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.