I was armed with magisterial authority to procure all I needed; provided I made arrangements with the farmers in the different districts I visited, and paid them for permission to get specimens on their ground. I was led to understand distinctly that the land belonged to the farmers, and whatever that land produced was their property. There is practically no unclaimed land in the North of Iceland. My trusty guide and interpreter—he is one of the best guides in Iceland—who I had engaged for the whole length of my stay, used this magisterial permit—and perhaps amplified it—with such success wherever we went, that I was almost everywhere received with the greatest kindness and respect, the people certainly trying their very utmost to assist me in procuring all I needed; and in the more remote districts no small potentate could have expected greater consideration than was accorded to me. I have said almost everywhere; there was one solitary exception, and this at the time—and the point farthest north which I had reached—when I was becoming utterly worn out with hard work, and during the last and most disastrous journey I made, which so disheartened me that I determined to bring my wanderings in Iceland to a close.
The plan I adopted was to have a base of operations in the different districts, and make journeys in different directions from that base; none of these journeys exceeded three days in duration, but it was at such times that I occasionally felt the need of a tent and proper provisions.
The land was to me a veritable paradise, teeming with birdlife almost everywhere; the birds appearing in such a manner that it was easy to observe their habits. It is so different with our wild and wary creatures at home.
Somewhere about sixty-six species came under my observation either directly or indirectly, and to the bulk of them I shall have to refer in the briefest possible manner, enlarging only in the more important cases. To refer to all the interesting traits of character I studied would need a volume of 'The Zoologist' instead of a few pages. I consider that I accomplished more useful work in the few weeks I spent in the land than I could have done in many years at home.
Although great fields of snow can be seen on the mountains everywhere, the climate in the valleys is mild and delightful;
