Kári

Excerpt from the book: By fell and fjord or Scenes and studies in Iceland by Elizabeth Jane Oswald, 1882

On my return to Reykjavik I was invited by Dr and Mrs Tomsen to dine and sleep at Besserstad, eight miles off. Dr. Grimur Tomsen has retired from political life to his hay-fields, but still keeps up an interest in courts and camps. He is the delightful host of an old grey stone house, which stands on meadow-land edged by dark lava, close by the sea, commanding a fine view of the mountain promontory which runs out seawards till the blue hills melt in the distance, Snæfell Jokull rising beyond— an aerial peak suspended above the sea-line. Close by the house stands an old Gothic church of dark-grey stone ; and within there are some curious knightly monuments of former governors of Iceland.

At Besserstad I was presented with my Icelandic dog Kari. He was pure white, with the exception of his black cheeks and nose and pricked black ears, which stood up like two sharp points of rock out of a snow-drift. Indeed in snow he became almost invisible. A sweeter nature than Kari never ran upon four legs : nothing would make him bite or fight; he was friends with the whole world— except, indeed, pigs and donkeys.

There are none in Iceland; and he looked upon them with the utmost disgust, and could scarcely be induced to pass them. I never knew a dog who understood language so well, or who tried so hard to talk. As these attempts were not always very agreeable, and as he shrieked with delight at the prospect of a game of ball, or a walk into town, &c., there were many words that we tried to conceal by spelling them; but in two or three days Kari would learn the alias of anything that concerned him, and excite himself as before.

Of course he learnt plenty of tricks, such as picking pockets at a sign with the utmost delicacy, returning the property afterwards. with apologetic grace : he was, in short, the blithest and kindest of companions, evidently inheriting the qualities of many canine generations with intense human fellowships.

The dogs are important creatures in this land of sheep-farming, and, besides the shepherding, they are also of great use in managing and driving the ponies; the well-bred ones are very gentle and intelligent, but shy unless encouraged, and terribly noisy, barking as they run, and shrieking at the smallest hurt.

They are small-sized Esquimaux in breed, and when pure bred are very handsome. There are the long-haired and short-haired varieties, but even the latter have fine thick coats. They are mostly black or white, or fawn, in colour: they are very fleet and hardy, and most companionable creatures.