I therefore expected to find Iceland a real Arcadia in regard to its
inhabitants, and rejoiced at the anticipation of seeing such an
Idyllic life realised. I felt so happy when I set foot on the
island that I could have embraced humanity. But I was soon
undeceived.
I have often been impatient at my want of enthusiasm, which must be
great, as I see every thing in a more prosaic form than other
travellers. I do not maintain that my view is RIGHT, but I at least
possess the virtue of describing facts as I see them, and do not
repeat them from the accounts of others.
I have already described the impoliteness and heartlessness of the
so-called higher classes, and soon lost the good opinion I had
formed of them. I now came to the working classes in the vicinity
of Reikjavik. The saying often applied to the Swiss people, "No
money, no Swiss," one may also apply to the Icelanders. And of this
fact I can cite several examples.
Scarcely had they heard that I, a foreigner, had arrived, than they
frequently came to me, and brought quite common objects, such as can
be found any where in Iceland, and expected me to pay dearly for
them. At first I purchased from charity, or to be rid of their
importunities, and threw the things away again; but I was soon
obliged to give this up, as I should else have been besieged from
morning to night.
