Harry Johnston

Iceland, though it lies so far to the north that it is partly within the Arctic Circle, is, like Norway, Scotland, and Ireland, affected by the Gulf Stream, so that considerable portions of it are quite habitable.

In our land the educated poor, who at the most can only cycle or take short railway journeys into the country from an adjoining town, are fast losing their rightful heritage — the beauty of the country-side, which is rapidly disappearing …

It is the first rational exposition of the relations of mankind to the mystery which shrouds the how and wherefore of man's existence, the first honest protest against our long, long martyrdom.