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662 VON TROIL’S LETTERS ON ICELAND.
_At their return all the fith are brought afhore, and divided into equal fhares: one
fhare belongs to the owner of the boat, though he fhould not be out at fea with them,
and this is called /ipleiga (fhipfhire) ; another is given to him who fat at the helm; a
third to him who governed the fails ; in a word, every fifher gets a fhare. But this
equal divifion is only made with the fmaller fifth; for if any one in the boat is fo fortu-
nate as to catch a turbot or other valuable fifh, it is immediately cut into pieces, and the
three beft given to him who caught it.
As {oon as they have thus fhared them, every one cuts off the heads of his fifth, draws
them, and after cutting them up from top to bottom on the fide of the belly, takes out
the back-bone from that part where it is fixed to the head, down to the third joint below
the heart. Ifthe weather be fuch as to give them. hopes of drying their fifh next day,
they lay them with the flefhy fide facing one another ; but if the weather is unfavour-
able, they lay;the pieces on a heap with the fkinny fide uppermoft, and this they call Jagga
i kafe; it they lie too long in this pofition (one above another) they fpoil, and are then
fold to the merchants at a lower price, under the denomination of ka/ad fifk. When the
weather is fair, thefe pieces are {pread feparately on ftones, or on the fhore, and are
frequently turned by the women, till they are entirely dry; this often requires a fort-
night’s time, and fometimes more. The fifh prepared in this manner are called flat-
jyeur (flat-fifh).
In fome parts they do not dry the fifh on ftones or on the fhore; but after they have
ripped them up, place them in rows on ftones which are laid crofs-wife in a houfe built
for that purpofe; thefe huts are called Aia/lur in Iceland, and fomewhat refemble the
fheds in which fmiths fhoe horfes. Thefe fifh are called engi-ffhur, or hung-fith.
The fith they principally catch is cod, of which they have feveral different forts, under
the names of thyr/h-liugur, upfe, ifk, langr, kerla, &c. &c. Befides thefe they have foles,
flounders, herrings, falmon, falmon-trout, trouts, and feveral others. Of the trouts it
has been obferved, that when they come up the rivers and brooks, and approach the
hot {prings, they are fond of ftaying in the lukewarm water, where they grow fo fat as
to be fcarcely eatable.
It is unneceflary to fay that the feas, as well as the rivers and lakes, abound with fifh :
I will therefore only mention the whale, of which there are feveral forts, divided by the
natives into two claffes, thofe with and thofe without tufks.
The firft are again divided into /ridis hur, {mooth-bellied, and reydar fur, or wrinkle-
bellied. Among the /fidis f/hur, who have whale-bone inftead of teeth, the /lettbakr,
whofe back is flat, is the largeft; and fome have been caught one hundred yards in
length. The nwfubakr has a hump on his back, and is next in fize, being from feventy
to eighty yards long. Of all the known whales, the /eipereidur, which belongs to the
clafs of the reydar fi/fhur, is thought to be the largeft, as there are fome one hundred and
twenty yards in length. Then follow the hrafn reydur and the andarnefia; they are
all confidered as very dainty food ; and the Icelanders fay, the flefh has the tafte of beef.
The whales which have teeth inftead of whalebone, are alfo divided into two clafles,
thofe thatare eatable and thofe that are not. To the firft clafs belong the Anyfen, bny-
dingur, hundfifkur, and haahyrningur : to the laft, to which the name of il/whale (bad
whales) is given, are reckoned the rodkammingur and naabvalur. ’Thefe are forbidden
as food by fome ancient regulations, and particularly by the church laws. The Ice-
landers believe that the firft fort are very fond of human flefh, and therefore avoid fifh-
ing in fuch places where they appear.
The other kinds of whales are fometimes ftruck with harpoons, and fometimes caught
with nets. ‘The Icelanders, however, feldom venture to attack the larger ones, as their
st boats
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