d Iceland
moss. When well cooked, the last named is quite palatable. It is also a
sovereign remedy for bronchial ailments.

Notwithstanding their many privations, the people are loyal to their
country and lovingly call it "The Maid of the North." They lead pastoral
lives and their customs are much like those of the Homeric age.
Story-telling is much appreciated by all classes. There are wandering
minstrels who gain their livelihood by going from house to house to
recite the stories in prose and poetry which they have learned by heart.
Spindle and distaff are used in spinning the wool into yarn, which is
then knit or woven into cloth on a hand loom.

Education is universal, and no child of twelve years can be found who is
unable to read or write. The families are so isolated that there are few
schools outside of the capital; but the parents diligently teach their
children whatever they themselves have learned.

During the long winter evenings one member of the family reads aloud
while the others are busily at work, the men making nets and ropes, or
removing the wool from the sheepskins, the women embroidering, sewing,
or using spindle and distaff.

In no other country of Europe are so many books and papers published in
proportion to the population as in Iceland. On the average one hundred
books are issued annually from Icelandic presses. Several excellent
newspapers and periodicals are also published.

Every Icelander to-day knows perfectly the sagas, the legendary stories
that commemorate heroes and heroic deeds and which are so dear to his
heart. It is not uncommon to find an Icelander who is well versed in the
ancient classics or one who can speak several languages. They are well
acquainted with the writings of Milton and Shakespeare, which have been
translated into their own language. During the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries Iceland produced a literature equal to that of any other
nation in Europe within the same period.

CHAPTER XIV

GREENLAND

The history of Greenland really begins about the year 986 A. D., when
Eric the Red, a chieftain who had been banished from Iceland, landed on
the island with some of his followers and made it his permanent
residence. At different times these hardy and daring seamen made
expeditions to the eastern coast of North America, and sailed as far
south as Chesapeake Bay. They attempted to found a colony on the east
coast at a point thought to be on the coast of Ne