over a range of hills amidst which nestle 
several small lakes. The backward 
view from the summit embraces the 
multicolored mountain chain of Esja, the 
broad purple waters of Faxajordr out of 
which rises Snaefells Jokull, a pyramid 
of ice 6000 feet in altitude. 
Descending the slope to the north the 
trail leads for several hours across the 
moss-fell heath. This is a lonesorne, 
stony lichen-covered waste, where thcus- 
ands of curlew, plover and ptarmi 
wheel about or run rapidly over 
ground, making the air vibrant with t 
cries. What a paradise for the sports- 
man! This monotonous ride is enliv- 
ened by the snow capped mountains on 
either side and by contrast enhances the 
enchantment of the wonderful landscape 
which bursts unexpectedly upon the 
vision. 
The largest of Icelandic lakes, Thing- 
vallavath, is spread like a mirror below the 
bluffs. Its 40 square miles lying between 
scenic, basaltic headlands and broken by 
two islands,—small volcanic craters— 
we saw it at its best. A long band of 
cumulous clouds lay athwart the moun- 
tain range while clouds and banded cone 
lived doubly in the emerald green. 
While gazing upon this wonderous 
scene our ponies came to a sudden halt 
and we beheld at our feet the far famed 
Almannagja, or All-Men’s-Rift, so 
named because the plain below, Thing- 
vellir, was the meeting place of the Al- 
thing from the settlement of the island 
till 1800. 
Curious Thingvellir Plain and the New Geyser 
Thingvellir plain is a most remarkable 
geological formation. It is tour miles 
square bordered onthe south by the lake, 
on the north by a precipitous mountain, 
on the west by Almannagja, on the east 
by Hrafnagja, or Raven’s Rift. Insome 
remote volcanic eruption the lava beneath 
was forced out, leaving a cavern of 16 
square miles. Subsequent earthquake 
faulted the entire region, which dropped 
an average of 200 feet. The two paral- 
lel rifts are fissures extending in places 
300 feet below the level of the plain. 
These rifts are partly filled with water 
and owing to the placidity of the surface 
and the great depth of the water, the 
chasms seem to be paved with polished 
malachite. Over the central part of 
All-Men’s-Rift plunges the curved, un- 
broken sheet of the Oxara (falls). Near 
the center of the sunken plain is another 
rift which encloses a long narrow island 
of tabula lava, the Logberg, Law-Rock, 
where new laws were promulgated and 
judgment pronounced. 
Thingvellir plain, the result of a 
mighty cataclysm, is the Mecca .of Ice- 
land. ‘The sagas are replete with the 
centuries of strife and peace, the culmin- 
ating action of which centered here. It 
was here that Gunaar built his booth and 
and Snorri penned his eddas. Here the 
Burners of Njal met in mortal combat 
while the rival factions stood upon the 
cliffs and cheered on their partisans. 
Now all is peace. The historic blood- 
stone is carpeted with richly tinted Arctic 
flowers. ‘Thingvallavatn throws back its 
witching smile as in days of yore and the 
cry of the curlew is the only sound to 
wake the echoes of these mighty chasms. 
(From the Springfield Republican. ) 
To be continued next week. 
Vses 7 When you write a 
Mifice Stationery. busin pa letter. 
rite if on a neatly printed letter head; thit 
3 the kind we furnish. We can furnish you 
with printing, paper, envelopes, etc., at low 
prices.—Tum Bruxze Orvion. 
