he
fish to the sea is thus cut off. When the day arrives on which the
salmon are to be caught, a net is spread behind each of these walls.
Three or four such dams are erected at intervals, of from eighty to a
hundred paces, so that even if the fishes escape one barrier, they are
generally caught at the next. The water is now made to run off as much
as possible; the poor salmon dart to and fro, becoming every moment more
and more aware of the sinking of the water, and crowd to the weirs,
cutting themselves by contact with the sharp stones of which they are
built. This is the deepest part of the water; and it is soon so thronged
with fish, that men, stationed in readiness, can seize them in their
hands and fling them ashore.

The salmon possess remarkable swiftness and strength. The fisherman is
obliged to take them quickly by the head and tail, and to throw them
ashore, when they are immediately caught by other men, who fling them
still farther from the water. If this is not done with great quickness
and care, many of the fishes escape. It is wonderful how these creatures
can struggle themselves free, and leap into the air. The fishermen are
obliged to wear woollen mittens, or they would be quite unable to hold
the smooth salmon. At every day's fishing, from five hundred to a
thousand fish are taken, each weighing from five to fifteen pounds. On
the day when I was present eight hundred were killed. This salmon-stream
is farmed by a merchant of Reikjavik.

The fishermen receive very liberal pay,--in fact, one-half of the fish
taken. And yet they are dissatisfied, and show so little gratitude, as
seldom to finish their work properly. So, for instance, they only
brought the share of the merchant to the harbour of Reikjavik, and were
far too lazy to carry the salmon from the boat to the warehouse, a
distance certainly not more than sixty or seventy paces from the shore.
They sent a message to their employer, bidding him "send some fresh
hands, for they were much too tired." Of course, in a case like this,
all remonstrance is unavailing.

As in the rest of the world, so also in Iceland, every occasion that
offers is seized upon for a feast or a merry-making. The day on which I
witnessed the salmon-fishing happened to be one of the few fine days that
occur during a summer in Iceland. It was therefore unanimously concluded
by several merchants, that the day and the salmon-fishing should be
celebrated by a _dej