Letters on Iceland; Containing Observations on the Civil, Literary, Ecclesiastical, and Natural History [&C.]. to Which Are Added the Letters of Dr. I (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: i LETTER III. To Chevalier Ihre. On the phyfical Conjlitution of the Country. Stockholm, June 20, 1773. S I R, THERE is no duty more agreeable to me, than that of obeying your commands, in tranfmitting to you fome account of Iceland, its antiquities, and what elfe relates to it. As I have happily had an occafion of feeing the country myfelf, it may with juftice be required of me, that I fliould willingly communicate to others the informations I have been able to procure; and it would give me peculiar pleafure if they enabled me fatif- factorily to anfwer thofe queftions which you kindly propofed to me. Iceland Iceland is juftly reckoned amongft the largeft iflands in the known world. It is fixty miles in length, and its breadth exceeds forty SwediQi miles. The mofl ufeful among many maps of this country is that which has been made by Meflrs. ErickfTen and Schoon- ning in the year 1771, though it might be further improved. Befleftedr, in the fouthern part of the ijfland, not far from Hafnefiord, lies, according to Horrebow's account of Iceland, in 64 degrees 6 minutes of north latitude, and in 41 degrees of longitude, from the meridian of Stockholm; fb that it is almoft in the latitude of Hernoiandt- The country does not afford a pleaf- ing profpect to the eye of the traveller, though it prefents him with objects worthy of attention in many refpects: for befides innumerable ridges of mountains that crofs it in feveral directions, and fome of which, on About 360 Britifh fea-milcs in length, and about 240 in breadth. f A town in Sweden. C 3 accountaccount of their height, are covered with continual ice and fnow, you only fee barren fields between them, entirely deftitute of wood, and covered with lava for the fpace of many miles. This is cert...