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CHARLES R. SMITH, Esq.,
BV WHOSE FRIENDLY AID, WHEN ALL OTHER MEANS HAD
FAILED, THE
VISIT TO ICELAND
VrAS ACCOMPLISHED,
THIS LITTLE VOLUME
IS INSCRIBED,
WITH THE MOST SINCERE REGARD,
BY
his obliged and grateful friend,
The Author.

CONTENTS.

Introdlction . .....
CHAPTER I.
From London to Tronyem, — -Birmingham — Liverpool —
"Flower of Yarrow" and her Establishment — Anticipations
of the Party — Departure — Rachlin Island — St. Kilda and
the Lady Grange — The Hebrides — Coast of Norway — The
Froy fiord — The Sea Eagle — Arrival at Tronyem — Qua
rantine — Visit of Mr. Broder Knudtzon and Mr. Oveson—
Release from Quarantine ....

CHAPTER II.
From Tronyem to Roraas, and Visit to the Lapl.inoers,
— Valley of the Guul River^Villages of Rogstad, Bogen,
and Kirkvold — Captain Greene and Lieutenant Breton —
Carts proceeding fo the Fair of Tronyem — Courteous
Behaviour of the Peasantry — Song of the Peasant Girls —
Smelting-house of Ejda — Beautiful Children — VaUey of
the Glommen — Roraas — Smelting-houses — Population —
Road to the Laplanders — Mountain Scenery — ^Oresund
Lake — Myhrmoe — Laplanders ; their Porlraits — Saeters on
the Mountains — A Lapland Woman — Huts — Inhabitants;
their Character and Condition — Return to Bekoseu — A
62

CONTENTS.

remarkably fine Family — Copper-mine of Storvartz —
Nature of the Operations — Wages ofthe Miners — English
Association for working Mines in Norway — Return —
Salmon Fishing — Horrible state of the Road — Arrival in
Tronyem . . . . . .22
CHAPTER III.
Voyage from Tronyem to Iceland. — Family at Li/le
Gaarden — English at Tronyem — An unfortunate Pole —
Falls of Lierfossen — Salmon Fishery — Cathedral of
Tronyem, Sketch of — Departure from Tronyem by a
Southern Fiord — Town and Harbour of Christiansund —
Population — Grib Islands — Departure — Foggy Weather —
Dangerous Errors in Arrowsmith's Chart of Iceland — The
Danish Survey correct — Coast of Iceland seen — Ingolfs
and Flokoe's Expeditions — Superstitions regarding the
Raven not confined to the Icelanders — Compelled to stand
off the Coast — Dense Fog — Pass Cape Reikanses — Sunken
Volcanic Island — Despair of finding Reikiavik — Strike on
a Volcanic Rock — Difficulty of getting a, Pilot in FaxS-
bugten, or Bay — Anchor opposite the Town of Reikiavik . 68
CHAPTER IV.
ilEiKiAViK AND ITS ViciNiTY. — -Appearance of the Town
from the Anchorage — Submarine Volcanoes — ^Beach of
Lava — Derivation of the Name of Reikiavik — Description
of the Town — of the Inhahitants — their Houses and Gar
dens — Feebleness of Vegetation — The Cathedral and
Public Library — Visit the Constituted Authorities — Agree
able surprise on finding the Governor an old travelling
Acquaintance — Visit the Bishop — his great civility, and
offer to be in any way useful — Fishermen's Huts — Want
of Society in the Winter Months — Traffic by Barter with
the Interior— Visit to the Salmon Fishery of Lax Elbe—
to the Hot Springs— Nature ofthe Countiy in the Vicinity
of Reikiavik , . . . . i 97

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V,
Journey to the Geysers. — Preparations — Pack-horses —
Saddle-horses — Guides — Desolate aspect of ihe Country
— Tameness of Birds — Lava — Chasm of Almannagaaia —
Waterfall down the Chasm — River Oxer-aa — Church and
Parsonage of Thingvalla — Sleep in the Church — Chasm of
Fhssagaiaa — Fine Prospect — Silver Ornaments made by the
Peasantry — Ardent Spirits, quantity consumed — Effects of,
on a Clergyman — Thicket of dwarf Birch-trees — Supposed
change of Climate — ^Treos found in Peat-bogs — Surtur-
brand, where found — Vegetation in high Latitudes in
Norway — ' Thingvalla-vatn, or Lake — Swans, melodious
singing of — third Chasm of Hrafnagaiaa, or of the Ravens
— Volcanic Cones and Craters — ^Whole Fields of Lava —
Laugerfell Hills — Church and Parsonage of E/sladalur —
Haymaking — Appearance of Hecla — Peasantry — River
Bruer-aa — First sight of the Geysers . . .130
CHAPTER VI.
The Geysers. — The Plain of Boiling Fountains — Plan of
the Grtjund — Description of the Great Geyser — Its Mound,
Basin, and Tube — Deposit of the Water — Delicate In
crustations — Temperature of the Water — The Roaring
Geyser — The Slrockr — The Liltle Strockr — Explosion of
the Great Geyser — Difficulty of making a correct represen
tation of; Comparison of the Jets of; Maximum height of
— Proximate cause of these Fountains — Inquiry after
Lord Stuart de Rothsay's Horse, supposed to have fallen
into the Geyser — Mr. Faraday's Analysis of the Geyser
Water — Return towards Reikiavik — Sleep in Middair
Church — Apparent poverty of the Priest — Arrival at
Reikiavik . . . . . .173
CHAPTER VII.
Havnefiord and Bessestad. — Cathedral Service at Reikiavik
— Supper at Mr. Knudtion's — Journey to Havnefiord —

VI CONTENTS. PAGE
Wide extent of Country covered with Lava — Various
shapes and situations of — Situation of Havnefiord —
Disappointment in not seeing the Sulphur Mines of
Krusivik — Proceed to Bessestad, the only Collegiate School
of Iceland — Some account of it — Salaries ofthe Instructors
— Literature of the Clergy — The Sagas, Eddas, and Scalds
— The Songs of, sought after by European Courts — ^The
Visits of Scalds to the Court of England in the reigns of
Ethelred and Alfred — Condition of the Clergy compared
with that of the Peasantry — Number and value ofthe
Livings — Studious habits of the Clergy^Example of
Jonas Thorlakson — Church of Bessestad . . .217
CH.-VPTER viil
Stappen and Sn.«fei.t, Yokut.. — Cross Faxe Fiord in the
Yacht — A Land Pilot — ^Reach the Coast of Stappen —
Stormy Weather prevents a landing — Beat off the Coast
— Return to Reikiavik— Rough Passage — Basaltic Co
lumns and Caves of Stappen — Extracts of unpublished
Journals of Sir John Stanley's Companions — Ascent of
Sncefell Yokul — Measurement of its Height — Meridional
direction of Basaltic Pillars from the Giants' Causeway
to Jan Mat/en's Island in the Greenland Seas — No such
formation on the two opposite Continents . . 253
CHAPTER IX.
Statistics. — Tenures of Land — Law of Descent — Rents,
how paid — Payment of Labour — Marriages, proportion of
— Ages of Parties — Extent of the Island — Poptdation —
Deaths — Births, Legitimate and Illegitimate — Labour,
how employed — Charitable Institutions — Diseases —
Number of Cattle — Taxes — Articles of Diet — Indigenous
Plants — Those useful for ordinary and other domestic
purposes — Medicines — Ardent Spirits — Crimes and Pu
nishments — Education — Clergy — Morality . . 278

CONTENTS. VU

CHAPTER X.
Leave-Xaking. — Return of the Prince of Denmark to
Reikiavik — His personal Appearance and Character — His
Suite — Collection of Minerals — Mountain of Obsidian —
The Prince's Visit to the Yacht — Dinner given hy the
Governor — Popularity of the Prince — Take leave of Him
and the Governor — Passage Home — Arrival in London , 306

DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES.

1 . A Lapland Family • . . , to face 42
2. A Laplander's Hut . . . . .48
3. View of Tronyem from Lille Gaarden . . .68
4, The Cathedral of Tronyem . . . .74
5, View of Reikiavik from the Anchorage . . 96
6, Part of Ihe Cavalcade, with Hecla in the distance . 170
7. Fall in the Bruer-aa, or Bridge River . . .172
8, Coast of Stappen, with Snsefcll in the back-ground . 258
9. Basaltic Cave of Stappen . . . .260

INTRODUCTION.

When at Tronyem last year, I felt a strong desire of
visiting Iceland, not however at that time, but on some
future occasion. I wished for an opportunity of com
paring the character and condition of the natives of that
island with their kindred and ancient stock — the Nor
wegians ; and I wished also to contemplate the extra
ordinary physical phenomena resulting from subterranean
fire which have been, and still are, in operation, on the
surface of this large island, from a period of time to whicK
neither the memory nor the records of man extend. But I
found that the chances of a conveyance from hence wero:
indeed very small, as little or no communication was.
held direct between the two countries, since the separa
tion ef Norway from the Crown' of Denmark. Unwil
ling, however, to abandon the design, I inquired in the
spring of the following year whether any trade was
carried on with Iceland from London, Liverpool, or the
northern ports ; but was informed that, though a casual
ship might proceed thither from Liverpool or Hull with
salt and a few articles of colonial produce, yet that
nothing like a regular trade existed with that island — ¦
indeed, as I since found, not an English vessel in the
63

X INTUODUCTION,
course of last summer had proceeded thither, and only
one Danish vessel took in a cargo of salt from Livei-pool,
which vessel was wrecked on the coast of Iceland. Dis
appointed in the hope of procuring a conveyance from
England, I requested my father to write to Sir Henry
Watkins Williams Wynn, our Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister at the Court of Copenhagen, for information
as to the probability of a certain conveyance from
thence. The answer of His Excellency was exceedingly kind ;
he regretted that I was not myself the bearer of the
letter, as he might then have procured me a passage in
a Danish ship of the line, about to proceed to Iceland
with Prince Frederick and his suite, though he could
not have ensured me a conveyance back, as a corvette
only would be sent in the autumn to bring back the
Prince to his destination, and that he apprehended it
would be too small to afibrd accommodation. He was
kind enough also to refer me to a quarter most likely to
give information, and sent me two letters of introduction
to residents on the island.
In the mean time,however, Mr. Smith, whose acquaint
ance I was so fortunate to make in Norway the pre
ceding year, had the kindness, without being aware of
my intention to visit Iceland, to ofier me a passage iu a
beautiful yacht called the " Flower of Yarrow," be
longing to the Royal Yacht Club, of which he is a
member. He had purchased her from the Duke of
Buccleuch, and proposed to make his first voyage to

INTRODUCTION. XI
Tronyem, there to receive on board Mr, Broder
Knudtzon, one of the most respectable gentlemen in
that place, and a member of the Storthing ; from thence
to sail to Iceland, and, after visiting that island, to convey
him to England, and ultimately to the Mediterranean.
I was of course delighted with such an eligible and un
looked-for piece of good fortune, made my preparations
accordingly without loss of time, and arranged with Mr.
Smith to join the yacht at Liverpool.
I did not flatter myself that I should be able to collect
much additional information respecting this most extra
ordinary island, which had been visited by some, though
not many, of the most intelligent among our country
men ; but it would at least be something to have the
opportunity of comparing the accounts of preceding tra
vellers, which have been but " short and far between,"
with the present state of its inhabitants, and more par
ticularly the descriptions of those singular boiling foun
tains known by the name of the Gey ier.s. To witness
the ebullitions and the eruptions of these would be ample
compensation for any inconvenience I might suffer, and I
apprehended none in a well-built and well-found yacht.
Of the numerous works that have been published on
Iceland, of which the catalogue contained in the English
translation of Dr. Von Troll's letters amount to one h*rn-
dred and twenty, few are known to the English reader ; the
greater number being in the Danish, Swedish, German,
or Icelandic languages — some few in Latin.
To our immortal Bard, however, who appears to have

Xll INTRODUCTION.
known everything, though we know little or nothing of
what concerns him personally, Iceland was not wholly
a terra incognita. " Pish 1 " exclaims Nym (in
Henry V.), on whom Pistol retorts — " Pish for thee,
Iceland dog! thou prick-eared cur of Iceland!"
Shakspeare never missed the proper epithet : — the
common dog of Iceland has short erect ears.
The first account I have seen of this country by an eye
witness, and it is the result only of a short and incidental
visit, is by a French doctor, who went on an expedition
partly of trade and partly of discovery, set forth hy a
"Company of traders to the north" in the year 1670,
sanctioned by the King of Denmark. The name of the
writer is not stated, nor the name of the English trans
lator, but it is addressed to Sir Charles Thorold, Knt.,
Alderman, and Sheriff of London. It purports to be a
full account of Norway, Lapland, Borandia, Siberia,
Samojedda, Zembla, and Iceland, In returning from
this voyage, the ship was caught in a storm near Green
land, and not knowing where they were, but seeing a
great fire, the master said it must be Mount Hecla.
They got into a harbour near Cape Heri, and proceeded
to a village called Kirkebaae*, where they were cordially
entertained by some Danish merchants, who told tliera
that the day before the whole island shook so violently,
that they thought they should all be swallowed up. The
writer and a party went to see Mount Hecla, which
* This place is on a fiord opposite to the Westmann's Islands,

INTRODUCTION. XIll
they reached in two days, having travelled the last five
miles strewed over with ashes and pumice-stones.
Most of the company stayed below, but the author and
a Danish merchant, with the guides, "footed it over
ashes and pumice-stones, sometimes up to the calves of
our legs in ashes ; we ascended half a league, and then
felt the ground shake under us ; we also heard such a
terrible noise in the bowels of the earth, that it seemed
as if it would burst open : at the same time, there
appeared on all sides chinks, out of which issued bluish
flames, which stunk like stench of burning brimstone.
This sight made us turn back for fear of being consumed
by them. We had scarce got down thirty yards before
a black smoky cloud ascended out of the mountain, and
so thick that it darkened the light of the sun, and
covered us so that we could not see one another : our
fears grew upon us every step we took, for behind us
rose blasts of fire, showers of ashes, and pumice-stones,
which fell upon us as thick as hail ; and this dreadful
storm was attended with horrible noises which made
us cry out in a frightful manner, fancying that the in
fernal furies were coming out of the mountain to devour
us. " Fear made us so nimble, that in a quarter of an
hour we descended so much of the mountain as we were
a full hour in ascending. When our companions per
ceived we came down so fast upon them, they fell out a
laughing at us, and their laughter grew louder when
they saw us in such a pickle, as black as if we had been

XIV INTRODUCTION.
plunged in soot. But their mirth abated as soon as we
came nearer them and dropped down dead, for so they
thought us, we being neither able to stir nor speak.
They rubbed our temples, nostrils and hands with
vinegar, and did what they could to bring us to life
again." He then gives some account of the natives — that is,
of the fishermen — some of whom, he says, live in
¦caverns in the rocks, others in huts, some built with
fish-bones, some with wood covered with turf. They
.and their beasts lie under the same roof; they are all
ugly, both men and women ; they lie upon hay or straw
in their clothes with skins upon them, and make but
one bed for the whole family. All their work is
fishing ; they are nasty, rude, and brutal : they are
almost all of them wizards and witches; they worship
the devil by the name of Kohald ; they worship an idol
cut out of a piece of wood with a knife, veiT hideous to
look on, which they adore privately, and hide for fear of
the Lutheran priests.
The condition of the poor Iceland fishermen is, I
believe, as miserable, taking into consideration the
horrible climate, as that of any human beings on the
face of the earth, but they certainly are not quite such
savages as the Frenchman has represented them. The
"Voyage to the North," however, is substantially
true in that part which relates to Norway, and his
account of the Copper Mines at Roraas difiers in little
or nothing from what I found them on my recent visit.

INTRODUCTION. XV
This work of the French doctor is a curious little volume
which I met with by accident.
The next writer that the English reader knows any
thing about is one Anderson, a burgomaster of Hamburg,
who, however, was at no time on the spot, but gives
such stories as he could pick up from masters of ships,
and supercargoes trading to Iceland. Horrebow, who
succeeded him, truly says that the old burgomaster's
book is filled with romantic tales, and false and severe
accusations. This author was a Dane, and remained
on the island two years. One of his objects seems to
have been that of correcting the blunders of Anderson ;
but he calls his book the Natural History of Ice
land. Both are full of monsters and marvellous stories,
and the information of both is vague, unsatisfactory,
and little to be depended on. Olafsen and P.ovelsen
were next despatched, in 1757, by order of the King
of Denmark, to survey the whole island. Olafsen was a
native, and Povelsen the first physician of the island.
They published a most elaborate report of what they saw,
— and they saw a great deal, — but for want of arrange
ment, or rather too much arrangement, and by a
tiresome repetition of the same things four several times,
in describing the four provinces, their account wants that
lucidus ordo by which much information may be con
veyed in a short compass. These repetitions, and the
minute enumeration of the long hard names of places that
have no interest, are enough to tire the patience of the
most persevering reader. Still there is much valuable

XVI INTRODUCTION.
information to be culled out of the book ; but their easy
credulity allowed them to report stories such as it is
quite impossible not to reject as fabulous. Thus, for
instance, the French doctor had noticed two fountains,
one a cold one, which immediately turned his cane into
iron, weighing as heavy as that metal; the other, a
boiling one, in which he saw a parcel of great animals
as big as divers, frisking about and playing together ;
but on approaching the place, nothing was to be seen of
them ; the moment, however, that he left the spot, they
were again seen playing and frisking as before. " They
do so," he says, " when they see nobody ; but if anybody
approaches, they plunge down to the bottom of the
boiling fountain, which, as our guides informed us, is
sixty fathoms deep." Horrebow gives an account of
the same birds, but more in detail, and very properly
disbelieves it; but Olafsen and Povelsen resume the
miraculous story, afiirming they had it from so many
persons worthy of belief, and stating the story to be so
extensively credited, that it was diflScult not to yield
assent — and yet they say, to believe these birds to he
in nature, what a number of contradictions does it in
volve I They further observe, with great nah-ete, that
" their feathers, their beak, and their legs, protected by a
callous skin, might endure the boiling water when s-wim-
ming ; but in diving, what would become of their eyes ?"
but immediately a thought comes across them, and they
ask, " has not a Salama?ider eyes ? Jf'c know, however,"
it is added, " that this creature does not dwell iu fire— it

INTRODUCTION. XVII
only runs rapidly round it, and traverses but a short
space on that element ;" and they conclude, most com
placently, that — " after all, if these birds exist, they
must be amphibious," I mention this as a specimen of
their credulity.
Of our own countrymen. Sir Joseph Banks stands
first and foremost. Accompanied by Dr. Von Troil,
afterwards Archbishop of Upsal, and Dr. Solander, an
eminent Swedish naturalist, he embarked in a small
vessel which he engaged at so much per month, to
examine into the natural history of an island which to
his countrymen might be considered as a terra incogniia.
Sir Joseph published nothing himself, but the transla
tion of the clear and sensible letters of Von Troil made
the English readers generally first acquainted with Ice
land. He had previously, when very young, and just
after leaving Oxford, made a voyage to Newfoundland
and Labrador, in pursuit of his favourite study of natural
history, and then, as everybody knows, embarked with
Lieutenant Cook on a voyage round the world. It is
said his friends had strongly urged him to give up the
idea, and make the grand tour of Europe, but his answer
was — " Every blockhead does that : my grand tour shall
be one round the whole globe." It was on his return
from this voyage that he visited Iceland, taking the
Hebrides and the Ferroe Islands in his way.
After this, in the year 1789, Mr. Stanley (now Sir
John Stanley), struck with the description given by Von
Troil of the wonders of the ignivomous mountains, and

XVlil INTRODUCTION.
the vehement eruptions of the boiling springs, determined
on paying a visit to this extraordinary island, in which
he was accompanied by Messrs. Wright, Baine, and
some others. On his return he addressed two letters to
Dr. Black, which were published in the " Transactions
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh," containing an
account of the Geysers and the Reykum Springs, which,
for clearness and accuracy of description, and elegance
of language, has not been- surpassed, if equalled, either
before or since, and only leaves us to regret that
he had confined the publication of his observations
to a single object — interesting as it is — the boiling
springs of Iceland; aud that he had not thought fit
to favour the world with a full account of his travels,
and remarks on other points regarding this highly-
interesting island. I ought, however, to be the last to
complain on this score, as, by his not having done so,
it has been my good fortune to profit; for, with
the greatest kindness and liberality. Sir John Stanley
has not only favoured me with extracts from the MS.
Journals of his intelligent companions, and his own
drawings on a most interesting part of Iceland — the ba
saltic coast of Stappen-hafn and the Snsefell Yokul, from
whence we were driven by stress of weather, and could
not obtain a landing, — but has permitted me to make
what use of them I pleased, of which kind permission
I have fully availed myself, as the reader will see, as far
as regards that part of the island. My disappointment
was certainly great in being obliged to abandon this spot,

INTRODUCTION. xix
at the moment we were on the point of stepping a-shore ;
but the reader will suffer no disappointment, Sir John
Stanley having enabled me to supply an hiatus, far
better filled up than a successful landing would probably
have enabled me to do.
At the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, Mr.
Hooker, a young gentleman then distinguished as a
botanist, and now known as ranking among the first
of botanists and natural historians in general, embarked
in 1809 on board a merchant ship, the " Margaret and
Anne," at Gravesend, after three days' notice. During
his stay in Iceland he had made considerable collections
in natural history, particularly in botany, which, with
his papers, were unfortunately destroyed by the ship
taking fire in which he was returning to England. Yet
notwithstanding this irreparable loss of his collections
and of his notes, Mr. Hooker, from his recollections,
has given to the public a volume replete with valuable
information, containing a more complete account of
Icelandic plants than is to be met with in any other
English author, except in the work of Sir George
Mackenzie, into which the " Flora" of Mr. Hooker
is copied, while a few new plants are transferred from
Sir George's into Mr. Hooker's list.
In the following year Sir George Stewart Mackenzie,
impressed with the importance which the study of mine
ralogy had of late years acquired, and with the intimate
connexion it held with geological science, considered the
examination of Iceland to be particularly desirable, and

XX INTRODUCTION.
determined to gratify his wishes during the summer of
1810 by a visit to that island. Two gentlemen of
the University of Edinburgh, Mr. Henry Holland (now
Dr. Holland) and Mr. Richard Bright (now Dr.
Bright), volunteered their services to accompany him,
which were cordially accepted ; and to Dr. Holland his
subsequent publication is greatly indebted for the most
valuable papers contained therein. To this able and
intelligent writer he owes the preliminary dissertation
on the history and literature of Iceland, the account of
the present state of literature, and the chapter on
government, laws and religion, and also the account of
the diseases of the Icelanders. To Mr. Bright he is
indebted for an account of the zoology and botany of
Iceland. To the kindness of Dr. Holland since my
return I owe many thanks. I have only to regret that
his MS. Journals, with the perusal of which he favoured
me, with permission to make what use of them I pleased,
came a little too late, or I should have availed myself
much more extensively of the valuable information
they contain, which Sir George Mackenzie's volume has
by no means exhausted.
In the years 1814 and 1815, Mr. Ebenezer Hen
derson took up his residence in Iceland, with the view
exclusively, as he tells us, of investigating the wants of
the inhabitants with respect to the Holy Scriptures, and
to take measures for the speedy distribution of the copies
which had been provided for them by the bounty of the
British and Foreign Bible Society. To accomplish this

INTRODUCTION. XXI
efiectually, he found it expedient to make the whole tour
of the island. This necessarily brought him into con
tact with all classes of inhabitants, and he has published
the result of his observations in two octavo volumes,
abounding with much curious and interesting matter ;
but as his descriptions of men and things are avowedly
only of secondary consideration with him, he is not so
sure a guide as he might otherwise have been. He is
also, like some of his predecessors, disposed to be some
what credulous, as may be inferred from his giving
credit to Olafsen and Povelsen's long story of the in
stinctive sagacity of the little wood -mouse (mus
sylvalicmi) , transporting seeds or berries across broad
rivers, on thin and flat pieces of dried cow-dung, which
parties of four to ten are said to drag to the waterside,
and then arrange themselves on their little raft so that
they face the centre and each other, while their tails
hang over the sides to row the raft, and serve at the
same time to steer it : arrived on the opposite bank, they
drag their raft and its cargo to the little magazine pre
pared to receive their winter's store. The Danish tra
vellers do not pretend to have seen this operation them
selves, but state that they had the account from those who
had seen it, and who were worthy of belief; and that they
see nothing in it to induce them to doubt it. Mr. Pen
nant was a great naturalist, and in that department was
much given to the marvellous ; he repeats this story, and
is credulous enough to believe it, which is perhaps
to be expected from one who " assents to the fact,

xxii INTRODUCTION.
that the rats, called Lemming, are poured down from
the clouds in great showers on the Alps of Norway."
Dr, Hooker expresses his regret that "such a ridicu
lous story (as that of the mice) should have been
believed by a British zoologist," and he says the thing
is laughed at by the more sensible Icelanders. Hen
derson, however, not only repeats the story, hut
maintains that " every considerate naturalist will rather
be disposed, with our celebrated zoologist (Pennant), to
reason analogically, from the well-known sagacity of
the beaver and squirrel, than deny the case." He is
even happy, he says, to have established the truth of it,
as an important fact in natural history, by the testimony
of two eye-witnesses — a priest and an old woman. He
says he has also established another fact — that they
" make use of dried mushrooms as sacks, in which they
convey their provisions to the river, and thence to their
homes." One would suppose that such sagacious
animals, endued with so much wisdom, would buUd
their winter magazines on the same side of the river
where their provisions were to be had, and spare them
selves the trouble and the danger of a shipv?reck, which
we are also told sometimes happens. Henderson's
book, however, ought to be in the hands of every one
who meditates a circuit of the island.
I am not aware of any account having been given of
Iceland since the publication of Henderson's work, now
just twenty years ago. Sir Thomas Wilson made a
voyage thither in his yacht in the year 1831, and Lord

INTRODUCTION. Xxiii
Stuart de Rothsay in 1 833, but neither the noble Lord
nor the Baronet have favoured the world with what in
formation they may have collected.
As, therefore, twenty years have expired since a fresh
word has been uttered respecting Iceland, and as in the
course of that period many changes might have taken
place both in the moral and physical world, more espe
cially in the latter, it is hoped the little mite I have to
offer may, at least, be interesting enough to induce
others to follow up the researches that have been made :
that it will be received in the same kind and encou
raging manner which a former small volume on the
northern countries of Europe experienced, is what I
dare scarcely persuade myself to expect. Had more
time been allowed me, on the present occasion, I should
certainly have collected many more materials; but
to see Iceland well, and as it deserves to be seen — to
witness the domestic habits and occupations ofthe natives,
their mode of living, and every part of their household
economy — is not the work of a month nor of a summer,
but would require a whole winter to be passed among
them in their secluded abodes, which, after all, might prove
a less sacrifice of" personal comfort than the appearance
of their turf and stone hovels would seem to forebode :
most happy should I be to make the experiment would
circumstances allow me to do so. I know of nothing,
in the way of travel, so interesting as would be a tour
round Iceland, and through the heart of the island, in

Xxiv INTRODUCTION.
company with a well-informed geologist, to whom, of
every other class of naturalists, Iceland must prove the
most inviting. For my own part, I never felt so strongly
my lack of knowledge in that interesting department of
science, until I set foot on the shore of Iceland.

VISIT TO ICELAND,
Si-c.

CHAPTER I.
FEOM LONDON TO TRONYEM.-'
Birmingham — Liverpool — "Flower of Yarrow" and litr Establish
ment — Anticipations of the Party — Departure — Rachlin Island
— St. Kilda and the Lady Grange — The Hebrides — Coast of
Norway — The Froy fiord — The Sea Eagle — Arrival at Tronyem
— Quarantine — Visit of Mr. Bioder Knudtzon and Mr. Oveson
— Release from Quarantine.
On the 9th of June, 1834, I left London, and
rested a day at that wonderful "Repertory of Arts,"
Birmingham, the greater part of which was passed
at the Soho manufactory with Mr. Watt, who most
kindly gave up his whole time to conduct me
through the varied and extensive works carrying
on at that place, and where, I understood, four
hundred artificers were constantly employed in the
manufacture of steam-engines and boilers alone: #
* Far from being insensible of the too favourable manner in
which my former little Volume has been received, or of the validity
of the arguments of the kind reviewer in the Quarterly against
changing the name Droniheim, in common use in Great Britain
only, for Tronyem, universally so named in Sweden, Denmark,
and Norway, if I still adhere to the latter, it is only for the sake
of consistency, and not from conceit or obstinacy. B

2 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Chap. I.
it was here that this stupendous, and almost
omnipotent, machine was first constructed on a
principle, which led to- its present state of per
fection, by that extraordinary genius, Mr. James
Watt, the father of the present joint proprietor, with
Mr. Boulton, of the Soho manufactory. Mr. Watt
is the owner of one of the few remaining mansions
erected in the reigns of James and Charles. It is
named Aston Hall, and bears, an inscription over
the door, by which it appears to have been built
by Sir Thomas Holte, about two hundred years
ao-o, being commenced in the reio-n of James, and
finished in that of Charles. In front it has a terrace
400 feet long, and 50 broad, fronting which
within is a panelled gallery, 130 feet in length.
The entrance-hall and state-rooms are very good;
it stands in a park of considerable extent ; and
thouo^h so near the noisy and smoky town of Bir
mingham, it neither sees nor hears anything of its
smoke, or its noise, nor are any of the multitude
of tall steam-chimneys, which raise their heads into
the air, visible from Aston Hall.
An attack was made on this ancient mansion by
Oliver Cromwell, the traces of which still remain;
one of the shot carried a^vay part of the railing of
the staircase, and lodged in the wall opposite.
The notorious Prince Puckler Muskau has thought
proper to remark, that the proprietor has had the
bad taste to paint over the shattered part. Setting
aside the question as to good or bad taste, the

Chap. I.] VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. 3
shattered part remains just as it was — not painted
over ; he also complains of the want of a flower-
garden ; whereas there is a very extensive flower-
garden and shrubberies, the latter remarkable,
among other fine plants, for the magnificent rho
dodendrons with which they are adorned: — so
much for this prince's accuracy, Mr. Watt can
scarcely believe that this person ever set his foot
across the threshold.
An inscription is prominent on one side of the
Hall, conceived in the true old style of the times,
and intended, apparently, as good advice and ad
monition to the servants : —
" If service be thy meane to thrive,
Thou must therein remaiue.
Both silent, faithful, just, and true,
Content to take some paine.
If love of virtue may allure.
Or hope of worldly gaine,
If fear of God may thee procure.
To serve do not disdaine."
My first object, on reaching Liverpool, was a
visit to the "Flower of Yarrow." My companions
not having arrived, I took a hasty ramble over this
extraordinary town — the second in commercial im
portance in the empire, and bidding fair one day to
be the first. Already, indeed, its capacious docks,
stretching in a long line parallel with the shores
of the broad Mersey, from which they are sepa
rated by fine esplanades, and crowded with ship
ping — its broad and convenient quays bounded by
lofty and extensive storehouses — the crowds of
B 2

4 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Chap. L
people busily employed in lading and unlading
the multitude of ships — in all these it may vie
with the docks, the bustle, and the trafiic of
London ; and they are here the more striking, from
being concentrated and brought at once immedi
ately under the eye. From this great emporium
are distributed, by numerous canals and railways,
the various articles of colonial produce and home
manufactures — of Scotch and Irish provisions for
feeding the industrious and swarming population of
the numerous manufacturing towns and villages of
Lancashire and Yorkshire, wherein are —
- " All hands employ'd.

Like labouring bees on a long summer's day."
By that wonderful rail-road, which connects the
two greatest towns in the empire, are also con
veyed the raw materials imported into the one
to be manufactured in the other, and brought
back again when so done, and with such rapi
dity, that it may almost be said to " annihi
late space and time" — it has, in fact, converted
Manchester into a suburb of Liverpool. The
spirit of commercial enterprise which exists in
Liverpool is equalled only by the liberal encou
ragement given to the promotion of science, litera
ture, and the arts: it has its Lyceum, its Royal
Institution, its Athenneum, its Public Library, its
Botanical and Zoological Gardens, its Music Hall,
Reading Rooms, and other places of rational re
creation, instruction, and amusement.

Chap. I.] VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. 5
Our party having assembled, and anxious to de
part, we lost no time in embarkingon board the yacht.
It consisted of Mr. Charles Smith, the proprietor
of the " Flower of Yarrow," the Honourable
Richard Hely Hutchinson, and myself. The crew
was composed of the master, an expert seaman, a
mate who was engaged at Liverpool, and, being a
good observer, and well skilled in navigation, he
had the charge of the chronometer. There were,
besides these, eight seamen, all young men, a
steward, and "though last, not least" in import
ance, a cook. The yacht was 130 tons' burden,
schooner-rigged, and well fitted in all respects.
My two companions and myself had each a sepa
rate bed-room, and the sitting and dining cabin
was roomy and convenient, being twenty feet by
twelve. We were all elated with the prospect before
us — my two companions with the pleasure they
promised themselves, from the sport which Ice
land would afford in shooting and angling, and
I in climbing Hecla, and other volcanic moun
tains, and dipping my thermometer into the water
of the boilino- caldrons. But, as is too often the
case, our anticipations turned out, in the issue, to
have been too sanguine — less so, perhaps, in my
individual case, as one of the principal objects of
my voyage was fully accomplished — a visit to the
Geysers, and the gratification of seeing them play in
full activity; and this alone is, at any time, worth a
voyage of a thousand miles in the Northern Atlantic.

6 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Chap. I,
On Sunday, the 15th of June, we got under
weigh, and were very soon out of sight of Liver
pool. The weather was fine, and the wind fair,
which enabled us to pass the Isle of Man the same
evening ; but on the following day the wind had
shifted to the northward, and blew very fresh. We
had now arrived at the Western Islands, and at no
great distance from Ila and those lofty peaks of
Jura, usually known to navigators by the name ofthe
Paps. Finding we could make but little progress
against this strong and adverse wind, we tacked,
and stood over for the island of Rachlin, situated at
a short distance from the north-east coast of Ireland,
under the lee of which we came to anchor in the
small bay, laid down in the charts under the name
of Achill Bay ; and we were not a Httle glad to
find ourselves in so sheltered a spot, as it con
tinued to blow a gale of wind ail that night, as
well as during the whole of the following day.
The island of Rachlin presents a very barren
aspect, the rock being, to all appearance, tabular
basalt, or trap, exhibiting, however, on the side
next to the anchorage, some faint indications of
broken pillars, but wholly unlike to those columnar
clusters which rise so conspicuously, in regular
Older, to the height of 250 feet on the Fairhead
promontory, directly opposite to us; or to the more
remarkable, but less prominent, pavement of columns,
to the westward of Fairhead, which, descending
with a slope into the sea, are well known under the

Chap. I.] VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. 7
name of the Giant's Causeway. This causeway,
as ancient tradition tells, and the credulous still
believe, continues under the deep \>ater to the
island of Staffa, the palace of Fingal, or, as Sir
Joseph Banks heard it named there, Fiuhn Mac
Coul. On a, clear serene day, when the sea is smooth
and the sky blue, the fishermen tell you that the
columnar causeway is distinctly visible at the
bottom of the sea.
We had none of us tlie curiosity to go on shore
at Rachlin : there was nothing, in fact, to invite
one to do so ; but a party of Irishmen, remarkably
uncouth in their personal appearance, came off in
a boat to dispose of some eggs and butter, as well
as a few potatoes and some whiskey. The butter
was by no means so bad as might have been ex
pected from the barrenness of the island, at least
in the immediate neighbourhood, and from the
ragged and uncleanly appearance of the people ;
but it had a strong taste of peat, similar to that
which is commonly supposed to exist in whiskey,
and which in the latter is generally, I believe, much
admired. We also procured a sheep from these poor
people, which we were likely enough to have lost ;
for, while in the act of getting him out of their boat _
into the yacht, he contrived to jump overboard, and
immediately swam out to sea : the jolly-boat was
soon in pursuit of him, but whenever it approached
within a short distance he exerted himself afresh,
resolved rather to perish in the water than be

8 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Ch,ip. L
taken up : at all events, he gave the jolly-boat a
good chase before he was taken, and afforded some
little merriment to the sailors.
Having once more got under weigh, on the
morning of the 18th, after a detention of about
thirty-eight hours, we succeeded, with the help of
a fresh breeze, to run, before it was dark, into the
Channel between the Isles of Sky on our right, and
Lewis on the left. Though the wind had blown
almost a gale during the day, we were delighted to
find ourselves, as the evening closed in, in compara
tively smooth water. The heavy sea in the course
of the day's run, and the wet from the spray which
constantly broke over the yacht, gave our decks a
thorough washing, and the water found its way
into the cabins through some of the seams which
had not been properly caulked, or which had, per
haps, opened a little from the working of the vessel.
This defect in the yacht's deck was the unfortunate
cause of retarding our arrival in Iceland.
As a matter of curiosity, I had indulged a hope
that we might, in our passage, have approached
that solitary rock, the most western of the Western
Islands, in which I am certain I should have been
gratified by Mr. Smith, had not the badness of the
weather made it impossible. My wish to have
visited the rock of St. Kilda was not for the grati
fication of witnessing the filthy and nauseous hovels
of the nineteen or twenty poor families that exist
there chiefly on fish and sea-fowls' eggs, nor for the

Chap. I.] VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. 9
curiosity of taking a view of that only dwelling that
has been stated to have a lock to the door, and to
be set apart as the happy retreat in which a new-
married couple pass their honeymoon. My curi
osity extended no farther than to examine the
rock formation of the island, and to pay a visit to
the spot where the Lady Grange, after being
secretly snatched from her home, was confined
nearly twenty years. The story has been told by
Boswell, and of course need not be repeated
here*. I had also hoped we might have visited the
Faroe Islands, in standing across from Tronyem
* Walter Scott has given it with more precision than Boswell.
"The story of Lady Grange," he says, " is well known; I have
seen her journal. She had become privy to some of the Jacobite
intrigues in which her husband, Lord Grange (brother of the Earl
of Mar, and a Lord of Session), and his family were engaged.
Being on indifferent terms with her husband, she is said to have
thrown out hints that she knew as much as would cost hira his
life. The judge probably thought wilh Mr. Peachum, that it is
rather an awkivard state of domestic aifairs when the wife has it in
her power to hang her husband. Lady Grange was the more to
be dreaded, as she came from a vindictive race, being the grand
child of that Chiesley of Dairy who assassinated Sir George Lock-
hart, the Lord President. Many persons of importance in the
Highlands were concerned in removing her testimony. The noto
rious Lovat, with a party of his men, were the direct agents in
carrying her off; and St. Kilda, belonging then to Macleod, was
selected as the place of confinement." (aj When Boswell toU
the story, Dr. Johnson said, if Macleod would let it be known that
he h,-\d such a place for naughty ladies, he might make it a very
profitable island, (rt) Crokei's BuswclCs Life of Johnson.
B 5

10 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Chap. L
to Iceland, but time would not allow it. As the
intermediate step between the Shetland and Orkney
Islands and Norway, to which they once belonged,
it would have been interesting to compare the state
of Faroe to that of these islands since their annex
ation to Scotland. These, however, were minor
disappointments, and may be repaired at some
future time.
While in the Duke of Buccleuch's service, the
" Flower of Yarrow" had been rigged as a cutter,
but Mr. Smith was advised to convert her into a
schooner. The masts were exceedingly taunt, but
she had within her no less than forty-five tons of
iron ballast, so that, so far from being crank, she
was remarkably stiff under her canvass. Some of
our visiters at Liverpool, judging from the taunt-
ness of the masts, pronounced her a dangerous
vessel, and went so far as to predict that she would
upset in the first gale of wind. I may hereafter
have occasion to speak of her qualities as a sea-
boat, and of the judicious alteration alluded to in
her rigging.
While we were running for the channel of the
Lewis Islands, we were not a little startled on
hearing the captain call out hastily hard-a-port,
words which, when suddenly vociferated, are gene
rally of alarming import, implying something of
danger to be avoided, at least they sound so to a
landsman. Wo all seemed to think so, for in
a moment we were upon deck, and found ourselves

Chap. I.} VOYAGE TO TRONYEM, 11
close upon a sunken vessel. The broken masts were
just rising out of the surface of the water, and there
appeared to be a large body beneath ; but whether
it was merely the rigging and sails attached to the
masts, or the hull of a vessel water-logged, we were
unable to discern : I think, however, from the
position of the masts, that the latter must have
been the case. Running, as we then were, with a
strong wind, at the rate of nine or ten knots an
hour, we must inevitably have made a hole in the
bottom of the yacht had we struck upon the wreck ;
and it was only by a sharp look-out and a quick
shifting of the helm that we avoided doing so, by
shaving close past her.
We shortly afterwards fell in with tvio whales,
or, more properly speaking, finners, which I was
a little surprised to see so far to the southward ;
but it is not unusual, I am told, to meet with a
straggler now and then even in the English Chan
nel. As this was the first time I had set eyes on
these gigantic monsters of the ocean, I amused
myself in watching their movements, as well as in
observing their snorting and blowing, accompanied
by jets of water spouted up to a considerable
heig-ht. On the 19th the wind modera*^ed, and we en
joyed a beautiful passage through the channel of
the islands, called the Minsh, keeping almost
witliin a stone's throw of the coast of Lewis. The
following evening we were abreast of Foul Island,

12 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Chap.
which lies at some distance from the chief clust
of the Shetland Islands. Here we were becalme
with a high sea, a situation which, with the rolUi
of the ship, was anything but agreeable. The si
however set majestically ; the clouds were beaul
fully tinged, and the constantly varying streaks
light in the sky remained for upwards of an hoi
after the great luminary had disappeared. It w<
just that sort of evening when
 " parting day
Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues
With a new colour as it gasps away,
The last still loveliest, till — 'tis gone, and all is gray."
The hope of fine weather thus held out to us we
unfortunately not realized. On the 21st it ble
what I should have called a gale of wind, and th
sea became very high. Our little bark jiloughe
steadily enough through it for sailors to keep o
their legs, but it required some firmness and nen
in us landsmen to walk the deck. While floundei
ing about, I could not forbear a smile by bein
forcibly reminded of the quaint, but not inappro
priate, lines of Dr. Johnson (not Samuel tii
moralist, but James the physiologist), a very accu
rate observer of nature, —
" The glories of the ocean grand
'Tis very well to sing on land ; —
'Tis very fine to hear them caroU'd
By Thomas Campbell or Childe Harold ;
But very sad to see that ocean
From east to west in wild commotion,''
Instead of the fine weather we had anticipatec

Chap. I.] VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. 1 3
from the appearance of the sky at and after the
setting sun, the rain began to pour heavily, and
continued till the 23rd, when we were agreeably
surprised to find ourselves off the coast of Norway ;
and, not having had an observation, we had
stretched a little farther to the northward than was
intended, and were opposite to North Suulen, at no
great distance from the Titterheads. We knew our
position, as it cleared up, by the tower or light
house on the. Suulen Island, the position of which
certainly affords no unnecessary precaution for
navigators, as the coast here is one cluster of
rocks, some above and others below the water,
spread over a surface of not less than 200 square
miles. When off Titterheads, and before we
were aware of it, we had happened to run into
the midst of a large shoal of mackerel, and our
people set to work to fish for them, and as fast as
the line could be drawn up our sailors hoisted in
some of these fish.
We edged away a little to the southward, and
then for several hours stood off and on, before we
succeeded in getting a pilot on board ; but the
day being fine, several fishing-boats were out, and
from them we ascertained that the regular pilot
ground was more to the northward : we therefore
returned towards that quarter, and were fortunate
enough to get a pilot soon afterwards ; he had been
fishing all night with his son, and having observed
us at a great distance, came down lo us. Being en

14 VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. [Chap. I.
deshabille, his clothes much tattered, he begged to
be allowed to send his son 'on shore to his home,
to procure some better apparel, as he wished to
appear more smart in piloting us up to Tronyem,
the capital of Norway. There are several fiords
that lead from the sea up to Tronyem, but that
into which we entered is called the Froy Fiord. It
is inclosed at its entrance between Froyen Island
on the left, and Hitteren on the right, and beyond
these, between two long ridges of rocky islands, we
could see at a distance to the southward, some
hills, or rather mountains, of considerable height,
whose summits were capped with snow: two of the
highest of these appear by the chart to bear the
names of Fonna and Tusteren ; but the nearest to
us on the right was the large island of Hitteren, .
which was said to abound with red deer.
Vast numbers of the great sea-eagle (Falco ossi-
fragus, of which our word osprey appears to be a
corruption) were hovering over the surface of the
water, and busily employed in chaclng their prey.
It was amusing enough to observe them grappling
with some of the larger fish, which were sometimes
able to offer such resistance, as to drag them almost
under water, so that the finny tribe were here less
complaisant to, or less terrified by, their voracious"
assailants, than in some other countries, where, ac
cording to Sir Thomas Hanmer, it is reported that
when one of these huge birds " hovers in the air, all
the fish in the water turn up their bellies, and lie

Chap. I.] VOYAGE TO TRONYEM. 15
still for him to seize which of them he pleases." If
the Norwegian oxen had half the spirit of the hakes
and halibuts, they would not suffer themselves to
be swindled out of their lives by these bone-breakers,
as Pontopeddon has related, and as Von Buch is
inclined to believe they are, on the coast of Norway.
A number of seals -n'ere sporting about, and the sea
gulls were abundant in this fiord : they were very
noisy in the pursuit of their prey, to seize which
they would  ^^— " in the ocean dive
With eager scream."
The wind having failed us, we made very little
progress until the following morning, when a favour
able breeze carried us a long way up the fiord ; but
about mid-day it again fell almost calm. For many
miles the rocky mountains which inclose the fiord
continue to be totally barren, and the snow, sheltered
from the rays of the sun, was lying in some spots
very near to the water's edge. Here and there,
however, we got sight of a green patch, with one or
two small wooden houses near it, and occasionally
a little wood-built church situated close to the
water's edge ; and at one spot, the pilot pointed out
what he called a nunnery, which, if so, is the only
one I ever heard of in all Norway. As we pro
ceeded up this beautiful navigation — for, with the
clear water and the romantic rocks on either side,
it was beautiful, even without any ornament from
the vegetable part of the creation, — a fishing-boat

ie» VOYAGE TO TRONJTEM. [Chap. I,
came alongside, and our sailors purchased some
good fresh fish, for which the boatmen were quite
satisfied with receiving a few English halfpence,
though they knew nothing of their value; but which
I hope would prove of more use to them than our
sovereigns did when I was at Tronyem last year
with my friend Mr. Rouse.
Standing to the south round the Herr Islands,
we approached a reach of the fiord between Bret-
tingness and W.alseiliolm, and here the inclosed
mountains began to assume the appearance of a
more extensive verdure, and many of them were
entirely clothed with coppice-wood, chiefly of
birch, and with pine-trees near the water, of
considerable size. Here, also, we observed a
great number of eider-ducks and sea-gulls of dif
ferent sjjecies. As we approached Stadboydens
church, near a point of land called Rodberg, and
when at the distance of about eight miles, we were
gratified with the sight of our old acquaintance,
the Castle of Munkholm, rising quite alone out of
the blue water of the fiord. The town of Tronyem
being situated in a bight of the fiord, is not visible
from Rodbeig, and can only be seen when within
a short distance of it.
The weather, during the last two days, happened
to be beautiful; and nothing could exceed the plea
sure we all experienced in our passage up this noble
fiord. Several boats were sailing about in different
directions, and we observed, as we passed along, a

Chap. I.]

'tronyem.

17

few small vessels at anchor in the several creeks
and inlets of the fiord. The boats appeared to be
all of the same kind as those used by the fisher
men, and similar to those I had been accustomed
to in crossing the various fiords between Bergen
and Tronyem in the course of the preceding
summer. They are well built, and not ill-shaped
for rowing, and I have reason to believe are very
safe.

Norwegian Boat.
The wind continuing light, and at intervals drop
ping altogether, we did not reach the anchorage off
the town of Tronyem till ten o'clock in the evening,
which was then, of course, broad daylight. The
moment we arrived, a visit was paid to us by the
quarantine oflScers, who seemed, by their cautious
manner, to be somewhat alarmed at our approach
to the town, lest we should have brought the cholera
to their shores ; and no wonder, since it was then
devastating Gottenburg, and even Christiania. I
could not, however, forbear smiling at the very ab-

18 tronyem.

[Chap. I.

surd precaution they thought it necessary to take,
by receiving the piece of paper, which contained the
particulars respecting our yacht, between a pair of
nippers or tweezers, and immediately plunginc it
into the sea, as a substitution, I suppose, for the
usual process of fumigation. We were immediately
desired to hoist the green flag, and told that no one
could be allowed to land, nor any kind of commu
nication be held with the shore ; and the next morn
ing we were duly informed that we must perform
four days' quarantine, as ive were unable to pro
duce a clean bill of health — a precaution which,
as we had not come from any infected port, we .
had not thought of taking, having no reason to
expect that such a demand would have been made
upon us. .
This strict observance of the rules of quarantine,
which was, perhaps, very right and proper, was the
more vexatious, as we were all in a high state of
health on board the yacht ; whereas we were told
that, on shore, the small-pox weis raging with great
violence. Our poor pilot had informed us, as we
entered the fiord, that he had lost two of his chil
dren by this disease a few weeks previous ; and he
now learnt, from the quarantine officers, that his
daughter, who was a servant-girl at Tronyem,
was lying dangerously ill — ^in fact, at the point of
death. The poor man was sadly overcome at this
intelligence, and, with tears in his eyes, implored
the officers to be allowed to go on shore, to see her

Chap. I.] tronyem. 19
before she should be for ever parted from him in
this world; but his request was unheeded, or, at
least, could not be complied with ; and, on the day
previous to our release, he received the melancholy
intelligence of her death. The refusal to let him
land appeared to us unfeeling enough, but we vvere
not competent judges of what was deemed necessary
for the public safety, having, fortunately, in our
happy country very little occasion to place either
its own subjects or foreigners under such restraint.
We all of us felt deeply for the poor fellow, and
could not help contrasting the joy with which he
first put his foot on board the yacht, and his pre
sent forlorn condition. In the early part of our
passage up the fiord, when his son returned on
board with his father's clothes, some of his younger
brothers accompanied him, who all appeared to
have recently had the disease. As a great treat,
he begged that he might be allowed to give his
children a little of the ship's biscuit ; and on leav
ing the vessel at Tronyem, he also requested that he
might take a few home with him, to give to his
family. We had not been here long in a state of confine
ment, before we received an unexpected and most
welcome visit from Mr. Broder Knudtzon and Mr.
Oveson, who most kindly came on board, and were
of course obliged to remain and keep quarantine
with us — an instance of disinterested generosity

20 tronyem. [Chap. I.
and friendship worthy the character of these two
estimable men : that of Broder Knudtzon is too
well known in England, I might say Europe, to
require any eulogy at my hands. He seemed to
be a little surprised when Mr. Smith told him to
prepare himself for a trip to Iceland. " To Ice
land !" he exclaimed, " I thought you were to take
me to the Mediterranean ?'' " I mean to do so,"
was the reply ; " but I intend to visit Iceland on
our way thither." On the 27th it blew strong
from the westward, and, though anchored close to
the town, the fiord became very rough, and our
little yacht tumbled about a good deal. We were
told by the inhabitants, that, at a certain period of
the day, during the summer months, a strong wind
invariably blows from the west, although for the
remainder of the day its direction may be from
the opposite quarter : it is called, I believe, the sea-
blast. At night, during this season, the wind is
sure to blow off the land.
On the fourth day we were released from qua
rantine, and having found, from experience, that
it was necessary to have the yacht's decks caulked,
and some other defects made good, previous to our
again putting to sea, which I had reason to believe
would occupy a week at the very least, I lost no
time in making arrangements for a journey in this
part of Norway as far as Roraas, to visit the copper-
mines of that place, and, if possible, to extend my

Chap. I.]

TRONYEM.

21

rambles to the nearest spot in possession of the
Laplanders. I mentioned my intention to Mr.
Knudtzon, who very kindly offered me the loan
of his carriole, and gave me directions for the
journey.

Tronyem fiom the Anchorage.

22

CHAPTER II.
FROM TRONYEM TO RORAAS, AND VISIT TO
THE LAPLANDERS.
Valley of the Guul River — Villages of Rogstad, Bogen, and Kirk
vold — Captain Greene and Lieutenant Breton — Carts proceeding
to the Fair of Tronyem — Courteous Behaviour ofthe Peasantry
— Cascades — Song of the Peasant Girls — Smelting-house of
Ejda — Beautiful Children — Valley ofthe Glommen  Roraas
— Smelting-houses — Population — tRoad to the Laplanders —
Mountain Scenery — Oresund Lake — Myhrmoe — Laplanders ;
their Portraits — Sasters on th« Mountains — A Lapland Woman
— Huts — Inhabitants; their Character and Condition — ^Return
to Bekosen — A remarkably fine Family — Copper-mine of Stor
vartz — Nature of the Operations — Wages of the Miners —
English Association for working Mines in Norway — Return —
Salmon Fishing — Horrible state of the Road — Arrival in Tron
yem.
Having sent forward a forebud to secure horses on
the road, I started at an early hour on the morning
of the 29th of June, on my intended journey to
Roraas, about a hundred miles from Tronyem. The
road I had first to travel is the same as that which is
commonly used between Tronyem and Christiania,
passing over the Dovre Fi-eld ; but the Roraas
road turns off to the eastward a little before reach
ing Soknoes, and follows the beautiful valley of the
Guid river, in an opposite direction to its stream,
for many miles, and continues nearly to" the spot
whence it derives its source. The drive along this

Chap. II.]

JOURNEY TO RORAAS. 23

valley is exceedingly picturesque, and more par
ticularly so in the neighbourhood of the three vil
lages of Rogstad, Bogen, and Kirkvold.
At Rogstad I had the pleasure to become ac
quainted with Captain Greene, of the Royal Navy,
to whom I had conveyed a letter of introduction
from Mr. Hutchinson. He was residing at the
post-house of this place, and although alone, he
told me that, since he had taken up his abode
there, he never found time to hang heavj' on his
hands, having all the patience, and being as " com
plete an angler" as Izaak Walton himself, the prince
of anglers. I found him standing with his rod in
his hand at the river-side, and noticed four or five
good-sized salmon lying on the bank, which he
had hooked and brought to land that morning. I
arrived just at the lucky moment to be able to con
gratulate him upon his success, as he was landing
a fine fish, being the fifth.* A Norwegian peasant,
who seemed to be up to the business, was attending
him. Captain Greene very kindly offered me his
rod, but as I had not been initiated in the art, and
had still some distance to go before I should reach
the end of my day's journey, I did not avail myself
of his politeness. At this spot I also met Lieutenant
Breton, of the Navy, the author of " Travels in New •
South Wales." The latter officer, like myself, was
driving one of the little Norwegian carrioles towards
'¦¦ Since my return I have seen Captain Greene, who informs me
that, in thirty-two days' fishing, he caught ninety-four fine salmon.

24 JOURNEY TO RlJRAAS. [Chap, IL
Tronyem, and, like myself, was changing horses at
Rogstad, He had some idea, he told me, of pro
ceeding to the North Cape, but did not, however,
carry his plan into execution ; for I was not a
little surprised to meet him again at this same spot
on my return from Roraas, when I learnt that he
had very wisely given up the trip, and vvas about
to proceed to examine the southern part of the
country, which could not fail, I should imagine, to
be far more attractive. He had held out to me
but little encouragement to pursue my journey to
Roraas, but advised me particularly not to attempt
a visit to the Laplanders, with whom, it appears, he
had fallen in, after a great deal of fatigue and no
little dancrer in crossing the Oresund Soe in a small
boat, and subsequently in riding over some deep
morasses in the mountains. Having, however, un
dertaken the expedition, I could not allow myself
to be disheartened or diverted from it, but deter
mined to take my chance.
Kirkvold being about half %vay to Roraas, I
passed the night here. Thus far I had proceeded
without overtaking the forebud — a somewhat un
usual circumstance when despatched but the pre
vious evening. Although the post-house is situated
close to the banks of the river, in which the salmon
is said to abound, I was not fortunate en'oug-h to
procure any for my dinner, which consisted of eggs
and bacon and some excellent gammel ost. These
articles, together with some rich cream and coffee

Chap. ILj JOURNEY TO RORAAS, 25
— the usual bill of fare at a Norwegian post-house —
enabled me to make a very tolerable repast.
Numerous little two-wheeled carts following each
other, like the caravans I have seen in Russia be
tween the two cities of Petersburgh and Moscow,
had met me on the road at all hours of the day.
Many of these were laden with copper from the
mines, but the greater part were conveying articles
of various descriptions for the grand fair, or annual
market, which was about to be held at Tronyem, and
to which place they were all proceeding. Many
parts of the road were so narrow, that it was a
matter of some difficulty to pass each other
without collision. With the exception of one party
of peasants, who were conducting from thirty to
forty horses towards the city, I did not observe that
they had other kinds of cattle to dispose of. It was
pleasing to remark the courteous behaviour of the
peasantry, who invariably in passing wished me
good-day, and generally removed their caps from
their heads, holding them in their hands till they
had passed the carriole.
Previous to reaching Kirkvold, I noticed a fine
waterfall at no great distance from the road ; and
on the following morning, two beautiful cascades
rushing down the mountain side, bounding from*
rock to rock, and pouring their waters into the
Guul below, particularly attracted my attention as
I passed over the wooden bridges which have been
thrown across them. As far as to a place called
c

26 JOURNEY' TO RORAAS.

[Chap. II,

Hon the mountains on either side were covered with
forests of fir trees, but almost immediately after
leaving that place, and ascending to a higher level,
nothing but birches were to be seen, — the sudden
transition from the one to the other being very re
markable. Thelower parts of the mountains, sloping
gently down to the river, were clothed with large
open patches of rich pasturage; and numerous
clusters of cottages were everywhere scattered along
their sides and the banks of the river. The Guul
here becomes very narrow and, rushing in a torrent
down the mountains, is entirely lost sight of from
the road at no great distance from its source. In
going along this route I observed that, wherever the
birch-tree thrives, the pasturage is remarkably rich,
and very scanty among the fir forests, unless they
are mixed with birch, or that birch is growing
plentifully in the immediate neighbourhood.
On the sides of the mountains of this valley I
had the pleasure to hear, what I had often before
heard, the peasant girls at their several saeters, or
summer pasturing stations, calling the cattle to
gether by a song which is in universal use — a sort
of ranz des vaches. This song is, in fact, felt
throughout Norway much in the same manner as
the latter is among the Swiss, and is perfectly un
derstood by the cattle themselves, who immediately
answer the call. The air has been adapted by a
Norwegian gentleman to the piano-forte, and having
obtained a copy of it at Tronyem, I subjoin it, with

Chap. II.]

JOURNEY TO RORAAS.

27

the words, and a free translation, in the hope that
it may not he less pleasing to my fair country
women than, in its original state, it was to me;
though the romantic situation, no doubt, contributed
not a little, like that of the ranz in Switzerland, to
produce the enchanting effect. The first stanza
only is what the girls usually sing in calling their
cattle to be milked, with
" Come, my cows, come.
Come, my little calves," &c.
The simple air is very pretty, but the words will
not bear a translation ; I have, however, added a
translation of the other three stanzas.
AAGOTS FJELDSANG.
Andante. i

c 2

28

JOURNEY TO RORAAS,

[Chap, II,

ei;

,r^O

Ste

C3

:c3

H

P

I
1

-J- ^

^^i

Luur.

:*iz>t

-^-

-ea-

-^-

s-^Cii-

%-^^-xt

n

^5

:t^

i-e-

zw^

e— — *^

-9  9

-©  3-

lili

 Aagot uden for Sceuen.
-p-H a -^ r

^EgEi

^— g^-

?

1» — F-»

"^TT3I

*.>

rte

:izjt

-*-^-H^

^^

kom Kjy - ra 1 kom Kjy - ra mi kom

*^5^^^^^

Kjy - ta ho - ah 1 ho - ah ! ho - ah ! ho • ah 1

Chap. II.]

JOURNEY TO RORAAS.

29

w

-+-

trr

kom Ku kom Kalv kom

m

w

=|S

iSnt

4_

*r#-

al- le

di under li

-V

Kjy

ra kom

Dy

i

^

teij^^

Smeen kom

¦^zyiz!?:^zMz±±±j^l
im fram me Hammer aa Tang sstte d(

it,^

ang

de McErkje paa

:i=t

^^

tz4z

^ Tuter hodn de volte den skal-ku - ti LensmaiiT ho -
1. ^»

t^^^:^

^m

K

m

ah ! hoah ! hoah I kom al - le - - Kjy - ra

^

?R=F=^=

5=^F-"=

-O;

Moderato.

Stakkar.
Paa Scenen 2.

^l>-g-^^^5^Efe

#

§2

-+S

¦i^^-

So - le - gaar bak Aa - sen ne

%fe

-g — F-

^4=

I

30

JOURNEY TO RORAAS.

fe^^g

[Chap, II,

^=i

Sit

W-

11

Skuggjin bli - saa lang je, Nat-te kjomsnart

r

e;

1:^:

r

:f

V

II

9 — P-

-•-F—

— I-

*.y ut - te - ve -

F^f-f^

i^

r4

¦*  B

ut - te - ve - - tak - je meg - ti Fang - je

^=*

5

=r-^^-

1
I

ai

i

— rt

•--' Krytrein u - ti Quee
^-* "• * i^
staaer, Eg aat Sseter stub
3
a]
Ti  9
-«  9v-
iS*
#
Chap, II,]

JOURNEY TO RORAAS,

31

Myrkt de oe ti qvar ei Bygd,
Ti de djupeDale ;
Her paa Fjeill ha Sola drygd
Mce aa gaa taa gale
Test eg gvile ondeTak,
Maar gaa ce ho tile vak.

Snart eg ce naa klar i Qvel,
Saa gaar eg te Qvile,
Sijv saa roi eg onde Fell
Test i Maar gaa tile,
Noer eg da ha somna in
Drommer eg om Guten min.

Tkanslation.

The sun is sinking behind the mountains.
And the shadows grow longer;
The night is fast approaching
To fold me in her arms.
The cattle are now in their sheds ;
I wend my way to my mountain hut.

Darkness dwells o'er field and farm
In the lowly valleys ;
While on the hills the sun has lingered
To light me to my home.
Till 1 shall reach my humble couch,
On the morrow to rise with him earlv.

My task to-night will soon be done.
And then I go to lay me down.
When sleep shall visit my fur coverlet
Till day begins to dawn, —
Sweet sleep, the welcome guest, —
When I shall dream ot my love.

32 JOURNEY TO RiiRAAS. [Chap, II.
Before reaching Hov I had passed through a
village named Ejda, where the copper ore, from a
neighbouring mine, undergoes the process of smelt
ing. A new smelting-house appears to have been
constructed at this place, as I understand, during
the last year. The building was small, and con
tained only three furnaces ; but I was told it was
built on a good plan, and answered well the pur
pose for which it was intended. It would be diffi
cult for the imagination to picture to itself a wilder
spot than Ejda; the river rushes with impetuosity
through a chasm in the rocks, and falls in a loud
noisy torrent beneath a stone bridge of two arches,
through which the water dashes, being first broken
in its fall by a rock that serves for the central but
tress of the bridge. Above this spot there is a
second fall of the river, near which the smelting-
works are situated.
Much rain fell during the day ; the roads were
very heavy, and the stages long, so that the journey
was not a little tedious, particularly as our route
was across some mountains of considerable height,
beyond which the town of Roraas is situated.
The last stage from Hov was not less than twenty-
four miles, and of one continued ascent the whole
way : the poor horse which was harnessed to my
carriole could scarcely stand upon his legs when I
drove into the town. I had been obliged, indeed,
to stop in the course of this stage, to allow of his
being unharnessed and turned out on the mountain

Chap. II.] JOURNEY TO RORAAS. 33
for a short time to roll himself and to feed. It is
quite surprising how the small Norwegian horses
can endure so much fatigue as they commonly un
dergo, especially when it is considered that they
are fed entirely upon grass, and never taste a single
particle of grain.
The road had attained a considerable height in
crossing the mountain, and snow was lying in large
detached spots in many places even lower down ;
yet on the very highest point, or nearly so, several
patches of birch-trees were growing; and what was
to me very surprising, I here heard the note of the
cuckoo, which, in my ignorance, I should have
thought was at too great an elevation for a bird of
that species. Subsequently, however, I heard him
at a still greater elevation — not less than 3000 feet
above the level ofthe sea.
At the spot where I stopped to rest my horse, I
had an opportunity of witnessing, as I had already
frequently done, both in this and my former excur
sions, the decent aud well-behaved manner in which
the children of the peasants are brought up. The
spot was a miserable cottage, situated by the road
side, without a human habitation for many miles
near it; yet, on entering the hovel, I found three
little children, the eldest not ten years of age, and*
the youngest only about three ; to each of them I
gave a few skillings, in value about a penny : imme
diately they all held out their little hands to me, and
the mother, on her return, having heard from them
what I had given them, was equally ready with her
C 5

34 RORAAS. [Chap. XL
children to express her thanks by the usual mode
of offering her hand, or rather taking hold of mine.
I have generally observed that the children of the
peasantry are healthy and well-featured ; but these
little cottagers were really beautiful.
It would appear that money, in this part of Nor
way, is very scarce, and that a few skillings even
will go a great way : indeed, I seldom saw more
thankfulness, and a stronger expression of gratitude
depicted in a man's countenance, than on the occa
sion of my giving something less than twopence to
a peasant, whose house I had entered during the
day's journey, and partaken of a large basin of rich
milk and some excellent butter, and for which he also
shook me very heartily by the hand.
At the distance of about a Norwegian mile (or
seven of ours), before reaching Roraas, down the
descent on the other side of the mountain, the road
comes upon the banks of the Glommen river, which
takes its rise in the same range, but at some dis
cs
tance to the northward. It is first seen from the
road in the shape of a torrent foaming over its rocky
bed, but before it reaches Roraas it has become a
broad tranquil stream. It was late in the evening
when I arrived in the town, after being tvA) long
days upon the road, which may be considered as
no bad driving in Norway, the distance fromTron-
yem being reckoned at fourteen Norwegian, or
about one hundred English miles. I had been told
that there were two or three lodging-houses for tra
vellers in Roraas, whose occupants have agreed

Chap. II.] RORAAS. 35
among themselves to take it in turn, every week or
fortnight, to accommodate strangers.
Roraas is a remarkable-looking place, being
bleakly situated on the side of a barren mountain.
The principal objects that attract a stranger's notice
are the Smelting-House, the Roasting House, the
enormous mounds of slags, something like those
near the smelting-works of Swansea, and the Church,
which is of considerable size, and was built, as ap
pears by an inscription over the door, so late as
1780. The interior struck m.e as being nearly as
large as that part of the cathedral at Tronyem, in
which the service is performed. The arrangement
is somewhat singular, the pulpit being placed im
mediately over the communion table ; and above it
is the organ-loft. This plan, I am told, is gene
rally now adopted in the building of the Norwe
gian churches, particularly in those of the octagon
form : but I have not before observed it. A pic
ture of the Lord's Supper decorates the altar; it
was painted, as I was informed, by an artist of
Tronyem about twenty years since, and is by no
means a bad specimen of the arts. There were be
sides two or three portraits here, one of which was
that of Martin Luther. Behind the altar is a small
chapel, in which prayers and exhortations are reaej
by the clergyman to intended communicants, the
day previous to their receiving the sacrament. The
seats in the gallery of the church are divided into
separate pews, similar to those in the cathedral at

36 RiiRAAS.

[Chap. II.

Tronyem — more resembling the boxes of a theatre
than the usual seats in a place of worship.

Chtirch at TiQraas.
I may here observe that the smelting-houses are
in the town of Roraas, to which all the ore from
the mine is brought. The great smelting-house is

Chap. II.] RiiRAAS. 37
a very old building, nearly worn out, and, as the
concern is a thriving one, it was said to be in con
templation to build a new one during the ensuing
year. It contains seven or eight furnaces, which
were nearly all in full work during my visit : the
blast bellows for heating them are worked by water
wheels. As I had not yet visited the mine, nor
ever seen the works usually connected with one,
the different processes of smelting and roasting the
ore were viewed with much interest by such a novice.
The population of Roraas is stated at about
1500 souls. There are a few well-constructed
wooden houses in the town, but the greater part
are miserable enough : they are built of logs of
wood, are very low, and the roofs covered some
with turf, some with sods, and others with slags;
and when viewed from an eminence, have a sin
gular effect. Numerous detached huts, standing
singly in the middle of the fields, which are here
enclosed by stone walls, are scattered around the
town, and these I learned were used as repositories
for hay for the winter consumption of the cattle.
The elevation of Roraas above the level of the sea
is marked down, on Mr, Forsell's Chart, at 2260
feet, and that of the principal mine is said to be
upwards of 3000 feet.
Immediately on my arrival, I called upon Mr.
Schult, the director of the mines, to whom I had
the pleasure of conveying a letter of introduction
from Mr. Knudtzon. He received me with great

38 VISIT TO THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap. II.
kindness, and I felt myself much indebted to him
ipr his valuable assistance, in making arrangements
for a little journey I had in contemplation, to pay
a visit to the nearest station of the Laplanders, and
in procuring a guide, who was well acquainted wilh
the neighbouring mountains, as well as with the
haunts of this singular race of beings ; and also for
his attention to my wishes with regard to seeing the
great mine near Roraas, and the different works
connected with it, on my return.
Having made all the requisite preparations for
my departure, in search of the Laplanders, I
started from Roraas on the 1st of July, on horse
back, leaving my carriole behind, as the road at a
short distance farther on was no longer practicable
for a wheel carriage. I took with me a small bag,
with a tarpaulin over it, in which were my pro
visions, and a few other necessary articles. !My
servant accompanied us on the expedition, and I
could not help thinking how much we resembled
Don Quixotte and Sancho Panza in our equipment.
I had arranged to go direct to the Laplanders, and
not to stop at the mine, iu order that I might
pursue my journey to the Oresund Soe, or lake,
without interruption. A carriage-road continues
as far as the mine, and there ceases, so that beyond
it we had only to look for a bridle road, and
scarcely even that. In some places we found it
rough riding enough ; the horses frequently sunk
up to the belly in mud, and snow was lying in

Chap. II.] VISIT TO THE LAPLANDERS. 39
large masses in the crevices close to the road-side —
permanent as it would appear^for wherever it was
accumulated in spots where the rays of the sun
never reached it, it was there hard frozen into a
mass of ice .
The country now began to wear a desolate and
inhospitable appearance ; and the spot where the
principal mine was worked looked dreary and
barren in the extreme, as we saw it at a distance ;
but I had been much struck with the firm and
vigorous step, and the stature of the men, along the
whole line of country between Riiraas and the
mines : most of them were above the middle size,
and many vvere above six feet in height, well-
limbed, and apparently strong in proportion.
A little further on, some picturesque mountain
scenery began to present itself to our view. Behind
us, to our right, rose the rugged peaks of Saalloa
fi-eld, almost entirely enveloped in snow, as was
also the Kampan fi-eld, a bold mountain, at the
back of which rises the Rue Hammer, where the
copper ore was first discovered about two hundred
years ago, and where, as it would appear from the
account of the Frenchman's narrative, (mentioned
in the Introductory Chapter,) one mine, at least, in
this neighbourhood was worked in the year 1670,
now 164 years ago ; and, as it would appear, much
in the same manner as now ; only then the great
wheel employed to draw up the ore was turned by
men, which is now turned by water.

40 VISIT TO THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap. U.
The Aarsberg fi-eld, partially covered with snow,
bounded the view on our left. In about four
hours' travelling we arrived at a little hamlet on the
Oresund Soe, called Bekosen ; and here we left our
horses to remain till our return, crossing the lake
in a small crazy boat, which leaked not a little, to
a place named Myrhmoe, the distance being about
five English miles, which our boatmen, one of
whom was our guide, contrived to accomplish in
about an hour and a-half. Here I peissed the
night in a small cottage, which was very neat and
clean. Our kind hostess was full of apologies for being
taken unawares, not having expected any travellers,
especially strangers, so suddenly coming upon her.
She was just then busily employed in scouring a
room, in which it happened I was destined to sleep,
but which she had so deluged, that it would have
taken at least four-and-twenty hours before it would
be dry, and I was obliged to decline occupying it.
She had no other apartment except a closet, fiill of
clothes and other household articles, and in this I
contrived, being somewhat fatigued, to doze away
a few hours.
The cottage was surrounded with a considerable
extent of rich pasture ground, and the good lady
of the house, who happened to be the sister of our
guide, possessed no less than fourteen cows, so that
I was well provided during my stay with butter,
milk, and cream, of which I have seldom seen a

Chap, II.] VISIT TO THE LAPLANDERS. 4l
more abundant or neat supply, in any of the pea
sants' houses in Norway. In addition to this stock
of cattle, she could boast of three fine oxen, and
five calves, two horses, twenty-two goats, and a few
sheep, which made up the sum total of her live
stock, and of which she seemed, as well she might,
to be exceedingly proud. She was much pleased
with the praises I bestowed upon the dairy, and
still more so, on my requesting to be allowed to
have a look at her live-stock. The cows, which
were of a very small breed, and mostly without
horns, were arranged in neat order, in a well-con
structed shed, having seven or eight stalls on either
side, and the calves were kept distinct at the
end. The oxen were tied up in a separate shed,
and having exhibited these, the flower of the flock,
she wished me to see the goats also, and for this
purpose she took the trouble to have them all
assembled in a field near the house. This good
woman apologized for the absence of her husband,
who, she said, was gone into the mountain to cut
wood for winter fuel; he would otherwise have
been happy to procure me some good fish, with
which the lake is said to be well stocked, but more
particularly vvith fine salmon-trout.
She was, however, able to supply me with some
dried beef, called, I believe, " Speget Kjod," which
is salted and hung up to dry either in the sun only,
or smoked in the chimney-corner. Her young
family was small ; it consisted of a boy and a girl.

42 THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap. 11.
the latter about five years old, both, like the gene
rality of Norwegian children, healthy and remark
ably pleasing in their manners.
In a small cottage in the neighbourhood a famibjr
of Laplanders had taken up their temporary abode.
A little Lapland ^ri, between seven and eight
years of age, of a small statare, was alone in the
cottage, her parents being at no great distance.
On giving her some small pieces of money, she im
mediately, after the Norse fashion, put her hand
into mine — a ceremony which, in this instance, I
should certainly have dispensed with, if I had ob
served, before it was too late, that t'ne poor little
creature's hands were in a very unhealthy state.
By the immediate application of soap and water, I
had the good fortune to escape any ill effect, and
it was a lesson to me to keep on my gloves for the
future, which, although it may be considered a
piece of affectation, vvas nevertheless indispensably
necessary to avoid contagion .
In a short time the mother came in ; she appeared
to be a very good-humoured person, and, being
the first of her nation I had met with, made no
objection to my request to take her portrait ; but
not so the child, who cried a little at first, because
she said I looked too much at her mother, but she
was soon quieted with a basin of milk or cream.
When I had nearly finished my sketch, the mother
said that her head was not so nicely drest as it
ought to be, upon which she ran out of the room.

; (¦¦ .

A 'SiA'^lSiAmm

Chap. II.] THE LAPLANDERS. 43
and returned with a different cap ; but as the alter
ation was trifling, I have retained the sketch as it
was first made. This little trait is characteristic —
I do not mean of female vanity, but — of that desire
to please, however humble and lowly their situation
in life may be. I had scarcely finished my sketch
when the husband came in ; whom I immedi
ately set down in my own mind, as a far less
agreeable looking person than his wife. I offered
to take his portrait, as an accompaniment to that
of his mate, but he seemed rather unwilling to allow
me to do so : however after assuring him that I only
wished to have it to show to my friends, at a dis
tance, how the Laplanders wore their clothes, and
by coaxing him with a few skillings, he at length
stepped out, with all the dignity he could muster,
into the centre ofthe room. It was as much as I
could do to refrain from smiling at the ludicrous
and self-important manner in which he took up his
position, and the awkward attitude into which he
threw himself, for the purpose of having his grace
ful figure transferred to paper. Having finished
my sketch, they both complimented me by de
claring how very like the two portraits were, and
that they knew each other again immediately.
The woman was inclined to be very friendly and
communicative ; she showed us a written paper,
which had just been issued by the magistrate of
the district, stating that wolves had lately been
observed in great numbers, and cautioning people

44 THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap.IL
to protect their cattle, and not to go far from home;
without fire-arms. In the winter this piece of in
formation would have been somewhat alarming to
a person who was on the point of penetrating the
mountains, but during the summer, when the wolves
are rarely pressed with hunger, and as rarely show
themselves, there was little cause for alarm.' I
was not sorry, however, to have escaped an inter
view with them under any circumstances.
Having, as I have said, passed one or two
pleasant hours of sleep at the cottage of my hostess,
to which I returned from my interview with these
Laplanders, I arose soon after two o'clock the
following morning, and mounted my horse, accom
panied by my servant and the guide. The weather
still continued provokingly unfavourable for such
an expedition, and it rained almost without ceasing
the whole day.
Our route was up the ascent of a mountain,
through an almost interminable forest of birch-trees,
healthy and vigorous enough near the foot, hut
which, as we approached the summit, presented a
scene of destruction which I was little prepared to
expect. Many of the trees were torn up by the
roots, others vvere stripped of their branches, and
many were completely rent through the stems as
if split by lightning ; these were evidently the
effects of a destructive and desolating hurricane.
In proceeding through this forest, we found the
ground so saturated with rain, that the horses were

Chap, II.] THE LAPLANDERS^ 45
repeatedly above their knees in the bogs, through
which vve had to wade, and it was with some diffi
culty that we could prevail on them to proceed.
Besides the bogs, the poor animals had also to
wade through several streams that crossed the path
frequently up to their bellies in water. In many
places snow vvas lying to a great depth, but by
passing along the outside edges of each patch, and
thus making circuits, we avoided the risk of
crossing it, and of falling, probably, into some con
cealed chasm; but as the outer edges of the snow
were invariably a complete swamp, we gained little
more than safety by making the detour.
In the early part of our ride we passed three or
four of the saeters, or pasture-grounds, in the moun
tains, where the cows are taken to graze for two or
three months during the summer, and placed under
the charge of the young girls of the family, who
are employed in making butter and cheese during
that period. None of these sseters were occupied
at present, but the guide told me they would all
be so in the course of a fortnight. The grass at
these places was exceedingly luxuriant. Our guide
pointed out one of the sheds where a poor fellow
was found frozen to death during the last winter.
It was supposed that he had gone in there to rest
himself and, being over-fatigued, had fallen asleep,
and thus lost his life. Nothing, indeed, can be more
miserable than these temporary abodes are, both
as to their construction of loose stones, and their

46 .THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap, II.
position amidst the mountains. As we proceeded
onwards, we came very near upon the Reien Soe, a
lake which feeds the Oresund Soe, and out of the
latter of which flows the Glommen, one of the
finest rivers in Norway. The height of this lake
is marked down in Forsell's map at 2475 feet.
Having passed through these forests of birch-
trees, we reached a part of the mountain, which was
so barren as to exhibit scarcely any signs of vege
tation, save here and there a scanty bed of moss
or lichens, the most common of which was the
rangiferinns, or reindeer moss ; yet here we dis
covered three wretched-looking hovels, built of
sods — they were those of some Laplanders, whose
summer residence was in this neighbourhood. The
only human being near them was an old woman,
who was busily employed in boiling some rein
deer milk. She was, without exception, the ugliest
creature, in the shape of a human being, that
I ever set eyes on : she was precisely one of
those beings whom, as Dr. Clarke has observed, a
person unaccustomed to the appearance of them,
meeting one suddenly in the midst of a forest, would
start from the revolting spectacle : " The diminu
tive stature, the unusual tone of voice, the extraor
dinary dress, the leering unsightly eyes, the wide
mouth, the nasty hair, and sallow shrivelled skin
— 'the vellum ofthe pedigree they claim,'— all
appear at first sight out of the order of Nature,
and dispose a stranger to turn out of their way,"

Chap. II,] THE LAPLANDERS. 47
We learnt from this old creature that her hus
band and family had removed with their reindeer,
the day previous, to another part of the mountain,
about five miles distant, and that she had remained
behind to take charge of some of the utensils vvhich
could not all be moved at once. This accidental
meeting was certainly fortunate, as she was able to
accompany us to the spot where they had taken up
their new abode, and which, from its remote situa
tion, we might in vain have hunted for. Even this
position was, in my estimation, as dreary as it could
well be — a barren hollow, scooped out of the side
of a mountain, and shut in by bogs all around; —
but the spot to which she conducted us was many
degrees worse. It was situated on the side of ano
ther bleak and naked mountain, on which the snow
was everywhere lying in large masses, close to the
miserable huts of the inhabitants, and at so great
an elevation that, with a strong wind then blowing,
and the rain descending in torrents, the cold was
excessive ; so very piercing that, in all my rambles,
wet and weary as I now was, I never remember
to have felt myself half so uncomfortable as on this
visit to the Laps, whose hovels afforded but little pro
tection against the storm that was raging, or the rain.
In the language of the Laplanders the hut is
called koja. There were three or four of these
wretched buildings at short distances from each
other, all alike, but two only were at present
inhabited. They are constructed of birchen poles

48 THE LAPLANDERS, [Chap, II,
stuck in the ground in a circle of about six or eight
feet in diameter, — not more than the latter, — with
the ends brought to a point, so as to take a conical
shape. The centre of the hut, or highest part under
the apex, is not more than six feet. Grassy turf or
sods are piled up outside the poles, and secured by a
few branches of birch, which rest against them ; and
several large stones laid outside all around the bot
tom of the hut add to its support. The entrance
is through an opening about three feet high, which,
numbed with cold, I found it somewhat difficult to
stoop under ; but the Laplanders jumped in and
out with the greatest facility. A reindeer's skin,
hung loosely over the opening, serves every purpose
of a door. In the centre of the hut burns the fire,
and a little opening left at the top allows the smoke
to escape. The heat inside, contrary to my ex
pectation, was so oppressive, and the smell so
overpowering, that I was compelled to decline
taking my seat round the fire, to which I was
strongly invited, as well by the occupants as by the
bad state of the weather. These dwellings are so
small that the owners are unable even to keep their
provisions within them ; but a sort of light platform
or shelf of birch twigs, placed outside the hut and
raised six or seven feet from the ground, is used as
a kind of store-room for their milk and cheese, over
which is placed a skin cover to preserve them from
the weather. The old lady's husband had perched ,
himself upon this to arrange his provender, and I

Chap. II.] THE LAPLANDERS. 49
expected momentarily to see both him and it fall
through the slender and tottering fabric.
I had the good fortune to arrive at the moment
when the rein-deer vvere going out of a large fold
inclosed with hurdles, into which they are driven
in the morning to be milked. There could not have
been less than some hundred and fifty in all, but
the Laplanders either did not know or would not
tell the number of deer they possessed. I under
stand that they invariably refuse to let the amount
of their riches be known. The possessor of these
I saw is considered the wealthiest of the neigh
bouring families, which gives him an importance
in the eyes of the rest.
There are not many Lapland families established
so far to the southward as this, and those few
spread themselves widely, and are dispersed at the
distance of five, ten, or fifteen miles from one ano
ther, to afford a greater extent of pasturage for their
flocks of rein-deer; but in the winter they draw
closer together. I noticed among these deer a very
considerable difference in their size and shape, and
in the magnitude of their fine branching horns :
some were noble animals, and many of them carried
most magnificent horns, little if at all inferior to
those of the Wapiti.
The family I visited consisted of the chief, who
called himself Nils Andersen, and said he was
sixty-five years of age; his wife, who owned to sixty ;
their daughter, a giri of twenty, who, it appeared, D

50 THE LAPLANDERS.

[Chap. 1 1.

was married ; her husband, and their little child.
These, together with another Lap, whose relation
ship I could not discover, and two little girls who
attended the rein-deer, made up the total of the
family. One of these little girls, who, from her
appearance, might be about thirteen years of
age, said she was two-and-twenty. They were
all, indeed, old and young, of a diminutive size,
the tallest person appearing to me to be under
five feet. When I find it stated, however, in prmt,
that the average height of the men, by actual
measurement, on this Very same spot, was four
feet, and that of the women not above three and
a half, I perhaps ought to doubt my faculty of
judging; and equally so my sense of hearing;
for so far from finding the voice of the Laplander
soft and effeminate, according with the softness of
his language, as is stated by the same authority, it
appeared to me to be precisely the reverse. Their
language itself sounded harsh, and the pronuncia
tion not unlike that of the Irish market-women one
hears in Covent Garden ; and they talked so loud
and so rapidly, as to give to a stranger the idea of
their quarrelling. Those I visited spoke the Norse
language, as well as their own. One of the first
questions that the old lady put to me, when I found
her alone at her former habitation, was, whether I
could give her a dram ? Being prepared for aii
application of this kind, I had taken a bottle of
brandy purposely for their use (and a little for my

Chap, II.] THE LAPLANDERS. 51
own,) with vvhich they were all greatly pleased; but
I repented having been so lavish as to put them in
possession of the bottle, when I observed the man
coolly pouring out the whole contents into a bowl,
with the obvious intention of finishing it at once :
this the old man and woman would certainly have
done between them, had I not insisted on their put
ting part of it back again, and giving the bottle to
one of the little girls to put away. I thought it •
right to do so, in order to prevent their getting
tipsy, though I do not know that this would have
happened, as I found they are not unaccustomed
to drink large quantities of spirits with impunity,
whenever it falls in their way.
I can say nothing in favour of this specimen of
the Laps now before me. If the rest be like them,
they must be considered as a filthy, squalid people;
they are, in fact, —
" So withet'd, and so wild in their attire,"
that they  " look not like the inhabitants of the earth.
And yet are on't."
They set before me a great quantity of their rein
deer cheese, but it was so nauseous to the palatel
that I could not bring myself to eat any part of it.
It reminded me of the cheese which is in common
use in Norway, made from goats' milk, but this was
infinitely stronger, both as to smell and taste. They
d2

52 THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap. II.
make two sorts of it, one colourless, and the other
of a yellowish tint ; but whether it was owing to the
quality of the milk, or coloured with some ingre
dient, I could not learn. Cheese, they told me, was
literally the only solid food they had to live upon
at this time; and judging from the manner in which
I was thanked for a small quantity of dried beef,
and "a piece of gammel ost, the remnants of my
stock of provision.s, I could readily beheve what
they told me. My servant, who was himself ad
dicted to chewing tobacco, gave some rolls of it to
the Laplanders, who seemed delighted beyond
measure at the acquisition of such an unlooked-for
luxury. The custom of shaking hands on receiving any
benefit, as a token of their gratitude, appears to be
observed by the Laplanders, in the same manner
as among the Norwegians and Swedes.
Having fully satisfied my curiosity, and being
thoroughly drenched with rain, I was not sorry to
take my leave of these poor creatures ; for, vvith all
their apparent gaiety, occasioned no doubt by the
visit of a stranger, and the exhilarating effects of a
good dram of brandy, it was melancholy to reflect '
upon their apparently wretched state of existence;
but it seemed to confirm what Dr. Johnson has
said, — that existence is a blessing, under any cir
cumstances : in point of fact, vve are not competent
to judge of vvhat others feel, who are placed wholly
under different circumstances from ourselves in

Chap. II.] THE LAPLANDERS. 53
every stage of life. Here, at least, their exces
sive cheerfulness, and apparent content, seemed to
contradict any idea of real suffering ; for, during
the whole period of my stay, one incessant noise of
chattering and laughing was kept up among them.
The daughter seemed an industrious girl : she was
making herself a dress of rein-deer skin, and did
not allow herself to be interrupted by our visit, but
continued her work, occasionally looking up, talk
ing, and joining in the laugh. How they get
over the winter I can form no idea ; the mountain
on which they have fixed their abode for that
season appears, by Forsell's map, to be 4080 feet
high. The reason of their preference for these
elevated situations is on account of their "being
most congenial with the nature and habits of their
rein-deer, who are not only creatures of an arctic
climate, but find here, in the greatest abundance,
the moss that constitutes the chief article of their
food — the lichen rangiferinns — and on the good
condition of these animals the Laplanders must
depend for their existence : —
"Their rein-deer form their riches. These their tents,
Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth
Supply, their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups." ¦,
I now descended the mountain, and between
three and four o'clock in the afternoon again
reached Myhrmoe, after an absence of more than
twelve hours, eleven of which were spent on horse
back, mostly amidst heavy rain and mist. The

[ THE LAPLANDERS. [Chap. II.
;ather, however, had cleared up a little, while
? were crossing Oresund lake, which did not
cupy us long, to Bekosen. Our guide seemed
little apprehensive, whilst traversing the moun-
ins, that we should not be able to cross the
ater, in consequence of the high vnnd, which he
id generally made the lake so rough as to render
lating unsafe : this may readily be imagined,
ore especially as its elevation is 2475 feet above
e level of the sea, and it is surrounded by moun-
ins. Fortunately, however, the wind lulled, and
e water was tolerably smooth, otherwise our little
)at, being crank and leaky, might have stood a
ir chance of being swamped.
I had every reason to be pleased with the con-
ict of my guide ; and as it appears that several
' our countrymen make summer tours in Nor-
ly by way of variety, or of enjoying the ex-
llent sport of fishing which it holds forth, and
ime of them may, probably, be induced hereafter
I undertake a similar journey from Roraas to
sit the Laplanders, I can safely recommend
fanse Mortensen, who resides on a little island
i the Oresund lake, called Tamnces, as a good
lan, and a safe guide, being perfectly well ac-
iainted with the tracts across the neighbouring
lountains. The landlady at Bekosen, as well
i the one at Myhrmoe, are his sisters, both
ne-looking women, he being also a remarkably
ell-made and handsome man, fully if not above

Chap. II.] THE COPPER-MINES. 55
six feet high. One of his brothers, of equal
stature, was employed at Bekosen; and he told
me that he had also another brother of equal
size, and five other "sisters, all stout, well-grown
women. Their parents were still living, the mother
being seventy, and the father eighty years of age.
I regretted much that I could not land at Tamnses,
without putting myself to some inconvenience, to
have the pleasure of seeing together so fine a
family; and the poor fellow was exceedingly anxious
that I should do so, and that I should witness their
comfortable dwelling, and the good condition of
their farm, in which he seemed to take a pride :
the number of their cattle he represented to be
about the same as at Myhrmoe.
After a sound sleep and a hearty breakfast, of
which some broiled fish, fresh from the lake, was
not the least acceptable article, I mounted my
horse, and retraced my steps towards Roraas, in
tending to take the copper-mines in my way thither.
In about an hour I reached the largest mine, called
the Storvartz, being in the brow of the mountain
named Storvold Grube, at an elevation of 3068 feet
above the sea. Here I dismounted, and having
delivered a letter from the director of the mines
to the foreman on the spot, I was immediately
ushered into an apartment hung round with a
variety of coarse clothes, out of which I was soon
suitably equipped for a subterranean excursion.
My dress consisted of a capacious jacket, in which

3 THE COPPER-MINES. [Chap.IL
was completely enveloped, a black cap, remark-
)le for the size of its horizontal brim and a.
•ight tin ornament which glittered in the centre : a
,rge pair of boots, stuffed full of straw, completed
ly costume for this occasion. The straw turned
it to be indispensably necessary, for stuffed as
ley were with it, these large and ponderous boots
ere so inclined to lag behind in every muddy
)ot we had to cross, and which, in many parts of
le mine, was ankle deep, that with the greatest
:ertion they could scarcely be prevailed upon to
How my legs. I was also accommodated with a
alking-stick, spiked at the end, as a support to
¦event me from falling, in passing some of the
irrow and slippery places ; and, finally, with my
owsers well tucked up towards the knee, I sallied
rth into the bowels of the earth, escorted by the
reman of the mine, a couple of link-bearers, and
y servant, -whose personal appearance, on the
•esent occasion, so much resembled my own, that
3 gazed at one another " veluti in speculum."
The entrance into the mine is by an adit of long
id easy descent from the external orifice; so gra-
lal, indeed, that carts are driven up and down to
id from the farthest extremity, which is said to
! not less than 450 Norsk fathoms from the
itrance, or 2800 English feet nearly*- The
'¦'' The Norsk fathom is six feet, and the Norsk foot is rather
ire than the English— that is to say, 97 feet Norsk are about
ual to 100 English.

Chap.IL] THE COPPER-MINES. 57
greatest breadth in any one part is 190 fathoms,
or about 1170 feet: the height of the passage is
seldom less than six or eight feet, and frequently
twelve or fifteen; and the depth of earth to daylight,
at the extremity of the mine, is stated to be forty-
three fathoms, or upwards of 260 feet. At a short
distance from hence is the largest shaft, to which
the ore is conveyed in carts from the spot where
it is blasted, and hoisted up in barrels to the sur
face, by means of a large water-wheel of thirty-
six feet in diameter. The reason for making use
of shafts to hoist up the ore, instead of carrying
it out at the entrance, is to shorten the distance and
gain time. There are three of these shafts and
wheels above ground, of equal dimensions, at short
distances froni each other ; the water that turns
them is led on by means of wooden aqueducts of
rude construction. In addition to the three sheds
in which the wheels are worked, there is a building
where the ore is broken down into small fragments
by large wooden tilt-hammers lifted by cog-'wheels,
and cleared from parts of the matrix adhering to
it : there are nine of these hammers. The ore
is the sulphuret of copper, very ponderous and
massive; the matrix, chlorite slate, in which are
imbedded multitudes of garnet crystals, most of
them, however, imperfect and, the foreman told
me, incapable of taking a polish, the correctness
of which I proved in London. I also procured
some beautiful specimens of amianthus, or asbestos,
D 3

>8 THE COPPER-MINES. [Chap. II,
if a clear shining whiteness, resembling fibres of
he finest silk.
In the building above alluded to there are also
I few troughs in which the fi-agments of the ore are
vashed clean. It is then sent to Roraas, where it
s piled in heaps and submitted to the process of
jurning or roasting, in order to drive off the sulphur
vhich abounds in the ore ; and the heaps are usually
lovered with the smallest fragments of the ore, to
feep in the heat and prevent the flames fi'om burst-
ng out, which indeed they would hardly do, as very
ittle wood is necessary, and the sulphur smothers
iway as it burns. When sufficiently roasted and the
lulphur expelled, it is then passed into the smelt-
ng-furnacos, and the metal run out into circular
!akes, in which form it is transported, first to Tron-
rem, and from thence sent to Sweden and to Hol-
and, and of late years to Italy. No other works,
sxcept the breaking and washing of the ore, the
.after principally done by boys, are performed at
;he mines above-ground. The busy process is
jelow ; that of blasting was the same as it is every-
vhere else ; the noise produced reminded me of a
oud clap of thunder, particularly so as it gradually
jecame fainter and fainter, till it died away

- like the cloudy groan

Of dying thunder on the distant wind."
50 violent was the concussion of the air, that its
ribration on. the ear made it seem as if the moun-
ain itself actually shook. On entering the mine

Chap. II.] THE COPPER-MINES. 59
we were preceded by men carrying torches, made
of bundles of deal splinters, to give light to the
cavernous passages. This was the more necessary,
as these subterranean streets branched out in every
direction, reminding me strongly of the labyrinth
of passages in the catacombs at Paris, which I once
took an opportunity of visiting, but which are now
no longer open to the public, in consequence, it was
said, of the repeated accidents which occurred of
people losing themselves.
The foreman showed me a map or plan on
which the mine had been worked, and which resem
bled the streets of a town ; the lines are mostly on
the same level, owing to the veins of the ore being
found to run nearly horizontal, with very little dip.
These different streets or chambers bear the names
ofthe different parties to whom the concern belongs,
the produce ofthe mine being divided among a com
pany of shareholders, and the total number of shares
being about seventy. One of the caverns, in com
pliment to the King of Sweden, is called Carl Jean,
and another bears the title of Oscar, two names
given in commemoration of these two royal person
ages having visited the mine in the year 1818.
On this occasion, it seems, a great part of the miae
was splendidly illuminated with variegated lamps,
and a military band stationed to play in some part
of the interior. At a short distance from the en
trance of the adit there was a small hole through
the roof to the surface, which not only admitted

) THE COPPER-MINES.

[Chap.IL

lylight but snow also, — a large mass of which
as lying directly under it, upon which the light
lining dimly produced a very singular appear-
ice from a distance, amidst the utter darkness
lat prevailed around it.
The Storvartz mine is said to have been worked
r a period of more than one hundred and twenty
?ars, and the two others, between Roraas and
jda, about seventy years ; but the oldest mine
Norway is, I believe, the celebrated silver-
ine, vvhich has been worked upwards of two
jndred years. The number of workmen per-
anently employed in the whole establishment
: Storvartz, Roraas, and Ejda, was stated to be
stween four and five hundred, but during the
immer months they giv'e employment also to two
¦ three hundred boys in addition. The following
istract of the monthly pay, showing the ra'e of
ages of the workmen, was given to me by the
reman of the mine, under whose charge the ac-
lunts are placed. It proves how high the value
money is, and how low must be the price of pro-
sions and the necessaries of life.
miner, regularly employed in blasting the. ore, earns in a month
from 5 to 6 dollars, or about V. sterling.
labourer, variously employed, earns from 3 to 4i dollars per
month. labourer employed in clearing the ore from the matrix, from 4
to 5 dollars per mouth.
l)oy, ahove a certain age, employed in washiug the ore, 2 dollars
:ier month.

Chap.IL] THE ALTEN MINE. 61
A boy under the specified age 8 orts 8 skillings per month.
The average monthly expense of the different articles used in work
ing the mine (chiefly powder) is stated to be 300 dollars, or 60/.
For some time past this mining concern scarcely
repaid the expenses of working ; but I understand
it is now doing very well for the shareholders, the
profits arising from it being very considerable. It
is evident that the town of Roraas is entirely sup
ported by the working of the copper-mines in the
neighbourhood. There is reason to believe that copper exists in
abundance in various parts of these Swedish Alps,
as they are sometimes called, far to the northward
of the Roraas mine. One, indeed, has for some
years been successfully worked by a company of
Englishmen, who call themselves " The Alton
Mining Association.'' It is situated in or on the
borders of Finmark, in Norway, close upon the 70th
parallel of latitude, at the bottom of the Alton fiord.
The produce of these mines is shipped close to the
shore where they are worked, and carried to Swan
sea, to be there smelted, being first crushed and
dressed on the spot. Every convenience is made
for this purpose — wharfs, warehouses, rail-roadsj
and water-courses. The climate is, of course, cold,
but healthy, and the native workmen are tractable,
industrious, and laborious. At first the unfavour
able climate and the remote situation occasioned
some difficulty in procuring miners ; but in a few
years, when the concern was known to be flourish-

THE ALTEN MINE. [Chap.IL, /
;, a sufficient mining population came to the-
)t, the wages of labour fell considerably, and
ten now wears the appearance of a town. The
sociation not only derives a profit from the pro-
ce of the mines, but the same ships which
ivey the ore to Swansea, carry back provisions' •
i comforts to dispose of to the inhabitants.
The ore is generally of the same nature as that
Roraas, the veins not rich, but numerous and
verful, and new lodes are constantly discovered,
which shafts and adits are conveniently driven
d sunk in the sides of the low hills, that rise im-
idiately from the shore of the fiord. The lode of
; yellow copper pyrites is disseminated through
matrix of a compact green stone, occasionally
rdering on chlorite slate. The average produce
stated to be from 10 to 12 per cent.; but some
the lodes yield from 15 to 17 per cent.
What an extraordinary people our countiymen
: I In one of the most desolate and inhospitable
dons of the globe, in the 70th parallel of latitude,
ried for at least five months in ice and snow, to
;nd at once a large capital on a doubtful specu-
ion, which, however, it seems has fortunately
;ceeded ! Whither will they go next ?
Quid non mortalia pectora cogis,

Auri sacra fames !
Having satisfied my curiosity with regard to the
jrvartz mine, I proceeded on towards Roraas,
;ere I arrived in the afternoon, highly gratified

Chap.IL] RETURN TO TRONYEM. 63
with my little excursion, in spite of the almost
continued rain. I lost no time in despatching a
! forebud to order horses to Tronyem, intending to
' retrace my steps the following day, being exceed
ingly anxious not to be the cause of any detention
in the sailing of the yacht for Iceland.
On the morning of the 4th of July I left Roraas,
and in the evening got as far as Bogen, where I
passed the night. The weather still continued very
wet; but thanks to Mr. MTntosh, the iiigenious
inventor of the India-rubber water-proof cloaks, I
suffered little or no inconvenience from it ; it com
pletely resisted and was impervious to the rain,
long as I was exposed to it, and heavy as it fell ;
and after such a trial, it may bid defiance to the
worst of our English weather.
I was here treated with some veal for dinner, or
rather supper — a kind of meat not commonly met
with in Norway — and some very good gammel ost ;
cream and butter of course, some good coffee, and
flat-brod, with which the poorest peasantry con
trive to treat their friends, being easily made and
said to be cheaper than rye-bread. Should they
happen to be too poor to keep a stock of flour by
them, they can always purchase it of some neigh
bouring farmer. The higher classes rarely miss
having flat-brod at their tables, which is used at
meals in preference to bread baked in the oven.
In the Livre des Etrangers, at Bogen, whUe
amusing myself by turning over the leaves, and

64 RETURN TO TRONYEM.

[Chap. II,

reading the names of those who had travelled this
road, I observed a complaint entered by one of our
countrymen, Mr, Treherne Thomas (whose brother'
I have the pleasure of being very well acquainted
with), of a vicious horse having been harnessed to
his carriole, which not only kicked over the shafts,
but more than once very nearly upset the carriage
over a precipice into the river. This gentleman
had driven himself in a carriole some thousand
miles, both in Sweden and Norway, and remarks
that this was the only vicious horse that he had
ever met with, during the whole of his extensive
travels ; and he deemed it right, very properly, to
place it on record, as a caution to those who sup
ply horses, and for the benefit of future travellers.
The covering of the bed in which I slept at the
post-house consisted of sheep-skins, lined with
various-coloured worsted, neatly worked by the
women of the house. The counterpanes, indeed, of
all the beds I have slept in, along this line of road,
are made of the skins of animals, sometimes of
wolves, but generally of sheep, and are usually
lined in this manner. Those of the rein-deer are
the most beautifiil, but they are expensive.
Having obtained a good horse early the following
morning, I drove on mjr journey, and on arriving
at the post-house at Rogstad, again fell in with
Captain Greene and Mr. Breton, the two gentle
men I have already mentioned, the former of whom
ivas still enjoying the amusement of angling for

Chap. II.] RETURN TO TRONYEM. 65
salmon in the Guul river. I am not surprised at
this : there is not perhaps in the world finer fishing
nor cheaper living than in Norway ; and the
lover of nature will no where find more diversified
scenery of magnificent and picturesque mountains,
luxuriant valleys, expansive lakes, and rivers clear
as crystal, and all these intermingled with stately
forests of pines and birch, cascades, waterfalls,
and torrents. From these gentlemeii, who had just
returned from Tronyem, I received the unwelcome
intelligence that the " Flower of Yarrow " could
not possibly be ready for sea for ten days to come ;
and, as they were professional men, no doubt
could be entertained of the accuracy of the infor
mation. I began therefore to revolve the matter
in my mind, as the summer was so far advanced,
whether it might not be expedient to give up alto
gether my projected visit to Iceland this year, and to
proceed at once down the valley of the Glommen to
Christiania, and from thence to Stockholm, making
a tour along the western shores of the Gulf of
Bothnia, as far as Tornea; but after mature de
liberation I could not make up my mind to throw-
away so favourable an opportunity, which might
never recur, of seeing what may justly be con*
sidered the most extraordinary as well as the most
interesting country on the face of the globe ; nor on
any consideration thus to part from my most agree
able companions, setting aside the no very pleasing
prospect of undertaking a long solitary journey.

66 RETURN TO TRONYEM.

[Chap. II,

which the Swedish one would have been, without a
soul to share its pleasures or its inconveniences.
On this last day of the journey, I felt very much
annoyed at what could not be helped — the horrible
bad state of the road. The late rains and the
numerous carts had so completely cut it up in
every direction, and made it so full of deep ruts,
that I found it utterly impossible to escape, or to
quarter, as it is commonly called, but was obhged
to allow the horse to pick its own way, and to drag
the little carriole over the ridges of the ruts and
through the mire, while I was jumbled, jolted, and
fatigued, beyond what I had before experienced in
the worst parts of Norway. Added to this was the
annoyance of constantly meeting the carts of the
peasantry on their return from the fair which had
just been held at Tronyem : these clumsy vehicles,
in attempting to quarter, would sometimes stick
fast in the mud, while the drivers of the carts and
the carriole were grinning and scolding at each other.
Others again, like Giles Jolt, were quietly sleeping
in their carts, regardless of what might happen to
themselves or their horses ; and others loitering
behind at a considerable distance, leaving the ve
hicles to the discretion of their horses. In some
places I found these little caravans halting by the
road-side, the horses taken out of the carts and
turned loose to feed: on such occasions care is
taken to prevent their straying away by placing
shackles on their legs.

Chap. II.] RETURN TO TRONYEM. 67
The drivers, during a halt of this kind, are always
to be seen stretched at full length on the ground,
and I have even seen them, when it has been rain
ing incessantly, lying on the wet grass, covered
with nothing but a cloak, sometimes with a little
fire burning at their feet, just as we see the gipsies
in their encampments.
After my long day's journey, which I will not
call unpleasant, notwithstanding the miserable state
of the roads, I arrived at Tronyem in the evening,
and took up my abode at Madame Holmberg's
comfortable house, intending to remain there until
the " Flower of Yarrow '' should be ready for sea.

^

CHAPTER III.
VOYAGE FROM TRONYEM TO ICELAND.
Family at Lille Gaarden — English at Tronyem — An unfortunate
Pole — Falls of Lierfossen — Salmon Fishery — Cathedral of
Tronj'em, Sketch of— Departure from Tronyem hy a Southern
Fiord — Town and Harbour of Christiansund — Population—
Grib Islands — Departure — Foggy weatlier — Dangerous Errors
in Arrowsmith's Chart of Iceland — The Danish Survey correct
— Coast of Iceland seen — Ingolfs and Flokkoe's Expeditions-rj
Superstitions regarding the raven not confined to the Icelaiider.1
—Compelled to stand off the Coast — Dense Fug — Pass Cape
KeikaiiEes — Sunken Volcanic Island — Despair of finding
Reikiavik — Strike on a Volcanic Rock — Difficulty of getting
a Pilot in Faxe-bugten, or Bay — Anchor opposite the Town of
Reikiavik.
Immediately on my return to Tronyem, I pro
ceeded up to Lille Gaarden (the little garden), a
neat country-house belonging to Mr. Johansen, the
brother-in-laiv of Mr. Broder Knudtzon, with whom
the latter is an inmate, situated about a mile from
the town. I was anxious to ascertain from Mr.
Smith, who was on a visit there, what progress had
been made in the repaii-s and equipment of the
yacht. From him I learned, with regret, that in
consequence of the badness of the weather, which
had been as unfavourable to the caulkers as to
myself, and the slowness of the other artificers,
added to their being obliged to send boats to and
from the dock-yard, a distance not far short of a
mile, to obtain every little article that was re-

Sm®M'S"IllS F5S@M£ asaaSSS^SilEBIlJ^o

Chap. III.]

TRONYEM. 69

quired, there was not much chance of our getting
away from Tronyem for several days.
As I could take no active part in directing or
superintending the repairs of the vessel, my only
resource was to stroll about the streets of the
town and the immediate vicinity, and occasionally
to amuse myself by taking a few sketches, chiefly
with the view to kill time, which otherwise would
have hung heavily on my hands in a place like
this, where I had resided long enough to see
every thing but a year before. To Mr. Johansen
and his amiable lady I felt myself under the great
est obligation for the very kind attention shown to
me during my stay at Tronyem. Lille Gaarden
was, in fact, my home ; and I shall often think
with pleasure on the many happy hours passed in
the agreeable society of this excellent family, and
their friends who used to associate at their pleasant
little villa. I'he situation is delightful : it stands
on the same piece of rising ground on which the
Fortress of Christiansund is built, and commands
a fine view of the city, as well as of the beautiful
fiord, and the mountains beyond it. The annexed
sketch was taken from the grass -plat immediately
in front of the house, and will serve to convey some
idea of the beautiful and diversified prospect from
this social retreat.
I vvas not so fortunate as to find here any of those
excellent strawberries and cherries, which, contrary
to expectation, in the latitude of 63°, De Capell
Brooke tasted quite ripe early in July ; but I

70 TRONYEM.

[Chap. IIL

observed both thriving in the garden, now about
the same period of the year, but neither of them
nearly ripe. Peas and beans and the common
culinary vegetables were growing in the kitchen-
garden, in which were apple-trees that appeared to
be bearing well, but everything was in a backward
state. In 1815, Mr. Johansen planted a great
number of different kinds of flowering trees and
shrubs which he had procured from Scotland ; many
of these had thriven pretty well, particularly the
laburnums, which were now full of blossom, and
not inferior in colour and size to any that may be
seen in England during the spring. Two oaks and
a solitary beech were evidently out of their element,
and neither of them likely ever to arrive at the dig
nity of a tree; ash-trees, birches, and alders were
the most thriving, and the number of starlings that
had built their nests among them was quite incre
dible. When scared by any sudden alarm, they
rose in such multitudes, that the whole atmosphere
around seemed to be darkened.
During my stay at Tronyem, at the house of Ma
dame Holmberg where I lodged, I met with three
English gentlemen, who had arrived there from
Bergen. They were the only English travellers who
had reached Tronyem this summer, though I have
since been informed that several visited various
parts of Norway in the course of the year, and that
many returned on finding that the cholera had
reached Christiania. One of the above-mentioned
gentlemen, who was traveUing alone, had crossed

Chap. III.] TRONYEM. 71
a few of those numerous fiords on vvhich I had
embarked the preceding summer. The other two
had come in a Norwegian vessel, coastwise, vvhich
they had hired at Bergen; and one of these,
an officer in our cavalry, was recognised by me
to be Mr. Dann, an old school-fellow at the
Charter-house, whom I had not had the pleasure of
seeing since I left — now ten years ago. I learnt
from him that the passage of the Fille fi-eld, be
tween Christiania and Bergen, which I had crossed
last summer, was now enveloped in snow, and that
it was not without some difficulty he had contrived
to reach Bergen ; and that one or two travellers,
less venturous than himself, had given up the
journey over these mountains.
A Polish colonel, a tall handsome man, was
also a lodger at Madame Holmberg's; he had
been in the command of a regiment of cavalry
during the late wars, and had received a severe
wound in the thigh, which caused him to walk quite
lame. He complained to me that he was very
unhappy — that he had now no home to go to, and
had been induced to take a journey to Tronyem,
for the purpose of using the baths, from which he
had been told he would find benefit, in relieving
the sufferings he experienced from his wound, which ^
he had happily done ; but he complained sadly of
the enormous expense of the baths. They are
similar, in most respects, to those well-known
vapour-baths of Russia, and the same scrubbing
process is made use of: but as this gentleman was a

72 TRONYEM. [Chap. IU.
Pole, Russia was no country for one of that unfor
tunate nation to have recourse to. There, it is pro
bable, his sufferings would either have been aggra
vated, or soon found an end. This poor officer ap-
}. eared, indeed, to be almost broken-hearted at the
sad reverse of fortune, and it was impossible not
to feel deeply for his unhappy and forlorn situation.
Too truly might he say —
" Sad is my fate, (cried the heart-broken stranger,)
The wild-deer and wolf to a covert can flee ;
But I have no refuge from famine or danger,
A home or a country remain not for me."
During our stay at Tronyem, I took an opportu
nity of paying another visit, in company with Mr.
Smith, to the beautiful Falls of Lierfossen, on the
river Nid. As it was earlier in the year than when
I last visited them, the body of water, from the
melting of the snow in the neighbouring mountains,
was far greater than before, a:id consequently more
imposing — the splendour and magnificence of effect
in waterfalls, both on the eye and the ear, depend
ing more on the mass, than the height, of the
volume of water. We dined with Mr. Oveson, the
proprietor of the neighbouring estates, and in the
evening went in a boat near the foot of the Falls
to enjoy the amusement of angling for salmon.
My friend insisted on my trying my luck vvith
one of his rods, which I wished to decline on the
score of ignorance and awkwardness; but remon
strance was in vain, so for the first time in my life
I found myself in the character of an anglei', with

Chap. IIL] TRONYEM. 73
rod and reel in my hand. During our short stay I
hooked two salmon, but landed neither of them —
one having broken the line and darted off with it and
the fly, while the other was satisfied with the fly
and a small part of the hook. I could have wished
that good fortune had allowed me to land one
of them, but, as it was not in the fates, all I could
do was to console myself, on being told that it was
no unusual occurrence, and that it might and some
times did happen even to the most expert disciple
of Izaak Walton to lose his fish.
Having passed a very agreeable evening, we re
turned to our lodgings at Tronyem. Mr. Knudtzon
had lent us his horse to drive thither in the
carriole : it was one of those remarkably fast
trotters which are frequently met with in different
parts of Norway ; and as he was on the point of
leaving the country for some little time, the horse
in question was to be disposed of; and I much
regretted the almost impossibility of getting the
animal safe over to England, and the great expense
which would necessarily attend it, otherwise I
should have purchased him for ten pounds ! — the
price fixed upon for this beautiful and valuable
animal, which would not be had in London for
thirty or forty.
I was glad to observe that the exterior of the fine
old cathedral at Tronyem was undergoing very ex
tensive repairs ; and that the original architectural
ornaments, many of which were almost and some
E

74 TRONYEM. [Chap. HI.
entirely obliterated, were now undergoing restora
tion. A great part was already finished, and re
flected much credit on the native workmen em
ployed upon it. The interior was also under repair,
which made it necessary that divine service, for a
time, should be discontinued. It is still considerably
the finest building in Norway — I believe I may
say in the north of Europe, if Russia be excepted.
It was built in the tenth or eleventh century, and
the architecture is a mixture of Saxon and Gothic,
both, however, greatly injured and defaced by mo
dern repairs. It was once the principal resort of
pilgrims in the north. The annexed print is from
a sketch I took from a point of view recommended
to me as the best by Mr. Knudtzon ; and on look
ing at De Capell Brooke's print on my return, I
see that we must both have sketched it from very ;
nearly the same spot.
The caulking of the yacht, and other repairs,
owing to the badness of the weather which still
continued, and I suspect also the inexpertness of
the artificers, went on slowly enough, so that it was
not until the 16th of July that we were enabled to
get under weigh for Iceland. Happily we did so
at length in the afternoon of that day, with the
wind however nearly a-head, and consequently
we made but little progress ; but on the following
day it shifted about a point in our favour, ^e
were advised to proceed to the coast down a different
fiord from that we had come up, and instead of pro-

Chap. UL] P.\SSAGE DOWN THE 3. FIORD. 75
ceeding northerly, and taking the northern or Froy
fiord, as soon as we should have passed the lofty
promontory of Walsetholm, which is on the continent
of Norway, to direct our course to the south-west,
keeping the continent on our left, and the large
island of Hitteren on our right. By continuing on
this course, which would take us with little change to
the sea, we should derive the advantage of being a
full degree of longitude more to the westward than
the entrance of the Froy fiord, and give us therefore
a better offing from the coast. Towards the lower
end of this passage we had the large island of
Smolen on the right, and the high mountain of
Tusteren on the left, the latter being on the island
of that name, and the same that we observed in
our passage up to be wrapped in snow, and whose
summit was still so.
Having rounded the island of Tusteren to the
westward, amid whole shoals of formidable-looking
rocks, we stood southerly into a snug well- sheltered
anchorage, in the centre of three small islands, on
each of which we observed a little town or village,
and before that which appeared to be of the greatest
extent were lying some ten or twelve small square-
rigged vessels. This was the harbour of Christian
sund, which we entered on the morning ofthe 1 8th.
In going down the present fiord, which hears the
name of JVoni/em'sieecZ, we observed the mountain
ous islands on either side to consist chiefly of naked
rock, with here and there a few fir-trees in the cre-
E 2

76 CHRISTI.'VNSUND. [Chap. IIL
vices, or near to the shore. The mountains on Tus
teren and the neighbouring islands, and others still
more southerly, which had attracted our attention
in going up the northern passage, by being covered
with snow, were now seen to rise majestically out
of the fiord, their summits mostly being enveloped
in the clouds. The distance of Tronyem from the
entrance of the Froy fiord is about seventy, and that
of the Tronyem fiord about ninety miles.
Just as we were entering the harbour of Chris
tiansund the wind had become fair, and it was
blowing so strong from the mountains, that we ran
in without a stitch of canvass set. It very soon,
however, got back to its old quarter, so we re
mained quietly at anchor till the following
morning. The harbour of Christiansund contains a suffi
cient depth of water to admit vessels of large ton
nage to lay close to the mercantile warehouses,
which, like those of Tronyem, are built on piles,
and carried into the harbour. Some of the store
houses, for greater convenience, are erected on
small rocks which appear a little above the surface
of the water. There is no street in any of those
clusters of houses which compose Christiansund :
they are built chiefly along the edge of the water.
Each mercantile resident has his own private boat,
in which he rows from one part of the town to the
other, to pay his visits or transact business. On
the top of one of the islands is erected a small

Chap, IIL] CHRISTIANSUND. ^^
look-out house, and two little guns are placed there
to be used as signals, to give notice to the pilots of
the approach of vessels towards the entrance of the
fiord. A walk to the summit of this island is the
favourite and indeed the only promenade of the
inhabitants. The names of the three islands are Kirkelandet,
Inlandet, and Nordlandet, the last of which is the
largest ; but the principal part of this divided town,
and that which contains the best houses, is built on
Kirkelandet, so called from its containing the paro
chial church. The population of the three towns
of Christiansund was stated to be about two thou
sand. The trade is now almost solely confined to
that of fish : fir timber, once an article largely ex
ported, being now very little in demand since the
heavy duty laid upon it in England, which appears
to have been a severe blow to the commerce of
Norway, and is complained of in every sea-port, —
the only ground of complaint I ever met with from
any ofthe Norwegians against England. We waited
upon Mr. Knudtzon, a relation of our friend and now
our companion of that name on board the yacht,
and fi-om him received every possible attention.
Our first care while we remained here was to
complete our water, and the next, to purchase what
might be required for our voyage to Iceland ; and
among other things, a sheep or two, which we were
told we could only be permitted to do on the un
derstanding that the skins were to be returned ;

78 CHRISTIANSUND. [Chap. III.
but as we intended to kill the animals on the pas
sage, when the fresh meat we had on board was
exhausted, we were allowed, as a great indulgence,
to purchase one of these animals. There was here,
however, no risk of wanting fresh meat. A boat
¦came alongside with a quantity of the flesh of red-
deer for sale; but as there was nothing tempting
in its appearance, and being already, with the addi
tion of our sheep, well supplied with fresh meat,
we declined purchasing any of this species of game.
The red-deer are said to abound so much on the
mountainous parts of Tusteren, and the other high
mountainous islands on this part of the coast, that
the inhabitants feel thankful when any one will
take the trouble to shoot them, as they interfere
very much with the feeding ofthe sheep.
On the morning ofthe 1 9th, the wind being fair,
all the vessels began to loosen their saHs ready
for a start, and got under weigh about six
o'clock. The greater part were Spanish, some of
which had been there nearly two months waiting
for a wind. A Spanish brig, that had left Tronyem
nine days before us, we observed in our way
down, lying quietly at anchor in one of the little
snug bays of the fiord. It was eleven o'clock before
we got our pilot on board, when we also weighed
anchor. The passage out is short, and lies close
to the Grib 6 erne group of islands, beset with num
berless rocks. This group lies directly in the
centre of the entrance into the fiord. The largest

Chap. IIL] GRIB ISLANDS. 79
of the group, although not exceeding, I believe,
300 yards in length, and about 200 in breadth,
is said to be peopled by some two or three hundred
inhabitants, mostly fishermen; and its little church
forms a remarkable object in the midst of these
rocky islets. I cannot imagine that there exists in
the world a coast so remarkably beset with myriads
of rocks as that of Norway. It would seem as if
the whole of that alpine range which fronts the
Western Ocean, and runs nearly in a north and
south direction through the country, had been con
vulsed and torn asunder, and its fragments carried
by the numerous fiords into the sea, some of them
rising above the surface, and others beneath it.
One can scarcely conceive it possible that any
vessel attempting to enter one of these fiords could
escape being wrecked, unless she was furnished with
a skilful pilot, and even then they must be wholly
inaccessible in tempestuous weather.
The property of the Grib Islands belongs to a
Mr. Moses, one of the principal merchants of
Christiansund, and it is considered to be highly
valuable on account of the fishing, which is here
carried on to a great extent. It consists chiefly of
lobsters, cod, and ling, as well as the other species
of fish usually caught on the coast of Norwaiy.
Mr. Moses, and two other gentlemen residing at
Christiansund, accompanied us out to sea as far as
this cluster of islands, and returned with the pilot.
As the pilot-boat pushed off from us they stood up.

80 PASSAGE TO ICELAND. [Chap. IIL
and with three hearty cheers expressed their wishes
for a prosperous voyage.
It will not, perhaps, be considered as any great
feat for a yacht to beat a Spanish merchant-ship ;
I may, however, mention, that although the Spa
niards from Christiansund had no less than five
hours' start of us, with a fine fresh breeze, standing
on the same course with us, we soon passed them,
and had the satisfaction of running them all hidl
down before sunset.
This part of the coast of Norway, eis we receded
from it, presented a most imposing appearance. As
far as the eye could reach to the southward, a con
tinued chain of magnificent mountains of every
variety of form filled the eastern horizon, their
summits, down to the line of the sea, completely
enveloped in one uniform mass of snow, which ter
minated to the northward with the snowy peak of
Tusteren, this island apparently standing promi
nently forward, as the coast-line begins here to
trend easterly in advancing to the northward.
The monotony of a sea voyage was broken towards
the evening by falling in with a group of four or
five large black whales, at no great distance from
us, one of which thought fit to salute us with
a jet d'eau, thrown iip to a prodigious height, be
fore he plunged down head-foremost, exhibiting
his moon-shaped tail in the air. The whale
appears to be a fine-weather fish, as it is said to
be rarely seen playing its gambols except in a calm,

Chap, IIL] PASSAGE TO ICELAND, 81
or in fine clear weather. On this evening and
the following morning nothing could be more
beautiful — not a cloud was to be seen in the sky,
and we had just a sufficient breeze to waft the
vessel onwards some seven or eight knots an hour.
It was precisely the kind of weather in which a
landsman can most enjoy himself at sea, if it be
possible for him to receive any enjoyment, which,
for my own part, I am inclined to doubt, believing
that none but a seaman can find any real pleasure
on a long voyage. It is then —
" When no object meets the admiring eye,
Save the blue water, and the bluer sky.
Moved by the joyous freshness of the scene.
The heart turns back to pleasures which have been ;
To happier hours and calmer thoughts descends,
To lost companions, and to absent friends."
The clear day, and the moderate breeze of fair
wind, were of short continuance, as towards the
evening the weather thickened, the wind began to
head us, we were close hauled, and the breeze
freshened at night. We had been led to expect fogs
as we approached the coast of Iceland, but we were
not prepared to find them in the middle of summer
as bad or worse than we often witness them in Eng
land in the depth of winter. For the two succeqji-
ing days, however, we were not only becalmed,
with a heavy sea tossing the vessel about, but on
the first of these days the fog was so very dense,
that we could see nothing beyond the head of the
E 5

82 PASSAGE TO ICELAND. [Chap. IIL
vessel, and scarcely that. According to our cal
culation, we were now abreast of the Ferroe
Islands, but considerably to the northward of them.
Towards the evening of the 23rd the rain fell
heavily, and seemed to drive away the fog, or at
least to clear it off a little.
On the 24th we were anxiously looking out for
land. The wind was foul, and we stood towards
the northward, in the hope of making some of the
high land, which at times we thought we could get
a glimpse of; but the atmosphere was still so
far from being clear that we considered it doubt
ful. According to a Chart of Iceland, published
by Arrowsmith in 1808, when compared with our
reckoning, we had yet frill fifty miles to run before
we should fall in with the coast, on that parallel of
latitude on which we were sailing; but, as laid
down by a Danish survey of the coast, we were
close upon it, and the question was, in the present
state of the weather, — and a most important one to
us, — whether to trust to the English or the Da
nish chart, or to neither, but be guided by our
reckoning. Our mate, who had a tolerable good
observation, put the most implicit confidence in the
chronometer, and amused us by observdng, that the
charts might very possibly be both wrong, but that
it was utterly impossible for his chronometer to be
wrong, which had served us so well hitherto ; and
as it accorded very nearly with the Danish chart,
we resolved to lay aside Arrowsmith's altogether.

Chap. IIL] PASSAGE TO ICELAND. 83
as tending only to mislead, and to go by the Danish
one*, and the chronometer.
The result was, that we soon proved the accu
racy of the Danish chart by its perfect agreement
with our mate's chronometer ; for on the 25th we
found ourselves close upon the point of land steered
for — much closer, indeed, than we had any desire
to be. By our latitude and the chronometer, we
could have no doubt that it was the south-eastern
point of Ingolfs Hoofde, the very spot where it is
supposed that worthy adventurer, in the ninth cen
tury, first made the land, and where, according to
the religious or superstitious notions of those days,
he threw his door-posts, the usual penates, which
he had carried with him from Norway, into the
sea, in order that by watching where they would
first reach the shore, he should be able to discover
the fortunate spot where his destiny called upon
him to fix his future abode. He, however, soon
parted from his floating household gods, and landed
at the point which bears his name ; while, as was
discovered some time after, by one of his people in
* The longitude ofthe eastern extremity of Iceland —
By Arrowsmith is 16° 0" w.
By Danish survey 13 30 w.

Error 2 30, or 67 miles, *
a most dangerous error to ships making it from the eastward. The
Danish chart, though on a small scale, was most likely to be
correct, having been laid down hy professional men, and published
so late as the year 1826.

84 PASSAGE TO ICELAND. [Chap. III.
quest of a more favoured spot to settle, they had
been drifted to the Bay of Reikiavik; and here,
conformable with his vow, he fixed the first settle
ment of the island. These said door-posts were
more lucky than we were in their voyage from
Ingolfs Hoofde, for it was with the utmost diffi
culty, with all the advantage of a good chart,
which, as I have said, the Danish chart proved to
be, that we discovered the little harbour of Reiki
avik. It may be observed, however, that this town
has very recently become the capital of Iceland,
and that the ancient capital was Skalholt. In a
Danish map of Iceland, just one century old, the
name of Reikiavik does not appear.
Ingolf, however, was not the first, by many, who
had landed on Iceland : among others, one Flokke,
or Flokkoe, had preceded him. This adventurer,
in departing from Ferroe Islands on discovery to
the northward, took with him three or four ravens,
which, by their flight, might direct his course over
the wide ocean towards some land. Having sailed
to a certain distance, he set off one of his birds, which
flew away back towards Ferroe ; farther on he set
off another which, like the raven of Noah, ' went
forth to and fro,' and then perched on the ship. A
third was despatched, which took its flight to the
northward, and returned not again. This story
bears so striking a resemblance to the history of
Noah's raven, that unless it was a common prac
tice in ancient times (and it was a natural re-

Chap. III.] PASSAGE TO ICELAND. 85
source enough) before the directive power of the
liederstein, or \ea.ding-st.one (whence our loadstone)
was known, one cannot but strongly suspect that
some Christian historian must have borrowed it, as
Flokke and his companions were Pagans, and so
were their countrymen, for two centuries after this
supposed transaction, and consequently had no
knowledge of the Bible : however, it is a pretty
story, and one which the Icelanders generally are
willing to receive as authentic, like many others
of the marvellous kind contained in their Sagas.
It is possible, however, that some little supersti
tious feeling may have attached itself to the choice
of ravens. This bird was dedicated to Odin, who,
as the traditional history of Iceland informs us, had
two ravens, which were let loose every morning to
collect intelligence of what was going on in the
world, and which, on returning in the evening,
perched upon Odin's shoulders, to whisper in his ear
whatever information they might have collected :
the name of the one was Hugin, or Spirit — of
the other, Muviin, or Memory. The raven besides
held its place for a long time as the central deco
ration in the Royal Danish Standard; and even
now, as we learn from Olafsen and Povelsen, the
Icelanders entertain superstitious notions regarding
the raven — that they believe this bird to be not
only acquainted with what is going on at a dis
tance, but also what is to happen in future — that
it foretells when any of a family is about to die.

86 PASSAGE TO ICELAND. [Chap. IIL
by perching on the roof of the house, or wheeling
round in the air with a continual cry, varying its
voice in a singular and melodious manner. All
this may have descended from the days of Odin ;
but we too have our superstitions about this bird.
King Henry VI. tells Gloster —
" The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign."
" Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempests shook down trees,
The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top."
Othello says —
 " O it comes o'er my memory.
As doth the raven o'er the infected house.
Boding to all."

And Lady Macbeth-

" The raven himself is hoarse

That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements."
The weather had now once more become fine,
and we found a very perceptible difference in the
climate — it was actually cold, and heavy showers
of hail fell early in the morning ; but as the at
mosphere was pretty clear, we had a fine view of
the Orefa Jokul*, appearing as if it rose immedi
ately out of the sea to an enormous height, and
covered with snow nearly down to its visible base,
which at this distance appeared to be the rocky
* Jokul signifies a mountain covered with snow, and is pro
nounced Yokul.

Chap. III.] PASSAGE TO ICELAND. 87
line of coast, whose rugged, black, and naked aspect
bore a remarkable contrast with the clear white
snow of the Yokul.
I have before observed that we were closer upon
the land than we had any desire to be — we were, in
fact, very nearly striking upon a rock just even
with the water's edge, and, on putting the yacht
ahout, the alarm was given that we were close upon
a second rock ; the latter, however, proved to be a
huge whale, which soon disappeared. It might,
notwithstanding, have proved of equally serious
consequence as the rock, if the stories one has
heard be true, had the vessel unfortunately struck
it, for it has often been stated that the whale will
attack vessels, and cause considerable damage to
them. A great number of these large monsters
were observed during the whole of this day. The
sea on this part of the coast was unusually dis
turbed, and influenced apparently by the meeting of
tides or currents from the two sides of the island,
causing what the sailors call a rippling — in fact, the
appearance, in some places, was that of breakers ;
but our light bark bounded like a cork over the
wave. Thousands of gulls and of the whole tribe
of sea-fowl were flying about in every direction.
It was ludicrous enough to watch a particular
species of brown gull chasing the large white ones,
the former never allowing the latter to settle on the
water, without immediately attacking, and putting
them to flight.

88 PASSAGE TO ICELAND. [Chap. IIL
The view of the towering snowy mountains of
Iceland, of which we had just a glimpse, was
exceedingly tantalizing, the wind compelling us
to stand out to sea; but we kept our eyes fixed
on them, until they were lost to the sight as we
stood away from the land. It blew very hard the
whole day, and we thought ourselves fortunate in
escaping the fate of a trading vessel, laden with a
cargo of salt, which we had seen her taking on board
at Liverpool : she was driven on shore during the
gale at Grindevik. This unfortunate trader had
got so far to the westward as Cape ReikiancBS,
but could not double it ; the crew were saved, but
the cargo was lost : she was a Danish merchant
brig. It seems, as we afterwards ascertained,
that she was unable to work off the coast, and
had, therefore, anchored in the small bay where she
went ashore. We continued to stand away to the
south-west, till we had got a sufficient offing, when
we tacked and made for the land.
The sun set beautifully, and the moon rose
equally so ; the clearness of the atmosphere being
very remarkable. We thought we saw the land at
a great distance from it, and although vve after
wards discovered that they were only clouds, it vvas
difficult to undeceive ourselves of the idea of their
being real rocks rising out of the water, some to
an enormous height, and all continually varying in
their shape; and yet our position on the chart ought
to have satisfied us that there could not possibly

Chap. III.] PASSAGE TO ICELAND. 89
be any land near where we were. The deception
was greater, from the circumstance of there being,
as it were, two sets of clouds, one of which, appa
rently passing over the others, looked like the
clouds skimming the summits of the hills.
On the 26th the wind still was foul and
blowing fresh, and continued so during the night.
As any little incident breaks the monotony of a
voyage, we vvere amused to-day by a shoal of por
poises, which played for a considerable time about
the bows of our vessel. The sailors endeavoured
to harpoon some of them, but were not sufficiently
expert. On the 27th we were enveloped the whole
day in a thick fog, which prevented us from seeing
a ship's length before us ; but as we knew that we
were still some distance from the land, and that
there was not much fear of running foul of a vessel
in these parts, not having seen a single sail since we
parted company with the Spaniards, we made no
hesitation in standing on our course till night, when
as we thought we were now approaching the land,
and the fog continuing, we deemed it prudent tO
lay-to. The distance we had run since tacking,
the incredible number of birds, chiefly gannets,
which were flying about, and the appearance of
the water, satisfied us that we could not be far of|;
and although we were not apprehensive of danger, it
was still no very pleasant situation to be placed in —
bad enough on a coast well known, but still worse

90

CAPE REIKI AN jES.

[Chap. UL

on one of which we were entirely ignorant, and of
which we had but one general chart, on a very
small scale, to trust to, — so small as not to be of
much use, even if we could have seen the land. It
turned out that we did well in laying-to, for on
the following morning, when the fog partially
cleared away, we found ourselves inside of, and at
no great distance from, a very remarkable rock,
rising abruptly out of the sea to a great height on
our left ; and we thoug-ht we could make out the
main land, which we afterwards saw more distinctly
on our right. This we concluded to be the point
of land called Cape Reikianaes, and accordingly
sailed through the passage between it, and the rock
near to us, which is named by the Icelanders theEld
Ey El Mul Scekken, or the Meal-Sack Fire-Island,
having been, as tradition says, thrown up by vol
canic fire. The following sketch shows its shape;

Tlte Aleal'sacli aud pinnacled Eock.

as also that of another remarkable rock, opposite
to it, and a little detached from the shore, as, when

Chap. IIL] CAPE REIKIANjES. 91
the fog occasionally dispersed, we were enabled to
ascertain distinctly. The latter resembled a pin
nacled church, and as we sailed through the passage
it did not alter its appearance. There are several
of these fire-islands, as they are called, which lie
off this point of land, and one of which, the most
distant, is called the Blinde Fugle Skicer, or con
cealed bird rock (Skicer being our Scar) : it is
very dangerous, from being just under water. This
rock is said to have thrown out great quanrities
of ashes about three years ago, some of which fell
in Reikiavik, and caused some alarm to the inha
bitants. It was originally a submarine volcano,
which burst forth out of the sea in 1783, about a
month before the tremendous explosion of the
Skaptar Yokul, the most destructive volcano known
in modern times. The position of this dangerous
rock is about forty miles south-west from Cape
Reikianaes. On its first eruption the sea was said
to be so thickly covered with pumice, that ships
were impeded by it, and clouds of ashes fell
over Reikiavik, and covered the ground for many
miles round : within a few months it disappeared,
and has left a rocky reef under water of different
depths from five to twenty fathoms.
Having passed Cape Reikianaes, or the Smoking*
Promontory, we bore away to the northward, keep
ing at a distance from the shore, but sufficiently
near to observe its dark and rugged character, being
one continued mass of rock rising abruptly out of

92 FAXli EUGTEN. [Chap. IH.
the water, totally denuded of all verdure, shape
less, and disrupted, presenting to the navigator a
most hideous appearance, and forming a great con
trast to the beautiful mountains of snow which
had first attracted our attention on approaching
Iceland. The number of birds that were everywhere
flying about, or resting on the waves, was quite
surprising. Gannets and puffins, guillemots and
awks (Alca) were very abundant, and so was that
lively little bird the tern, or sea-swaUow. The two
gulls named by the Dutch the mallmoke and the
kittiwake, generally the most plentiful in the arctic
seas, were here the least numerous.
We had hoped, as we approached Skagen, that
we should have fallen in with a pilot ; but it
appears there were none stationed at this place,
and that a vessel must run close to the entrance of
the harbour of Reikiavik before she has a chance
of procuring one. Skagen is the next point of land
we had to round to get into the Faxe Bugten, or
bay, improperly named in most of the charts Faxe
fiord, which it is not, but an open bay, of at least
fifty miles from Cape Skagen to Snaefelness. In
fine weather the chances are that information
may be obtained from fishing-boats respecting the
approach to the capital of Iceland, which is so
completely hidden by a projecting point of land
as not to be visible from the bay. With a strong
breeze, and comparatively smooth water, the wind

Chap. III.] FAXS BUGTEN. 93
being fair, we ran on at a great rate till we
found ourselves suddenly stopped by a long reef
of rocks, some under water, stretching out fiom
the foot of a high mountain, which we con-
eluded to be Akkre fi-eld. We had evidently passed
our port, and as the evening was getting late,
and the days had already so far shortened that
it became dusk for three or four hours during
the night, and as there was little hope of our
finding it before the morning, we had no alterna
tive but to beat our way back. At day-break we
ventured close in-shore, but could no where see a
human habitation, or any signs of life. In every
direction all was desolation — the black naked rocks
that bounded the coast, and bounded also our
view, — for nothing was visible beyond them, — were
rent and torn, and heaped on each other in strange
confusion. We tried for one or two narrow openings, boldly
— I might say rashly enough — as our small Danish
chart warned us that there were numerous rocks
under vvater. We had nearly paid dear for our
temerity, and might have left the " Flower of
Yarrow" to finish her career in the Fax^ Bugten,
for we ran her over a sunken rock, which had just
vvater enough upon it to let her pass, not, how-*
ever, without grazing her keel; and fortunately
there was just wind enough to force her over it,
without sustaining any damage. I have learnt,
since my return, that the good people of Tronyem

94 FAXE BUGTEN.

[Chap, IIL

prognosticated on our departure from thence, that
the little taunt-masted yacht would never reach
Iceland, or would leave her remains on some part
of its rocky shores, which might, indeed, from our
entire ignorance of them, have happened. Fate
however ordained it otherwise.
We had now got under a projecting coast still
exhibiting black and naked rocks of strange, fan
tastic shapes, and being on our right, we were
evidently standing into a fiord, of the further ex
tremity of which we soon got sight, where there was
every appearance of a harbour. As we approached
a little nearer, we were able to discover, with the
aid of a telescope, the masts of a vessel, and two
or three houses. The sight of these was a great
relief to our anxiety, but having once touched the
ground, we were now extremely cautious in ven
turing too far into the passage, and therefore laid
to, whilst Mr. Smith, accompanied by Mr.
Knudtzon, proceeded in the cutter to endeavour to
bring off a pilot, and to discover whether this was
Reikiavik, and if not, where we should find it.
It was blowing strong in the fiord, and there
was a high sea running, notwithstanding our
being very close under the land. We soon lost
sight of our companions, who, before they had
proceeded far, fell in with a pilot-boat that vvas
coming off to the yacht. They managed, but
not without considerable danger of swamping
the cutter, to get the pilot out of his boat, and

Chap. IIL] FAXE BUGTEN. 95
brought him on board. It was so foggy, that
we could see nothing of them until they came
close alongside, again. They were completely
drenched with the waves, and had been obliged to
keep constantly baling out the boat for upwards of
an hour, being the whole time they were absent,
to prevent her from filling. As may be supposed,
we who remained onboard were not a little rejoiced
at their safe return. The pilot was also drenched
to the skin, and was shivering with the cold : he
was soon, however, made comfortable on board
the yacht by a change of apparel.
We now learnt that the place we had run into
was Havnefiord, which was considerably to the
southward of Reikiavik, and separated from it by
two projecting points of land, and a small interme
diate bay — so that we had, in fact, again passed
our port. The pilot, however, soon brought us into
our destined harbour, when the mystery was at
once explained why we had twice passed it. A
projecting neck of land, in the northern or north
eastern side of which the town is situated, entirely
excludes the navigator from the possibility of
seeing anything like a town or harbour in passing
along the coast.
The Danish chart, though a correct one, is on
too small a scale to navigate by — in fact, it is little
more than a kind of index to a large survey made
of the coast by order of the Danish government,
of which we had only the reduced general outline.

96 ARRIVAL AT REIKIAVIK. [Chap. III.
and not the details contained in that on the enlarged
scale ; and we were told that it was only surprising
how we escaped the many dangers that environed
us. All our anxiety, however, was immediately
forgotten fromthe moment the " Flower of Yarrow"
rode at anchor opposite the town of Reikiavik,
which bore south of us, and of which, more from
curiosity than picturesque effect, I took the annexed
sketch, whose only merit is, as every proprietor of
the houses seen therein will vouch, its lineal
accuracy.

m

©

s©

¦4

@

m

/^-¦*^^^:/,x

¦i

CHAPTER IV--, ...
REIKIAVIK AND ITS VICINITY.
Appearance of the Town fromthe Anchorage— Submarine Volcanoes
— Beach of Lava — Derivation ofthe Name of Reikiavik — Descrip
tion of the Town — of the Inhabitants — their Houses and Gardens
— Feebleness of Vegetation — The Cathedral and Public Library
— Visit the Constituted Authorities — Agreeable surprise on
finding the Governor an old traveUing Acquaintance — Visit the
Bishop — his great civility, and offer fo be in any way useful —
Fishermen's Huts — Want of Society in the Winter Months —
Traffic by Barter with the Interior — Visit to the Salmon Fishery
of Lax Kibe — fothe Hot Springs — Nature ofthe Country in the
Vicinity of Reikiavik.
A STRANGER who first approaches the shore on
which Reikiavik stands, and has not prepared him
self by reading for what he may expect beyond the
simple fact, that it is the capital of Iceland, cannot
possibly behold what he sees of it, and he sees at
least the better half of the whole from the anchorage,
without experiencing a strong feeling of disappoint
ment. He perceives only a long row of houses, oi*
rather the upper parts of houses, running parallel to,
and close behind, a rising beach of black shingle,
their red or brown roofs being the most conspicuous, F

98 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
and the tops ofthe doors only, and perhaps about half
of a row of windows peeping above the said beach ;
but he sees enough of them to satisfy himself that
they are of a low mean character, and only of one
story in height. On each extremity of this line of
houses he will observe a rising eminence, scarcely
deserving the name of a hill, on which he will per
ceive a number of sod or turf huts raised a little,
and but a little, above the level of the ground ;
their roofs, and generally their sides too, verdant
enough and well clothed with grass — the abodes
chiefly of fishermen, labourers in the merchants'
employ, and idlers, of which there were not a few
at this time sauntering about the town. Among
these hovels, or rather above them, on the western
eminence, stands conspicuously the house of the
physician- general of Iceland, or, perhaps more
properly, surgeon and apothecary of Reikiavik,
for he acts in all these capacities; which tall
building, speaking comparatively with its neigh
bours, is kept in countenance by a still taller one —
the only windmill on the island. On the eastern
eminence are also placed a number of similar
hovels to those on the opposite hill, and, at a
distance beyond them, a monument of stones,
raised by the scholars, when the only school on
the island was at Reikiavik : it had been allowed
to fall into ruin, but was recently converted by the
present governor into a neat little look-out house,
from whence he has a very extensive view of the

Chap. IV.]

REIKIAVIK. 99

distant Snaefell Yokul, or snowy mountains, and the
whole amphitheatre of the less lofty ones, which
inclose the plain of Reikiavik, but most of which
are partially covered with snow. The mountains
of Essiau to the north-east, the Snaefell Yokul to
the north-west, and the Cape Reikianjes and moun
tains of the Goldbringe Syssel to the south, vvith
the little islands in the bay and the few ships in
the harbour, complete the view.
On landing by means of a jetty, of which there
are four carried out into the water, the stranger
will find himself at the foot of the rising beach,
covered with slag and cinders, and all the ac
companiments of the various kinds of lava, peb
bles of all dimensions, rounded by the action
of the sea, and almost all of them full of holes,
as if penetrated by worms, mixed also with black
sand, the decomposition of lava; and on one part
of the beach, near to the water's edge, he will see
a low range of vitrified rock split into masses, ex
hibiting imperfect, dislocated, and broken basaltic
pillars. Here then it would be impossible to mistake
from whence the materials that compose this sea
beach had received their origin, or to doubt that
the great agent was fire : this, the appearance of
the coast, the islands both above and below water,
and the lava shoals, sufficiently testify. Of
these shoals two very extensive ones exist in the
F 2

100 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
P'ax^ Bugten, vvhich are inserted in the Danish
chart by the name of Hraun, or lava shoals,
having from eight to twelve fathoms of water
upon them, while all around them the depth is
from thirty-five to forty fathoms. These shoals,
together with the sunken rocks along the coast, are
considered to have once appeared in the shape of
small islands above the surface, and subsequently
sunk below it, just like the Sabrina and Graham
Islands, both of which have left shoals below
the spot where they had appeared above water.
The little island of Vidoe, and three or four
others, bear the strongest marks of igneous
origin in their trap-rocks, imperfect basaltic pillar.%
and in the pumice-stone and cinders which surround
them. These appearances, combined with the character
of the whole line of coast, carried conviction of
the general accuracy of the picture of Iceland,
as drawn by a traveller who passed over a
greater extent of its surface than perhajis any other
visiter, with the exception of the two Danes,
Olafsen and Povelsen. " The opinion," he says,
" that this island owes its formation to the opera
tion of submarine volcanoes is not only confirmed
by analogical reasonings, deduced from the appear
ances presented by other islands, which are con
fessedly of volcanic origin, but gains ground in
proportion to the progress of a closer and more

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. 101
accurate investigation of the geological pheno
mena which every part of it exhibits to the view
of the naturalist. In no quarter of the globe do
vve find crowded within the same extent of surface
such a number of ignivomous mountains, so many
boiling springs, or such immense tracts of lava, as
here arrest the attention of the traveller. The
general aspect of the country is the most rugged
and dreary imaginable. On every side appear
marks of confusion and devastation, or the tremen
dous sources of these evils in the yawning craters
of huge and menacing volcanoes. Nor is the mind
of a spectator relieved from the disagreeable emo
tions arising from the reflection on the subterranean
fires which are raging beneath him, by a tempo
rary survey of the huge mountains of perpetual ice
by which he is surrounded. These very masses,
which exclude the most distant idea of heat, con
tain in their bosom the fuel of conflagration, and
are frequently seen to emit smoke and flames, and
pour down upon the plains immense floods of
boiling mud and water, or red hot torrents of
devouring lava." *
But we are yet only on the summit of the beach
covered with volcanic productions. The flat coun
try immediately beyond it showed no signs of its
having been disturbed by internal fire, vvith the
single exception of a volume of smoke or steam
'* Henderson's Iceland, vol. i. Introduction, p. 11.

102 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
which was observed rising out of the ground at a
short distance ; and this we afterwards found to be
the permanent ebuUition of a hot spring, which may
have given the name of Reikiavik to the capital
— " the smoking village." This is the more
probable, as we have Reykum, Reykholt's-dals,
Reykianaes, Reykendals-aa, and twenty others, at
all of which are hot-springs emitting steam and
smoke. But the most remarkable feature of the country
which surrounds Reikiavik may be called a nega
tive one — the total want of a tree or a bush — and,
being nearly an uniform plain, — the want of cha
racter. For several miles the surface appeared to
be one continued bog, out of which protruded here
and there some dark-looking rocks and detached
stones, not in the least like boulders that had been
rolled thither, but irregular, angular, and pointed
masses, most of which seemed to be rooted in the
soil. Such was the unfavourable prospect of the neigh
bouring country as seen from the beach. Tlie town
itself did not much improve by a closer acquaint
ance ; yet it could not escape us that this spot was
the residence of the Stiftamptman, or governor-ge
neral, — of the Bishop of Iceland, — of the Tatsroed
who presides over the Supreme Court of Judica
ture, — and of other public officers ; and that it also
was the principal emporium of the island. On the
top of the beach, immediately in front of the houses,

Chap. IV,] REIKIAVIK, '103
vast quantities of fish were strewed about to dry in
the sun. There were also three or four different
square piles or stacks of the heads of fish, which
it appears are kept for the home consumption of
the fishermen and lower orders. Six or eight large
scales, for weighing the fish, vvere placed in front
of the merchants' dwelling and store houses ; and
numerous fishing-boats were drawn up on the
beach, chiefly at the western extremity, the fishing-
season being apparently at an end, as none of these
were launched while we remained at Reikiavik. In
fact, I understood that the fishery had ceased for
the season. The boats were a little like the Nor
wegian in their form, but stronger and better built.
I should almost be inclined to say that they were
the strongest-built boats I have ever seen in any
part of the world ; and yet there vvas nothing awk
ward in their shape or appearance. Judging from
the weather we experienced, and the violence of
the seas off the coast, their strength must be some
times pretty severely tried.
In addition to the row of houses seen from
the harbour, another row made its appearance
behind it — perhaps I ought to say two imper
fect rows, forming a sort of street, running at right
angles with the former, near its western extre
mity. This street, or space between the houses,
was encumbered with the same kind of rocks
starting out of the soil that we observed in the
plain. In this portion of the town is the residence

104 REIKIAVIK. [^Chap. IV.
of the Landfogued, or treasurer ; and near the far
thest extremity is a sort of tavern, or society-house,
where the Danish and other mercantile residents
assemble, forming a kind of club, vvhere they play
billiards and other games, and have dinners, balls,
and other amusements occasionally.
The houses on the sea line are generally those of
the merchants, who are chiefly Danes ; they are
built, as in Norway, of wood, and covered with
shingles or planks, and to each is attached a store
house for their different articles of merchandize.
The only stone-built house is that of the governor,
situated at the eastern extremity of the line, and
this building was formerly the workhouse — not for
the maintenance of the indigent poor, but made use
of rather as the house of correction. The epis
copal residence is near to the coast, consider
ably to the eastward of that of the governor — a
very comfortable house, built of brick, and white
washed. The cathedral stands apart behind the sea-line of
houses ; it is built of stone, and has a large roof of
planks ; the steeple is a square tower of wood, roofed,
and contains a couple of bells. Lender the roof of the
church is the public library, said to contain about
six thousand volumes, to which the inhabitants have
free access, being allowed, under certain restric
tions, to have books at their own houses; and 1 was
assured that the residents were generally very fond
of reading. The books consisted mostly of general

Chap. IV.]

REIKIAVIK.

105

and ecclesiastical history, in the northern lan
guages — German, Swedish, Danish, and Norwe
gian ; — such as related to Iceland, their Sagas
and their Eddas ; and it contained also a few
English books, generally the writings of our best
poets, and also a collection of the Greek and
Latin classics ; besides some manuscripts, chiefly
theological, the production of the clergy of the
island. The Icelanders were once deservedly famed
for their literary productions ; and it is pleasing to
find that they still keep alive the spirit of research
and that literary pursuit for which their ancestors
were distinguished.

Jteikiavth Cathedral.

Near the church is a considerable space ot
ground, set apart as a public cemetery, which
F 5

106 REIKIAVIK, [Chap, IV,
had once been inclosed with mud-walls, but was
now open in many parts, the whole appearing
to be much neglected ; and the contrast between
this burying-ground and those one generally meets
with in Norway was indeed very striking ; not a
stone nor a block of wood being anywhere raised to
the memory of the departed — all being reduced to
the level of a simple molecule of turf, under which
they were left to sleep in total oblivion. It may be
said of the tenant of this common burjdng-ground,
that at least he here
 " Lies in peace with all his humble race,

And has no stone to mark his burial-place."
Near to this piece of ground is a small lake,
from which a rivulet runs across the beach into
the bay, and at the mouth of which some have
imagined that a facility is afforded for forming a
little harbour to admit the fishing-boats, which
would certainly be a great accommodation and
benefit to the poor fishermen. To each of the mer
chants' houses, and to those of the governor, the
bishop, and landfogued, is attached a small piece
of ground laid out as a garden, mostly if not en
tirely for the purpose of raising a few culinary
vegetables ; and few indeed they were, as far
as my observation went, and of a very sickly and
languishing appearance. The produce consisted
generally of cabbages, just forming into heads,
turnips (I believe Swedish), parsley, and potatoes,

Chap. IV.]

REIKIAVIK. 107

about the size of crab-apples. The present was con
sidered to be an unfavourable season, but still better
than some others, when all attempts had failed to
raise vegetables of any kind ; but in the very best of
seasons they never arrive at any degree of perfec
tion. Radishes, and turnip-radishes, mustard and
cress, seemed to thrive the best, and were looking
pretty well in the governor's garden; but he
bestowed much care and labour on his little
piece of ground, and often took great pleasure
in pointing out to me the healthy state and
vigour of three or four plants of the mountain
ash, which (after I forget how many years' growth)
had attained to the height of about four feet, and in
the possession of which he prided himself not a
little, assuring me that they were the largest, and
in fact the only plants that deserved the name of
trees within the distance of many miles around
Reikiavik. The gardens I am speaking of had apparently
abundance of good soil, and were all in a sheltered
situation, facing the south-west ; and yet, one knows
not why under such favourable circumstances,
everything in them appeared to be languishing.
It was the same in all the more inland situations
where anything hke a garden was observed ; the
most common vegetables were of no use, ftor
indeed did they appear to be deemed worthy of
any attention, growing generally among the weeds

108 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
common to the country. Dr. Hooker says that in
many of these little inclosures with turf, the
cabbages were so languid and small, that a half-
crown piece would have covered the whole of the
plant ; and the potatoes and turnips also came
to nothing. I do not recollect that we saw a cab
bage-head at all in any part of our future journey ;
and yet when we were at Reikiavik the weather in
August was comparatively mild, Fahrenheit's ther
mometer fluctuating in the daytime from 49° to 63°,
and nothing approaching to frost occurred during
the short nights. If then there be not some other
circumstances adverse to the growth of a far more
hardy and vigorous vegetation, I should be dis-
'•-osed to ascribe the want of success to misraa-
r- - •
nagement. On our first landing, a crowd of the male inha
bitants were assembled on the beach to congratu
late us on our arrival; among them was one
English merchant of the name of Robb, who had
resided there for twenty years, and was married to
a native lady. No other Englishman, it appeared,
resided on the island, the trade with England
having almost entirely ceased, with the exception
of a ship now and then from Newcastle and from
Liverpool with salt. I did not observe any females
among them, and we were rather surprised, as well
as disappointed, that the novel event of so many
strangers arriving in a smart j'acht had not

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. 109
excited that degree of female curiosity which we
have been told was so remarkably displayed by
the Iceland damsels on some former occasions.
Our first visit was to the house of Mr. Knudtzon,
a Danish merchant, and cousin to our excellent
companion of the same name, who had not been
apprized of our arrival, neither had he received the
least intimation of a visit from his relation, and was
therefore greatly astonished, as well as delighted, at
this unexpected arrival of his kinsman at Iceland.
Nothing could be more kind than was his reception
of all of us, and his attention was unabated during
our stay on the island. Accompanied by this
worthy gentleman, we next paid our respects to the
governor, who received us with the utmost polite
ness, and offered his services, frankly and unosten
tatiously, in every possible way in which he could
be of use to us in prosecution of the objects of our
visit. I understood his name to be Krieger ; and
while I was inquiring of Mr. Knudtzon whether it
was likely he could he a connexion of a Danish
gentleman of that name, whom I had travelled
with in Switzerland a few years before, the governor
came up to me, and said he thought he recollected
my features, and asked whether we had not met
among the Alps, and if my name vvas not Barrow ?
It will readily be imagined how delighted, and at
the same time how astonished I was, to find that
this governor of Iceland was the self-same Krieger
that my brother and I had travelled with among the

110 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
mountains of Switzerland — still the self-same plea
sant, jocular, and good-humoured man that we
found him to be six years ago. He folded me in
his arms, expressed himself delighted beyond mea
sure, and I really believe that from that day,
during our stay in Iceland, there was not a wish
that I could express that " my friend the governor"
would not have exerted every nerve to gratify. It
was really and unaffectedly a happy moment of my
life ; for when very young I had experienced acts
of kindness from him. I had frequently inquired
after him when at Copenhagen ; but as the name of
Krieger is by no means an uncommon one, I could
never learn where the individual I sought for was to
be found. How strange it is that we are thus some
times, out of all expectation — and I may say calcu
lation — thrown together in the world ! that two tra
vellers, accidentally meeting together in the Alps, and
forming a temporary, but I flatter myself a mutually
agreeable acquaintance, should, after the lapse of a
few years, when all intercourse had ceased, meet once
more, equally unlocked for, of all places in the
world, on Iceland ! Finding him still just the
same happy and pleasant individual as before, I
could not resist the temptation, while congratu
lating him on his elevation, to condole with him at
the same time on his unhappy lot, which I under
stood had consigned him to the workhouse ; — at
which he laughed heartily, and observed it was a
true joke, but no bad one for the governor, who

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. HI
had never been so well lodged as when he got into
the workhouse. It seems the building was not
only the best in the town, but that it had been for
some time perfectly useless for its original design,
as there was nobody bad enough to put into it : a
circumstance which reflects no small praise on the
morality of the inhabitants of Reikiavik, whose
good conduct rendered such a place unnecessary —
a place "Where children dwell, who know no parents' care;
Parents, who know no children's love, dwell there."
Like all sea-port towns, however, Reikiavik is
not free from the vice of drunkenness, which is by
no means uncommon among the fishermen and the
lower orders in the town. Indeed we happened to
witness a deplorable instance of it in the person
of an old woman, who was lying under a boat upon
the beach, in a miserable state of intoxication, and
who, we afterwards heard, ended her existence on
that very spot.
Nothing could exceed the civility of Mr. Krieger
fo all of us, and particularly to myself: he hoped
to see me frequently — at breakfast, dinner, or
supper as might suit me most — and that his door
was open to me at all hours of the day. He could
not offer me lodgings, as his whole house we^
occupied by Prince Frederick of Denmark and his
suite, at this time on a tour to the north-eastern
part of the island, but expected daily to return.

112 REIKI.A.V1K, [Chap. IV.
This intelligence ofthe prince having gone on his
travels in the island was to me a disappointment
almost as great as that of missing the ship-of-war
that carried him out from Copenhagen; for had
I been here, when he set out, I have no doubt
whatever — indeed we afteiwards learnt — that he
would most cheerfully have admitted the whole of
our party to join hira. On mentioning to the go
vernor the difficulty vve had in finding Reikiavik,
he said we were not singular, for that a French
brig of war, in the preceding year, had got by mis
take into Havnefiord.*
Our next visit was to the bishop, who received us
with great kindness and affability : his manners
were condescending and extremely agreeable, show
ing him at once to be a man of education, and a
gentleman who had seen the world. His name is
Jonson, and his age about sixty-eight or seventy;
he possesses a good library of the best books, in
various languages, and well stored with a variety of
manuscripts relating to Iceland, chiefly to the
ecclesiastical department. Though our visit was
but an hour before dinner-time, he ordered wine
and coffee to be served to us, according to the
"" This was La Lilloise, sent to protect the cod-fishery on the
coast of Iceland. Not returning in 1S33, another brig. La Bor.
delaise, was despatched in search of her, but could obtain no
intelligence of her ; in fact, the commander of the latter does uot
appear to have been a good selection for this service, having a
dread of being caught in the ice, which however he never once fell
in with. It is said that a whaler picked up a floating chest, in
which was found a chart of the track of the unfortunate Lilloise.

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. 113
custom of the country, which is always observed,
whatever the hour may be when a visit is made.
The principal officers of the government of Ice
land are soon enumerated : the stiftamptman, the
chief magistrate or governor of the island ; the steff
or staff being the ensign of his authority ; and the
amptman, the lieutenant-gov^ernor under him. This
large island was formerly divided into four ampts
or provinces, corresponding with the four cardinal
points of the compass, which are now reduced to
three ; and as the governor acts in that capacity in
the southern provinces, there are, in fact, but two
amptmen. Each ampt is divided into syssels or
districts, over which a sysselman presides, who
surveys and values the several estates in his dis
trict, collects the king's taxes, regulates the assess
ments, and corresponds in these matters with the
landfogued or treasurer at Reikiavik. He is also
the chief ii,agistrate of the district; holds courts for
the settlement of disputes, and for trying petty
offences. Each sysselman has a repstiore, who is
overseer of the poor, and constable of the parish.
The two amptmen, the sysselmen, and the repstiore
reside of course in their several districts. The
tatsroed, or chief justice, holds, with two assessors,
a criminal court at Reikiavik ; but the office, we
were told, is nearly a sinecure, not more than six
or eight cases, civil and criminal, coming before the
court in the course of a year. The common crimes

114 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV,
are those of petty theft, for which the offender
escapes With a good whipping.
Having received a commission from a member
of the Statistical Society in London to procure
answers to certain questions, chiefly relating to
the statistics of Iceland, I took the liberty of
consulting the bishop as to the best quarter I
could apply to for the required information, when
he at once said he should be most happy to
procure for me that or any other information which
I might be desirous of, and vvas in his power to
obtain. I found however another! gentleman,
perhaps more generally informed on such matters,
who had the advantage of speaking and writing
English, which the bishop could not do.
Having now paid our respects to the principal
inhabitants of the town, and tired ourselves with
strolling about a place that can afford but little
interest, we returned on board the yacht to dinner,
when we were favoured with Mr. Knudtzon's com
pany, whom we found to be a most agreeable and
intelligent gentleman.
On the following day I strolled about the neigh
bourhood of Reikiavik, and entered one of the
fishermen's huts, for they deserve no better name,
near the eastern extremity of the town. The ex
terior of these hovels are very similar in their con
struction to those of the Irish, who are said to have'
been the first people who visited Iceland, having, as it

Chap. IV.]

REIKIAVIK.

115

is supposed, been accidentally driven upon its shores.
This is stated by the most accredited historians o.
the country, on the report ofthe first Norwegian dis
coverers of Iceland, who relate that wooden crosses,
bells, and other relics which denoted Ireland, had
been picked up on the coast. If this be so, the only
vestige that now remains of anything Irish is to be
found in the construction of the hovels I am speak
ing of. The Iceland hut however is still nearer
to the description given by Dr. Johnson of the
hovels of the Hebrides, which, both in their mode
of construction, and in the interior, very nearly
resemble those of the Icelanders.

jin Icelandic Hut,

It is also said, and with more probability, that a
group of islands on the south coast of Iceland,
which bears the name of Westmanns Islands, were

116 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
SO called, because a settlement of Irish and Scotch
was established on them at a later period ; and
that the name was given to these islands from the
circumstance of the new settlers having come from
places west of Denmark.
The lower part of an Icelandic hut is built of
rude stones to the height of about four feet, and
between each row layers of turf ace placed vvith
great regularity, to serve instead of mortar, and
in fact to keep out the wind. A roof of such
wood as can be procured rests upon these walls,
and is covered with turf or sods. There are no
windows, —
'- Save one dull pane that, coarsely patch'd, gives way
To the rude tempest — yet excludes the day."
And not always this; a cask or barrel -with the
two ends knocked out answers the purpose of a
chimney ; but the smoke is frequently allowed to
escape through a hole in the roof. The only fire
that is ever burnt within their walls is that of the
kitchen, which forms a small separate apartment,
and is frequently detached from the house, with
which however it generally communicates by a dark
passage. On stooping under the door to enter one
of these cottages, I immediately found myself in
a narrow passage with a clay or earthen floor,
on each side of which, about midway, there was
a shelf some four feet from the ground. On
one of these shelves was spread out what ap-

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. 117
peared to be a bed, but without any protec
tion on the side ; and on the opposite one was
placed a variety of articles of clothing. On the
ground beneath these shelves were piled up
a large quantity of dried fish, and odds and
ends of all sorts thrown together in the utmost
confusion. At the farther extremity of the pas
sage I entered the kitchen, in which a small
fire was smothering : the apartment was full of
smoke struggling to make its escape through the
small aperture above ; and as there was no window
to admit the light, it was no easy matter to grope
one's way out again. This hut was by no means
of the worst description, though it appeared to me
wretched enough ; but the miserable abodes of the
poorer inhabitants of a fishing village, than which
Reikiavik can set up no higher pretensions, are not
to be taken as a fair specimen of the cottages of the
peasantry of the interior, which we have yet to see.
I cannot well conceive a more dreary residence than
Reikiavik must be during the five winter months,
when the ground is covered with snow, the nights
long and cold, and generally stormy — when their
slumbers must be disturbed by the roaring of the
sea on the high stony beach, and the howling of
the northerly blast, to which their houses are di
rectly opposed. During the summer there is some
society by the residence of the Danish merchants;
but most if not all of them take their depar-

1 18 REIKIAVIK, [Chap. IV.
ture at the end of the season for Copenhagen, and
return with the ships of the spring. The governor
and the bishop, the landfogued, the doctor,
and a few other public functionaries, are all that
remain. The governor complained of this want of
society, which he had now borne for five winters ;
but as he was this year to return with the Prince
of Denmark, he lived in the hope that something
more agreeable awaited him than the resumption
of his government, especially as he was an old
servant of the crown, having previously been em
ployed in the Royal Library of Copenhagen.
Our stay at Tronyem, among other disappoint
ments, lost us the opportunity of seeing the annual
assemblage of the peasantry, who come down in
the early part of the summer to Reikiavik, before
the hay-season sets in, to dispose of their pro
duce, and carry back with them such articles of
luxury or necessity, as their circumstances, their
tastes, and their w-ants may induce them to take in
exchange. The greater part of the trade in this
and other small sea-ports is carried on by way of
barter, the quantity of money in the colony being
very small, and few ofthe peasantry possessing any
of it, which indeed is hardly necessary ; the mer
chants receive their exportable articles at a certain
price, according to the state of the market, and
pay them in such foreign commodities, also at a
regulated price, as they may require. The arrival

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. 119
of these people creates a kind of fair, which occa
sions no little bustle and business in the capital.
The peasantry bring down in boxes or little chests
or skin-bags, as it may happen, slung across their
horses' backs, wool and woollen manufactured
goods, such as cloth, knitted stockings and mittens,
butter close-pressed and packed in barrels, skins
of cattle, calves, sheep, and lambs, tallow, fial-
gras, or lichen islandicus, horses and cattle, but
not many of these ; in short, whatever their farms
will supply. In return for these, the articles
they take back are coffee, sugar, tobacco, snuff, a
small quantity of brandy, rye and rye-bread, bis
cuit, wheaten flour, salt, soap, and such other small
articles as are in constant use for domestic purposes.
Those who can afford it purchase a small supply
of linens and cottons, which of late years have
become of more common use, and which must
tend greatly to cleanliness and the prevention of
that very distressing and disgusting disease, known
by the name of scurvy, and probably that still
worse, the leprosy, which no doubt woollen
clothing, if not kept very clean, when worn next to
the skin, tends to engender. Those who are not far
removed from the sea-coasts, and follow the occu
pation of fishermen, bring to market chiefly drifd
cod and stock-fish, salted cod, dried salmon, oil of
seals, sharks, and whales, and seal-skins.
Before the month of June this visit to Reikiavik

120 REIKIAVIK. [Chap. IV.
would be impracticable, on account of the mise
rable condition of their horses after a long winter's
fasting from grass ; for while the snow is on the
ground, there is no herbage for them, except for
those near the sea-coasts, where I understand they
may be seen greedily devouring every species of fuci
or sea-weed that are found plentifully on every part
of the coast. The small quantity of hay that is ge
nerally got in is almost exclusively set apart for the
cows ; on these and the sheep, which come in for a
share, every family in a great degree depends for its
clothing and subsistence. The snow is sometimes
scraped off the ground to allow the sheep to
feed on the little herbage beneath it, as they can
subsist on a short bite, and the lichens afford them
a supply of nutritious food. The poor horses fare
the worst ; the peasants hash up for them messes
of fishes' heads and bones, chopped up with a little
hay, and boiled altogether in water ; but with such
scanty food, especially when it happens to be a hard
winter, towards the spring of the year they become
miserably poor and are reduced to mere skeletons ;
it is surprising, however, when the grass begins to
spring up, how speedily they recover themselves
and get into flesh.
Having missed this fair, there was little or
nothing goin^ on at Reikiavik to engage our atten
tion ; and as our present stay was intended to be
only just as long as was necessary to complete

Chap. IV.] SALMON FISHERY OF LAX ELBE. 121
preparations for a journey to the Geysers, which,
with the leisurely or lazy manner, and the awkward
contrivances, of the persons employed to make
them, was estimated at three days. We proposed,
in the mean time, to devote one of those days to
an excursion to the Lax Elbe, or salmon river,
generally caWeA Lax-aa, the latter being pronounced
like our awe, and signifies river. This stream
empties itself into the bay of Reikiavik, at about
six or seven miles to the eastward of the town.
As we understood the river to be navigable by such
boats as our small cutter, as high up as the first
falls, near the foot of which the salmon are usually
caught, we proceeded thither in her. My two
angling companions promised themselves a good
day's sport, and armed themselves with their rods
and lines, and flies of various sizes, shapes, and
colours, to suit the eye or the taste of an Icelandic
salmon. For my own part, after the unsuccessful
experiment made at Lierfossen, I was content to go
as a mere looker on. We had read, on the pas
sage out, of the extraordinary gay scene that was
exhibited on the appointed day for catching the
salmon in this river, which was represented as a
regular annual festival, when all Reikiavik and the
country round about, far and near, assembled at a
particular spot to which the fish had previously been
driven, and in such multitudes as to exceed belief ;
that nothing was to be seen but happy and cheerful
countenances; that the utmost familiarity prevailed 6

122 SALMON FISHERY OF LAX ELBE. [Chap. IV.
among all ranks ; for that men, women and chil
dren, of all ages and conditions — the bishop, the
stiftamptman, the tatsroed, the landfogued, the
amptman and the sysselman, the doctor, the mid
wife, the washerwoman and the tailor — might all be
seen conversing with each other without restraint,
and on terms of perfect equality; that with regard
to the fish, the men, and the women too, had only
to wade into the pool, seize them in their arms,
and heave them out upon land, where others col
lected them into wooden panniers to be conveyed to
Reikiavik, and there prepared for drying or salting,
as the case might be ; and that in this way it was
not unusual to catch from two to three thousand
salmon in one day.
All this would have been dehghtftil enough to
behold ; but I discovered, before we started, that
reform had found its way even into the salmon-
fishery of Iceland, and that on avait change tout
cela ; that the fish are now caught in a more quiet
and rational way, once or twice in the week, ac
cording to the demand ; that the quantity of fish,
however, that frequents this river had not per
ceptibly diminished ; and that it was still a curious
sight to see such a multitude of large fish assem
bled at the foot ofthe falls in the river.
As it was deemed prudent to take a man with
us in the boat who was acquainted with the navi
gation of the shores of the bay and of the river,
we engaged a person to pilot us. Arriving at its

Chap. IV,] SALMON FISHERY OF LAX ELBE. 123
mouth, we found its channel hemmed in between
two high banks of rugged and cellular lava, and
in various places rocks of lava were seen to rise
out of the water above the surface, and in many
others were hid below it ; so that whenever our
men attempted to pull heartily, the pilot checked
them, saying, if they went at that rate, they would
soon have a pointed rock through the bottom of the
boat. Multitudes of eider-ducks were swimming
about the mouth of the river, as well as on and near
the rocky islands in the bay, and gulls and several
other species of sea-fowl innumerable. The eider-
ducks were so remarkably tame as to make it evident
they are but little disturbed in Iceland : indeed so
familiar are they said to be with man, especially in
the breeding season, which was now just over, that
they frequently make their nests close to the houses,
and in spots which have been prepared by ridges
of stones artificially built up for them ; and in such
places, while incubation is going on, these inno
cent birds are so tame, that it is not unusual
for the female to remain on the nest, and suffer her
self to be fondled without any attempt to fly away.
The lining of their nests, being the downy sub
stance plucked off their own breasts, is taken
away, even a second and third time, when the poor
bird has plucked herself nearly naked ; after this'
she is left undisturbed. Eider-down is used for
stuffing bed-coverlets for the winter, and furnishes
also a small article of export ; their eggs too are
g2

124 SALMON FISHERY OF LAX ELBE. [Chap. IV.
taken away once or twice, and are sold to be eaten
in the same manner that plovers' eggs are with us.
We understood that there is a penalty of half a
dollar for shooting one of these birds : nor is this
all, as the delinquent is also made to forfeit his
gun. As the distance from the mouth of the river to
the falls was only a mile or thereabouts, we were
not long in reaching the spot. At a little way
below the falls a kind of weir was thrown across the
river, or rather a causeway of stones, in which were
fixed two or three wooden boxes, with openings suf
ficient to let the fish pass through in going up ; and
being narrowed at the other end, and having pointed
spikes, in the manner of a mouse-trap, the salmon,
when once through, could not by any possibihty get
back again, but were left swimming about in the pool
formed between this dam and the foot of the falls ;
and though these could not be more than ten or
twelve feet in height, which is nothing for a salmon-
leap, yet being a broken cataract, whose waters
bounded among rugged and pointed rocks of lava,
I should apprehend it was impossible for a fish to
succeed in surmounting it.
In this pool we could see the salmon swimming
about in shoals. Here, of course, they are easily
taken either by turning off the water, or by a net ;
and we were told that about this season of the year
four or five hundred are caught weekly, and gene
rally by the latter process. The fishery belongs to

Chap. IV.] SALMON FISHERY OF LAX ELBE. 125
the Crown, and the rent paid for the privilege of
the exclusive right of taking the fish forms a small
branch of the public revenue.
Our two anglers plied their lines close under the
falls, and also below the ripple occasioned by the
causeway, but all in vain ; the fish would not take.
In vain did they try to tempt them with every
variety of the beautiful flies which they had with
so much care manufactured on the voyage out, cal
culating at least on two salmon for every specimen.
The trout, however, were not quite so dainty : seve
ral of these were hooked and brought to land, which
was some small consolation for the disappointment
which the larger fry had occasioned. An angler
is proverbially a patient and enduring creature,
but our two disciples of Izaak Walton, more par
ticularly one of them, exhibited signs of impatience
that could not be mistaken, and set down Iceland
salmon as a set of stupid and unnatural fish, for
having the bad taste not to rise at such orthodox
flies, so eminently calculated to delude their ap
petites. As Mr. Broder Knudtzon and myself were specta
tors only of the sport, or rather want of sport, we too
grew impatient, and, leaving our companions to the
enjoyment of it, set out, with a little boy for our
guide, across the country between the fishery and
Reikiavik, intending to make a short detour in order
to visit some boiling springs half way between the
fishery and the town. There was no road across this

126 HOT WELLS. [Chap. IV.
plain, and the surface was strewed with slags of
lava, between which were tufts of grass growing, and,
among other plants, a beautiful species of vaccinium
in full blossom. The Lichen Islandicus was grow
ing plentifully, and the Lichen rangiferinns beau
tifully, among the lava. I brought some of this
latter plant to England, and on spreading it in
a saucer of water, all its little delicate tubular ra
mifications became full and plump, taking their na .
tural position ; but it turned black the second day.
The plant however that was here the most conspi
cuous among the tribe of mosses was the Trichosto-
mum canescens, a soft, greyish moss, pleasant to
tread upon, provided the surface of the lava beneath
it, on which it seems delighted to grow, happens to
be an even one ; but we found it, as Mr. Hooker
did, filling up the interstices, and only rendering
the walking upon it the more precarious and dan
gerous. There was no want of bogs or swamps, but these
we sometimes succeeded in avoiding by jumping
from one tuft of grass to another, with which the
boggy patches were thickly studded, and also with
the cotton-grass (Eriophorum polystachion), ofthe
fine silky fibres of which the inhabitants make wicks
for their lamps. Having cleared the morass by the
help of these little tufts or hillock.?, we arrived at
the spot where we had observed smoke to be issuing
from the ground. It was a clear spring of water in
the midst of a morass covered with verdure. Close

Chap. IV.] HOT WELLS. 127
to the spring was a small wooden shed, on opening
the door of vvhich we discovered five or six young
women busily employed in washing linen in the
warm water of the springs, which they had taken
up in tubs. I imagine these Naiads were not over-
pleased at our intrusion, as on Mr. Knudtzon,
out of mere curiosity, taking hold of the tassel of
the cap worn by one of them, to see of what mate
rial it was made, the young lady took it in high
dudgeon. We thought it best therefore to leave
them to themselves, and to give them no further
interruption. Having left my thermometer behind, not being
prepared for the visit to these springs, I was unable
to ascertain the temperature, but I should judge,
by plunging in my finger for about a second of
time, that the temperature was under 200°. A rivu
let runs close by the springs which receives the
heated water, smoking as it runs along, and the
banks of which, for a considerable distance, exhibit
a more than usual luxuriance of vegetation. The
water from the springs is remarkably clear, and I
could not discover the slightest smell or taste,
though it is said that, when left to stand for some time
exposed to the air, a slight sulphureous smell is
perceptible. It is said that there are also hot
springs thrown up in the bed of the rivulet, and
that bubbles are frequently perceptible on the sur
face ; I did not observe any myself, but the rivulet
contained an increased heat to a very considerable

128 HOT WELLS.

[Chap, IV,

distance below the springs, as was obvious from the
smoke rising from it, as well as from the verdure
on its banks, as I have just mentioned. This small
stream empties itself into Reikiavik Bay, a little to
the eastward of the town.
It would appear from the account given by
Olafsen and Povelsen, that small eels have often
been found dead in the heated streams of Iceland,
but not those of a large growth ; and Mr. Hooker
found a number of small eels dead in these hot
springs of Reikiavik, which had probably been car
ried down by the stream into the heated part. Von
Troil says, " Of the trouts, it has been observed that
when they come up the rivers and brooks, and
approach the hot springs, they are fond of staying
in the lukewarm water, where they grow so fat as
to be scarcely eatable."
On reaching Reikiavik we found ourselves not a
little fatigued by our walk " over bog and quag
mire," and resolved at once to go on board the
" Flower of Yarrow," and enjoy a quiet and com
fortable dinner. Our two piscators had not yet
returned, but they soon made their appearance,
equally tired with ourselves, and not a little out of
humour with the stupidity and obstinacy of the Ice
landic salmon, which had been so saucy as to reject
some of as nice flies as were ever thrown by a rod ;
but they brought with them several fine trout
which were not to be despised.
In the evening we were favoured vvith a visit on

Chap. IV.] REIKIAVIK. 129
• board the yacht from the governor, who sat and
chatted, and smoked a cherry-stick from the Medi
terranean with great glee, to which Mr. Smith
treated him. He told us how irksome and dreary
he felt his situation on this desolate island, on
which he had spent five years of his life without
once quitting it. He repeated what he had before
told me, how dreary it was in the winter-months,
when all the Danish merchants had departed from
the island for Copenhagen ; and that himself, the
good bishop, the landfogued, and two or three
others, were left to while away the long melancholy
nights almost in a state of torpidity ; that it was
some consolation, however, to have before him the
prospect of accompanying the prince back to Den
mark, when he hoped some other situation would
be provided for him, — as a second spell amidst
" frost' and fire " would be enough to drive him to
despair. It would delight me to find that this excellent
man's expectations have been realized.
The next day was consumed in paying visits, in
passing an hour or two with the governor, in pack
ing up our clothes, and settling various points con
nected with our intended visit to the Geysers, for
which we were to start on the following morning.

g3

130

CHAPTER V.
JOURNEY TO THE GEYSERS.
Preparations — Pack-horses — Saddle-horses — Guides — desolate as
pect ofthe Country — tameness of Birds — Lava — Chasm of vi/-
mannagaiaa — Waterfall down the Chasm — River Oxer-aa —
Church aud Parsonage of Thingvalla — sleep in the Church —
Chasm of Flossagaiaa — fine Prospect — silver Ornaments made
by the Peasantry — ardent Spirits, quantity consumed — Effects
of on a Clergyman — Thicket of dwarf Birch-frees — supposed
change of Climate — Trees fuund in Peat-bogs — Surturbrand,
where found — Vegetation in high Latitudes in Norway — Thing
valla-vatn, or Lake — Swans, melodious singing of — third Chasm
of Hrafnagaiaa, or of the Ravens — volcanic Cones aud Craters
— whole Fields of Lava — Laugerfell Hills — Church and Parson
age of Efstadalr — Hay-making — Appearance of Hecla — Pea
santry — River Bruer-aa — first sight of the Geysers.
Our preparations for a journey to the Geysers
having been at length completed, we left Reikiavik
on the morning of the 1 st of August. Our caval
cade consisted of six-and-twenty horses, twelve of
which had been sent onwards to serve as relays.
Our party was composed of Mr, Smith, Mr,
Hutchinson, Mr, Broder Knudtzon, his servant,
who was a Norwegian, and myself; besides which
were two guides and a boy, making eight in
all. Of the fwenty-six horses, sixteen were ap
propriated as saddle-horses, including eight as

Chap, v.] PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. 131
reliefs, and ten were set apart as baggage-horses,
five being loaded at a time, and the other five re
served as reliefs. To each of us was appropriated
a small wooden box or chest, which was to contain
the few articles of clothing that we might require
during our absence. These were slung across the
horse's back, one on each side, in the manner
represented in the engraving.

An Icelandic Pack-hor.se.

In order to prevent the backs of the animals from
chafing, or the packages galling their sides, two
pieces of turf or sods are placed across for their
protection. They appeared to me to consist more.
of matted grass than earth, which indeed would
soon shake to pieces, and were no doubt the fibrous
roots of that plant which Dr, Hooker has described

132 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. [Chap.V.
in his Flora Islandica by the name of Menyanthes
trifoliata. " This plant is important to travellers
who are not acquainted with the route in the
morasses ; for they are well aware that wheresoever
it grows they may safely pass ; its closely-woven
roots making a firm bed upon the soft subsoil. The
Icelanders call it Reidinga, and employ the matted
tufts to prevent the saddle or any load from chafing
the horses' backs." These mats, if I may so call
them, are made fast by ropes or cords passing round
the belly. On the back of the horse, and upon the
matting, is a sort of wooden saddle,with three small
pegs standing upright, on which the boxes are
hung and made tight by cords fastened to the
handles. This mode of travelling and packing the
horses is universal throughout the island. All the
articles that are brought from the interior for sale
at the sea-ports, and all those taken back for win
ter consumption, are packed and carried in this
way. There is not, in fact, in all Iceland such a
machine as a wheel-carriage : no, not a wheelbar
row ; and indeed, if there were, they would be
useless, as there is nothing in the shape of a road
on which they could move. The ivay or the path
either lies over beds of lava, so rugged that the
horses are obliged to pick their way, or over boggy
ground, where it is equally necessary to avoid those
places into which the animals might sink up to their
belly, and which, when left to themselves, they are
remarkably skilful in detecting. In some places,

Chap. V,] PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY, 133
the path resembles a deep rut formed by the crack
ing or disruption of a stream of lava ; and here the
rider is pretty much in the predicament of the
Irishman who was carried in a sedan chair without
a bottom in it ; for in all such places we were able
to relieve our horses, by putting our feet on the two
sides ofthe sunken path.
Our saddles were supplied to us by some of the
Danish merchants who reside at Reikiavik, and
who kindly lent them for the occasion. Clumsy as
they were, without them we should have been at
a sad loss. There was nothing remarkable in the
equipment of the horses on which we were mounted,
save the bits of the bridles, which were somewhat
ponderous, being sufficiently large to have broken
the jaws of the hardest-mouthed animal in a regi
ment of dragoons. The Icelandic horses are small,
seldom standing above fourteen hands, and fre
quently not more than twelve or thirteen. In so
great a number of horses promiscuously taken,
there was no want of variety as to shape, size,
colour, or quality ; but being so taken, it was far
beyond our expectation to find that there was not ¦
one animal among them that could be called a bad
one, and only one that might be said to be de
cidedly vicious; and this one certainly tried the
patience of his riders, as we alternately mounted
him in the course of the journey. He had very
nearly killed one of Mr. Sm.ith's pointers whilst I
happened to be on his back. The dog had, un-

134 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. [Chap.V,
perceived, come close behind the horse's heels,
when he immediately kicked at him, and struck
him a severe blow on the head. The poor animal
staggered backwards, and appeared to have re
ceived his death-blow ; but the wound bled pro
fusely, and he fortunately sustained no permanent
injury. But that which surprised us not a little was,
that notwithstanding the poverty of the food of
these animals and the scantiness of it — for in
winter they barely exist, and have nothing what
ever in the summer months but the grass and
small plants they can pick up on the bills —
they were all in high condition as to flesh. We
had moreover been told that Prince Frederick had
taken with him, on his tour to the north-east
ward, all that were worth having in the neighbour
hood of Reikiavik, to the number of fifty. This
however we were afterwards satisfied could not
have been the case, as we had an opportunity of
inspecting his Royal Highness's stud on his return
to Reikiavik ; and there was not a single animal
in the whole group that was in any way superior to
the generality of our own.
The Icelander is not a very active person, and
our guides ftdly participated in the general cha
racter of the country, which is that of a want of
energy and bodily exertion. Some hours were
consumed in packing the baggage-horses, yet the
articles were neither bulky nor heavy. Our cloth-

Chap, v.] PREPARA-TIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. 135
ing occupied five wooden boxes, to which vvere
added a small quantity of provisions, such as
we were not likely to meet with on the journey,
most of them stowed away in barrels. A tent, with
all its necessary appendages of pegs and pole,
formed also a part of our baggage; and a long
wooden case, containing fishing-rods, made up the
sum -total, or nearly so, of our goods and chattels.
We were all rather singularly equipped for the
journey : some of the party wore large boots coming
up to the knee, similar to those used by fishermen,
which were found to be invaluable in crossing many
of the rivers on horseback. For my own part I was
content with a pair of waterproof Wellington boots,
which I had purchased at Tronyem for about six
teen shillings English money, and they were found
to answer thoroughly, being in all respects what
they professed to be.
A great part of the time consumed by the guides
was lost in determining how the baggage should be
divided, and on which horse should be placed the
heaviest and on which the lightest load ; and more
time still was expended in shifting the loads from
one horse to another several times after they had,
as I thought, made up their minds. At length all
being arranged, we each mounted our steeds and
proceeded onwards. We were escorted for a short
distance by two or three of the Danish residents of
Reikiavik, who, after taking leave of us, proceeded
to Havnefi6rd. The first part of our route was
strewn over with rocks, partaking of the same

136 DESOLATE COUNTRY. [Chap.V,
character as those on the lower part of the beach
at Reikiavik, being angular and pointed, and ge
nerally of five sides, apparently the fragments of
basaltic pillars. Nothing could be more uninviting
than the first part of our ride, and it did not improve
as we proceeded; on the contrary, the view on all
sides was marked with one general aspect of deso
lation. Not a shrub raised its head above the
ground ; not a habitation attracted our attention ;
and not a living creature was anywhere to be seen,
save a few plovers and curlews, whose mournful
notes were well suited to the dreariness of the sur
rounding scenery. These birds appeared to be so
tame, confident as it would seem not to be molested,
that they scarcely gave themselves the trouble of
moving out of our way ; so confiding indeed, that it
would almost have been an act of wantonness to think
for a moment of destroying them. Travelling on
wards to a considerable distance, we overtook our
twelve relief-horses, which had been turned loose
to feed on a large and tolerably well-clothed grass-
plat. Here we rested for about half an hour, and
the twelve horses thus added to our cavalcade were
driven loose in front of our baggage-horses.
The guides rode immediately behind the latter,
and we ourselves brought uj) the rear. After this
our bridle-road for a little w'hilewas tolerably good;
but it was soon followed by a tract of porous and
curled lava that was rough and unpleasant enough.
Beyond this we reached a sort of morass, through
which were running several small streams, and over

Chap.V.] IMPROVED APPEARANCE. 137
these we were compelled to wade, which gave me
an opportunity of trying the good quality of my
Tronvem waterproof boots.
Our route now led us close by the side of three
or four small lakes, near which the verdure was rich
and the pasture excellent ; and here we observed
a few cows and sheep feeding : many of the latter
were so far remarkable that they had four horns,
and the fore part of the body was black and the re
mainder vvhite. The cows appeared to be of a larger
breed than those generally met with in Norway ; but
the smallness of our horses, when placed beside
them, may perhaps have shown them off to a greater
advantage. They were however beautifully marked,
and in shape resembled the Alderney, having ge
nerally very small horns, but frequently they are
without any.
As soon as we had accomplished, according to
our calculation, about half of our day's journey, vve
halted for the purpose of relieving our baggage-
horses, at the expense of undergoing the same
tedious operation of loading and unloading, pack
ing and unpacking, half a dozen times before our
Icelanders could satisfy themselves that they had
put the saddles and the packages on the right
horses. It would have been useless to hurry them,
and we therefore made a virtue of necessity, and*
bore it all with becoming patience, amusing our
selves in the meanwhile by taking some refreshments,
which none of us felt indisposed to do after a pretty
long and very tedious ride.

138

ALMANNAGAIAA.

[Chap. V.

On a ridcre of mountains, at no great distance
from us on our left and not very high, we observed
snow lying in considerable patches. Our route at
starting brought us nearer to this ridge, and as
we proceeded along, the surface soon changed its
character, and became more and more rugged and
strewed over with large masses of lava : this in a
short time brought us to the verge of a deep chasm,
inclosed between two walls of rock of a dark-brown
colour, composed apparently of large blocks or
tablets of trap or basalt, the upper part of tufa.
This extraordinary chasm we were told we must
cross by descending down a steep precipice, not
less I suppose than one hundred and twenty feet
at this spot; the opposite wall appearing only
about thirty or forty feet, and the width, narrowing

Transverse Section of the Almannagaiaa.
a little towards the bottom, by the declination of
lower wall, might be about sixty feet.

Chap.V,] ALMANNAGAIAA. 139
The direction of this extraordinary rent in the
mountain is about north and south, and is said to ex
tend three miles. We were told also that there are
two others, cutting into the slope of the mountain,
and parallel to the present one. Its name is Alman-
nagaiaa, the meaning of which no one appeared to
know, not even the natives, but it seems to relate
to something in which all mankind is concerned.
The descent was down a ravine near one of its
extremities, which conducted to the bottom of the
chasm by a steep and rugged path of loose and
angular fragments of lava, mixed with blocks of trap.
It is so steep and rugged, that travellers are always
recommended to dismount and let the horses find
their own way ; but as we happened to be a con
siderable way before our guides, having left them
to take care of the baggage-horses, and had re
ceived no such caution from them, we all kept our
seats, to the no small amazement of the Icelanders
when they heard of our exploit. To attempt to
descend such a place on horseback might perhaps,
in most countries, have been considered rather
hazardous ; but in Iceland, where the animals are
accustomed at all times and in all places to go
over the roughest lava, there was little or no fear
of their making a false step. On reaching the l^ot-
tom, which was well clothed with grass, we could
see along this wonderful chasm to a considerable
distance : on either side the gigantic walls rose to a
fearful height above us, more particularly that on
our left or western side, which was as perpendicular

140

ALMANNAGAIAA.

[Chap, V,

as if its huge blocks had been piled up by human
hands, and its rugged summit might, to a perfect
stranger, appear at first sight to be crowned with
the ruins of some gigantic building. We rode a
short distance along the bottom of the chasm until
we came to an opening in the lower wall, or that
on our right, which carried us out to the open coun
try. Observing however, at a short distance farther
on, a fine waterfall tumbling down into the chasm
with a great noise over the edge of the higher pre
cipice, I rode on to have a more distinct view of it;
mm

IFatnfnU of fhc 0.l•rr-^^a into the Almannagaiaa.

Chap.V.] ALMANNAGAIAA. 141
and standing on the verge ofthe lower side, directly
opposite to it, I made a hasty sketch, which may
be sufficient to convey a notion of the higher wall
of this enormous gap, which has attracted the
notice of all who have travelled on this route.
Sir Joseph Banks pronounced it to be a sinking
of the earth, in which he has been followed by
most succeeding travellers. The direction of the
chasm is at right angles to the axis of the ridge of
mountains, and the whole range to the eastward of
it continues to be much lower than that part of
it to the westward. It may therefore perhaps be
but a sudden descent of the ridge, though it is
obvious that fire has been an active agent in this
quarter, and may have rent tbe mountain asunder ;
for from this spot commence those indications of
volcanic convulsions that have torn asunder the
surface the whole way to Thingvalla, and even as
far to the eastward as the Geysers.
When Olafsen and Povelsen were at Thingvalla
in 1740, attending the Althing, or general court of
justice, which at that time was held there, the
Oxer-aa, or Ox river, vvhich is said to have disap
peared and re-appeared several times, was dried up
on this occasion for the space of eight days ; but
one fine morning a tremendous noise alarmed the
assembled multitude, which was followed by a
burst of water, carrying before it rock and earth,
and, making its way in a torrent, fell into the
chasm of Almannagaiaa in a fine waterfall down the

142 THINGVALLA. [Chap. V.
higher wall, and, passing through an opening in
the lower or eastern side, continued its course into
the lake of Thingvalla. This river we had pre
sently to cross on horseback ; and not long after we
approached a spot rendered famous more than 800
years ago, and from thence celebrated in the annals
of Iceland down to the present time : at this place
we were to pass the night. When our guides told
us we had arrived at the end of our journey, we
looked about for a town or a village, a church or the
parsonage, but nothing of the kind appeared. We
had heard and read that there was a church at this
place: in vain did I look for the steeple, the
usual appendage to a church in all the countries I
have hitherto visited ; I could discover nothing
that gave any such indication, nor indeed anything
like a human habitation. Mr. Smith, however, at
length discovered some low roofs covered with grass,
one of which, being larger than the rest, he had no
doubt was the church of Thingvalla, and so indeed
it proved. We now perceived a range of low huts near to
the larger one with verdant roofs, which our guide
pointed out as the residence of the clergyman. We
resolved therefore to wait upon the priest, but he
saved us the trouble ; for, having some intimation
of our approach, he had come out of his house to
receive our party. From the appearance of the
hovels, as well as that of the incumbent, we at once
asked and obtained permission to occupy the church

Chap.V.]

THINGVALLA. 143

for the night, which we had the less scruple in
doing, as we had heard that it was the usual, and in
fact the only spot that travellers had any choice of
for passing the night. Accordingly our horses were
unpacked and turned out loose till the morning,
and our saddles and boxes were deposited in the
aisle of the church, where there was just room
enough to receive them. The dimensions were
indeed small enough, and every part was crowded
with various kinds of stores, such as clothing, pro
visions, barrels of fish, a huge side-saddle such as
is used by ladies, and a quantity of wool : when to
these were added our own chattels, the aisle was
nearly impassable.
As this building, consecrated to religious pur
poses, was altogether different from any I had
before seen, curiosity led me to take its dimensions :
the extreme length was twenty-three feet, but of
this eight feet were devoted to the altar, which was
divided off by a partition stretching across the
church, and against which was placed the pulpit.
Over the pulpit were the following Latin inscrip
tions, — "Scio opera tua."
"Habentidabitur,"
A small wooden chest or cupboard, placed between
two very small square windows at the end of the
building, not larger than a common-sized pane of
glass, constituted the communion-table, over which
was a miserable representation of the Lord's Sup-

144 THINGVALLA. [Chap. V,
per, painted on wood, and apparently of great
antiquity. The width of the church was ten feet,
and the height of the walls about six feet. These
were wainscoted, and from them large wooden
beams stretched across from side to side. On these
beams were placed in great disorder a quantity of
old bibles, psalters, and fragments of dusty ma
nuscripts. The interior of the roof, the rafters
of which rested on the walls, was also lined with
wood. On the right of the door as we entered,
and under which we were obliged to stoop consi
derably, we remarked two or three bells suspended
from the beams within reach. Four or five benches
with backs to them, so crowded together as almost
to touch one another, were placed on each side the
aisle, a narrow passage being left between them.
There were also some benches placed against the
wainscoted walls, round that part which formed
the altar. The accommodation was said to be suf
ficient for forty people ; but I am quite at a loss
to imagine how they could all find seats, or even
room to stand. It is not however often, if ever,
that the church is so crowded, as the number of in
habitants living in tbe immediate neighbourhood is
very small — not above twelve or fourteen families
in the whole parish.
After partaking of some of the refreshments
which we had brought with us, and to vvhich were
added some good coffee, some milk, and some ex
cellent trout from the lake of Thingvalla - xatn,

Chap.V.] CHURCH OF THINGVALLA.

145

supplied by the clergyman, who was unremitting in
his attention, and repeatedly entered the church to
offer his services, we now began to consider how we
could make ourselves as little uncomfortable for the
night as circumstances would admit. The benches
in the aisle were too narrow to make them avail
able for the purpose of sleeping on, so were the
benches round the altar. There was no other
place then but the floor; as soon, therefore, as we
had despatched our supper, and wrapped ourselves
up in our cloaks and coats, we lay down and
endeavoured to sleep, two on each side of the com
munion table, or large chest that served for one.
This substitute was raised on a sort of platform,
a'hd between it and some benches, which vvere
placed against the sides of the wall, we were
obliged to squeeze in as well as we could, and very
close stowage it was.

Parish Church of Thingxialla.

146 THINGVALLA. [Chap, V.
As I was employing myself in making the fore
going sketch of the church, the clergyman, who
seemed to take a particular interest in what I was .
doing, and apparently much pleased with my per
formance, asked me to accompany him to a spot
from whence he assured me I should be able to get
a very fine view, worthy of my pencil ; accordingly
we proceeded together to the place, which turned
out to be one of the chasms we had heard of as
running parallel with Almannagaiaa. It is not
more than two hundred yards from the church, and
was called by the priest Flossagaiaa, the meaning
of whicli he was no more able to explain than that
of the former.
The face of the country hereabouts has been'
strangely torn asunder and disrupted. This deep
chasm was filled with water, to the height
perhaps of forty or fifty feet from the top where
we stood; and my clerical guide pointed out how
very clear and transparent the water was ; tellinf
me that if I threw in a stone, its 'l'°"=^nt; might be
traced to a very co^^^erable deptCas it worked
'.! rueanderiug. w*y downwards, perhaps to the
depth of forty or fifty feet more. The fact was
certainly so, but I did not consider this effect in
the same curious point of view that the priest
seemed to do. It is neither more nor less than
this : when the eye is placed near to the surface of
the water, and perpendicular to it, the light is
reflected from the surface, and obscures all objects

Chap.V,] THINGVALLA, 147
beneath it ; but when the eye is at a distance above
the surface, the rays of light which have pene
trated the water will be refracted, and show clearly
objects at a great depth below the surface. Seamen
are fully aware of this, and from the mast-head
will see rocks or reefs, or even shoals below the
surface of the sea, when those on deck can discover
nothing of them. In the present instance the dark
compact walls of lava which contracted the di
mensions cf the chasm might tend to increase
the effect.
The prospect from this spot, though not beau
tiful, was romantically grand, notwithstanding the
confused and hideous masses of lava strewed around,
and the dismally barren appearance of all the sur
rounding mountains. The Thingvalla- Vatn, which
is a grand expanse of water apparently from ten
to fifteen miles in length, and six or eight in width,
is here seen to great advantage; and two black-
looking islands, the probable creation of volcanic
fire, rise boldly out of the clear waters of the lake,
and are visited only, as far as I can learn, by some
thousands of water-birds and sea-fowl. Theirnames
are Sandey and Nesey, but what the meaning of the
words is, if any, I could not learn; from hence too
there is an exceUent view of the upper part ofthe high*
wall of the chasm of Almannagaiaa. I expressed
my thanks to the clergyman as well as I was able
to do in indifferent Latin. We managed, however,
somehow or another to make ourselves under-
H 2

148

THINGVALLA.

[Chap, V.

stood by means of a slate and pencil, as our pro
nunciation of many of the words did not quite
accord; he appeared to be a good kind of man,
and when we parted it vvas with many professions
of friendship on both sides.
On my return to the parsonage I found our
guides still busily employed in getting the horses
packed, having already expended a couple of hours
about it, and having still an hour's work before
them. In order to pass away the time, I asked my
friend the priest if he thought that his good lady
would have any objection to my making a pencil
sketch of the dress she wore, as I wished to take
home a sample of the female costume of the

Full head and body dress of the Farmers' Wives and Daughters.
country ; he immediately made the proposal to his
wife, who seemed amused and flattered. I had

Chap, v.] THINGVALLA. 149
hardly commenced when, like the Lapland lady,
she asked me not to draw the cap she wore, which
was one of the common ones with a tassel, but
begged to be allowed to change it ; she accord
ingly ran into the house, and in about a quarter of
an hour or twenty minutes returned dressed out
from head to foot in her best apparel, and certainly
looked very neat, and the cap particularly smart
and becoming. I was much struck with the work
manship of the silver massive girdle or belt, with
an ornament above it, which the lady wore round
her waist ; in point of execution as well as design it
appeared to me to be equal to anything of the kind
which a jeweller in England could have fabricated,
and yet these kind of articles are the work of the
peasantry, but, as may be supposed, only of a few,
the demand for them being very limited : those
few however who have learnt the art may find em
ployment, as the ladies of rank — that is to say, the
clergymen's wives, and the families of public func
tionaries and merchants — are in the common habit
of wearing these girdles. The silver is obtained by
melting down the old Danish dollars, without the
addition of any alloy ; most of the ladies wear them
fastened in front on a belt of richly-worked velvet.
Our good pastor the next morning was equally
attentive, in furnishing out our breakfast-table before
our departure, as he had been the preceding
evening. We had then pressed him to take some
grog with us, which he declined ; but on offering

150 THINGVALLA. [Chap.V,
him a glass of brandy this morning he readily
accepted it ; the prince, when there, had asked
him to take a glass of punch, but he informed
his highness he only drank brandy. I suspect,
however, that this poor clergyman rarely indulges
in luxury of this kind. When we consider the
long, cold, and dreary winter nights, and the des
titution of almost every article of life that con
stitutes comfort, it is not to be wondered at that
spirituous liquors should hold out an almost irre
sistible temptation, and the more so in the
proximity of the capital, where they can easily
and cheaply be procured, which is not the case in
the more distant parts of the island.
By the reply received to one ofthe statistical ques
tions I was commissioned to ask, it would appear
that the whole quantity of spirits consumed on the
island amounts only to two bottles per annum to
each individual of the population; and of this
allowance, judging from what I have learnt of the
very limited incomes and the general poverty of
some three hundred clergymen on the island, two
hundred of them know not what spirituous liquors
are. Dr. Hooker mentions the extraordinary effect
which a small portion of rum produced on the good
old priest of Middair, whose stomach had been
accustomed only to a milk diet and a little coffee.
" He begged me," says the Doctor, " to give him
some rum to bathe his wife's breast ; but having
applied a portion of it to that purpose, he drank

Chap.V.] DEPARTURE FROM THINGVALLA. 151
the rest, without being at all aware of its strength,
which however had no other effect than in causing
this clerical blacksmith*, with his lame hip, to
dance in the most ridiculous manner in front of the
house. The scene afforded a great source of mer
riment to all his family, except his old wife, who
was very desirous of getting him to bed, while he
was no less anxious that she should join him in the
dance. -|-"
Dr. Hooker observes that this very circumstance
is a convincing proof how unaccustomed this priest
was to spirituous liquors, otherwise a small quan
tity that could not have exceeded a wine-glass full
would not have elated his spirits to such a degree.
At length it was announced to us that all was
ready, and having taken a friendly leave of our
respectable clergyman, we left Thingvalla. Its
name implies a court of justice in the open field.
The Althing, or general assembly of the nation,
was held here in the open air ; here too was held
the supreme court of justice, and this continued to
be so till the year 1690, when a plain rustic
building of lava was erected, and justice therein
administered till about the commencement of the
present century, when the court was removed to
Reikiavik. On this memorable spot too the
Christian religion received its final establishment,
* All the clergymen are blacksmiths, for a reason which will be
stated hereafter.
f Journal of a Tour iu Iceland, p. 110.

152 BIRCH THICKETS. [Chap.V.
and the ancient paganism was abolished, more than
eight hundred years ago. It is now a place of
desolation, and the country around it presents a
wild picture of physical disorder and confusion.
Immediately after leaving Thingvalla, the route
we pursued led us through what might be called a
thicket of dwarf birch-trees, rising out of the nu
merous cracks and crevices of porous and contorted
lava mixed with slag; they had not attained a
greater height than from three to five feet above
the ground, and among them was also a sprinkling
of dwarf willows. These were the first specimens
of arborescent plants of any description that we had
fallen in with since leaving Reikiavik. The his-
torians of Iceland, however, would have us believe
that, when the first settlers arrived on the island,
they found the lower parts of the country covered
with forests of birch-trees so thickly as to prevent
their penetrating into the interior ; and they assign
as a reason why there are now no trees, that
hurricanes and streams of lava have destroyed
them, and that the Greenland ice besetting their
shores has prevented them of late years attaining
to their former growth — and, in short, that the
climate has altogether changed. Few I believe
lay any stress on change of climate. That intelli
gent traveller Von Buch has furnished an answer
to this supposed change of climate. " It is impos
sible," he says, — speaking of the high latitudes on
the coast of Norway, — " it is impossible to adduce,

Chap.V.] BIRCH LOGS. 153
with certainty, a single fact to show that the mean
temperature for several years, at the same place,
has diminished even half a degree. Where is the
region, since the earth was inhabited by human
beings, where spruce or Scotch firs could formerly
grow, and cannot grow now, or where could oaks
and birches grow ? Never beyond the region ivhich
the temperature has assigned to these trees*." To
the birch of Iceland the temperature seems to have
settled its maximum at about ten feet in height,
and three inches in diameter, though Dr. Hooker
thinks he saw some, the loftiest of which might be
eleven or twelve feet in height, and five or six
inches in diameter at the basej . Another traveller
tells us the growing stumps of several birch-trees
were visible (to his own eyes of course) ttvo feet
in diameter I He must have seen them in a dream,
for he would find it difficult, I suspect, to discover a
birch-tree two feet in diameter even in all Scotland.
The late Archbishop Von Troll says there are
certain proofs of wood having formerly grown in
great abundance in Iceland, and he adduces, as
proof, the instance of wood having been found in
peat-bogs, and the surturbrand. Of the former I
have not seen any certain description, either as to
the nature or size of the wood, to enable me ^o
offer any opinion. The only specimen seen by me
* Travels through Norway and Lapland, p. 180.
t Journal of a four in Iceland, p. 261.
H 3

154 SURTURBRAND.

[Chap. V,

was near Reikiavik ; when one day returning with
the governor from the hill above his house, we met
a peasant carrying under his arm a large stump of
a birch-tree, of about the thickness of an ordinary
man's thigh. As this was so unusual a sight, I
did not lose the opportunity of questioning him
about it ; the peasant informed us that he had dug
it up from a morass close to Reikiavik, at a depth
of ten or twelve feet from the surface, and that he
was constantly in the habit of finding similar logs
equally large in the same morass, and at the same
depth, which the peasants about Reikiavik search
for to sell as fire-wood. Although the wood
appeared internally to be much decayed from rot,
the bark was quite perfect. I regretted that, as
we were then on the point of leaving Iceland, I
should be deprived of the opportunity of making
more minute inquiries on a subject which must be
considered as one worthy the attention of future
travellers, there being now nothing of the description
growing within a very considerable distance- from
Reikiavik. Of the antiquity of surturbrand, the Archbishop
has himself given proof, by the position in which it
is found, of an epoch, vvhich he must be a bold man,
who would venture to calculate its date*, for he tells
* We have heard of one man, however, who assumed the
several strata of lava as a criterion for calculating the age of the
world — il Canonico Recupero — who attended Brydone up Mount
j??tna. " If," says he, " it requires two thousand years to form a

Chap.V.] CLIMATE OF NORWAY. 155
US that it has been found, as indeed we know it has
been, under four several strata alternating with
solid rock of basalt, compact and porous lava, and
scoriae. There can be little doubt that many of the
specimens of surturbrand are of fir, and others of
oak ; I have one of the latter, with a knot so de
cidedly marked that it can scarcely be mistaken,
and it is not pretended that either of these trees
ever grew in Iceland, which we may safely assert
is not the fact, at least since the time when
elephants and mastodons inhabited the shores of the
Polar Seas. Why firs and birches of a considerable
growth should not grow here, is a curious question,
since both have been found by Von Buch and De
Capell Brooke growing vigorously up the sides of the
mountains in Norway, as high as the latitude 68J°,
full five degrees higher than the southern coast of
Iceland — nay, at Tromsoe, in 69J°, the former says
" the birches remained vigorous and beautiful more
than six hundred feet upwards*." The latter tra
veller, speaking of the same place, says " Forests of
birch and aspen swept down the steep sides to the
scanty soil on the surface of a bed of lava, as I have discovered seven
dibtinct strata of lava, the lowest of these must have flowed down
the sides of jEtna fourteen thousand years ago." The bishop warned
him to be upon his guard, and not to pretend to be a better histo
rian than Moses ; but he declared it went against his conscience to
make his mountain so young as the lawgiver makes the world, and
that he must stick to his theory at the expense of his canonicals.
* Travels through Norway and Lapland, p. 220.

156 THINGVALLA LAKE.

[Chap. V,

water's edge*"; and at Alten-gaard copper-mine,
in 70° latitude, fir-trees of considerable size skirt
the hiUs.
The question becomes still more involved, when
it is considered that the great island of Newfound
land, full twenty degrees below the part of Norway
here spoken of, can boast of no such trees, though
its southern coast is in the latitude of figs and
grapes and almost of oranges. But revenons a, nos
moutons. We soon reached the northern extremity of the
lake of Thingvalla, and passed close to its margin,
near vvhich were a few eider-ducks swimming about,
a great number of sea-gulls, and at some distanee
from us a group of swans, which we were told are
exceedingly numerous in this and other lakes of
Iceland. The eggs, the feathers, and the down of
this fine bird supply the peasantry with an article
of food and also of commerce. They are found
chiefly in the lakes of the central parts of the
island vvhere, like the rein-deer, they remain un
molested ; but in winter, when the lakes are frozen,
they betake themselves to the sea-shore. "They
are said," says Von Troil, " to sing very harmoni
ously in the cold dark vvinter nights ; but though
it was in the month of September when I vvas upon
the island, I never once enjoyed the pleasure of
a single song." Olafsen and Povelsen also say,
* Travels through Sweden, Norway, and Finmark.

Chap.V.] CHASM OF RAVENS. 157
from report, that in the long and dark nights they
wing their flight in the air in large flocks, making
it to resound with their songs, which accord much
with the sounds of the S'iolin ; that the peasantry are
frequently awakened from their soundest sleep by
the song of these birds, but they never regret this
disturbance, as, in the hardest frost and snow, they
prognosticate a thaw, which never fails to happen
in the course of two or three days. Mr. Henderson
would appear to have been more fortunate than
any of these visiters, for he both saw and heard
" a number of swans swimming and singing melo
diously in the river;" having thus the honour of
rescuing the Greeks from the imputation of palming
a fable upon posterity, by consecrating the swan
to Apollo the god of music, because it sings me-
lodioiLsly, though, as they state, only in the article
of death.
During the whole of our journey both yesterday
and to-day, we fell in with multitudes of plovers,
curlews, and snipes, all, except the latter, remark
ably tame : these, and a few hawks and ravens,
were all of the feathered tribe that we met with
between Reikiavik and the Geysers. On leaving
the lake we soon had to cross another, being the
third, of those extraordinary disruptions of the
earth : it is called Hrafnagaiaa, the " chasm of
the ravens." Our guides cautioned us to be ex
tremely careful how we proceeded, as the narrow

158 FACE OF THE COUNTRY. [Chap. V,
ridge of rugged and porous lava that crossed the
chasm was full of holes, into any of which should
the animal place his foot the rider would have a
very fair chance of being tossed into the deep abyss,
the width of the path not being more than three
feet. This natural bridge, if it may be so called,
must have been formed by a rapid flowing of lava
just at the time that the rent of the earth was
taking place, otherwise it is not easy to conceive how
it found its way across the gap.
Looking back from hence I was rather surprised
to see rising, as it were out of the earth, a long
continued dark-looking wall stretching to the
northward on the side of a ridge of hills or
inferior mountains, which I soon recognised to
be a portion of the long-extended rock, forming
the loftier side of the chasm of Almannagaiaa.
The bridle-road over which we had hitherto passed
was occasionally better than vve found it generally,
so that we sometimes ventured upon a trot, and
proceeded even to a canter, but we soon found that
the old proverb of — "the more haste the less
speed," might be well applied to us on these occa
sions ; for, when going at this speed, the baggage
horses would so jostle one another in the narrow
paths, that in every ten minutes on an average, we
were under the necessity of halting to fasten some
of the goods and chattels which had broken loose,
and were tumbling off the horses' backs. There

Chap.V.] FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 159
was besides another objection against going at
such a speed : we sometimes found ourselves in the
midst of the baggage -horses, owing to some of them
lagging behind; and as the guides drove these
onwards by hallooing and shouting at a furious
rate, in increasing their pace they would pass close
to us at a rapid trot, to the great danger of our
legs, which must have suffered materially from the
sharp corners of the boxes, if we had not kept a
very good look out. We used to derive much
amusement by seeing the guides, every now and
then, at a full gallop over the lava after some of
the horses which were straying from the others,
particularly the light relief horses which took the
lead and were entirely loose. Like the Norwe
gian horses, those of Iceland are fond of rolling
themselves in the sand, and one of our baggage-
horses this day, taking the opportunity, threw him
self down, and with the boxes on his back com
menced a series of rolls, in which the others would
certainly have joined, if the guides had not ridden
up in time to prevent them.
As we travelled along we observed some of the
common heaths in full flower, and large patches of
the wild thyme, which strongly scented the air;
but the most remarkable plant which, from its
profusion, gave a character to this part of the
country, was the tricostomum canescens, whose
silvery light grey colour enlivened the surface, and

160 FIELDS OF LAVA.

[Chap, V,

formed a most extensive and delightful carpet to
tread on, as soft as the finest velvet.
On passing a subterranean cavern in the side of
the range of hills on our left, our guides pointed
it out as a curiosity, and we dismounted from
our horses to inspect it ; it was encrusted round
with the same kind of porous and blistered lava
which covers the whole surface of the country as
far as the eye could reach ; it penetrated about
twenty or thirty feet under ground, and was not
more than five or six feet high; it was not an
object worth noticing — indeed, caverns of this kind
are so little uncommon, that we passed several of
them during the day ; they only tended to show
that the whole surface of this part of the country
had suffered some tremendous convulsion. This
was further confirmed by a volcanic cone rising
out of a gentle ascent a little off our route; it
consisted of a small crater, whose sharp rocky
sides and top were vitrified by fire, from w-hence, and
from several other small craters, scattered about in
this neighbourhood, there must have been, at some
period or another, fearful eruptions, the surround
ing country to a great extent having been appa
rently in a liquid state of melted stone.
The unusual circumstance of a vast field of
continuous lava (not merely a stream) that exists in
this part of Iceland, without any volcanic mountain
from whence it could have been thrown out, can

Chap.V.] VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS. 161
admit of no other explanation than that which the
succession of these small conical mounds appears to
afford. The one we visited was hollow, dark, and
deep ; the singular forms assumed by this lava may
be accounted for, by the very gentle slope — in
many places none at all — down which it had to flow,
or, ill other words, was propelled onwards by the
streams which followed it. In spots where it had
met with obstacles it has risen into blistered hil
locks of twisted lava, scoriae, slags, and pumice ;
in other places, where it appears to have been di
verted from its course, it has assumed every form
of contorted and curled surfaces, putting on some--
times the appearance of thick twisted ropes or
cables, and in some places were long chasms like
so many deep ruts, to the annoyance of our horses
which had to cross them.
In contemplating this continuous field of lava
and the numerous craters that run along the
feet of the Laugerfell hills in one wide belt,
a curious inquiry suggests itself: if it be gene-
ally admitted, that the internal fire which melts
the exploded materials be deep-seated in the
earth, how are they pushed up to the very suinmit
of the highest mountains, such as Chimbora^o,
Pic of Teneriffe, ^tna, Stromboli, and Vesuvius ?
One might almost be tempted to ask, did these
mountains exist before any eruptions took place,
or did the eruptions create them ? We are pretty

162 MARINE VOLCANOS, [Chap, V,
certain that the cones, which usually terminate such
mountains, have been produced by the lava over
flowing their craters ; but why this deep-seated lava
should so generally be found to work its way to
their highest summits, is not so easily explained ;
the prolonged resistance it has to encounter being
much greater apparently than if it exploded from
the sides, which it sometimes does. In Iceland
none of the volcanic mountains are high, and are
generally isolated, as Hecla, Snaefell, and Skaptar
Yokuls ; but it would seem that along the southern
coast, for a hundred miles inland, the lava that
spreads over the country is ejected mostly from
such small cones as I have noticed, thrown up
immediately out of the surface ; in the sea, also,
on the southern and western coasts, numerous
islands have been thrown up, some still remain
ing, and others having disappeared, forming dan
gerous rocks and shoals, similar to those two
marine volcanic islands, which sprang up and dis
appeared but a short time ago — that of Sabrina,
near the coast of St. Michael in the Azores, and
that of Graham opposite Pantellaria on the coast
of Sicily. The first rose thirty fathoms, or ISO
feet, through the sea, and to the height of 300
feet above it, making from the base 480 feet ; the
second rose 100 fathoms, or 600 feet, through the
water, and 150 feet above it, making in the whole
height 750 feet.

Chap, v.] Graham's island. 163
Another curious question might here be raised.
If we suppose the bottom of the sea to be lifted up,
and the whole mass of Graham's Island to be so
firmly united, while mounting up, as that no portion
of water could insinuate itself either below or within
it, to what height on land would the same impel
ling force have lifted the same mass — that is to say,
if it had only the resistance of the air to encounter,
instead of the water ? But I am not sufficiently
skilled in hydrodynamics to solve it, though a friend
has undertaken the task. *

* The island of Graham rose from the bottom of the sea against
a pressure of about 600 feet of water, or from a depth of 600
feet. The question is, how high would the same force have carried
it if there had been no water f
Time and velocity being excluded from consideration, we have, I
think, only to regard the absolute weight that was overcome by
the island, or by the bottom of the sea in its efTort f o rise.
Supposing the depth to have been 608 feet, and 32 feet of wafer
fo be equal to the pressure of the atmosphere, the whole 608 feet
of water must have been equal to 19 atmospheres, fo which the
actual atmosphere is to be added, making 20.
Now, it is an acknowledged principle, in estimating the force of
a machine, that it is the same thing whether a weight of a given
number of lbs., say 1000, be raised 1 foot, or a weight of 1 lb, be
raised through the 1000 feet ; therefore if the weight were constant
through the whole number of feet, it would be the same thing
whether the weight of 20 atmospheres were raised 608 feet, or the
weight of one atmosphere raised 608 x 20, or 12,160 feet. But
the weight of superincumbent wafer is not constant, but gradually
growing less as the hottom of the sea is forced up, and by the
time that it bas risen 32 feet, the weight will be reduced fo 19,
instead of 20 atmospheres. We ought, therefore, to divide the
whole distance info a number of equal parts, and ascertain what the

164 SMALL CONES. [Chap.V,
The diminutive cones of Iceland that have ex
ploded such vast fields of lava, may, like the
the weight of water is at each, and the smaller we fake these
parts the nearer we shall get to the truth. To take the distance
at every foot would be a needle.ss trouble, and for the sake of con
venience it may be sufficient fo take them at intervals of 32 feet.
The force then required for the first 32 feet that the bottom has to
rise will be represented by 32 x 20 = 640, which is the number
of feet that the same force would have raised a weight of one
atmosphere. For the next 32 feet, if will be 32 x 19 ; for the next,
32 X 18, and so on until it comes fo the last 32 feet, which will
be 32 X 2, and the sum of all the terms will represent the nnmber
of feet through which the same force would have carried a weight
of one atmosphere.
The two extremes are 643 and 32, the number of terms 1 9, and
consequently the sum of them will be —
^^°f^X 19^6668.
We shall, however, obtain a nearer approximation if, taking the
intervals the same, we employ the weight suited to the centre of
that interval as a muliiplier, instead of the weight suited to the
commencement of it, and the terms ofthe progression will then be —
32 X 19^
32 X 184
32 X 17i,
and the sum of 19 terms of such a progression will be only 6384,
In this calculation a great number of things are however assumed
that are not strictly true.
1st. It is assumed that the density of wafer is no greater at the
depth of 600 feet than it is at the surface, which is far from being
true, 2nd, It is assumed that the force of gravity is uniform, which
is not the case, strictly speaking. The force of gravity must be
greater 600 feet below the surface of the sea, than it is 6000 or
7000 feet above it,
3rd. It is assumed that the weight of the natural atmosphere is
uniform

Chap, v.]

LAKES. 165

sunken islands, have once been of much higher
elevation, and broken down by their own weight
into the cavities made by the lava they ejected.
In some parts of the sides of the nearest hills,
or the Laugerfells, were mounds or inequalities
that at a distance bore the resemblance of fine sand
or ashes — indeed, every part of these hills wore a
most rugged and barren aspect, and no description
can possibly convey an adequate idea of the scene
of desolation which here presented itself both on
hill and dale. It was a complete chaos, and glad
were we when our horses stepped over the last
ridge of lava into an even and extensive plain, in
which were descried two lakes, called Laugervalla
and Apa-Vatn, connected by a river winding in a
serpentine course through the plain. Near the
former we observed at a short distance three or
four places, out of which were issuing volumes of
steam or smoke; one in particular, close to the
margin of the lake, had been observed from a con
siderable distance, and appeared more violent in
its ebullitions than the others ; but anxious to get
uniform during the course of nearly 7000 feet, whereas it is well
known that, in ascending that height above the level of the sea,
the weight of it is very sensibly diminished,
4th. It is assumed that the volcano upheaved the crust pf
tlie earth existing under the sea in one close and compact, and
not as a loose and detached mass, which we know, in the
latter case, could be more easily lifted under wafer than in tbe
air.— E, Gc.

166 LAKES, [Chap.V
to the end of our journey, we did not go out ofthe
way to visit them.
The pasturage in the plain, though marshy in
parts, being very good, we made a halt in order to
allow the horses to feed. There were several cows
of a larger breed than those of Norway; sheep and
goats grazing in the plain. We took the oppor
tunity of visiting a cave, which the guides assured
us that no traveller omitted to visit, and to cut his
name on the soft sandstone which forms the en
trance to it. We found a few names there, and by
way of passing the time we added our initials to
the number, but there was nothing remarkable that
we could discover in the cave.
Proceeding on our journey, we had to pass
throng'" " ^her small thicket of dwarf birch-trees,
some of which were above five feet from the ground,
and a few might reach to the height of six feet. One
of our guides, on observing me to take notice of
them, volunteered the remark, that here grew the
finest wood in Iceland ; perhaps he meant that he
had seen — for the Iceland peasantry, those at least
in the neighbourhood of Reikiavik, seem to have a
very limited knowledge of their country. He was
right, however, as far as my own observation
went, during our rambles in the southern part of
the island.
The grassy plain had brought together a neigh
bourhood of three or four small clusters of cottages.

Chap, v.]

PARSONAGE OF EFSTEDALR.

167

the proprietors, no doubt, of the cattle we had seen ;
and not far from them was a humble church, similar
to that we had slept in, the night before, at Thing
valla. A little farther on we arrived at the Parsonage
of Efstedalr, where we resolved to pass the night ;
but as the church appeared more uncomfortable (if
possible) than that of Thingvalla, we determined
upon pitching our tent and sleeping therein in
preference. The dwelling is, as usual, composed
of a low range of turf-roofed huts, common to all
the clergy and the agricultural peasantry. The
only variation is a room more or less, or, which is
the same thing, an additional hut, for every room
has its separate roof. The following sketch will
give a fair notion of all : —

T/ie Parsonage-house of Efstedalr. »
The several apartments are sometimes lighted
by a hole in the wall, sometimes through the
wooden gable-ends, and sometimes through the

168 EFSTEDALR PARSONAGE. [Chap, V,
roof. In one of these rooms the family reside and
eat, in another they all sleep ; another is the
kitchen, another a general store-room for all kinds
of lumber, clothes, and provisions ; another the
smithy, besides two or three little out-houses, con
sisting of a shed for horses, another for cows, and
a third for sheep, these being generally behind in a
sort of inclosure.
At the back of the parson's dwelUng at Efste
dalr there were three or four fresh stacks of hay
which had only just been collected together.
Indeed the peasantry, where we met with any,
seemed to be everywhere busy in getting in their
hay, the crops of which on this extensive plain
were abundant, and appeared to me fully equal
to any I had seen in Norway. The site of the
houses, whether of the clergy or the farmers,
is generally so chosen, that a considerabie space
of good grass-land is contiguous to them, and
receives all the manure collected about the cattle-
yard : this space, or a small part of it, is often
rudely inclosed with stone walls, and I believe
bears the name of the toon; hence, probably, the
Dutch tuin, a garden, and our town, from being
anciently surrounded with a wall of mud or stone.
We selected a snug spot for our tent at the end of
the row of huts, and close to the hay-stacks, as
affording shelter from a strong wind which blew
during the night, ^^'e strewed the inside with

Chap.V.] EFSTEDALR. 169
hav, which vve found to be a far more comfortable
bed than the hard and damp floor of the little
church of Thingvalla, but we were terribly tor
mented with whole swarms of small flies.
The priest was probably not at home, at least
we saw nothing of him, but his wife showed us
great attention, and provided us with milk, butter,
and coffee. The butter was, as I always found it
to be in Iceland, of a white and tallow-like appear
ance, owing to its being partially, and often wholly,
made from sheep's milk : it has no disagreeable
taste or flavour, but is not made in a cleanly man
ner, being generally full of hairs, the sight of vvhich
is enough to render it very unpleasant to the eye.
The Icelanders are said to be as fond of rancid
butter as the Italians are of rancid oil, and they
keep it for many years hard pressed down in
barrels ; but in such a country as this, where
there is no market for it, the practice may probably
be one of necessity. We have hitherto been for
tunate enough to procure it fresh.
From Efstedalr we obtained a fine clear view
of the three-coned Hecla, which we first disco-'
vered faintly soon after leaving Thingvalla. From
the very remarkable clearness of the atmosphere,
and the loftiness of the mountain, I should have
supposed it to be distant about twenty miles,*
but it was near forty, which is equal to two
days' journey : its black sides, supporting a co
vering of pure white snow, in which full one-
I

1 70 EFSTEDALR.

[Chap. V,

half of its upper part was enveloped, brought it
much closer to the eye than it actually was. The
annexed is a sketch of its appearance from the
spot, and I have availed myself of the opportu
nity of introducing our cavalcade as it then con
sisted. The following day, being that of the Sabbath, we
had an opportunity of seeing some of the pejisantry
of the parish in their best attire, as they passed
through Efstedalr on their way to some neighbouring
church in which service was to be performed, which
confirmed us in our opinion that the clergyman of
this place had gone from home. These poor people
make as long journeys to attend divine service as
those in Norway, and without the benefit of the
decent roads which they have in the latter countiy.
It is always a gratifying sight to see this day
respected, and the more so, the greater the sacrifice
that is made to observe it. The dress of the men
was pretty much the same as ours, but, as in Nor-
¦way, they suffer their hair to grow long ; the females
were dressed very nearly alike, and the costume was
similar to that already described as the common
dress of the peasantry; but instead of the cap and
tassel, they all wore the head-dress with the snow-
white curvature in front.
Some of the ladies were riding across the horse,
while others were more comfortably, and certainly
more elegantly, seated in capacious side-saddles,
something resembling those in which children are

Chap.V.] RIVER BRUER-AA. 171
placed on the backs of donkeys. The back of the
saddle or chair was sometimes open, with the ex
ception of a flat brass bar which, being curved,
formed the support to the rider's back. These
saddles were covered__with small carpets or rugs,
very prettily worked, in divers colours and pat
terns, by the Icelanders themselves, and by no
means void of taste and ingenuity in the workman
ship. Just as we were on the point of starting
from Efstedalr, another party came up on their
way to the Geysers : it consisted of two gentlemen
and three ladies : one of the former was a remark
ably fine young man, and proved to be a son of the
bishop ; and one of the ladies, as we afterwards
found, was his betrothed bride.
Continuing our journey, we very soon came to
the Bruer-aa, so called from its having a small
wooden brido^e thrown across it, or rather across a
chasm in the midst of the bed of the river itself,
into which, from both sides, the water rushes down
in the form of a cascade. The river here ran with
great impetuosity, and we could not help thinking
it was a singular place to have chosen for a
bridge, to which the horses could only arrive, and
afterwards descend, by wading through the water
belly-deep on both sides of it. Having crossed in
safety, I thought it, from its singularity, worthy of
being sketched. Neither this river, nor any other
we had yet occasion to cross, was sufficiently deep
to oblige the horses to swim; but the Bruer-aa
i2

172 ARRIVAL AT THE GEYSERS. [Chap.V.
was so rapid as to make it disagreeable to look
down at the water as it flowed past.
Continuing our route through the plain, and
doubling the point of the ridge of hills on our left,
which here trended a little to the northward, we
observed several volumes of light smoke or steam,
at a short distance, rising out of the surface of the
ground at the farthest extremity of a gently rising
plain. By these ebullitions we were apprised that
we were not now far from the object of our journey,
and that they could only proceed from the plain
of the Geysers ; and so it turned out to be the case.

FASaS sisr SiHim ®ig,\arsi!,=iv,Ai, ®m SiisiSj&cBifi^^Mi'iiKo

173

CHAPTER VI.

THE GEYSERS.

The Plain of Boiling Fountains — Plan of the Ground — Description
of the Great Geyser — Its Mound, Basin, and Tube — Deposite of
the Water — Delicate Incrustations — Temperature of the Wafer
— The Roaring Geyser — The Slrockr — The Little Strockr — Ex
plosion of the Great Geyser — Difficulty of making a correct
representation of — Comparison of the Jets — Maximum height
of — Proximate cause of these Fountains — Inquiry after Lord
Stuart de Rothsay's horse, supposed to have fallen into the
Geyser — Mr. Faraday's Analysis of the Geyser Wafer— Return
towards Reikiavik — Sleep in Middair Chutzh — Apparent poverty
of the Priest — Arrival at Reikiavik.
One of the earliest and most clear, distinct, and
intelligible accounts of the Geysers we were about
to visit, is that vvhich was published in "The Philo
sophical Transactions" of Edinburgh, as a letter
from Mr. (now Sir John) Stanley to Dr. Black.
In speaking of these boiling springs of Iceland,
he says that the descriptions given by Dr. Von
Troil, Archbishop of Upsal, are so accurate, that it
will not be in his power to give much new infor
mation. The same observation may with more
propriety be applied to my own case. It would,
indeed, be idle to flatter myself that I had much

174 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
new information to communicate respecting these
extraordinary fountains ; but as a period of five-
and-forty years has passed away since Sir John
Stanley's visit to this singular and interesting
country, I may perhaps be pardoned for going
over the same ground with him, were it only for
the sake of examining whether any and what
changes may have taken place in the course of
that period.
We were now arrived close upon the verge of
that plain out of which these boiling springs issue.
The moment we turned a projecting angle of the
range of hills called the Laugerfell, along which
we had been travelling all the way fi-om Almann
agaiaa, and entered the plain, we were at once in
the midst of smoke and steam, rising above and
around us, and of boiling springs and bogs of
heated mud at every step we took. Our first object
was to look out for some firm and dry spot on
which we might pitch our tent, as close to the
principal Geysers as possible ; and while that ope
ration was going on, we perambulated this extra
ordinary piece of ground, that seemed to be shaking
and trembling under our feet, and below which
we could hear a sort of murmuring or rumbling
noise not unlike that of distant thunder.
In some places we found single detached foun
tains or jets throwing up steam mixed with water ;
in others several smaller ones grouped together
emitting steam only. In one place, where a mound,

Chap, VI.] THE GEYSERS. 175
or oblate and truncated cone, of considerable ex
tent, rose in a gradual slope out of the plain, the
rumbhng noise was loudest ; and a large basin in
the summit of the mound at once pointed out to
us that this was that which, par excellence, is
called the Great Geyser ; but all above ground
was still and quiet. The number, size, and posi
tion of the several springs on this small piece
of ground, which does not exceed twelve acres, may
best be collected from the sketch in the following
page, laid down by the eye with the aid of a pocket
compass, from every part of which is thrown out
steam or water, or both ; but in this sketch the
principal boiling and mud springs only are laid
down, those numerous holes or fissures that were
emitting steam without water not being inserted.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when
we arrived on the ground ; and none but those vvho
have witnessed the scene can appreciate the impa
tience we felt to be favoured with one of those grand
exhibitions, which some few of our countrymen have
seen with wonder and delight. But if we were
doomed to experience a painful state of suspense,
the party who had passed us on the road, and
who had reached the spot a short time before us,
were pretty much in the same state of anxiety with
ourselves, waiting for a burst from some of the
boiling cauldrons. Another party informed us
that, after about twenty-four hours' expectation,
they had been gratified with a splendid eruption

tllE L^

UQEBVELI^ M

GROUND PLAN OF THE GEYSERS,
Tlic higliEst rcak,
OONT^l'^a'

iy|^B|lilg||»tPI

The Kew Gcystir
now cnlletl
STKOCKR.

€ #

Tent on grass plot.

^- THE Lrrri.B
^ t-niucKit.

,0*1 i""^-'
•t*" ...-.-.¦

Extinct Geyfipr ;
.«iipliosed
SirJ..S|nnli.y'« Nciv Gpyjjcr.

' Into Ihli Btcy mud spring Lord Stnnrl's liorse f

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 177
from the Great Geyser, which had thrown up a jet
of a vast body of water to the height of about forty
feet ; and though this is not more than half the
height to which the column usually rises, satisfied
with this single exhibition, they were just on the
eve of taking their departure.
The Great Geyser, as I have said, is situated on
a mound which rises considerably above the ge
neral surface of the plain, and slopes on all sides
to the distance of a hundred feet or thereabouts
from the borders of the large basin on its summit;
and in the centre of this basin, forming as it were
a gigantic funnel, there is a pipe or tube up which
the boiling water rises and the eruptions , burst
forth. The basin or bowl of this funnel is from four
to five feet deep, sloping a little, like a saucer,
towards the central tube. Into this basin the
water had flowed to within a foot and a half of the
brim when we visited it; and, as it was gradually
rising, we remained on the spot till it overflowed,
which we were told was a certain sign of an erup
tion being about to take place ; the more certain, as
a bubbling or boiling up of the water was observed
over the mouth of the tube at the same time.
The temperature of the water in the basin at this
period, as far as I could reach to plunge in the
thermometer, was from 180° to 190° of Fahrenheit.
After anxiously waiting a considerable time, in
stead of that grand burst we had expected to take
place, to our great mortification the water began
I 3

178

THE GEYSERS.

[Chap. VI.

gradually to subside, and did not cease to diminish
till the basin was left quite dry. I had now, however,
an opportunity of taking the dimensions of the
basin and its pipe, the former of which was found
from actual measurement to be fifty-six feet in the
greatest diameter, and fifty-two feet in the nar
rowest, and the greatest depth about four feet. The
shaft or tube in the middle, at the upper and
shelving part, was found to be I8J feet one way,
and 16 feet the other; but it narrows considerably
at a little distance from the mouth, and appears to
be not more than ten or twelve feet in diameter.

The Mound, Basin, and Tule of the Great Geyser.

Perpendicular Section through the mound, pipe, and basin.
I measured its depth on two sides : on one
I found it to be sixtj'-seven feet, and on the other
a little more than seventy. The sides of the tube
are smoothly polished, probably by the constant
friction of the water, which is also the case with
the floor of the basin, whose surface is perfectly

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 179
smooth and even, and has the appearance, in parts,
of agate, and is so hard that I was unable to detach
a single piece with a hammer. It is difficult to
imagine in what manner this capacious tube, per
fectly perpendicular, has first been shaped, and
equally so how the smooth crust with which it is
lined has been laid on — whether at once, or by
successive depositions of the laminae of siliceous
matter. The lining of the basin or bowl would
appear to be of more easy explanation : the water
remaining therein quiescent may deposit its silica
undisturbed, but in the pipe of the tunnel it is
always bubbling or boiling, sometimes higher,
sometimes lower, or exploding steam and water.
But after all, that which is the most difficult to
comprehend is this — that the water of the Geyser
is perfectly clear, and gives no deposite without the
application of chemical tests, and then only in the
smallest possible quantity : it may be kept for
years in bottles, without depositing the least sedi
ment. It becomes a question, then, how such a quantity
of siliceous matter is deposited, not only in the
tube and floor of the basin, but also on its rim
or border, which forms the highest part of the
mound. The matter here deposited is abundant,
and appears to be constantly forming ; and as tl»is
rim is out of the reach of the hot water except in
one spot, it^would appear that this deposite is from
the condensed Steam or vapour, vvhich is the more
probable from the extreme delicacy of the efflo-

180 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
rescence. The siliceous incrustations that are here
formed extend to the whole distance down the
slope of the mound around the brim, and several
yards below it. They consist of little tufts or
knobs, grouped in such a manner as to bear a
resemblance, in which all agree who have spoken
of them, to the heads of cauliflowers ; or the com
position, but not colour, of the cockscomb, or
amaranthus, may come as near fo them. These
depositions are of so delicate a texture, that we
found it quite impossible to bring away any of
them in their perfect state, without damaging the
minute crystalline efflorescence with which they
were beautifully covered ; they generally, however,
harden with time, and become a compact siliceous
stone of a brownish tint, but white within. On
one side of the margin of the basin, where there
is a channel for the water to escape when it over
flows, these siliceous incrustations, from the con
stant moisture of the steam, remain soft, and are
crushed under the feet when trod upon, and will
not bear taking up without falling to pieces. This
delicate deposite is pure silica, and may with pro
priety be called, what it really is — siliceous sinter;
or, which is but another expression for the same
thins, siliceous travertin ; the onlv difference of the
substance well known under this name being, that
the one in question is a deposition of flint, and the
other of lime.
i* The stream of water that flows from the basin
finds its way down the slope of the mound, and at

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 181
the foot thereof divides itself into two branches
which empty themselves into the Huit-aa, or White
River. On the margins of these little streams are
found in abundance the most extraordinary and
beautiful incrustations that can be conceived,
which, like those on the margin of the basin,
would appear to be owing to the steam and spray
that accompany the vvater, rather than to the
water itself Along the banks of these occasional
streamlets the grasses and the various aquatic plants
are all covered with incrustations, some of which
were exquisitely beautiful, but so delicate that, with
every possible care, I found it was utterly impos
sible to bring any of them away in a perfect state
to Reikiavik.
Every sort of adventitious fragment, whether of
pieces of wood, bones or horns of animals, were here
found in a silicified state, and among other things, by
the edge of the stream, I met with a piece of printed
paper which, with the letters perfectly legible, ex
hibited a thin plate of transparent silex, giving
it the appearance of a child's horn -book, but
the moment it was removed it fell in pieces. Pre
vious to our departure the Governor had shown to
me a worsted stocking which, by laying on the
banks of this streamlet about six months, had been
completely converted into stone, as had also a bl«e
handkerchief, vvhich exhibited all the cheques and
colours of the original ; and these were solid enough
to bear handling, and as hard as silex itself. I
must observe, however, that these streams are lined

182 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
with a white siliceous stone of a close compact tex
ture, resembling pure white marble, which con
tinues down to their junction with the Huit-aa.
We had shot some plovers and curlews on our
way to this place, which we ordered to be boiled
in the basin of the Great Geyser, and they were
sufficiently cooked in the space of twenty minutes,
the temperature of the water continuing to vary
from 180° to 190° of Fahrenheit. The steam
arising from this as well as all the Geysers is sen
sibly, but not very strongly, impregnated with the
smell of sulphur ; and our guides told us the birds
would taste of it so strongly as not to be eatable :
but whether our appetites were sharp, or our senses
dull, we did not by any means find this to be the
case, nor could we perceive the slightest taste of
sulphur. At this time, however, I filled a bottle
with the beautiful clear water of the Gej'ser, which
at the moment certainly had a strong smell of sul
phur ; but though firmly corked on the spot, it
had lost it altogether on my arrival in England,
nor was there the least deposite either of that or of
any other substance whatever, when submitted to
chemical tests *.
These circumstances regarding the water of the
Geyser are remarkable enough, but not to be com
pared with other strange properties of this and the
neighbouring springs, which would indeed be most
wonderful, if they were only true. Thus Horrebow
* See Mr. Faraday's Letter, p. 209.|

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 183
relates, that if some of the water of these foun
tains be put into a bottle, a sympathetic motion
is immediately observable when the water of the
fountain begins to be disturbed, and it will then
boil up two or three times simultaneously with
the boiling of the water in the pipe ; but that if the
bottle be corked up the moment it is filled, no
sooner does an eruption take place than the bottle
bursts in pieces. This is something very much
akin to the sympathetic feeling discovered a few
years ago to exist in the present race of the golden
pippin apple-trees, all of which thought it right to
die when the parent trees, from which they had
been engrafted, yielded up their vegetative powers
and became leafless trunks, — to the great discom
fiture of physiologists, and the amusement of prac
tical horticulturists ; but the notion took, and was
the standard theory for a time, till it was ascer
tained that golden pippins still flourished, and that
the old ones died without the young ones caring
about the matter.
At a little distance from the Great Geyser we
observed two pools of the most beautifully clear
water I ever beheld, the surfaces scarcely disturbed
with anything like ebullition, and a thin aerial
vapour, hardly perceptible, rising just above the
water, and then dissolving into thin air. On
plunging a thermometer into one of these pools the
mercury immediately rose to 200°: they are at
least forty feet deep, for I am certain we could see
down to that depth, and for aught I know to the

184 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI,
contrary they may be twice that depth. They are'
separated only by a narrow ridge or arch of a whitish
stone resembling that deposited by the water or
steam of the Geyser ; and this appeared to us to be
a bridge, under which the waters of the two pools
communicate. In many places it was dangerous
to approach within several feet of the margin, as
the earth overhung the water and was hollow un
derneath, supported only by incrustations, which in
some places descended like a wall down to the
bottom as far as vve could see into the pools : these
were likewise white, and no doubt consisted of the
same kind of siliceous deposit as that near the
Geyser ; but on looking at them obliquely, they ex
hibited below the surface a beautiful azure blue
colour. Near to the margin of these clear springs
were some small ones of mud of a deep red colour,
whose temperature was a ^ew degrees lov,er than
the water of the clear pools*.
* Dr. Holland, in his MS. journal, which he has kindly lent
me, thus describes this " singularly curious and remarkable foun
tain." " A basin, not less than twenty-six feet in length, and
eight or ten in width, is filled almost fo its brim with wafer, in a
state approaching to ebullition. The appearances produced in the
inside of this basin are highly beautiful. The water is extremely
clear and transparent, and allows the eye to penetrate to a great
depth along the perpendicularly descending sides, -ivhich are
everywhere lined with an incrustation projecting outwards into
a variety of forms. The basin is traversed about its middle by a
narrow arch, appearing fo be composed entirely of incrustation,
but so slight as to render it dangerous, if not impossible, fo cross
it in this way. Neither description nor drawing are capable of
giving a sufficient idea of the singularity and beauty of this spot."

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 185
While looking around us at the various springs,
the fountains and fissures on this extraordinary piece
of ground, we watched with much anxiety for the
usual symptoms of an eruption from the Great
Geyser ; but none took place during the remainder
ofthe day nor in the night. The basin again filled
and remained full, and several times overflowed
the margin : at such times a vehement ebullition
was observable directly over the shaft, and once
it rose with a jet to the height of three or four
feet. Early the next morning I stripped off my clothes
to perform my ablutions and to shave myself by
the margin of the basin, but in the midst of the
operation I felt a sudden motion of the earth, and
a rumbling noise beneath resembling somewhat
the crashing noise of a large body of ice breaking
up in a thaw ; and the water at once overflowed the
basin. I had a narrow escape from being drenched
with scalding water of the temperature of about
190° of Fahrenheit, but still no eruption took
place. I observed on this occasion, and afterwards,
that four or five ravens came and perched them
selves on the rim of the basin on the leeward
side, evidently enjoying the steam as it rolled
over them.
The water having again subsided, I next visited*
an aperture close to the hill, to which my attention
had been drawn by the constant noise that was
made by the steam it was emitting : it was quite
different from that of any other of the fountains.

186 THE GEYSERS.

[Chap. VI.

and the noise resembled that, only louder, which is
made when the steam is let off from the boiler of a
steam-engine. On a closer approach to it, a constant
rumbling noise was heard immediately below it,
and apparently at a very deep distance from the
surface of the earth. From its situation and its
height on the side of the hill, above the ordinary
height of the other springs, and particularly from
the violence with which the eruption of steam took
place, I had little doubt of its being that same
chimney, from this great subterranean laboratory,
which Sir John Stanley has designated by the
name of the Roaring Geyser, though during our
stay it only emitted steam and no water, but never
ceased making a roaring noise, and sending out
volumes of steam. This partial change in its cha
racter may easily enough be accounted for : large
fragments of rock had fallen into its orifice from
the impending side of the hill, and so completely
choked it up, as no doubt to have diverted the water
into some other channel, while the steam continued
to find its way through the interstices between the
fragments of rock.
The obstinate Geyser, to our continued mortifi
cation, still remained tranquil during the whole of
this day, with the exception only of two or three
occasional ebullitions, of from four to five feet in
height, each of which was preceded by the usual
rumbling noise below the surface. Towards the
evening, however, our attention was called to
another quarter of these Phlegrsean fields, where

Chap. VI.J THE GEYSERS. 187
a large opening or tube was observed, the margin
of which was almost even with the general surface,
the small mound and basin being scarcely discern
ible. We had previously noticed this in a per
fectly tranquil state, and doubted whether it was
an old worn-out geyser or a new one. We could
perceive, at the depth of about twelve or fourteen
feet, water in a state of ebullition, but without any
apparent intention of rising higher. The circum
stance, that now attracted our attention, was that
of observing our guides digging up and throwing
into the orifice large masses of peat or turf. The
guides seemed to think that, by such provocation,
they might succeed in bringing on an eruption; and
as this was a wished-for event, we all lent our
assistance in heaving in turf and peat in large
quantities ; and sure enough the boiling fluid, as
if filled with rage and indignation at such treat
ment, burst forth almost instantaneously, and
without giving the least notice, with a most violent
eruption, heaving up a column of mud and water
with fragments of peat, sis black as ink, to the
height of sixty or seventy feet, and continuing to do
so for eight or^ten minutes, when it subsided, and'all
the water sunk into the shaft, where it remained in
a tranquil state at its former depth *. The masses
* The violence of this Geyser is well described by Dr. Holland : —
" The scene," he says, " was a wonderfid one : we saw before us
a solid massive column of water and steam rising from the ground
with immense impetuosity, violence, and noise, to a height of not
less than seventy or eighty feet. Nor was this a momentary

188

THE GEYSERS.

[Chap. VI,

of turf had been completely shattered to atoms
and dissolved as it were in the water, which did
not recover the usual transparency of the geyser
waters 'svhen it ceased : the fragments of turf in
descending fell back into the shaft

BMch Eruption uf the Strochr.
The guides remarked that this was the first
appearance : the water, indeed, which at first formed a large part
of the column, gradually lessened in quantity, and in a few mi
nutes almost wholly disappeared. But the impetuous rushing
forth of the steam was increased by the removal of the superin
cumbent pressure, and it burst out with a violence which seemed
to tear up the very earth through which it passed." — Dr. Holland's
I\iS. Journal.

Chap, VI.] THE GEYSERS. 189
time this geyser had played for upwards of a
month, the Prince of Denmark and his party
having choked it, by throwing in a quantity of
large stones. In a comparatively small aperture
like this, as in the Roaring Geyser, there is little
doubt that it may be choked up by heaping in
sJones, and that steam only will force its way
through the water, though this would perhaps be
done at the risk of blowing out some fresh orifice.
The name given to this geyser by the Icelanders is
Strockr, the shaker, or agitator ; and from its
position I 'dm inclined to think it must be that
¦which Sir John Stanley has called the New Geyser ;
but the rim or wall which he mentions as surround
ing it can hardly be said to exist. It is worthy of
remark, however, that there is close to this geyser an
empty shaft, which emitted neither steam nor water,
round the margin of which there was a ridge of
earth and deposit forming a kind of vvall ; and* I
can see no reason why, in such a situation, by some
convulsion or breaking down of the earth below, in
the course of forty-five years, the old one may not
have been closed up and the new one opened out.
Sir John Stanley, indeed, observes that, before the
month of June, 1789, the year he visited Iceland,
his New Geyser had not played with any great
degree of violence, at least for a considerable time ;'
but that in the month of June this quarter of Ice
land had suffered some very severe shocks of an

190 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
earthquake, and that it was not unlikely many of
the cavities communicating with the bottom ofthe
pipe had been then enlarged, and new sources of
water opened into them. There seems to be no
reason why these boiling fountains, like most vol
canoes, should not lie dormant for a time, or
change the place of their eruption, just as the
pouring lava forsakes the old volcanic cones on the
summits, to make itself new ones on the sides, of
the mountain, supposing the proximate agent of
both to be the same.
While we were looking at the exertions of this
violent geyser, most properly so called, as the word
gys* implies to rush out with impetuosity, our
attention was attracted to another little roarinj
fountain not far from us, throwing out immense
volumes of steam, but the small jets of water did
not mount higher than three or four feet : they
were, however, so constant and^'so regular, that we
were induced to time them; and we found that
at intervals of between twenty and thirty minutes
we were quite sure of having a burst of steam and
water, each of which rarely continued above four
minutes. The extraordinary regularity of this little foun-
* The bishop or rector of Skalholt fold Sir Joseph Banks that
it was derived from giosa — emovere, ebullire. It is so, but the
derivation is not; obvious. The verb is pres. ^-ys, pret. ^a«s, inf.
giosa. — Diclionnriolum Islandicum Georgii Hickasii, &c.

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 191
tain, so different from the Great Geyser or the larger
Strockr, would almost lead one to conclude that it
must have a steam apparatus of its own wholly dis
tinct from any other. This " wonderfully amusing
little fountain," as one of our travellers has appro
priately called it, is named the Little Strockr. It
plays through a small tube incrusted with stone like
that at the bottom ofthe basin of the Great Geji'ser,
from whence its antiquity may be inferred; for it can
not be imagined that a siliceous coating of this kind,
deposited by water in which silex is with difficulty
detected, and where the rush of it is almost incessant,
could have assumed so solid a texture in a short
space of time. The Little Strockr is situated at the
head of a group of small springs, not fewer than a
dozen, two of which only threw up water, and these
not higher than two or three feet, something re
sembling the jets that may be seen when one of
the fire-plugs in the streets of London is drawn
out; but all of them threw out steam constantly,
as if they had been intended as so many safety-
valves : the temperature of these in general was as
nearly as may be 210°.
Just under the Laugerfell hill, and from the
sides of which I have supposed the Roaring Geyser
to have been choked up, are a great num
ber of mud springs, some of a red colour, some
grey, and some brown, the general temperature
being about 195°, out of which very little steam

192 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
was observed to escape. There were so many oi
these holes about the place, and the ground seemed
to be so tender, that it was exceedingly unpleasant,
if not dangerous, to remain long upon it : they are
separated from the mound of the Great Geyser
by a small ravine, the side of which next to the
mud springs was composed of argillaceous earth
or bole tinged with a yellowish or ochre colour —
apparently a kind of ferruginous clay. The
sloping descent from the edge of the basin
formed the termination of the opposite side of the
ravine. This day, the 4th of August, as well as the
former one, passed over without any fresh symptoms
of an explosion from the Great Geyser. Annoying
as this was in the extreme, we had so much set
our minds on an exhibition of its powers, as to
come to a determination not to quit the spot till we
had received that gratification, though we had very
nearly got to the end of our provisions without the
means of recruiting them. A Norwegian servant
of Mr. Knudtzon vvas as anxious cis ourselves —
indeed, so much so, that he sat up all night — and
fortunately he did so, for about three o'clock in the
morning, when we were fast asleep, having been kept
awake the greater part ofthe preceding night by the
rumbling noise under the earth at different periods,
he hastily entered the tent, and said that, from the
incessant noise and the violent nishing of the

Cliap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 193
steam, he had no doubt an eruption was about to
take place. We were of course instantly on our
legs ; and just as we arrived at the spot, a few jets
were thrown up to no great height, and we were
once more making up our minds to another disap
pointment, when suddenly, as if by a violent effort,
the shaft discharged a full column of water and
steam, the former mounting in a grand mass to the
height, as we estimated it, of between seventy and
eighty feet. I must observe, how-ever, it is but an
estimate, as the rolling volumes of steam generally
enveloped the column of water, and accompanied it
to the very highest point, so that it was not easy to
get a fair view of it,* much less to measure it with
any degree of certainty ; but I feel pretty confident
that I have not overstated the height. I may here
observe that these rolling clouds, which in common
parlance I have called steam, are not that pure
unmixed steam which is constantly converted into
moisture, and vanishes when it escapes into the
open air, like that which is let off from the boilers
of steam-engines, but is here accompanied by a
kind of smoke and spray from the boiling water
that require some little time to melt away and
leave the atmosphere clear.
No sooner was the eruption over, and the water
had subsided into the shaft, the steam continuing
to arise, than the birds of Odin made their ap
pearance, and perched themselves on the margin
K

194 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI,
of the basin on the leeward side, while we were
standing on the opposite margin not twenty yards
distant. I could not learn from our guides that
any sacred character was attached to this bird, but
as already stated, it is considered as a bird of ill
omen. Their remarkable confidence in man may
probably be taken as a proof that they are not
molested by him. As a further proof of this, one of
our party sent a ball through one of a large group
assembled on the beach of Reikiavik, which had
shown great confidence, but after this circumstance
they avoided us in such a way that it was quite
impossible to come near them. The farmers
watch their movements, but seem to be afraid to
take measures for destroying them, and yet they are
among their greatest enemies : they are always on the
watch during the lambing season to pounce upon
and carry off the young lambs; in the winter
especially they hover over the farm-houses, seizing
everything they can lay their claws upon, and will
not be driven away — indeed, they sometimes
hovered over us in such a manner, as if they were
only waiting an opportunity to pounce upon us.
The Icelandic raven is a very powerful bird, much
larger and stronger than those in the more southern
parts of Europe.
Sir John Stanley has observed that, when he was
on this remarkable spot, the eruptions of the Great
Geyser took place every two hours. When the one

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 195
I have spoken of ceased, it was four hours before
we had the satisfaction of witnessing a second, and
that only rose to the height of some ten or twelve
feet, and continued only about a minute, when the
water subsided almost immediately. An hour after
this we had a third, which ascended probably to
the height of thirty feet, and this may have conti
nued to act for about ten minutes ; two hours after
this, that is to say about eleven o'clock, the usual
rising of the water in the basin, and the boiling
up of that in the shaft, were observed, and a fourth
eruption speedily followed, the water being forced
up to the same height or thereabouts as the
last. While contemplating this grand exhibition of
nature, my mind, as if by an involuntary impulse,
seemed to carry me back to the period, now
more than sixty years ago, when the late Sir
Joseph Banks was standing perhaps on the
very spot on which I now stood, in wonder and
admiration of this grand phenomenon ; and from
him, by a natural transition, I had in full recol
lection the splendid print and drawings which Sir
John Stanley had the kindness to show me in
London previous to my departure. I was ex
ceedingly desirous of transferring to paper some
thing that might bear a resemblance of this erup
tion of the Great Geyser, but failed to succeed to
my satisfaction : indeed, I considered it impossible
K 2

198 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
to fix its features on paper, as they are constantly
varying, sometimes the whole column of water
being completely hidden from top to bottom by the
clouds of steam and vapour that envelop it, some
times but partially hidden, and the colours con
stantly changing their hues as the sun or the clouds
intervene. The annexed sketch is the best representation I
am able to produce, and it is but fair to confess
that it was done chiefly from the recollection of an
object which is not easily nor soon effaced from
the memory. The beholder is in fact astounded
by the incessant noise and rapid motion of so
vast a column of water darted with so much
violence and velocity into the air, and is quite un-
prejjared to give anything like a faithful sketch
of the infinite changes of form and colour which
both the water and the steam assume. The pic
ture given by Sir George Mackenzie exhibits one
great mass of steam only, without any appearance
•of water, from which I judge he must have wit
nessed it on a calm day.
Our ciu'iosity being novv pretty well satisfied, —
our provisions nearly exhausted, — ourselves and
our jjeople not a little fatigued by a three days'
journey, and two nights spent amidst the boiling
cauldrons and the steam of these Phlegrsean fields,
— we made up our minds to sound a retreat,
and bend our steps homeward; the bishop's son

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 197
and his party set us the example by moving off
first. I felt, however, a very strong desire to ascend
Mount Hecla, which stood before us with its three-
coned summit buried in snow, as majestie as the
three-forked Parnassus. Unwilling as I should
have been to part from my companions, nothing
prevented me from putting my wishes into execu
tion but the utter impracticability of doing so, as it
could only be accomplished by proper preparations
and skilful guides to be provided at Reikiavik.
In my anxiety to pursue my object, I had for
gotten that the last loaf of bread had been con
sumed before we left the Geysers. After all, there
is no great wisdom, perhaps, in courting both toil
and danger, by clambering up a mountain buried
in snow, where nothing else is to be seen. The
people in the neighbourhood, it seems, discourage
every one from attempting it. When the French
doctor (mentioned in the introductory chapter)
made the attempt, he was told that it was the
entrance to the infernal regions, and that the devil
was busily employed in handing down the souls of
all those who had fallen in battle. Sir Joseph
Banks was told that the mountain was guarded by
a number of strange black birds, resembling crows,
and with beaks of iron, with which they would
receive, in a very ungracious manner, any one who
might presume to infringe upon their territory.
Sir Joseph found the mountain surrounded, as the

198 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI.
Frenchman says, for two leagues, with scoriae,
pumice-stone, cinders, and ashes. On reachino-
the summit, which was calculated, from the state of
a barometer made by Ramsden, to be five thousand
feet *, the cold was extremely severe, and the
party had their clothes covered with ice in such a
manner that, to use his own expression, " our
-clothes resembled buckram." As there was no
thing to see, there was no object to induce them
to prolong their stay. Sir George Mackenzie
climbed up amidst fog and ashes ; got to the top,
where he found a small crater filled with snow;
looked round when the sky cleared up a little, and
then came down again. All things considered,
therefore, I may, perhaps, console myself for my
disappointment, with the reflection, that I have
lost but little pleasure, and escaped much fatigue;
but still it would have been something to say, " I
have been to the summit of Hecla ;" and it might
have furnished a few more pages to my book.
Having now given a brief description of what
we saw respecting the plain of the boiling foun
tains — which, to use the words of Professor Berg
man, are the most extraordinary which have hi
therto been discovered in the known world, or, as
Dr. Holland expresses himself, "the most re
markable mineral-water in the world is that of the
'* Subsequent observations give the altitude at something less
than 4500 feet ; but the measurement made by Sir John Stanley
gave only 4300 feet.

Chap, VI.] THE GEYSERS. 199
most wonderful fountain the Great Geyser," —
I shall proceed to make a few observations that
have occurred to me on this interesting subject.
There seems to be a prevalent notion that the im
pelling force of the Great Geyser, be it what it
may, (and no one will dispute what it is,) has been
for some years past on the wane. This is a point
not easily to be determined without more frequent
and closer observations than appear yet to have
been made and recorded. From the height of the
jets no inference can be drawn, as they are very
different on different days, and at different times
on the same day. A comparison, therefore, of the
number of times it may have played in a given
number of hours, or of the different heights to
which the column has been observed to ascend by
different spectators, would prove but little or no
thing. Were we to take these grounds as con
clusive, the inference to be drawn from our late
experience, as compared with that of former tra
vellers, M'ould be in favour of the opinion of its
diminished powers. And then with regard to the
height of a jet, no two persons, viewing it at the
same time, will agree. It is, in fact, next to im
possible to estimate by the eye with anything like
accuracy the height of a fluid column in a con
stant state of vacillation. All our party, it 'is
true, agreed upon one point, and that was,
that the strongest eruption of the Great Geyser,

200 THE GEYSERS. [Chap, VI,
at its very highest pitch, did not throw the
column of water above eighty feet; while, by
other travellers, it is stated to have been as
under : — Feet.
Olafsen and Povelsen . . . 350
Von Troil ..... 92
Sir John Stanley (by a quadrant) . 96
Dr. Hooker .... 100
Sir George Mackenzie ... 90
Mr. Henderson . . . . 150
Of the first, being a gross exaggeration, and indeed
impossible, nothing more need be said ; and the
last I think is not very probable. Dr. Hooker may
have been deceived in estimating the height, con
cealed, as the greater part of the jet almost always is,
by the volumes of steam that are carried up vvith it.
By taking a mean of the remaining three, we have
92|, or, if our estimate of 80 feet be taken into
the account, we have 86 ^ for the averao-e heioht,
-" DO-'
which may perhaps be about the truth. The fact
however of Mr. Baine, who accompanied Sir John
Stanley, having ascertained geometrically, and with
great care by means of a quadrant, the greatest
height to have been 96 feet, would seem to put
conjecture out of the question. I make use of the
strong term " impossible" as to the estimate of
Olafsen and Povelsen, advisedly ; for, although I
am not aware of any theory in hydrodynamics by
which the limit of such a jet may be assigned, yet

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 201
I understand it has been pretty well ascertained,
by direct experiment, that no momentum given to
a column of vvater, issuing from a pipe, will throw a
perpendicular jet to the height of ninety feet : that
at Versailles, the Grandes Eaux play only to the
height of eighty feet ; and that, by an experiment
made of applying a double force, they could not
succeed in raising the column to ninety feet.
Three things would seem to operate against an
ascending column of water — the increased resist
ance of the air from its increased velocity or mo
mentum ; — the separation of the column into spray
as it ascends ; — and the gravity of the column itself,
each stratum of water pressing on that below it.
But if practice has established the fact that ninety
feet is to be considered as the maximum, what are vve
to say to the jets ofthe New Geyser, the greatest ele
vation of which, as stated to have been observed by
Sir John Stanley, amounted to 132 feet? — only this,
that as it was not ascertained, like that ofthe Great
Geyser, by the quadrant, the small diameter of the
jet, and its extreme rapidity dividing the column
towards the upper part into threads, may have led
to an inaccurate estimate. But Sir John Stanley has
himself solved the question. He says, speaking of
the Geysers, " Nature nowhere offers objects bear
ing a resemblance to them ; and art, even in con
structing the waterworks of Versailles, has pro'-
duced nothing that can at all illustrate the magni
ficent appearance ofthe Geyser." It is most true, as
K 3

202 THE GEYSERS. [Chap, VI,
he further says, that " imagination alone can supply
the noise and motion which accompany such large
bodies of water bursting from their confinement,
and must be left to paint what I have not been
able to describe — the brilliancy of colouring, — the
purity of the spray, — the quick change of effect, —
and the thousand varieties of form into which the
clouds of steam, filling the atmosphere on every
side, are rolled incessantly *."
If it be true, as Von Troil has stated, that it is
very common for some of the spouting springs to
close up, and others to spring up in their stead, —
if, as he is disposed to think, all the springs within
the circumference of the plain, out of which they
rise, proceed from one and the same reservoir (and
as all of them are constantly emitting steam like
so many safety-valves of a steam-boiler), it is not
at all improbable, if his theory of one large caul
dron be the true one, that the strength and the
frequency of the jets of the Great Geyser should
be diminishing, each little tube and every fresh
aperture carrying off a portion of the steam. But
as far as our observation went, we could not dis
cover any correspondence between the eruptions of
the different springs; though we certainly did
observe that, whenever one of them was feeble, it
pervaded the whole, and that, previous to the
eruptions of the Great Geyser, all the dimi-
* An Account of the Hot Springs of Iceland, p. 41.

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 203
nutive ones were in a state of great activity, as
if the fires had been stirred up for some grand
occasion. If, however, we are to imagine that all these
Geysers and apertures, that constantly throw out
volumes of steam, communicate with one great
reservoir of water from which the steam is pro
duced, the escape of this steam through so many
apertures must cause it to act with less pressure on
any one of them, and probably less frequently in
propelling the jets up the pipes or shafts; and we
may, perhaps, consider these numerous safety-
valves to be the means of preventing a catastrophe
that the choking up of some of the larger ones
might bring on at any time — namely, a general
explosion of that perforated and tremulous crust
of earth out of which they all rise, and convert
the whole area into one great pool of boiling water.
The violence of the eruption of the Strokr, when
choked up with peat and sods, might have been
exerted on some other place, had not the force of
the steam been sufficient to clear the passages.
The Roaring Geyser of Sir John Stanley,
though it StiU roars, as I have said, like the bel
lows of a blast furnace, has been so completely
choked by large stones and earth faUing into it
from the mountain above, that it has ceased to
throw out jets of water ; and if stones and eartTi
continue to fall into it, the violence of the steam
must make for itself a passage in some other

204 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI
quarter. I speak of steam as the proximate causei
of all these extraordinary eruptions of hot water;
indeed, it cannot be mistaken for anything else.
From the moment the spectator arrives on the
ground, he finds himself surrounded with steam ;
he sees it — he hears it — he feels it, — and he smells
it — not strongly, however, but sufficiently to be
satisfied that it is impregnated with a small portion
of sulphur.
The projectile force given by the elasticity
of steam is much increased by the direction,
the smoothness, and the form of the cylinder.
How these qualities were communicated, or what
is going on below the surface, we may indulge
in ingenious conjectures, but can know nothing
certain. We may draw plans and diagrams on
paper, placing pools of water here, and subter
ranean caverns there, for the reception of steam ;
— we may imagine conduits to convey a sujoply of
the former from above, and cracks and chasms
in the rock for the passage of the latter from
below, — and all these, fitted in all respects to pro
duce the efiect that we see above ground ; — ^but if it
be asked where the fire is, that produces all the
steam and the boiling water, no one will be hardy
enough to assign a local habitation to that element
which Sir Humphry Davy has called "an un
ceasing fire in the laboratory of nature," — that first
operative cause which heaves up mountains — com
pels them to vomit forth red hot melted lava, —

Chap. VI.] THE GEYSERS. 205
rends open deep chasms in the surface ofthe earth,
and supplies the fountains of the Geysers vvith
boiling water and steam.
One thing is quite certain, — fire cannot exist with
out fuel, and fire consumes the fuel that feeds it.
Where, then, are we to look for that supply of fuel
that has kept the Geysers playing, as vve know from
historical records, six hundred years, and, for any
thing that can be known or imagined to the con-
trary, may have been playing for ten times that
period ? A question may here be raised, whether
the same fire, that supplies steam for the Geysers,
melts the streams of lava that flow from Hecla?
The presumption is against it. Hecla has been per
fectly quiet for more than sixty years, and remained
tranquil more than seventy years before the last
eruption in 1772. Besides, there are multitudes of
volcanoes that have for ages been wholly extinct,
the supply of fuel being probably exhausted.
From whence then, it may again be asked,
can an apparent perennial supply of fuel pos
sibly be derived to support a conflagration of so
many hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, such
as that which affords steam for the Geysers ?
To what other source can we have recourse,
than to that central fire of the old philosophers,
which the new ones, in their superior wisdom^
thought fit to extinguish, but which has once
more been revived by the late eminent Sir Hum
phry Davy ? — by him who, after deep and mature

206 THE GEYSERS. [Chap. VI,
reflection, was induced to abandon those chemical
agencies, on which he had once relied — of the
newly-discovered metals of the earth, the alkalis
and the pyrites — and, in lieu of them, to adopt a
strong opinion, amounting almost to a conviction,
ofthe existence of a fluid central fire " in the labo
ratory of nature ? " But a truce to all speculation,
which leads to little or nothing that is satisfactory.
Just as I was on the eve of departure from Liver
pool, I received a letter from my father, inclosing
one to him from Mr. Murchison of the Geological
Society, of which the following is au extract: —
" nth June, 1834.
" I have for some time intended to call on you
to request you to mention to your son, who is
going to Iceland, how much we geologists desire
that he should furnish us, upon his return, with
some correct information respecting a very singular
accident, an account of which I received from Lord
Stuart de Rothsay. When Lord Stuart was in
Iceland last autumn, one of the horses of his fol
lowers was lost, and his disappearance never could
be accounted for. Since his return to England his
Lordship had a letter from the Governor of Ice
land, acquainting him ivith the extraordinary fact,
that the bones of the said horse had been ejected
from the Geysers ; into which it is therefore clear
he had fallen unperceived by the attendants.
" If this be not a fable, it would be very desi-

Chap. VI.]

THE GEYSERS. 207

rable that Mr. Barrow, Junior, should bring home
any portion of these bones which he may be able
to procure, and present them to the Geological
Society, there to remain as evidence of the effects
produced upon animal and bony matter when
boiled in a subterranean cauldron of liquid silica."
I lost no time, on our arrival, in communicating
the contents of this letter to Mr. Krieger, who
told me it was all a mistake ; that he only said the
horse had tumbled into one of the springs, and
that part of its leg and hoof had been seen by a
peasant. It appears, indeed, that he scarcely said
so much : the letter of the Governor, an extract of
which Lord Stuart has kindly communicated, merely
says — " On a trouve un pied du pauvre cheval
que vous avez perdu aupres du Geiser ; il a eti
ablme dans I'eau bouillante." I was quite satis
fied, however, with the Governor's answer, that it
"was not a fable," and prepared accordingly to
make further inquiries.
We happened to enter upon the plain of the
Geysers just as a Danish gentleman of the name of
Smith and his party were leaving it. Being at
Reikiavik when the subject was mentioned, he
pointed out to me, as at least a curiosity, the boiling
mud pit into which Lord Stuart's horse had falleny>
and which was shown to him by the very guide
who had accompanied his Lordship, and was now
with the party. It was one of those cauldrons of a

208 THE GEYSERS. | Chap. VI.
temperature nearly at the boiling point, the water
of which was so much thickened by grey-coloured
mud, as to be kept in a bubbling state by the steam
forcing itself through it. To attempt to probe for
the horse would have been absolute nonsense;
indeed, we had nothing with us prepared for such
an operation, and being now a twelvemonth since
the animal fell in, his carcass must long ago have
been boiled down into gelatine.
The peasant's account of the horse's leo- is very
generally believed — indeed, the only wonder is,
that horses, sheep, and cattle do not more fre
quently fall into these pits, enticed by the luxuriant
herbage that is generally growing round them : we
are told indeed that at Reikiaverf, where one ofthe
springs bears the name of Oxa-hver, (the name de
rived from the circumstance of an ox having fallen
into one of the boiling apertures,) the said animal,
after a short interval, was thrown out by the Oxa-
hver. The writer supposes it not very credible that he
should have fallen into one, and havebeen thrown out
from another, but thinks it by no means improbable
that he may have fallen into this identical Oxa-hver,
and have been ejected again by the following erup
tion. But supposing it to be so, it is a matter of great
doubt whether, instead of a silicified skeleton of an
ox, the whole of the animal would not, in a very
short space of time, be stewed down into that kind of
gelatine from which our portable soup is made.
I brought home a small bottle of water from the

Chap. VI.] ANALYSIS OF THE GEYSER WATER. 209
Great Geyser which, in spite of Horrebovv's sym
pathetic commotion, I immediately corked up, and
found no difficulty in keeping it quiet. Finding it,
on my arrival, perfectly clear, without any sediment
or smell of any kind, I requested Mr. Faraday to
have the kindness to analyze it, vvhich he imme
diately did; and as some one may wish to compare
the result of this analysis, with that of Dr, Black,
of the water from the same fountain, nearly half a
century ago, the following letter from Mr. Faraday
may satisfy him on this point : —
"Royal Institution, 9th September, 1834.
" Dear Sir,- — I have been engaged in examining
the -svater you sent me from the Geyser, but found
myself sadly limited by the smallness of the quan
tity; there was not more than six ounces of it
altogether. " This water had none of the smell of sulphur of
which you spoke, nor could I find any traces of
deposited sulphur, neither had it deposited any
thing apparently since you put it in the bottle,
but was perfectly clear ; it had a little colour, but I
suspect that was derived from the cork.
" The vvater is distinguished, even in its present
state, from other waters, by containing a peculiar
combination of silica and the alkali, soda. When
the water is evaporated, this compound is in part
decomposed, the silica is deposited in an insoluble

210 ANALYSIS OF THE GEYSER WATER. [Chap, VI.
state, the alkali is set free, being probably assisted
in this change by the carbonic acid of the atmos
phere, and being dissolved in, and removed by,
water, is found in considerable abundance.
" The silica which is thus deposited is not merely
insoluble in water, but in sulphuric, nitric, or muriatic
acid also, and quite resembles the purer parts of
that which you sent me as deposited at the spring.
The alkali is in such quantity, that when washed
from the silica by distilled water, and diluted, until
ofthe bulk ofthe water before evaporation, it readily
affects turmeric paper. The original water does
not immediately and sensibly affect the test paper,
but if it be heated, in the air at least, it gradually
affects the paper when left in it. All the effects
show that the silica for the time neutralizes in part
the alkali, and that the latter shows its powers as
the former is by the ev'aporation gradually sepa
rated from it.
" The deposits are all essentially siHceous : most
of them have the silica in combination with water
as a hydrate, and it is probable that a little alkali is
contained in them. The red portions are produced
by oxide of iron, derived, I believe, not from oxide
of iron contained originally in the waters of the
Geyser, but from the action of the alkali precipi
tating some chalybeated portions of water which it
meets with in its course. I think you said that the
red deposit does not occur at the spring, but at the
place where the waters run into the river.

Chap. VI.] AN.\LVSIS OF THE GEYSER WATER. 211
" The waters contain, besides silica, &c., sulphate
and muriate, probably of the alkali soda, for there
is no sensible portion of lime present ; but these, or
at least the muriate or the chlorine is probably in
a peculiar state of combination, for when nitrate of
silver is added to the original water, i. e. before the
silica is separated from it, it causes but a very
slight precipitate ; and yet the addition of a little
nitric or sulphuric, or even acetic acid, produces an
abundant precipitate of chloride of silver. This is
an effect which vve should not expect, and shows
the interference of something for a time, which in
terference is removed by the presence of the acids.
The quantity of water was so small, that I was not
able to satisfy myself of the exact nature of this
action. ¦^'The specific gravity ofthe water is 1 000 '8.
"I presume that the deposition vvhich takes
place from the waters at the spring is quite of the
same nature as that which . occurs on the evapora
tion of the portion you brought away ; the water
coming from the earth in its fresh and hot state
fully saturated with silica, and holding more of it
than it can retain when it cools and is exposed to
the air. I should not think it would be an impos
sible thing by art to imitate the whole effect.
" With regard to the surturbrand, I have nothing '
to say about it which is not well known, and I be
lieve published. The specimens of the deposits I

212 CURIOUS CU.STOM. [Chap. VI.
shall have the pleasure of laying before the next
Board of Managers, and in the mean time beg to
return you our thanks for them.
" M. Faraday.
" John Barrow, Jun., Esq."
It may be of service to future visiters if I here
observe that our guides and people, and indeed
the party of the bishop's son, were more comfort
able in their sleeping tents than we were, they
being simply a canvass covering over two poles and
a cross pole, very low and warm, and much better
adapted to the country than our tall one, with all
the machinery of lines and pins; they are also
much more convenient for carriage which, in a
country like this, where everything must be slung
over a horse's back, is an advantage of no small im
portance. As to our horses, they were turned
loose with shackles on their legs. But the Ice
landers have a most curious custom, and a most
effectual one, of preventing horses from straying,
which I believe is entirely peculiar to this island.
Two gentlemen, for instance, are riding together
without attendants, and wishing to alight for the
purpose of visiting some object at a distance from
the road, they tie the head of one horse to the tail
of another, and the head of this to the tail of the
former. In this state it is utterly impossible that

Chap. VI.] PARSOXAGE OF MIDDALR. 213
they can move on either backwards or forwards,
one pulling one way and the other the other ; and
therefore if disposed to move at all, it will be only
in a circle, and even then there must be an agree
ment to turn their heads the same way.
In the evening of the day of our departure,
on our return to Reikiavik, we took up our abode
at the parsonage of Middair, or rather in the
church, for the priest's house was anything but
inviting. The poor man came out to us to offer
his services, and anything that his house afforded,
which amounted to nothing more than some hard,
heavy, and black rye bread and milk. The church
was miserably small, dirty, and stuffed full of
various articles; its dimensions were 25 feet 10
inches in length, the aisle extending 16 feel, and
the width 10 feet 7 inches. It was even more
crowded than that of Thingvalla, planks having
been laid across the beams, which were only 5
feet 9 inches from the ground, and loaded with
various articles, so as to serve for a store-room. The
lumber consisted of all kinds of domestic imple
ments, clothing, wool, and provisions : add to these,
the aisle was already crowded with an enormous
chest and a quantity of bedding, so that, with our
saddles, trunks, and other baggage, we pretty well
filled this little house of prayer. It was, indeed, a
temple of the most humble structure and appear
ance : the door through which it was entered was
just 4 feet 6 inches high, and of course it re-

214 PARSONAGE OF MIDDALR. [Chap. VI,
quired us to stoop to enter it ; but the poor clergy
man was above six feet high, and, as our guide in
formed us, he was once considered as the finest man
ill Iceland; he was now, however, a complete
cripple, and scarcely able to move about,
I paid this poor man a visit in his miserable
dwelling, and found him stretched out on a pallet,
or rather a sort of broad shelf, the only one in the
room, which, with a small deal table and a couple
of broken chairs, composed the whole of the furni
ture J the room, however, was wainscoted, and had
a small window to admit a little light. We offered
to send a surgeon from Reikiavik to give him some
advice as to the treatment of his complaint, which,
as far as I could collect, was a white swelling in
the knee, but he declined it, probably on account
of the expense. To see a poor man so circum
stanced filling such a situation was quite deplo
rable. I have no idea of what his establishment might
consist, for the only creature that appeared, except
himself and his wife, was of a doubtful gender, a
creature of an amphibious nature which, from her
dress, I at first took for a male, but from the
appearance of the upper half of the body I soon
discovered to be a female. Her nether clothing
consisted of a pair of thick light-brown wadmal pan
taloons, so light as almost to be the colour of the
human skin, and so close that a tailor would call
them a " tight fit." Such a being, large and lusty

Chap. VI.] PRIEST OF MIDDALR. 215
partaking of the Hottentot form, habited in such a
dress, brought involuntarily to my lips the
" Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens" —
but there was no " lumen ademptum;" this was
the only breeched lady I saw, and we will suppose
that, in the hurry, she had left her gown or petticoat
behind. The little boy that attended our guides I found
eagerly devouring a mess of porridge, which having
finished, he went up to the priest lying in bed and
kissed his cheek, the usual mode of expressing
gratitude here, as a shake of the hand is in
Norway. I gave the clergyman's wife a pair of
scissars, and on departing we left a few dollars on
the Communion table ; and made, after this, all the
haste to get away from this wretched dwelling and
its apparently miserable tenants that our guides
could or would exert.
It is a remarkable coincidence that the priest of
Middair, when Dr. Hooker was there, had a dislo
cated hip and an ulcerated wound. By the Doctor's
account, his living was only worth twenty rix-
doUars, or 4.1. a-year ; and he observed both him
and two or three persons of his family eagerly
picking up from the ground the heads and entrails
of some fish, which the doctor's servants, in pre- '
paring for cooking, had thrown away. Why he
should have been thus eager to pick up these rem
nants is the more unaccountable, as a short journey

210 RETURN TO REIKIAVIK. [Chap. VI.
either to Apa-vatn or Thingvalla Lake would have
given him as much fine trout and other fish as his
horse could have brought home. Of the general
poverty of the clergy I had heard and read much ;
but nothing except sheer mismanagement could
have reduced this poor man to such a degraded con
dition as is here stated.
We slept the next night, for the second time, in
the little church of Thingvalla, and the following
day arrived at Reikiavik, sufficiently fatigued, not
having been in bed, nor in fact had our clothes
off our backs, except to indulge in a hot bath at
the Geysers, since we left the capital ; but we were
nevertheless highly gratified with our journey.

^^-'-¦^

CHAPTER VII,
HAVNEFIORD AND BESSESTAD.
Cathedral Service at Reikiavik — Supper at Mr, Knudtzon's —
Journey to Havnefiord — Wide extent of country covered with
Lava — Various shapes and situations of — Situation of Havnefiord
— Disappointment in not seeing the Sulphur Mines of Krusivik
— Proceed to Bessestad, the only Collegiate School of Iceland —
Some account of it — Salaries of the Instructors — Literature of
the Clergy — The Sagas, Eddas, and Scalds — The Songs of,
sought after by European Courts — The Visits of Scalds to the
Court of England in the reigns of Ethelred and Alfred —
Condition of the Clergy compared with that of the Peasantry —
Number and value of the Livings — Studious habits of the
Clergy— Example of Jonas Thorlakson — Church of Bessestad.
On the Sunday after our arrival at Reikiavik we
did not fail to attend divine service in the Cathe
dral. It began at one o'clock, and lasted about
an hour. The clergyman read, or rather chanted,
some prayers from the altar, and afterwards
preached a sermon from the pulpit, which he de
livered with considerable energy, and to which the
congregation, both male and female, appeared to
listen with attention. Several of the people assem
bled joined occasionally in the chanting during

218

CATHEDRAL SERVICE. [Chap. VII.

the service, but it was harsh and uncouth psal
mody, and there was no instrument to accom
pany or modify it. The bishop took his seat in
a separate pew close to the communion-table,
which stood on a raised platform of some extent
with railings around it, and several benches within,
the occupants of which immediately rose on the
bishop's entering : he took no part in the service.
The governor of the island had also a large pew
to himself in the gallery ; the ladies were all
arranged on one side of the church and the gentle
men on the other : somehow or other we contrived
accidentally to get on the wrong side among the
ladies, where, as no one molested us, we considered
ourselves privileged to remain. Some of the elder
and middle-aged ladies were rather oddly dressed
in black clothes, with enormous white cockades or
plumes of linen nodding over their foreheads, vvhich,
on leaving the church, were so blown about by the
wind as to be very troublesome to the wearers, who
were under the necessity of holding them down
lest they should be carried away. On leaving the
church, our guide to the Geysers told us that he
had been doing his best in the way of singing,
and hoped vve noticed and approved of his per
formance. In the evening vve were invited to sup with Mr.
Knudtzon at the new house which he had just
erected at Reikiavik, and which it vvas his intention
to inhabit the ensuing year on his return from Den-

Chap. VII.] A SUPPER AT REIKI.AVIK. 219
mark. This wooden structure will be by far the
most comfortable in the whole town, at least of
those I have had the opportunity of seeing : it was
built at Copenhagen, and seemed to be in every
part admirably fitted and furnished. We sat down
about twenty, and a very agreeable party it was :
among the number was the governor of the island,
but the greater part were Danish merchants re
siding at the capital. Some of the party favoured
the company with songs, and one Danish gentle
man was full of humour, and made those laugh
who understood his jokes, which was not my case.
In compliment to us Englishmen, the evening was
wound up with "God save the King," in which
every one joined; and although few, if any of them,
knew the words, they all knew the tune, and the
effect was equally good. The supper was such a
one as we could scarcely have expected to sit down
to in Iceland — well dressed, and the meat of every
kind good ; among other rarities were some ducks
and geese split open and dried, which were very
palatable. Every variety of wine was produced,
and there was no lack of champagne ; in fact, the
Danish merchants import every luxury from Co
penhagen, and I believe duty free.
We did not break up till a late hour — indeed, it
was past midnight — and I had made my arrange
ments the moment all was over to ride to Havne
fiord in company with Mr, Thompson, who is the
l2

220 VISIT TO HAVNEFIORD. [Chap. VII.
principal among the few Danish merchants at that
place, my ulterior object being to proceed from
thence on a visit to the Sulphur Mines o^ Krusivik.
This gentleman is noted as the boldest and fastest
rider in the country, so that I had the consolation
of knowing at least that, late as it was, we vvere not
likely to be long in reaching the end of our
journey. After we were once fairly started, I soon
found that he was fully entitled to this distinction,
for it was quite surprising with what rapidity he
trotted and galloped over the rough tracts of lava,
familiar enough to him, but not very pleasant to
one not accustomed to such rough riding : how
ever I was obliged to follow as well as I could, and
it fortunately happened that I was well mounted
myself, one of the Danish gentlemen having very
kindly lent me his own horse, which was far supe
rior to the generality of the Iceland animals, and
well adapted to perform the journey. It vvas dusk
when we started, and nothing could be more dreary
than our ride during this interval, but soon after
one'o'clock the day began to dawn.
Our route led us through an extensive and
barren tract of lava, and vve passed at the head of
two or three inlets of the sea, the farthest of vvhich
forms the bay of Havnefiord. Our approach to
this^spot was through one of the most desolate
regions I ever beheld — indeed, it would be quite
impossible to picture to the imagination anything

Chap. VII.]

LAVA. 221

more rugged, more forbidding, or more barren of all
appearance of vegetable life — animal life being quite
out of the question — than the face of the country
was here, covered over with immense masses
of irregular lava rocks, by which the traveller,
at every step he takes, finds himself intercepted,
and turned aside out of his direct path. These
detached masses, closely bordering on each other,
rise out of what, in Iceland, may be called a
plane surface, to the height of ten, fifteen, or
twenty feet, and even higher. They form, in fact,
a complete labyrinth of lava rocks, and so cir
cuitous are the paths carried zigzag among and
around them, that, having witnessed their intrica
cies, I can well conceive the truth of the story told
by Sir George Mackenzie of one of his party, who
having laid down his great coat, and accidentally
walked on a very short distance without it, was
unable to retrace a single step in the right direc
tion, and failed in his attempts to recover it,
although he had not proceeded two hundred yards
from the spot where it was deposited.
There was no appearance here of anything like
a stream of lava, or what the natives call steen-aa
(Stone -river.) These irregular and shapeless
masses, which had evidently once been wholly or
partially in a state effusion, mostly indeed cellular
and blistered in every part, seemed to have beeu
upheaved out of the ground on the very spot they
occupied ; they were " without form and void," or

222 LAVA.

[Chap. VII.

rather of every conceivable misshapen and fan
tastic form'''.
The difficulty of accounting for these masses of
lava scattered over a wavy surface of rocky ridges,
where there is nothing near that wears the sem
blance of a volcano, and where, if there was, no
stream of lava could run or reach the present
position of these rocks — many of which, indeed,
never can have been completely fused — is sufii
ciently obvious. The most probable conjecture
one can form is — whether it be deemed philoso
phical or geological I know not — that a power
or momentum acting immediately below them
has forced them up on the ridges they now
occupy — where, in short, the earth has burst open,
and upheaved them in a half liquefied state.
* " To eyes unused to the sight," says Dr. Holland, " nothing
can be conceived more singular than the aspect of this bed of
lava, A vast confused mass of rocky matter, having a general
elevation of level above the surrounding country, but thrown within
itself into every possible variety of strange and abrupt shapes,
is the general appearance presented to the sight. In following a
narrow and rugged path across the lava, we observed numerous
¦fissures, caverns, and hollows, some of them apparently the effect
of cracking and sinking down of masses of rock, others much
resembling craters from which the melted matter had flowed.
The approach fo Havnefiord is striking : high and rugged masses
of lava concealed from us, until we were almost at the edge of it, a
small and retired bay, at the upper extremity of which are situated
fifteen or twenty habitations, constructed, like those at Reikiavik,
of timber, but superior in general appearance fo the houses ot
the latter place. This is Havnefiord." — Z)»-. Holland's MS.
Journal,

Chap. VII.]

LAVA. 223

Another conjecture, probably still less philosophi
cal, is that of their being discharged from volcanic
bombs, which one has sometimes heard of; or,
which I suppose amounts to the same thing, have
been shot out, red hot but not melted, from the
craters of some of the cone-shaped protuberances,
which were visible at no great distance to the
southward. There are no mountains, nor even hills of such
high elevations as deserve the name — in this neigh
bourhood — -none that, supposing them to be of vol
canic origin, could have sent forth a stream of liquid
lava that, by any possibility, could have reached
their present situation. There is but one other
conjecture I can venture to throw out, and that is,
that these enormous masses may be the remains of
small broken down cones that have partially sunk
into their craters, as we had occasion to see on our
way to the Geysers.
Dr. Holland, in his account of the Mineralogy
of Iceland, seems to countenance the opinion of
these masses having been thrown up on the very
spot they occupy, observing there was one for
mation of lava which had every appearance of
not having fiowed. Speaking of these masses of
lava, he says : — " It was heaved up into large
bubbles or blisters, some of which were round, and
from a few feet to forty or fifty in diameter;
others vvere long, some straight, and some waved.
A great many of these bubbles had burst open,
and displayed caverns of considerable depth." I

^^ ^AVA. [Chap. VII.
did not see any of this cavernous lava, but from
a drawing of one of these hollow blocks, which
Dr. Bright was kind enough to show me since
my return, its blistered cavity, and confused or
imperfectly fused shell, would seem to indicate
that the feeble force of the igneous action of
the steam or gas had but just been sufficient to
heave it above the crust of the earth. This
supposition would appear to afford a better solu
tion of the difficult problem of accounting for
those blocks of lava that are perched on high
ridges, than that given by Sir George Mackenzie,
who imagines this lava to have flowed from the
lower ground, and calls it the " ascending lava."
He says — " It is caused by the formation of a crust
on the coating of the surface, and a case or tube
being thus produced, the lava runs in the same
manner as water in a pipe." This solution how
ever is, to me at least, quite incomprehensible.
The external air will unquestionably form a crust
on the surface of flowing lava, within which it may
be confined while in its descent ; but would such a
crust be able to resist the pressure of a column of
melted lava in its upward ascent — if it could be
supposed that, inverting the order of Nature, the
lava should run up hill, before any "pipe" could be
formed ? It is pretty clear that when the stream
once got to the bottom it might create itself into a
hill there, but would never run up one already
made. I know not whether the lava that surrounds the

Chap. VII.]

LAVA,

225

little harbour of Havnefiord be peculiar to Ice
land, but I have not found any description in other
volcanic countries to accord with the scene of ruin
and desolation that here presents itself. The Ice
landers pretend to say it is the'most ancient lava on
the whole island, but of this they can know nothing
but what their historical sagas inform them, and
which carry back the real records of the country
at least to the beginning of the eleventh century.
This part ofthe island, from Hecla to the Snsefell
Yokul, was that however which received the first
brave emigrants who fled from the tyranny and
oppressions of Harold Harfager ; but it is not de
scribed by them to have worn the same desolate,
the same dreary appearance, nor the same barren
aspect which it now does.
After winding our oblique way for some little

ApproaclCto Havnejiord.

L 5

226 HAVNEFIORD. [Chap. VIL
time through this labyrinth of lava, the blocks of
which increased in size, and looked more horrible
as we advanced, we came at length upon Havne
fiord, a little port that is situated at the foot of one
of the highest and most compact ridges which
completely protects it from the north, and over
which the tops of the houses are first seen just
peeping above the black and bleak summits.
It was broad day-light when we arrived, after
a ride of about two hours. Mr. Thompson kindly
gave me a bed at his house which, like the rest
of the Danish houses on the island, was con
structed of wood, and in all respects comfortably
fitted up, and furnished in good taste. There
were three other Danish houses in this little se
cluded spot, and a cluster of huts similar to those
near the beach at Reikiavik. The whole popula
tion was stated at about one hundred persons. The
natives are partly employed by the merchants and
partly subsist by the fisheries. There were at this
time two brigs at anchor in the bay, and a few
small craft.
I was not sorry, on our arrival, to solicit a Uttle
repose, and the less so, as it was our intention to
rise at an early hour on the following day, in order
to enable us to reach Krusivik, where I vrished
to examine the Sulphur Mountains. I was th6
only one of our party on boai'd the yacht who
felt disposed, to undertake this journey, and as it
turned out, as far as the Sulphur Mountains

Chap. VII.] HAVNEFIORD. 227
are concerned, I might as well have remained on
board. As ill luck would have it, it was disco
vered in the morning that one of Mr, Thompson's
horses had strayed away during the night, or, as
he suspected, had been borrowed to assist in the
performance of some journey — the practice of
taking another person's horse for such a purpose,
and quietly returning it when done with, without
saying anything about the matter, is not unusual in
this friendly country.
After a fruitless search among the twistings and
turnings of the blocks of lava, the horse was
nowhere to be found, and we were therefore obliged
to give up the projected journey, for that day at
any rate, hoping to be able to proceed on the fol
lowing day, by vvhich time another horse could be
procured ; but to my great mortification the next
day proved so unfavourable, such torrents of rain
fell, and the mountains over which it was necessary
for us to cross were so enveloped in thick clouds,
that Mr. Thompson assured me it would not only
be useless, but dangerous, to attempt to go to
Krusivik on such a day, as we should be sure to
meet with nothing but pouring and incessant rain the
whole way ; and that the mines, even in the finest
weather, were wet and swampy, and generally en
veloped in mist and sulphurous vapours.
To make up in some degree for this disappoint
ment, and having a good horse at my disposal, I
determined to visit the only public school — I may

228

VISIT TO SCHOOL OF BESSESTAD. [Chap. VII.

say the only school of any kind — in the whole
island, intended for the education chiefly of young
men destined for the church, which was at no great
distance from Havnefiord, at a place called
Bessestad. We found, on our arrival there, that
this was vacation time, when all the students go to
their respective homes, where they are useful in
assisting their parents in getting in the hay for the
winter provender of the cattle, cutting and getting
in turf, &c. ; for these young pupils, like their fore
fathers, do not disdain to undertake any manual
labour for which they are fitted.
We were received on our arrival by the person
who, I think, is called the Inspector, and who keeps
the house, and has charge of victualling the esta
blishment. This gentleman, according to the
custom of the country, set before us wine vvhich he
told us was champagne, but which we declined,
preferring a cup of coffee in lieu. He was civil
and communicative. He took us over the school
room and the sleeping apartments. The whole was
in a very miserable and filthy state, to all appear
ance not having been washed or cleaned out for
several years.
The sleeping-room might have been mistaken for
a menaoerie. There were wooden recesses on either
side of it (filled with hay and straw and some
dirty bedding), each having a sliding-door which
completely shuts up the berth. I was astonished
and heard with disgust that each of these cribs or

Chap. VII.] BESSESTAD. 229
berths is occupied by two boys, and that till re
cently each bed-place contained three young men.
This may be thought lightly of in Iceland, as I
believe it is in Norway, but to us it appears a bar
barous practice.
The number of scholars is forty. Before the
Sees of Skalholt and Hoolum were united in one, in
the year 1797, by order of the Danish Govern
ment, Skalholt reckoned forty scholars and Hoolum
thirty-four, and landed property was appropriated
for the support of these institutions, suflficient for their
maintenance, and the pay of their instructors. At
the union of the sees, the united schools were trans
ferred to Reikiavik, the very worst place that could
have been chosen on every account, as it was shortly
found to be ; and in consequence they were removed
to Bessestad, where there was a good house that had
formerly been the residence of the Governors of
Iceland, and close to it the best church in the island.
There are three masters : the one, Professor of
Theology, instructs the pupils in Hebrew and
Greek, as far as the Greek Testament and Xeno-
phon ; the second is the Lecturer, and instructs the
pupils in the Latin language, in history, mathe
matics, and arithmetic ; and the third, in the
Danish, Norwegian, German and Icelandic lan
guages. They are all but poorly paid ; that is to
say, according to our ideas of the nature of their
situation and the value of money, but this is not

230 BESSESTAD. [Chap. VII.
by any means a fair criterion of judging. Their
attendance is constant from October to May, the
intermediate months being the time of vacation,
when the students go to their several homes. The
funds appropriated for the school are said to be
sufficient to pay the teachers, and to afford board,
books, and clothing to the scholars gratis.
According to the official statement procured by
Dr. Hooker, the Bishop of Iceland draws about
1800 dollars, or 360/. a-year from the school
funds; the lecturer on theology 600 dollars, or
120/. a-year ; and the inspector or steward, whom
I have called the housekeeper, about 220 dollars,
or 44?. a year, and receives for each of the forty
scholars 60 dollars a-year, or 480Z. in the whole
for their subsistence, and the two assistants 300
dollars, or 60/. a-year each.
The admission to this school is professedly con
fined to such as have made a certain progress, to
such as have been confirmed, and to such as pro
duce good certificates from the clergyman of the
parishes to vvhich they respectively belong ; and at
the period when they have finished their education,
they are strictly examined in presence of the
bishop, and those who are found qualified receive
a dimissus from the heads of the college, which
entitles them, on vacancies occurring in the church,
to receive holy orders. The clergy, however, are
not exclusively taken from this school: the sons

Chap. VIL]

THE CLERGY. 231

of clergymen and of the peasantry are frequently
educated at home, and if they can pass the requisite
examination before the bishop, they too are equally
eligible for the church.
Whether the system of education at Bessestad
school be good or bad, it would be presumptuous
in me to give an opinion; I understand, however,
that it is less generally esteemed in Iceland than
private education at home, where the morals of
youth are less likely to be corrupted than at a spot
where forty of them are thrown together with very
little restraint imposed on them, and -where one
or two indifferent characters may infect the rest.
This objection, natural enough in Iceland, where,
from all I could learn, the peasantry and the clergy
are an innocent, simple-minded, and virtuous
people, would equally apply to most public schools,
and the question as to preference still remains to
be decided. One thing, however, is certain : not
only the clergy of Iceland, but numbers of the pea
santry are well versed in the classics, particularly
in Latin, which they write with fluency*.
* It may be mentioned, however, to the credit of Bessestad
College, that some of the best and most learned works in Iceland
have issued from thence, and that jive volumes in Danish and
Latin have just been completed and published by " The Royal
Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen," under the title of
" Scripta Historica Islandorum de Rebus gestis veterum Borellium,' '
the work of S. Egilssen, Lecturer of the Collegiate School at
Bessestad. It contains historical sagas relating to events that
occurred out of Iceland, and more particularly to the exploits of

232 LITERATURE. [Chap. VIL
And not only do the priests cultivate the clas
sical languages and modern literature, and the
peasantry exercise themselves in reading religious
and historical works, but both the one and the
other are very generally versed in the ancient
mythology and historical traditions, as handed
down in the Sagas and the Eddas, composed
mostly in short verses, and easily retained in me
mory. It would be worse than idle to enter here
into the disputed question as to the real authors
and the antiquity of those extraordinary works,
after so many learned discussions by eminent men
of different nations are before the world. The
Chevalier Ihre, in his communications with Von
Troil, roundly asserts that Snorro Sturleson, who
lived in the thirteenth century, was the author of
the later Edda, and that this was the general
opinion of the Icelanders : for, though they indulge
in various conjectures, none of them have mentioned
any other name than that of Sturleson, except that
they are willing to give the credit of the elder
Edda to Saemund. Many however maintain that
Sturleson only collected the songs of the Scalds,
which existed in Iceland, either in the memory of
the natives, or in Runic characters, or both —
the Danes in England from the middle of tbe tenth to the begin
ning of the fourteenth centuries, an obscure period in English
history. From a glance at this work, I should think Mr. Sharon
Turner would find in it much new and interesting matter for his
AnglO'Saxon History.

Chap. VIL] THE EDDA. 233
thus the dispute is not very unlike to the more
modern one concerning Macpherson and his Ossian.
Whoever was the author, the tumid, allegorical, and
figurative language, and the hyperbolical expres
sions, would seem to betray an Oriental Origin —
indeed, the whole wild mythology evidently points
to the East. One cannot read the attributes
ascribed to Odin without immediately recognising
those of Seva the destroyer. He is described in the
Edda as "the terrible and severe God, the father of
slaughter, the God that carrieth desolation and
fire ; the active and roaring deity, he who giveth
rictory and revlveth courage in the conflict ; who
names those that are to be slain*." And not only
to the Eastern mythology was the author indebted,
but he vvas undoubtedly well acquainted with the
history of the gods of the Greeks and Romans,
whose attributes are merely transferred to other
names. One thing, however, is quite certain, — that the
Scalds and their poetic compositions existed long
before the time of Snorro, and even before the in
troduction of Christianity into Iceland. Of this we
have sufficient proof in the fact, that these bards
were well known in several courts of Europe, and
some of them were even entertained at the English
court so early as in the reigns of Alfred and
* Mallet's Northern Antiquities, English Translation, vol. i.
p. 86.

234 THE SCALDS. [Chap. VIL
Ethelred. The able and learned historian of the
Anglo-Saxons says — " Ethelred was liberal to poets
who amused him ; Gunnlaugr, the Scald, sailed to
London, and presented himself to the king with
an heroic poem which he had composed on the
royal virtues. He sang it, and received in return a
purple tunic, lined with the richest furs, and adorned
with fringe, and was appointed to a station in the
palace*." "By a verse which remains of it,"
says Mr, Turner, "we may see that adulation is
not merely an indigenous plant of Eastern cUmates,
or of polished times, but that it flourishes hardily
even amid polar snows, and in an age of pirates: —
" The soldiers of the king and his subjects,
The powerful army of England
Obey Ethelred,
As if he was an angel of the beneficent Deity |.''
This must have happened about the year 1 004.
* Gunn. Saga, p. 89. When he left Ethelred in the following
spring, the king gave him a gold ring which weighed seven
ounces, and desired him to return in the autumn. The Scald was
lucky : he went to Iceland and sang ; the king then wished to
give him two ships, but was told by his treasurer that poets had
always clothes, or swords, or gold rings ; Gunnlaugr accordingly
received fine garments and a gold ring. — p. 103. He then went
to various places, but at Upsal he met another poet, Bafu, and,
what was worse, when both had sung, the king asked each for his
opinion on the other's composition. The catastrophe need hardly
be mentioned : Bafu told Gunnlaugr that there was an end of
their friendship. — p. 115.
f History of the Anglo-Saxons, by Sharon Turner, vol. ii.,
p. 315.

Chap. VIL] LANGUAGE OF THE SCALDS. 235
It has been asked, how the poetical language
of these Scalds could be understood in a foreign
country ? The reply to this question is easy :
at this time the English language was almost
wholly composed of Saxon or Scandinavian ; the
Romans had as yet made no inroad upon it.
" The whole fabric and scheme of the English lan
guage," says Dr. Johnson, "is Gothic or Teutonic,"
which, among those of other northern countries,
embraces the Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish and
Ds '*^, and all of which still supply us with the
greater portion of our numerous monosyllables.
, " The genius of Alfred" (who flourished a whole
century before Ethelred) " was first roused by the
recital of Saxon poems, in which the queen took
delight; encouraged by her, and stimulated by
his own ardent inclination, he soon learned to read
those compositions *. "
The above objection, therefore, of the language
not being understood in Ethelred's time falls to
the ground. Of these Scalds, the number named
and celebrated for their songs is said to have
amounted to 230 between the years 750 and 1157,
and the greater part of these were natives of
Iceland f .
The clergy are for the most part native Ice-
* History of England by David Hume. Oct. edition, vol. i.,
p. 77.
I Mallet's Northern Antiquities.

236 THE CLERGY. [Chap. VII,
landers, and a great portion is taken from the stu
dents who have had their dimissus from Bessestad,
but some few vvho can aflford it send their sons
to study at the University of Copenhagen. The
number of parochial churches, or livings, is said to
amount to somewhere about 194, but the number
of the clergy is greater, as many of the parishes
have two churches, the great distance and the
danger of travelling, particularly in the winter
months when the rugged fields of lava are covered
with snow, making it impossible that the distant
peasantry could attend at one church. The
number of churches, therefore, together with what
we should call chapels of ease, are stated to
amount to about 300, to each of vvhich is a clergy
man, those who are beyond the number of pa
rishes acting as assistants to the regular incum
bents. From the great age of many of the incum
bents, it is probable that not less than 4 per cent.,
or twelve, may die off annually *. Now, if vve allow
five vears on an average to each student at Bes
sestad to complete his education, so as to qualify
for holy orders, eight only will go off annually, and
therefore one-third must be supplied from other
sources. These sources are abundant ; many of
the clergy, as I have already said, educate their
sons at home, and also many of the peasantry, in
* A moderate allowance : in the year 1834 the number of
British admirals that died was sixteen, being about 10 per cent.
of the whole.

Chap. VIL] EDUCATION OF THE PEASANTRY. 237
the distant parts of Iceland more particularly. The
education of the latter is superintended, in a very
considerable degree, by the neighbouring clergy
man. By the almost universality of this system of
domestic education, there is not probably, in any
part of the world, an agricultural or rather pastoral
peasantry so well informed and enlightened as those
of Iceland.
We have it on the authority of former travellers
in this country, and it is confirmed by the resident
Danisli merchants of Iceland, that it is no un
common thing to meet vvith men labouring in the
fields, mowing hay, digging turf, building the walls
of their cottages, sheds, cow-houses, and performing
every kind of menial labour, who will write Latin,
not merely with grammatical accuracy, but even
with elegance.
The season of out-door labour is so short, and
the winter nights so long, that they have ample
time afforded them to keep up and improve what
they have learnt in their youth; they do not feel
that manual labour is any degradation. Dr. Hol
land has well expressed this : — " The summer's
sun saw them, indeed, laboriously occupied in
seeking their provision from the stormy ocean and
a barren soil, but the long seclusion of the winter
gave them the leisure, as well as the desire, to cul
tivate talents which were at once so fruitful in
occupation and delight. During the darkness of
their year, and beneath the rude covering of wood

238 CONDITION OF THE CLERGY. [Chap. VII,
and turf, they recited to the assembled families the
deeds and descent of their forefathers, from whom
they had received that inheritance of liberty which
they now dwelt among deserts to preserve."
The clergy almost universally submit to every
species of drudgery from necessity : their incomes
are too small to allow them to hire and feed
labourers, and nothing is more common than to
find the parish priest in a coarse woollen jacket
and trowsers, or skin boots, digging peat, mowing
grass, and assisting in all the operations of hay
making. They are all blacksmiths also from
•necessity, and the best shoers of horses on the
island. The feet of an Iceland horse would be cut
to pieces over the sharp rock and lava, if not well
shod. The great resort of the peasantry is the
church, and should any of the numerous horses
have lost a shoe, or be likely to do so, the priest
puts on his apron, lights his little charcoal fire in his
smithy, (one of which is always attached to every
parsonage,) and sets the animal on his legs again;
and here again he has a laborious task to perform
in procuring his charcoal. Whatever the distance
may be to the nearest thicket of dwarf -birch, he
must go thither to burn the wood, and to bring it
home when charred across his horse's back.
This mode of life, however, may not be con
sidered as altogether consistent vvith the cha
racter) of him who is entrusted with the religious
instruction of his humble parishioners. Sir George

Chap. VII.] POVERTY OF THE CLERGY. 239
Mackenzie says that the minister of Garde,
styled the Prov^ost of Goldbringe Syssel, and
superintendent of all the ecclesiastical concerns
of that district, was so poor that, to use his own
words — " knowing his poverty, we were not sur
prised that this dignitary of the church exhibited
in his person and habiliments a figure, the de
scription of which vve shall spare our readers, that
they may not partake the pain inspired by the
most squalid indigence in a clerical garb." Yet
this poor man had a considerable collection of
books, and among others translations of some of
the works of Pope and Young's Night Thoughts !
Their condition may however have, and probably
has, a beneficial effect. What an example may
it not afford for the poor peasantry to be con
tented with their lot, many of whom, indeed, are
in far better circumstances than those of their
pastor ! But whether this equality of drudgery
and of external habiliments be favourable to the
propagation of religion, morality, and of that respect
which is due to the sacred character of the pastor,
is not for me to offer an opinion; but, taking
the whole island, there is little doubt that the
pastor and his flock are nearly on an equality as to
worldly concerns. None of them can be considered
as wealthy, but all of them appear to be contented*
with their lot : poverty, indeed, may truly be said
to be the general condition of the Icelandic inha-

240 NO BEGGARS. [Chap. VII.
bitants. Never was anything more true, as regards
Iceland, than what the poet has applied to another
and very different country : —
" Though poor the peasant's hut, his feasts though small.
He sees his little lot the lot of all ;
Sees no conspicuous palace rear its head.
To shame the meanness of his humble shed."
Poor as they are, I have some grounds to be
lieve that there is not a beggar in all Ice
land, and Dr. Johnson has given us a reason
why it should be so in this island as well as in
the Hebrides : — " A country that has no money
is by no means convenient for beggars, both
because such countries are commonly poor, and
because charity requires some trouble and some
thought. A penny is easily given upon the first
impulse of compassion, or impatience of importu
nity, but few will deUberately search their cup
boards or their granaries to find out something to
give. A penny is likewise easily spent ; but
victuals, if they are unprepared, require house-
room, and fire and utensils, which the beggar
knows not where to find*."
The poor Icelander is so strongly attached to his
native soil, that, like the Swiss when in a foreign
country, he is always sighing and repining after
home, and never so happy as when he sees a
* A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.

Chap. VII.] THE CLERGY. 241
prospect of returning to it. Instances are mentioned
where Icelanders, holding lucrative appointments in
Copenhagen, have thrown them up for the sake of
rejoining their family and friends on the island ; —
so strongly does the love of soil cling to the hearts
of this poor people. There is not, in short, a
native Icelander, priest or peasant, who does not,
though he be
"The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone.
Boldly proclaim that happiest spot his own."
Mr. Hooker, who had received his information
from Jorgen Jorgenson, the usurper and self-styled
Protector of Iceland, states that the value of the
glebe lands and tithes of 134 livings amounted to
6464 rix-dollars, which would give to each incum
bent about 50 rix-dollars, or lOZ. a-year ; but he
says that many others do not exceed 30 or 40
rix-dollars. Sir George Mackenzie, or Dr. Hol
land rather, states, and Henderson bears out the
statement, that the average livings amount not to
more than 34 or 35 dollars for each parish in the
island ; they must, therefore, depend almost en
tirely for subsistence on their glebe land and their
stock of cattle, and a small pittance they are
entitled to for the few baptisms, marriages, and
funerals that occur among their parishioners. The
bishop even has only 2000 rix-dollars, or 500/.
a-year, a miserable pittance to make a decent
appearance, as he is obliged to do, and to exercise
M

242 THE CLERGY.

[Chap, VIL

hospitality to the clergy who visit Reikiavik from
distant parts*.
What inducement, then, can these solitary and
secluded beings be supposed to have for wasting,
if it may be so termed, their days and nights, as
numbers of them do, in laborious studies, the fruits
of which they can hardly indulge a hope will ever
benefit themselves or mankind, so little likely are
they ever to meet the public eye ? Their zeal in
this respect can only proceed from the pure and
abstract love of literature and science, urging them
on to the exercise of their intellectual faculties.
The sun of genius will force its beams through the
dark clouds of adversity, and the chilling mists of
poverty, even though no other portion ofthe atmos
phere, save their own, is likely to be enlightened
* Dr. Holland was furnished by Bishop Vidaliu with a Table,
containing the number of parishes, of churches, and of inhabitants
in the several districts, the totals of which are 184 parishes, 305
churches, and 47,207 inhabitants, from which he arrives at the
following conclusion : —
" From this Table, it appears that there are in Iceland (as
above) 184 parishes and 305 churches. The average number of
inhabitants to each parish is 256 or 257. The average number of
people to each church is 155 ; the largest nominal stipend is 182J
dollars, the smallest (of which, however, there are but two or three
instances) is 5 dollars. The whole nominal revenue of the Ice
landic clergy (exclusively ofthe bishop) amounts, according to the
Table whence this selection is made, fo scarcely 6400 specie
dollars, giving an average for each parish in the island of not
more than 34 or 35 dollars (a)" — that is, about 5/, a-year.
(o) Dr. Holland's MS. Journal.

Chap. VIL]

THE CLERGY. 243

and warmed by its beneficent rays. Poets un
doubtedly best can tell what poets feel ; and one of
our greatest poets has said that
" Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise,
(That last infirmity of noble minds,)
To scorn delights, and live laborious days."
But what share of fame, here or hereafter, can the
poor Icelandic priest hope for ? He might well
ask himself —
" What is fame ? — a fancied .life in others' breath,
A thing beyond us e'en before our death ;
All that we feel of it begins and ends
In the small circle of our foes or friends."
There is, however, another and perhaps a more
praiseworthy motive, which may exert an influence
on the studious habits of the priesthood. Having
to undergo the same toils and hardships as the
most humble of his flock, and enjoying no superior
comforts or refinements, he must feel that by his
intellectual attainments only he can retain that
station, and command that respect from his parish
ioners, which it is so necessary for him to possess.
The present state of literature in Iceland appears
now to be somewhat of a different description
from what it was in ancient times in this and
in some other countries, and, as is not unusual, its
supposed decline is the subject of general com
plaint, though in point of fact it has only changed
its character, and become more widely diffused,
partaking less of the heroic and romantic than
M 2

244 LITERATURE.

[Chap. VIL

heretofore. The Archbishop of Upsal, borrow
ing the expressions of the learned Bishop of
Skalholt, Dr. Finnaeus, in his Ecclesiastical His
tory of Iceland, where he compares the state of
the sciences in that island to the four stages of
human life, thus observes: — "Their infancy ex
tended to the year 1056, when the introduction of
the Christian religion produced the first dawn of
light. They were in their youth till 1110, when
schools were first established, and the education
and instruction of youth began to be more attended
to than before. Their manly age lasted till about
the middle of the fourteenth century, when Iceland
produced the greatest number of learned men.
Old age appeared towards the end of this same
fourteenth century, when the sciences gradually de
creased, and were almost entirely extinct, no work
of any merit appearing. History novv drooped her
head, poetrv had no relish, and all other- sciences
were enveloped in darkness*."
This decay of learning, however, was not confined
to Iceland : it extended over the greater part of
Europe; but a new dawn of knowledge spread rapidly
after the Reformation, and the introduction of the
printing-press produced in Iceland the same bene
ficent effects as in the rest of Europe. But a very
important change took place in the nature of the
studies now pursued by these islanders : the clergy,
* Letters on Iceland, by Dr. Von Troil, p. 167.

Chap. VIL] TRANSLATOR OF MILTON. 245
in particular, instead of making or transcribing
Eddas and Sagas (that is, poetical and historical
romances), have left such reading and recitals
mostly to the peasantry, while their own attention
has been turned to sober history, to the collection
and registration of events, and digesting them into
the shape of annals and chronicles, not only of
what actually passes and has passed in Iceland,
but also in various parts of Europe. The history
and literature of the more refined nations of Europe
now form a part of their studies. The English
language, in which they find so many words of
their own, and so many borrowed from the Latin,
is cultivated by many of the clergy. The German
they find still more easy ; the Danish and Norwe
gian languages approximate to their own. Some
of the choicest works in our literature, especially
poetry, have been translated into their own lan
guage. One example will here suffice as an illustration
of what has been said respecting the triumph of
literary pursuits over pinching penury. It is the
case of an Icelandic clergyman of the name of
Jonas Thorlakson, the parish priest of Backa.
This venerable pastor, when nearly seventy years
of age, had just completed a tran.slation of Milton's
Paradise Lost into his native tongue, having pre- '
viously translated Pope's Essay on Man. Three
of the first books only of the Paradise Lost were
printed by the Icelandic Literary Society, when it

246 TRANSLATOR OF MILTON. [Chap. VIL
was dissolved in 1796, and to print the rest at his
own expense was altogether out of the question, as
we are told that the whole of his annual income,
from the united parishes of Bsegisa and Backa]
did not exceed thirty rix-dollars, or &l. sterling'
-out of which he had to pay an assistant nearly
half*. This must of course mean the pittance
given by the Crown, his parishioners and his glebe
making up the rest. In allusion to his poverty,
he thus expresses himself in Icelandic verse:—
" Ever since I came into this world I have been
wedded to Poverty, who has now hugged me to her
bosom these seventy winters, all but two; and
whether we shall ever be separated here below is
only known to Him who joined us together."
J cannot omit the account which Mr. Henderson
gives of a visit to the dwelling of this venerable
man at Baegisa, particularly as it ultimately led to
the means of alleviating the ills of poverty, when
age and infirmity most required their aid.
" Like most of his brethren, at this season of the
year, we found him in the meadow assisting his
people in hay-making. On hearing of our arrival,
he made all the haste home which his age and
infirmity would allow, and bidding us welcome to
his lowly abode, he ushered us into his humble
apartment, where he translated my countrymen
into Icelandic.
* Journal of a Residence iu Iceland, by E. Henderson, vol. i.,
p. 98.

Chap. VIL] TRANSLATOR OF MILTON. 247
" The door is not quite four feet in height, and
the room may be about eight feet in length by six
in breadth. At the inner end is the poet's bed,
and close to the door, over against a small window
not exceeding two feet square, is a table where he
commits to paper the effusions of his muse. On
my telling him that my countrymen would not
have forgiven me, nor could I have forgiven myself,
had I passed through this part of the island
without paying him a visit, he replied that the
translation of Milton had yielded him many a
pleasant hour, and often given him occasion to
think of England*."
This description of the deplorable condition of so
superior a genius as Thorlakson unquestionably was,
being fully corroborated by inquiries made of Mr.
Bourke, then Danish Minister at the Court of Lon
don, was not unheeded by our countrymen. At the
instigation of one of the most active members of
that liberal, humane, and highly beneficent Society
known as the " Literary Fund," the case was im
mediately taken up, and having, as the committee
state, " discovered the venerable Bard of Iceland
where he patiently reclined beneath the shed of
poverty," they at once resolved, to use their own
words, " to give transient affluence to the bard, who
shivered near the arctic circle, and, under the hovel
of poverty, had erected with the magic of his mind
a temple to the sacred muse." In June, I8I9, he
* Journal by Henderson, vol. i, p. 96.

248

TRANSLATOR OF MILTON. [Chap. VIL

signed a receipt for the money as he writes therein,
" signed with my own hand," being then, as may
be inferred from his own account to Mr. Hender
son, in the seventy-third year of his age. The con
tribution was 30Z., equal to five years' income of
his miserable pittance ; but he did not long survive
this act of benevolence, as it is stated, in a short
view " Of the Origin, Progress, and Operations of
the Society," dated 3rd March, 1821, that ''the
poet of Iceland is now in his grave ; but it is satis
factory to know that the attention, in this instance,
of a foreign and remote society to his genius and
his fortunes, was highly gratifying to his feehngs,
and contributed not immaterially to the comfort of
his concluding days." He wrote a letter in very
elegant Latin, expressing his heartfelt gratitude
for the kindness and generosity of the Society, so
accordant with the character of the British nation,
and accompanied it with a MS. copy of his trans
lation of Milton's Paradise Lost into the Icelandic
language ; but the letter is not now to be found,
being taken away probably by one ofthe members
who particularly interested himself in the case,
and who is since dead*.
'* Professor Rafn of Copenhagen, about four or five years
ago, applied to Mr. Carlisle (Secretary to fhe Society of Anti
quaries) fo assist in a subscription which was going forward in
Denmark for fhe formation of Libraries in fhe Feroe Islands, in
Iceland, and in Greenland, By his exertions about 170/. were
contributed, and books fo the value of about 701. This donation,
and the attention that was paid to fhe venerable Tiiorlakson, have

Chap. VIL] CHURCH AND SCHOOL OF BESSESTAD. 249
The library of Bessestad corresponded vvith the
filthy state of the sleeping-room. It had not
changed its character since the visit of Mr. Hooker,
who describes it as " a small and dirty room, in
which a number of books, principally Latin and
Greek, many of them on theological subjects, were
lying in great confusion."
Close to the school stands the church, a stone
building, with a large wooden roof.

The Church and Collegiate Sc/wd of Bessestad.
It is the largest church, I believe, in Iceland,
equal at least to that of Reikiavik. There is nothing
within its vvalls to attract jiarticular attention, save
perhaps a curious old tombstone of one of the
ancient governors of Iceland, which formerly stood
created a kind feeling on tbe part of the Icelanders towards Eng
land, which is not the less desiralile on account of the dangers of
the coast, and fhe numerous shipwrecks that but too frequently
occur.
m3

250 BESSESTAD. [Chap. VII.
at the entrance of the church. A full-sized figure
of a man clad in armour, and resting on his
sword, is carved upon it. A painting of the Lord's
Supper is placed over the altar. This is the
common scriptural subject, as far as I have seen
of them in the churches : some more miserable
specimens of the art than others, though there is
not much choice, all being equally indifferent. The
picture in question was closed up by means of
hinges to preserve it, but was opened out for us to
look at.
The inspector, having shown us the church and
school, took us again into his house, and showed
us some well-designed and admirably-finished silver
belts, bracelets, and other trinkets, the workmanship
pf his own hands, a few of which I purchased. Ob
serving a musical instrument on the table called
the Lang-Spel, I expressed a wish to hear it
played upon, on which he sent for his two
daughters, but unfortunately the fair damsels had
gone out. I believe it is peculiar to Iceland, and
the only kind of instrument on the island, with the
exception of the violin. The account he gave us of
the conduct of the scholars was good ; he said they
occasioned him but little trouble, being accustomed
to assist themselves. Like those of the peasantry
in general, their dispositions were characterized
as peaceable, quiet, and easy, not to say hstless ;
having once, however, subdued their indolence, the
Icelandic peasantry are said to be easily roused.

Chap, VIL] BESSESTAD. 251
and are then capable of great exertion, fatigue,
and adventurous exploits, and ready to face danger
in any shape — indeed, we were everywhere told
that the life of the fishermen, in particular, was
one of great drudgery and severe hardship, and
that the exposure to cold and wet subjected them
to disease and infirmity long before old age over
took them. The Icelanders in general are civil
and well disposed, but they are said not to feel
strongly. They are a very sober people — indeed,
the greater portion are said not to know the taste
of wine, spirits, or beer. The whole importation of
spirits, it appears, would not allow two bottles a
year to each individual, and this small quantity is
consumed almost wholly in the neighbourhood of
the ports and among the fishermen, the peasantry
considering it more in the light of a medicine than
for the gratification of the appetite.
Our informant told us that all classes of the
people are fond of reading; that in their close
pent-up hovels, in the long winter evenings, the
young people read or repeat to the assembled
family the history of by-gone days, the exploits of
their ancestors as set forth in the Sagas, and the
early adventures and romantic histories of the first
settlers on the island. In later times they are in
no want of modern books in their native language.'
The enhghtened clergy, at an early period after the
Reformation, established a printing-press in Ice
land, which is still actively employed on the small

252 PRINTING PRESS. [Chap. VII,
island of Vidoe opposite Reikiavik, and where
bibles and psalters, and various religious books
are printed, together with selections in general
history, and various tracts of useful information.
Such a people are not diflBcult to govern ; and as
they have little or no intercourse with foreigners,
except the few Danish merchants who reside at the
ports, and no itinerant preachers of infidelity or
sedition to unsettle their minds, there is little
chance of any change for the worse, either in their
moral or political character.

253

CHAPTER VIII,
STAPPEN AND SN^FELL YOKUL.
Cross Faxe Fiord in tbe Yacht — a Land Pilot — Reach the Coast
of Slappen — Stormy V\'eather prevents a Landing — Beat off
the Coast — Return to Reikiavik — Rough Passage — Basaltic
Columns and Caves of Stappen — Extracts of Unpublished
Journals of Sir John Stanley's Companions — Ascent of Sncefell
Yukul — ?Jeasurement of its Height — Meridional Direction of
Basaltic Pillars from the Giants' Causeway fo Jan Mayen's
Island in the Greenland Seas — No such formation on the two
opposite Continents,
On the morning of the 14th of August, the wind
proving favourable for a visit to Stappen, (being
then in the north-east,) and the weather beautiful,
we determined to proceed thither in the yacht,
and by so doing avoid a dreary land journe}-,
double the distance of that by water. Not caring
to incur the risk of running our vessel on one of the
sunken rocks, with which the great bay abounds,
we endeavoured to procure a skilful pilot at Rei
kiavik to take charge of her thither, but it was
not without the greatest diflSculty that we were

2.54

VOYAGE TO STAPPEN. [Chap. VIIL

enabled to find a person of that description ; and
when we did at last succeed, we had to complain, as
usual, of the indifference or laziness so common to
the people of Iceland, however nearly their interest
may be touched : in the present instance we were
obliged to wait three hours, before this gentleman
could make it convenient to come on board. The
moment he did so we got under weigh : the sky
was quite clear of clouds and the atmosphere of fog,
and the panoramic view of mountains round the
Faxe Bay were now for the first time visible all
round since our arrival. We all congratulated our-
selves on such favourable auspices, and enjoyed
the splendid and magnificent sight as we glided
along towards the object of our little voyage.
We had an excellent run across the bay, and
found ourselves in the evening close to the foot of
the Snaefell Yokul, an enormous mountain whose
sides were enveloped in snow, reaching considerably
down towards the base. We were now anxiously
looking out for the place where we were to run in
and come to anchor, but soon discovered, to our
great mortification and annoyance, that the person
who had called himself a pilot, and whom we had
so much difiSculty in procuring, had only once in
the whole course of his life been to Stappen ; and,
provoking as it was beyond measure, we could
scarcely forbear laughing when we discovered that
that once was by land ! The coolness with which he
confessed this was certainly amusing, but the know-

Chap. VIII.] BAY OF STAPPEN. 255
ledge of it was so far useful, that it put us on our
guard against placing the least confidence in him,
and that we should not neglect the proper precau
tions to be taken by ourselves: indeed, we had
occasion to suspect his ignorance, from the circum
stance of his endeavouring to convince us that a
rock, as we all judged it to be, which had been in
sight for a long while as we sailed towards the
coast, was nothing more than a ship. The man
however, though no pilot, had some redeeming
qualities ; for when, on our return to Reikiavik, we
were informed that he had once saved the lives of
some seamen in the most gallant manner, by ven
turing out into the middle of the bay in an open
boat, in very tempestuous weather, to the great
hazard of his life, we felt disposed — indeed we
could not do less^than to forgive his want of skill
on the present occasion.
Having approached quite as near to the coast as
we thought advisable or prudent, we laid to, and
sent our land pilot off, for want of a better, to the
shore, that he might serve at least as an inter
preter, and ascertain where we were. The boat
returned in the course of a couple of hours with a
real pilot from Stappen, who brought us a polite
message from the principal inhabitant at the place
(I believe one of the Danish functionaries) inviting
us all to breakfast with him the following morn
ing. He had probably heard of our arrival at

256 STORMY WEATHER.

[Chap, VIII,

Reikiavik, and could not well mistake our little
bark for anything but a yacht.
It was now too late in the night to think of
running into the bay or harbour, and as it turned
out, it was considered a fortunate circumstance that
it was too late ; for at an early hour the following
morning the wind had veered completely round,
and was blowing fresh directly on the shore. The
weather, indeed, suddenly underwent a sad change :
a dense mist accompanied with rain set in, and we
could not see the shore though it was close to us,
and we began to be under some apprehension that
our boat, which we had sent on shore to land the
pilot from Stappen, would not be able to find the
yacht again.
All the hope I had entertained of examining this
remarkable coast, and viewing those extraordinary
basaltic caves and columns which have attracted
the attention of former travellers, was now at an
end. The weather was most unfavourable, and
continued to grow worse, so that one thing only
remained for us to do, and that was to beat off the
land as fast as possible, and make the best of our
way back to Reikiavik.
Our passage was far from being so agreeable as
it had been the preceding day on our way to
Stappen. The clear sky was now shrouded in
dense clouds, the atmosphere thick with mist or
fo<y, the rain fell, and the wind blew — add to all

"o>

Chap. VIII.] STORMY WEATHER. 257
which the difference of being in eager pursuit after
a highly interesting object on the one day, and
the mortification of being totally frustrated in the
attainment of that object on the next, — and our
disappointment will readily be felt.
Before we reached the end of our little voyage
it blew very hard, and the sea was running so high
as to cause the yacht to be tossed about even more
than on any part ofthe voyage from England, and
we had then encountered some pretty heavy seas.
The motion was so rough and irregular, that some
of the sailors even were sea-sick, and amongst the
rest the oldest seaman in the vessel, who told me,
in a half-angry tone, that he had been upwards of
twelv^e years in the king's service, and had never
before been troubled with such a disagreeable com-
plaint. It vvas next to impossible for the men to
keep on their legs in the fore part of the vessel
below deck, and the poor cook got sadly knocked
about in the execution of his duties, to the no
small amusement of the sailors, who, ill at ease
themselves, seemed to enjoy a joke at his expense.
Some idea of the pitching of the vessel may be
formed, when it is stated that she dipped her jib-
boom with such force under water as to snap it
asunder, its height, when the vessel was on an even
keel or in still water, being not less than thirty feet
from the surface. This was the only spar we
carried away during the whole of our voyage. It
will readily be imagined that we made but slow

258

COLUMNAR BASALTS. [Chap. VIIL

progress against a strong gale of wind and such a
heavy sea ; and it was not, in fact, till the after
noon of the following day that we approached our
port, and it was then so very foggy, notwithstanding
the wind was blowing a gale, that, confident as we
were of our having run a direct course for the port,
we deemed it prudent to go about. In a little
time, however, the fog began to clear away, and
we were shortly enabled to enter the Bay of Rei
kiavik, and take up Our former anchorage imme
diately in front of the town.
Our being compelled to return to Reikiavik,
without being able to effect a landing at Stappen,
was the more provoking, as the main object ofthe
trip had been that of inspecting those beautiful
specimens of basaltic rocks which front the whole
line of the coast of this part of the great bay,
forming a series of curious caves, the drawings
of which, made by Sir John Stanley and his
companions, were shown to me before I left
London. The roofs of these caverns, five or
six in succession, are supported by columns of
basalt, many of which are also found strewed
about, some lying horizontally in heaps with
their bases pointed to the sea, some standing
upright, and others inclined at different angles,
many of them curved, not merely at the joints
where the convex end of one piece is fitted into
the concave end of the other, but bent through
out the whole length like some of those on the

wEi^iHi smmwMEaiu EU faan mA^)K ©m@iBrKiE)„

Chap. VIIL] SIR J. Stanley's description. 259
Island of Staffa, which Sir Joseph Banks has de
scribed as very much resembling the ribs of a
ship. It was the more provoking, as there was
every reason to believe, from the accounts already
published, that the columns of Stappen afford the
most convincing proof of their igneous origin, being
here found buried in the midst of lava, above,
below, and around them. Here the theory of
the Neptunists, who long maintained the aqueous
origin of basalt, falls to the ground. " All are now
agreed," says Mr. Lyell, " that it would have been
impossible for human ingenuity to invent one more
distant from the truth."
But though I had to sustain a great and morti
fying disappointment in being obliged to desist
from any further attempt to land, the extreme
kindness and liberality of Sir John Stanley, since
my return, have, in so far as valuable information
and correct description go, more than compensated
any personal gratification that I might have
received, and enabled me to give a much better
account of this place than I could hope to have
acquired by any exertion of my own. He has not
only condescended to communicate to me his ideas
regarding this most interesting quarter of Iceland,
but has supplied extracts from the Journals of the
gentlemen who accompanied him, Mr. Wright and*
Mr. Benners, whose accounts of their perilous
ascent of the Snaefell Yokul will, I think, not be
the less interesting, because it was made upwards

260 SIR J. STANLEY'S DESCRIPTION. [Chap. VIII.
of forty years ago, but has never till now met the
public eye. Mr. Baine, a third gentleman who
accompanied Sir John, was employed in measuring
a base along the shore, and taking angles for cal
culating the height of the Snaefell Yokul geome
trically, and also in making sketches and observa
tions on the coast, composed of lava and basalt.
Sir John says (in a letter to my father), — " I
have sent you several drawings of the basaltic
caves at Stappen, from which your son may
select those for engraving which he thinks the
most interesting. I have copied four views from
my own sketch-books, which, as they are iu
pencil, I hope will not get rubbed in travelling.
r have also sent you some made out from Mr.
Baine 's drawings; you may get copies made of
them all, if you like it, for your own keeping, and
return the originals at your leisure.
" I have sent you also extracts from the Journals
of Messrs. Wright, Baine, and Benners, that your
son might be in possession of all the information
wanting for the account of the basalts and the
Yokul he wishes to give the public, and which,
indeed, ought to form a part of any book published
by a traveller in Iceland of the wonderful things of
the country. Hecla has a great name, but it is
nothing more than a volcanic mountain retaining a
little heat; but Snaefell Yokul, from its very
graceful form and height, and snows, and situation,
as the horn of the tongue of land dividing the two

Chap. VIIL] SIR J. STANLEY'S DESCRIPTION. 261
great Bays of Brcede-fiord and Faxd-fiord, is a much
more remarkable feature of the geography of Ice
land than Hecla. And then its rise out of a
basaUic base, and the contact of its streams of lava
with the basaltic columns, and the ferocity with
which subterraneous fires have broken and tossed
about all the country in its immediate neighbour
hood, require that attention should be called to it,
to induce future travellers to give a great deal of
their time to the observation of all its phenomena.
The Yokul has, I apprehend, been formed by re
peated eruptions of lava, &c., from one crater, but
the ground must have been burst in many places ;
for the shivering of the basalts into the confused
state in which they are found, and the throwing
up ashes and scoriae in the pyramidical heaps in
which they stand at the base of the mountain, and
throughout the whole Syssel of Snaefellness, there
must have bee'n eruptions, forming separate hills;
for though at a distance the high sands between
the eastern and western ends of the tongue of
land, dividing the two fiords, have the appear
ance of a continued range, when seen from the
summit of the Yokul, no two hills are joined, but
each tells its own story of its formation from fires
exerting their force at distinct periods of time.
I suspect that, from the heat not having been so *
intense^in the earth, when these hills were thrown
up,'as when great volcanoes cover miles and miles

262 SIR 3. Stanley's description, [chap. viii,
of country with lava, many substances miaht be
found amongst them, not much changed from
their original state — that is, the state in which they
were before their last disturbance — not meaning
that of their primitive state, as parts of the ori
ginal crust of the globe, when they were granite,
syenite, or crystallized compounds, but when
they were in beds of basalt, or any beds into
which granite, &c., could have been changed by
heat under pressure, and without contact with the
atmosphere. I picked up myself, in a guUey of
one of these hills, specimens which I have now
lost, but which I well remember struck me at the
time as very like jasper and chert.
" You will see, from the drawings, how com
pletely basaltic the whole line of the coast is under
the Yokul. It is absurd to suppose that when the
lavas of the mountain reached the sea they cooled
themselves into miles of such a regular columnar
form. That lava in cooling has a tendency to be
come columnar is certainly a fact. We find it in
columns often in Iceland in its very streams, but
they are strange, irregular masses.
In another letter he says : —
" The observations I and my companions made
on the basaltic lavas are very imperfect, and they
have been only slightly noticed by other tra
vellers. I doubt whether the most curious are

Chap. VIIL] ascent OF SNjEFELL YOKUL, 263
accessible by land, unless by a seagull-catcher, and
a very cahn day is wanting for a good examination
by sea. We had a calm day for it, and rowed into
the caves, one of which is as grand as, and much
more curious than, Fingal's Cave, from the twisting
ofthe columns, and a hole in the roof through
which you can see the mountain above it, — a conical
outrigger of the great Yokul. The existence of a
regular stratum of columnar basalt at the base of
volcanoes, is a phenomenon which wants explana
tion. You want the volcano at the Giant's Cause
way, and the Hebrides, the Feroe Islands and
Dunbar ; but you have basalts and the volcano
together at Mtna, the Drlzzi near Catania being
the most perfect columns I ever saw — not having
seen the Giants' Causeway, which I suppose are
the most perfect. I apprehend the basalts over
which you have seen volcanoes to have been a
formation below the sea before the volcanoes broke
forth, and to have been heaved up without any
great disturbance of their parts."
The following is an extract from Mr. Wright's
Journal : — July Mth, 1789.
" We anchored in Stappen Bay at 6 p. m. This
is by no means a safe place, if any wind but our
present one was to blow. Mr. Stanley therefore
desired that those who wished to ascend the hill
should set out with him this very night. I embraced

264 ascent OF SN..EFELL YOKUL. [Chap. VIIL
the proposal with Benners, Crawford, and Caldin.
We therefore got into the boat in which Mr. Baine
also came on shore ; as he intends to measure the
mountain geometrically. The parts of the shore
where we landed, and a considerable way west, is
composed of very regular basaltic columns, gene
rally of five sides, some presenting their ends to
us, others standing perpendicular, while others are
inclined in every possible direction. Stappen is a
village consisting of only a few houses. Mr. Stanley
had letters from Professor Thorkeim to Mr.
Hialten, a merchant, the principal man in the place.
While we were conversing with Mr. Hialten,
the villagers all crowded round: we were invited
into his house, one of the best in Iceland, intro
duced to his wife, a very handsome young woman ;
and while horses he had ordered for us were getting
ready, we were treated with good claret, mutton,
coffee, cakes, &c., Mrs. Hialten doing the honours
very gracefully and lady-like. We had poles, into
one end of which Mr. Hialten directed a servant
to fix nails, with the heads broken off, that we might
walk with more safety over the snows. We took
one of our Dollond's barometers with us, in case
vve should have the good fortune to reach the
summit, an event we had thought very iijiprobable,
and we counted on not being able to do more than
reach the snow line, for the inhabitants gave us
a fearful account of the dangers to be encountered
near the summit. We were told that after a two

Chap. VIIL] ASCENT OF THE SN/EFELL YOKUL. 265
hours' ride to the snow, we should only have gained
half the height of the mountain, and that then we
should meet with rents and chasms, &c., many
impassable ; also that no person had ascended the
mountain since Olafsen, about thirty years ago,
and that he had made two unsuccessful attempts,
and had never quite reached the top. They
added, that two English sailors once tried the
ascent, but failed, and in returning, a fog came on,
which made them lose their way, one perishing in
consequence, and the other with great difficulty
joining his companions. But we were not to be
frightened, and five horses being ready for us, we
set off at 8h. 5m. p. m., after I had taken the
height of the mercury in the barometer placed at
the merchant's door.
" We were attended by a guide, by Will Camp
bell, one of our sailors, and by the Danish car
penter, who carried the barometer. We first rode
along a stream of lava by the base of a singular
hill, a slender pyramid or cone sharply pointed, on
which there is very little if any vegetation. At
half-past ten we got to the edge of the perpetual
snow; here I again took the height of the mercury
in the barometer, and the thermometer stood at
32° — freezing point.
" A consultation was now held, whether we
should return, or attempt the further ascent.
Crawford, Caldin, and I were from the beginning
determined to go as far as was possible, but Mr.
N

266 ASCENT OF THE SNAEFELL YOKUL. [Chap. VIII.
Stanley intended to go no farther with us than he
thought prudent; he however now decided on
proceeding, as did Mr. Benners, though complain
ing bitterly of the cold. After refreshing ourselves
with some provisions we had brought with us, and
leaving the guide to take care of the horses, as it
did not appear he had any experience of the snow
part of the mountain to be of use, we started, each
having coarse woollen stockings over our shoes. At
first we found the snow rather too soft, but it soon
became hard enough to give us a firm footing;
but the ascent was steep, and there was no more
talking about the cold. Very wide rents in the
snow at last became frequent, aud forced us to a
very zig-zag path; some we could get over by
means of our poles, but others were six, seven, and
more than eight feet broad, and letting a piece of
lava tied to a string fall into them, I found they
were fearfully deep : one was forty- two, and another
fifty feet deep. In the sectional sides of these we
could distinguish and count the layers of the snow
that had congealed in different years, to a cer
tain depth, reflecting vivid tints of blue and
green of various shades. Caldin and I led the van,
but we could not boast of our pilotage, for we had
often to return a great way back to find a passing
place amongst the rents, and very narrow some of
these places vvere, When within a quarter of a
mile of the summit, our sailor, being without a pole,
could, from the steepness and slipperiness of the

Chap. VIIL] ASCENT OF THE SN.EFELL YOKUL, 267
snow, proceed no farther, but all the rest of us,
with a great deal of labour, and certainly some
danger, reached a point within 500 feet of the
summit. Mr. Stanley and I, after some rest, ventured
on, creeping with our hands and feet ; but from the
very slippery state of the snow, joined with its
steepness, we were exposed in our progress, not-
withstandinor aU the caution we could use, to the
hazard of a fall into chasms which, had it happened,
would at once have put an end to all our mea
suring schemes. We did gain ground, however,
and when we thought we were within a few yards
ofthe highest point, one of the chasms stopped us,
which it was impossible to turn or get over ; it was
where the ascent was steepest. On our right it had
a bridge of snow across it of about a foot in thick
ness, — whether to try this or not was the question.
Mr. Stanley and I debated the matter. We had to
take counsel only of ^each other, for all the others
remained quiet where we left them. On one hand;
it was confoundedly provoking to be baffled when
so near the top of this famous mountain, which
few, if any one, had reached ; on the other hand,
the danger vve should have fo encounter was most
imminent : — if the snow across the chasm should
give way, or our feet slip, and so gather way in
falhng from such a very steep and fearful slope as
that we stood on, we were gone for ever. We
could not look round us without shuddering : for a
few minutes vve vvere in suspense, with our feet
N 2

263 ascent OF THE SNiEFELL YOKUL. [Chap. VIIL
resting in the holes we had dug for them, Af
last we heard our companions calling out to us to
stop. At this moment I was trying the depth of
the snow all round, when in one part I found, or
imagined I found, the solid rock or hard ice.
When I told Mr. Stanley this, we set about digging
more holes in the snow for our feet, proceeded a
little, bore ourselves as lightly as possible over the
chasm, and reached what we thought the summit,
and tried to persuade those below to follow us.
The Danish carpenter, with the barometer, de
clared he had too much regard for his body and
soul to do so: it was now Ih. 5m. a. m.
" When we got to this summit we could observe
the sun just about to rise, his beams showing
themselves from behind a hill to the northward
across the Brcede-fiord, the thermometer 27°.
There being no prospect of the carpenter's ascend
ing with the barometer, we began to descend, after
writing our mistress's names on the snow, — the
emblem of their purity. We used great caution
in our descent, for the carpenter hallooed out to us
that we were in as much danger coming down as
we had been going up. I had like to have found
this, for, when within about thirty yards of those
below, my pole slipt and away I slid. I was not
eager to stop myself, forgetting a great chasm
before me, until Benners called out to me to stop.
I doubt whether I could have done this vvith the
way I had got, but I rolled over, and this gave me

Chap, VIII,] ASCENT OF THE SNiEFELL YOKUL. 263
time to fix my pole in the snow. Mr. Stanley, who
followed, was nearly in as much danger, for when
he was about crossing the last chasm which sepa
rated him from the party, Caldin and Crawford
desired him to come on, pointing to where he
ought to put his feet, and where they had crossed
themselves. Fortunately before venturing he struck
his pole into the crust, when it instantly gave way,
being a bridge of snow over a deep rent less than
a foot in thickness.
" After we had got all collected, I proposed to
Mr. Stanley that I should carry the barometer to
the summit, since the carpenter objected. It was
agreed to, after some objections, and I was accompa
nied by Messrs. Stanley and Benners — Caldin and
Crawford contenting themselves vvith their view of
the summit from where they were : — indeed Caldin
had ventured a little further, and by a false step
had nearly got into a chasm, but by the help of Mr.
Benners escaped.
" We found it easier this time to get to our
summit than before, in consequence of the footsteps
already made. We took the height of the mer
cury in both barometer and thermometer. The view
was magnificent, and to the west the other peak of
this high hill presented itself at the distance of aboutf
1000 yards (the real summit). The northern view
was that of the sea, quiet as a child, as if it never
could be in a passion ; the east, high-peaked mis
shapen mountains (small, however, compared with

270 ascent of THE SN^FELL YOKUL. [Chap. VIII;
the Yokul ;) and to the south we saw the sea,
Stappen and its harbour, in which our brig, the
John, and another vessel, appeared like two small
specks. On the north-east hills beyond an inlet of
the sea bounded the horizon, above vvhich the sun
had now got up in all his glory, and threw the
shadow of our mountain, so defined over the surface
of the sea to the south-west, and above its horizon
in the air, that it was some time before we could
thoroughly be satisfied that it was not another
mountain, before concealed from us by a fog. We

Summit of Sncefell Yohil and its Shadow in the Air.
began ofir* descent at Ih. 40m. a. m. At half-past
three, we reached the place where we had left our
guide and horses, and arriv-ed safe at the mer
chant's house in about two hours more. Campbell
hailed the boat ; and while coffee was preparing for

Chap. VIIL] ASCENT OF THE SN^FELL YOKUL. 271
US by Mr. Hialten, who had left his bed for the
purpose, I took the height of the barometer where
I had taken it before, as likewise the high water
mark. "After dinner we got into the boat. to see the
basaltic lavas. The shore for half a mile is
composed of them; above them a stream of lava
has flowed — indeed, they appear to have been
formed from such a stream, but what I think is
proof of their being formed by fire is, that many
of the columns have perfect porous lava attached
to their under ends, the one running imperceptibly
into the other. The columns are formed into many
large caverns, with arched mouths ; we rowed our
boat into one of them, the entrance being about
thirty feet wide, and about the same height. After
entrance it becomes more lofty, and towards the
fiirther extremity it is open at top, being about
sixty feet perpendicularly high; the columns are
straight, and about four feet in breadth, and from
twenty to fifty feet high, generally consisting of
six, but sometimes of five sides. The depth of vvater
at the entrance is about eight fathoms, and at the
farthest extremity about sixteen feet in depth. The
columns on some other parts of the shore are very
regularly jointed ; of these Mr. Stanley, Mr. Baines,^
and Lieutenant Fierie have taken drawings.
"There are thousands and thousands of sea
fowl, gulls, skarps, &c. &c., inhabiting the shore.

272 ascent OF THE SN^FELL YOKUL. [Chap. VIII,
and we made dreadful havoc among them with our
guns." The naivete of Mr. Benners' excuse for not fol
lowing Messrs. Stanley and Wright is rather
amusing : — July I4th, 1789.
" Our party consisted of Mr. Stanley, Mr. Wright,
Crawford, Caldin, and myself, our carpenter, and a
sailor. We sank pretty deep in the snow, but
patches were here and there frozen over ; we went
over these safely till we came to a large chasm,
which forced us to turn it where it was crusted
over. This we crossed with some tremor, for if it
gave way we should have fallen to a depth of fifty
or sixty feet : we crossed one by one, and so on we
went crossing many chasms. When we came to
where the ascent grew steeper we rested. Goino-
on, one of our sailors found it so slippery, and not
being able to jump, swore it was impossible for
him to proceed : we helped him on however. Mr.
Crawford sunk up to his knees going alongside one
of the crevices, crying out ' O heavens,' and be
lieving he was lost. At about twelve we reached
the top of this slope, a base to a higher and steeper
slope, that terminated in a cone, and to get to this
was a prospect of great difficulty. Messrs. Stanley
and Wright went forwards on all fours; Caldin,
Crawford, and I followed; and after proceeding
twenty-five or thirty feet, Caldin declined going

Chap. VIIL] ASCENT OF THE SNAEFELL YOKUL. 273
farther, and began to think how he could get down
again, and was thrown into a cold sweat. The snow
under him was giving way, and his pole was of
no use, and below him was a deep and large
chasm, from falling into which he had to hold on
by one finger only. I was just in the same situa
tion, when he cried out ' Do help me, or else
I shall be down.' To help him I tried to fix
myself, by burying my foot in the snow, knowing
well that, had my friend above, for he vvas before
-ne, given way, he would come down straight
on me, and thus both of us fall into that horrid
and most tremendous gulph. I stuck my pole
immediately below his feet, and this kept him up
till he fixed himself with more advantage. I novv
endeavoured to get down again, and begged Caldin
to do the same, for I dreaded his falling more than
anything else. I got down on the slope of the hill,
and waited for him, then I again resolved on
mounting this high cone, and got up about three-
quarters of it, when I found a large separation
almost on the top, slightly covered across with
snow. Underneath this I ventured on my belly at
a part not covered, and found it very deep, and by
peeping through horizontally I observed the chasm
to extend quite through, so that I could see the
adjacent cone which lay opposite. I was however
encouraged by the footsteps of my friends, the im
pression of which was now deeply marked out by
this time. I could hear them sjpeak very distinctly.
N 5

274 ASCENT OF THE SNiEFELL YOKUL. [Chap. VIII.
I then creeped on, and raised myself gently up by
the side of a most enormous precipice, and just had
time to see them above me on the very summit. I
then laid myself down again- to push forward, but
recollecting the barometer, and that no one could
tnore conveniently than myself bring it, Mr. Stanley
and Mr. Wright being before me, and that neither
the carpenter nor the gentleman below would ven
ture, I hallooed to Messre. Stanley and Wright to
know if I should bring it, but they were too much
engaged w-ith the prospect and writing their
sweethearts' names, that neither of them heard me ;
so I came down, and by the time I was at the
bottom of this cone I found they had followed me,
and were more than half way. I waited for them.
Mr. Wright came down vvith great velocity at one
place : I thought he could not have saved himself.
We welcomed the two heroes. jNIr. Stanley said the
danger is too great to go up again with the baro
meter, and proposed measuring the height where
we stood, but Mr. Wright would carry it up. Mr.
Stanley said he would go with him, and I joined.
We succeeded in regaining the top."
While these gentlemen were employed on their
arduous ascent of the Snaefell Yokul, Mr. Baine
was not less actively and fatiguingly engaged in
ascertaining its height. It would not be inte
resting enough to the general reader to detail the
measures he took to obtain this object : it will be

Chap, VIIL] BASALTIC ROCKS AND PILLARS. 275
enough to state what the results wei-e, after a
carefiil examination of every step by Mr. Robison,
Professor of Natural Philosophy of Edinburgh : —
Feet.
The height deduced from fhe Geometrical
measurement is ... . 4567
By the BaromL-trical measurement . 4534
DifTerence . 33
Mr. Baine also took the elevation of Mount
Hecla by geometrical measurement, and made it
4300 feet, which is 700 feet less than what Sir
Joseph Banks's party made it by a barometer of
Ramsden. I am not aware that it has ever been noticed by
geologists, that basaltic rocks and basaltic pillars,
commencing first at Fairhead and the Giants'
Causeway, the most splendid examples that
perhaps exist, continue to make their appearance
in various places as we advance to the northward,
on or near to the same meridian line, passing
through the western islands of Scotland, exhibiting
a magnificent display on the Island of Staffa, and
from thence showing themselves in more or less
perfection and beauty along the Hebrides, and as
far as the Feroe Islands. Advancing still farther,
with a little inclination to the westward, they ara
found in profusion in almost every part of Iceland,
intermingled with every species of volcanic pro
duction, the whole of this immense island evi-

276 BASALTS, &C. [Chap. VIIL
dently owing its existence to the agency of subter
ranean fire. Nor does the basaltic formation,
cease at Iceland, but, continuing northerly with a
small inclination to the eastward, it breaks out
again on the small island of Jan Meyen, which is
also wholly of volcanic origin, consisting chiefly of
the Mountain of Beerenberg, 6870 feet high ; and
on the sides of which are two craters, one of them,
as stated by Mr. Scoresby, being six or seven
hundred yards in diameter ; and the belt between
the mountain and the sea is composed of cinders,
slags, scoriae, and trap rocks, striking through black
sand and vesicular basalt, the last of which, high
up on the side of the mountain, exhibits columnar
masses. Here, then, we have the plain and undeniable
evidence of subterranean or sub-marine fire,
exerting its influence under the sea, almost in a
direct line, to the extent of 16J degrees of latitude,
or more than 1100 statute miles. If we are to
suppose that one and the same efficient cause has
been exerted in heaving up this extended line of
io-neous formations, from Fairhead to Jan Meyen,
we may form some vague notion how deep-seated
the fiery focus must be to impart its force, perhaps
through numerous apertures, in a hne of so great
an extent, and nearly in the same direction. It may
probably be considered the more remarkable, that
no indication whatever is found of volcanic fire on
the coast-line of Old Greenland, close to the west-

Chap. VIII.] GRANITE WANTING IN ICELAND. 277
ward of the last-mentioned island, and also to Ice
land, nor on that of Norway on the opposite side,
nor on that of Spitzbergen ; on these places all is
granite, porphyry, gneiss, mica-slate, clay-slate,
lime, marble, and sandstone.
Another remarkable fact is, that with all the
materials in Iceland for constituting granite, there
is not, it is said, any granite in the whole island.
There is in the various lavas, the basalts, the sands,
the clays, and the other substances of which the
island is composed, all the component parts —
silica, felspar, and mica, but not a fragment that
bears their union, such as generally occurs in other
extensive mxOuntainous countries ; and with the
exception of a few veins of Icelandic double re
fracting spar, I could not learn that anything like
lime is to be found in Iceland. Is it that the
component parts of granite did not happen here
fo be in a simultaneous state of fusion, or has the
granite formation remained below the ocean ; and,
as is sometimes the case, has it been perforated by
the rocks of the island, and novv supports them ?
Whatever the cause may be, the fact I understand
is certain*. Would that Mr. Lyell, or some other
able geologist, could be persuaded to dedicate a
summer or two to the examination of this extraor
dinary island !
* Sir John Stanley's party found a piece of granite on the shore
of Stappen, but it was pronounced fo have been part of the ballast
of some ship; yet it induced a long search for a rock resembling
this specimen, but none was fuund.

27S

CHAPTER IX.
STATISTICS.
Tenures of Land — Law of Descent*— Rents, how paid — Payment
of Labour — Marriages, proportion of — Ages of Parties — Extent
of the Island — Population — Deaths— Births, Legitimate and
Illegitimate — Labour, how employed — Charitable Institutions
— Diseases — Number of Cattle — Taxes — Articles of Diet —
Indigenous Plants — Those useful for ordinary and other
domestic Purposes — Medicines — Ardent Spirits — Crimes and
Puuishments — Kducation — Clergy — Morality.
The shortness of my stay in Iceland, my absence
from Reikiavik during the greater part of the time
I remained in the country, and the difficulty of
meeting with persons on whose information rehance
could be placed, where arithmetical numbers are
principally concerned, and where statistical infor
mation is uot regularly registered, are the chief
causes that have prevented me from obtaining
more detailed answers to the queries which vvere
sent to me, on my departure from England, by one
of the members of the Statistical Society, than those
which I have been enabled to procure. They are,
however, I have every reason to believe, generally

Chap. IX,] STATISTICS. 279
correct, as far as they go, having been coUected for
hie by a gentleman of high respectability- and
sound judgment, a Danish merchant, who has
been resident on the island for a great number of
years, and who has ready access to all the authorities
at Reikiavik. Many of the answers that are defi
cient I have endeavoured to extend, from informa
tion obtained from other sources, on which I think
dependence may be placed. These observations I
shall insert after the answers to the respective
questions, arranged in the order I received them.
No. 1. Q. What are the tenures of estates ?
A. Generally for life, on paying about 5 per cent.
of the value of the estate, besides an annual payment
for the cattle belonging to the estate, which in ge
neral are few in number, for the tenant commonly
is the owner of the greater part of the live stock.
Obs. — This requires some explanation. Estates
are held of the Crown, or in fee-simple ; but
there is no such thing as entailed estates,
they being generally sold at the death of the
proprietor, and the produce divided among
the children ; unless some one of them can
purchase the estate, by paying each his share
of the property. The Crown lands and many
others are let to farmers on what may almost
be called perpetual leases. The rent of a
farm is paid in two parts — the land-rent.

280 STATISTICS. [Chap. IX.
which is fixed by an old valuation which it has
not been found necessary to alter, — and a rent
for a fixed number of cattle which it is calcu
lated the farm is able to support ; and these
are transferred from one tenant to another,
each succeeding one to take them, and to leave
the same number on quitting the farm. But
this is not to prevent a farmer from keeping
as much stock as he can maintain, without
paying any additional rent. The rent of both
is paid, according to agreement, in money,
wool, tallow, butter, &c. ; the tenant is for
life, provided he does not injure the farm, but
he may quit whenever he pleases, on giving
six months' notice *.
From the Landnama book of 1695, vvhich
Von Troil had in his possession, the proportion
of estates belonging to the Crown, the church,
and the freeholds, were as 718, 640, and 1847,
since which many of the two former have been
sold, and the number of the latter fully
doubled. The estimated number of farms,
including freeholds, vvere then 4058 : they are
now supposed to be above 6000 f .
2. Q. Does the Crown claim any superiority ?
A. The Crown claims superiority in very few
instances only, vvhich superiority is called Forstrands-
Rettighed. * Sir George Stewart Mackenzie.
t Letters on Iceland by Von Troil,

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 281
3. Q, What are the laws of descent ?
A. The same as in Norway,
Obs. — The law of descent in Norway excludes
primogeniture. If a person dies intestate, the
property is sold or valued, and divided among
the children, so as to give equal shares to the
sons, and half shares to the daughters ; and
where wills exist, they seldom deviate from
this rule. If any one of the brothers can pay
the shares to his brothers and sisters, it is
generally arranged that the freehold estate
should be made over to him, in order to retain
it in the family.
4. Q. What is the ordinary size of estates ?
A. Such as are called twenty hundreds, or which
are of the value of 300 to 400 specie dollars,
and can feed six cows, eighty sheep, and eight
horses, are in the interior considered middle-sized
estates. Obs. — This reckoning by hundreds would appear
to be peculiar to Iceland. The amount of a
man's property, or substance in the State,
by an ancient regulation, was estimated
according to the number of ells of vad or
wad, or, as we are pleased to call it, wadmal,
which his family was able to manufacture or'
consume in the course of a year. Every
hundred ells was liable to a tax, and accord
ing to the number of hundreds was the estate

282 STATISTICS.

[Chap, IXi

valued. This, it is obvious, was but a loose
mode of valuation, and was easily evaded. Thev
therefore substituted a certain number o£ cattle
which was to constitute a hundred: Thus, in
the answer to this query, it is said that six
cows, eight horses, and eighty sheep make up
twenty hundreds, and may be considered as
a middle-sized estate. Sir George Mackenzie
says a hundred consists of two horses, a, cow,
and a certain number of sheep, with a fishing-
boat, nets and lines, and forty rix-dollars
in specie. This I suspect is not accurate.
Farmers in the interior have no fishing-nets ;
and as the fishermen are said to constitute
one-third of the population, their hundred was
originally settled on a different principle from
that vvhich regulated the pastoral population,
this being by the number of ells of wadmal,
and that by the number of fish.
. Q. Are estates cultivated principally by owners
or tenants ?
A. By both.
. Q. If by tenants, what are the ordinary size of
farms ?
A. Vide No. 4.
. Q. What rents are paid? Are they paid in
motley, in produce, or by sei-vices, or are they
mixed rents composed of any two or all of
these ?

Ghap. IX.] STATISTICS, 283
A. Rents are paid in produce, on the coast in
fish; in the interior, in butter, sheep, &c. &c,,
according to an annual tax — partly likewise in
money. Serfs do not exist,
8 & 9, Q. Do the tenants employ any labourers
under them? How are these labourers paid,
and if in money wages, what amount ?
A. Tenants who are in easy circumstances
generally employ one or more labourers, vvho, be
sides board and lodging, have from ten or twelve
specie dollars annual wages.
O&s.— In the small farms the various kind of
labour is performed by the family, excepting
certain sorts of work that require speed, as
hay-making, for instance> turf-cutting, clear
ing away the snow to enable the sheep to
feed ; these are either done by task, or by a
common day's work — a medelman's vtirk — or
as much as a man of middling strength can
perform. The wages of a hired man-servant were,
in 1 772, from four to six rix-dollars a-year in
money, and twelve yards of wad or wadmal
for clothing ; for a woman, two or three rix-
dollars, and five or six yards of wadmal. They
. receive their foodj vvhich is understood to
consist of a stipulated quantity of certain
articles, as butter and dried fish*. It appears
* Letters of the Archbishop of Upsal.

284

STATISTICS. [Chap. IX.

they have been somewhat increased since' the
above period.
10. Q. What is the proportion of married to un
married labourers, being above twenty-one ?
A. The proportion of married to unmarried
labourers cannot be accurately given. Perhaps
every seventh individual may be married,
II. Q. What is the ordinary age of marriage, dis
tinguishing the sexes, and of puberty ?
A. Men 24 to 32; women 19 to 30 in
general. Obs. — The authority given to the clergy, by law,
not to marry a woman unless she can read
and write, would appear to be an admirable
one, and will explain why the peasantry of
Iceland are so much better informed than
those of any other nation of Europe. It is
from the mother that the child learns the first
rudiments of education, and receives a taste
for reading ; and a well-educated mother can
not fail to instil into her young offspring the
principles of religion and morality. I am in
formed by Mr. Broder Knudtzon, that the
clergy of Norway have the same authority to
refuse confirmation to those, who cannot read
and write, as well as answer certain questions
regarding religion.
12. Q. What is the ordinary fertility of mar
riages ?

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 285
A. From four to six; sometimes more.
13. Q, What is the gross amount of population?
A. About 53,000.
Obs, — This is but a scanty population for so ex
tensive an island, whose surface is to that of
Ireland as 1 to l\, or thereabouts; but that
surface, it is true, from its nature, and the na
ture of the climate, is perhaps as unfavourable
as any that exists within the limits of the two
Arctic circles. The extremes of the northern
latitudes are 63° 24', and 66° 33°; and of
western longitude 13° 28' and 24° 31', and
deducting the areas ofthe numerous fiords,
by which it is intersected pretty much in the
same manner as Norway, the square contents
of the land is about 37,388 statute miles ; but,
as I was assured, one third part is the very
least that could be assumed as wholly useless
to the inhabitants. The centre of the island,
being nothing but clusters of yokuls or snowy
mountains, is said to be fully equal to that
extent; so that the inhabited part cannot be
reckoned at more than 25,000 square miles ;
and the population on each square mile will
not exceed 2tV persons. This fact alone will
suffice to show to what inconveniences the in
habitants must be subject in such a countl-y
where there are no roads, and over which it is
utterly impracticable to attempt to stir in the
winter months while the snow is on the ground.

286 STATISTICS.

[Chap, ix;

14. Q. What is the annual number of deaths ?
A. For the last three years the number, of
deaths has been from 1100 to 1400.
15. Q. What is the number of those who die at
different ages ?
A. Of 1390 deaths in 18.32,
75 were still-born
784 under 10 years of age
27 from 10 to 20

57

20

30

72

30

40

43

40

50

56

50

60

116

60

70

79

70

80

68

80

90

13

90

100

1390

Obs. — The proportion of deaths, according to
this account, is extremely moderate, being
no more than 2-fic- per cent. ; and the more so,
from the very great proportion of those who
die under ten years of age — namely, 784,
considerably more than one-half of the whole
deaths.
16. Q. What is the annual ntmiber of births ?
A. In the same year the number of births

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 287
was 2516, consequently 1126 more births than
deaths.
17. Q. What is the number of illegitimate births ?
A. Ofthe aforesaid 2516 individuals, 383 were
illegitimate. Obs. — Among so sober and sedate a population
this proportion of illegitimate to legitimate
children appears to be very large, being 15^
per cent., or one in every seven nearly.
Perhaps it may in part be explained by the
manner in which men and women are huddled
together in cribs or benches in the miserable
hovels of the peasantry.
18. Q. What proportion of the population is em
ployed in agriculture ?
A. The whole population is employed in
feeding cattle, or fishing, or both. The number of
those who breed cattle to those who mostly live by
fishing is as three to one nearly.
19. Q. What employments exist for labourers in
dependent of agriculture ?
A. Other employments than those of breeding
cattle and fishing do not exist ; nor is there any
other class of people or townsmen, save the small
numbers of tradespeople in Reikiavik and other
trading establishments.
Obs. — There are no manufactures of any kind
carried on as a trade. Every branch of in
dustry is domestic, and confined chiefly to
articles of clothing — wadmal or coarse cloth.

288 STATISTICS. [Chap. IX.
gloves, mittens, and stockings. The pea
santry are generally ingenious : they make
such pieces of furniture as their simple cot
tages require ; some aspire to make trinkets of
silver, snuff-boxes, and some other articles of
the walrus tusks ; they also forge implements
of iron. But Iceland is scantily supplied vvith
metals ; vestiges of iron are abundant, but if
worth extracting the metal, they have neither
wood nor coal to do so — in fact, the only
mineral they extract from the earth is a little
sulphur from the mines of Krusivik, which is
scarcely worth the labour of preparing it.
Iceland consists strictly of a pastoral and fish
ing population.
20. Q. Are there any returns to be procured of the
exports and imports ?
A. Produce has of late years been very con
siderable, and the export of wool alone has been
from 3000 to 4000 Skippund.
Obs. — ^We were told that the breed of sheep had
of late years been much encouraged, and that
the numbers vvere fast increasing. The Skip
pund in Norway is about 320 English pounds.
This would give for the export of wool from
960,000 to 1,280,000 ; but besides the raw
wool, there are exported annually not less than
200,000 pairs of knitted stockings, and
300,000 mittens, or gloves without fingers.
The Iceland sheep have remarkably fine

Chap, IX.] STATISTICS. 289
fleeces of wool, which the farmers never shear,
but in the spring of the year it is taken off
whole, as if it were a skin that easily slips
off. The weight of a fleece is from four to five
pounds. Other exports are dried fish, salted
cod, and other species of the same genus,
for the quality of which the fishing banks of
Iceland are celebrated, but which, of late
years, have been much invaded by French
and Dutch fishermen, to the great grievance
ofthe Icelanders. They also export fish-oil,
whale-blubber, skins, eider-down, and a small
quantity of the Lichen Islandicus for medi
cinal purposes. Their imports, with the ex
ception of salt and timber, are generally in
the hands of the Danes, and consist of a small
quantity of wheat and much rye, wine, iron,
earthenware, furniture, and various articles of
colonial produce, especially sugar and coffee,
besides beer and spirits, snuff and tobacco, all
of which are in almost general demand, espe
cially the last two.
21. Q. What number of medical men are there on
the island ?
A. One physician, and six district surgeons.
22. Q. What charitable institutions ?
A. There are no charitable institutions except
four hospitals for invalid lepers, of which there are
generally not more than three or four in each. o

290 STATISTICS.

[Chap. IX.

Obs. — It is highly creditable to the Icelandic
population, that the sick and the poor are
almost wholly supported by their own families,
and that a sort of disgrace attaches to those
who send them away to be taken care of by
strangers, even though maintained at their
expense ; those who do not take care of their
own poor are compelled by the Sysselman,
on the report of the Repstiore, to pay a much
larger sum than the expense of their main
tenance would be in their own families. It is
on this account that there are so few places of
reception either for the poor or the diseased.
No stronger proof of this is wanting than the
circumstance of the only workhouse or poor-
house in the island having been converted into
the Governor's house at Reikiavik.
23. Q. Is the age of puberty different in Iceland
from that age in England or France, and what
difference exists?
A. Vide No. 11.
24. Q. Are there any returns distinguishing the
nature of the prevalent diseases ?
A. The most prevalent or endemic diseases
are, chiefly, catarrhs, rheumatism, inflammatory
fevers, liv^er complaints (hepatalgie), and indura
tion of the liver. The other diseases are the same,
o-enerally, as those of Denmark and Scandinavia.
It is to be observed, however, that the measles and

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 291
scarlatine fevers ai-e less frequent in this country
than on the continent.
25, Q. The number of hospitals — general infor
mation respecting them — of operations performed
— ^their mortality ?
A. There are no hospitals save those men
tioned under No. 22, -avhich, after all, are of little
importance. On the other hand, there is an im
portant Collegiate school at Bessestad, which may
well be considered as the only public institution
of importance in the country.
26. Q. What proportion of the country is in pas
ture — what in tillage ?
A. About one-third of the surface of the
country is considered to be covered vvith vegetation
of some sort or other, which is suitable for pasture
— the other two-thirds consist of yokuls, or snowy
mountains, and fields of lava.
27, Q. What are the numbers of cattle in Iceland,
distinguishing draught from other cattle ?
A. The number of sheep is about 500,000 ;
heads of cattle, 36,000 to 40,000; horses, from
50,000 to 60,000. There being no wheel-car
riages of any description on the island, there are
no draught cattle : the horses are the beasts of
burden. Obs. — The Icelanders depend on the cattle and
the sheep for food and clothing ; their horses
may be regarded more in the light of a
o 2

292 STATISTICS. [Chap. IX.
luxury, but an indispensable one, as without
them they would not have the means of
carrying their produce to barter in exchange
for other articles of necessity or convenience,
at the fishing villages or ports at which the
annual supplies arrive from Copenhagen. In
the preservation of their sheep the peasantry
are much hampered by the badness of the
climate, by the scantiness of winter food, and by
the attacks of the eagles, the ravens, and the
foxes, more particularly at the lambing sea
son, when vast numbers of the young animals
are carried off by all of them. But the foxes
are the most destructive : they are the curse
of the country ; and with all the pains taken
to destroy them, and the rewards placed on
their heads, they are supposed to be on the
increase. The Icelanders say that a king of
Norway (I forget his name) sent them there
out of revenge for so many of his subjects
having gone over to settle on the island.
Many ridiculous 'stories are told of the cun
ning tricks of the fox, some of which are de
tailed by Henderson at the third or fourth
hand. One is, that when he wishes to feast
on a gull, he walks backward towards them
with his tail cocked up in the air, by which,
being white, the silly birds think it one of
themselves, and he thus takes such one of
the flock as suits him. A gull is proverbially

Chap, IX,] STATISTICS. 293
a stupid animal, and a fox a cunning one, but
neither the cunning of the one, nor the stupi
dity of the other will make his readers gulls
enough to give credit to such idle stories,
which are borrowed from Olafsen and Povel
sen, who had them from Hofrebow, and he
from some one else.
28, Q. What taxes are paid, distinguishing direct
from indirect ?
A. There are no direct taxes, except tithes to
the clergy, rates to the church and to the poor,
and from most of the peasants the tax of 1 g specie
dollar value, which serves to add to the stipend of
the Sysselman. The principal receipts of the State
proceed from the landed property of the Crown,
which is still considerable, as well as from J per
cent, on land of inheritance, &c., which on the
whole amounts to little.
Obs. — Strictly speaking, the taxes, though mo
derate, are direct property taxes, and every
one pays according to his circumstances,
whether in landed property, stock, or money ;
and the amount of the property is estimated,
as above-mentioned, by the number of hun
dreds an individual possesses. The amount
of these taxes, after certain deductions, is di- '
vided between the public Revenue, the clergy,
the churches, and a small portion applied to
the maintenance of the poor. They are mostly

294 STATISTICS. [Chap. IX
paid in kind, such as in fish, butter, oil,
tallow, &c. to the sysselman, who disposes of
them to the best advantage, and pays the
proceeds in money to the landfogued or trea
surer. The whole amount is very inconsider
able, one-third of which is retained by the
sysselman as compensation for his trouble.
29. Q, Diseases peculiar to Iceland ?
A. They are, as before stated, about the same
as in Norway ; and leprosy is not more prevalent
here than the disease called Radesyge there ; and
the general state of health is very much like that
of other inhabitants of northern climates.
Obs, — The leprosy, which I suspect some
times procee5s to what has been called
elephantiasis by some writers, is a dreadful
disease in Iceland, and is thus described by
Von Troil : — " Its first appearances are swell
ings in the hands and feet, and sometimes
also in other parts of the body; the skin
becomes shining and of a bluish cast, the
hair falls off, the sight, taste, smell, and
feeling are weakened, and often quite lost;
boils appear on the arms, legs, and face ; respi
ration becomes difiicult, and the breath fetid ;
aching pains are felt in aU the joints, a break
ing out spreads over the whole body, and is
at last converted into wounds, which gene
rally terminate in death*."
* Von Troll's Letters on Iceland.

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 295
This horrible disease, which some think,
but others deny, to be hereditary, is ovvino-,
most probably, to a fish diet and poverty of
food, want of all kind of exercise in the winter
months, and exclusion from air in their close
hovels, where a great neglect of cleanliness
almost necessarily prevails ; the total want of
vegetables, except occasionally Iceland moss,
and a few dwarf cabbages and potatoes, where
trouble has been taken to cultivate them,
may also contribute to this disease ; but I be
lieve it to be mostly owing to the universal
practice of wearing woollen clothes next tp the
skin. Before the introduction of cotton and
linen into Great Britain, and when woollens
were universally worn, the leprosy would seem
to have prevailed in as frightful a degree,
perhaps, as iu Iceland, whereas it is now
rarely, if ever, heard of.
30. Q. Is there any table of longevity of Iceland ?
A. There are tables, which generally re
semble that which has been given for the year
1832. It must be observed, however, that mor
tality is sometimes more considerable.
31. Q. The number of medical men — the mode of
remunerating them ? •
A. The former part of this question has been
answered already, under No. 21. Medical men
have some pay from the Crown ; the piiysician 300

296 STATISTICS. [Chap IX.
specie dollars, and the surgeons 150 specie dollars
each per annum.
32, Q. The articles of diet peculiar to Iceland ?
A. Meat, milk, fish both fresh and dried,
bread made of imported corn, cabbages, potatoes,
game, fresh-water fish, Iceland moss, which is used
for porridge in some parts ofthe island.
Obs. — It may here be observed, that in this
bleak and dreary region of the globe, with
a climate of the worst description, and a
soil two-thirds of which is wholly barren, and
the rest but sparingly covered with indigenous
plants of stunted growth, most of the articles
of diet, beyond fish and butcher's meat, must
be imported. In the vegetable kingdom,
however. Nature has not been niggardly in
endowing many of their plants with qualities
which have fitted them for the nutriment of
men and cattle, and others for domestic utility.
Dr. Hooker has collected and arranged most
of these in his " Flora Islandica" from various
sources, and from his own researches on the
spot ; and, as I conceive, they may properly
be introduced here, in addition to the very
general answer returned to this question : —
i, Pinguiuscula vulgaris. The Icelanders make
use of this instead of garlic. — Voyage en
Islande.

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 297
ii. Elymus qrenarius. The seeds are occa
sionally mad^ into a sort, of bread.
iii. Polygonum^ historta.._n'he roots are often
eaten raw, and sometimes converted into
bread.
iv. Angelica Archangelica. The Icelanders
gather the stems and roots of this plant, which
they eat raw, and generally with the addition
of fresh butter.
V. Rumex digynus. All the species of rume.x
(of which there are three others) are boiled
and eaten by the Icelanders, though only
the young shoots of the acutus are employed.
Of the acetosa, a beverage is made by the
common people, by steeping the plant in
water till all the juice is extracted. This
drink is kept some time, but soon becomes
bad and putrid in warm vveather.
vi, Silene acaulis. Boiled, and eaten with
butter, by the Icelanders,
vii. Potentilla anserina. The roots are fre
quently eaten in the southern parts of the
island.
viii, Cochlearia Danica. Occasionally eaten as
spinach, and reckoned of service in the cure
of the scurvy, though seldom made use of.
ix. Trifolium repens. The peasantry in the
northern and eastern parts of the island use it
as pulse. — Voyage en Islande.
X. Gyrophora hirsuta. Povelsen describes this
o 5

298

STATISTICS. - [Chap. IX,

plant as by far the best genus for food among
the lichens.
xi, Cetraria Islandica. This is that species
of moss best known as the Lichen Islan
dicus.
xii, Fucus palmatus. This, the Sol of the Ice
landers, is the most frequently prepared and
eaten of any of the genus. Dr. Hooker says :
- — "¦ On the Scotch coasts it is eaten raw by
the natives, and in the county of Caithness, in
particular, I have seen a number of women
and children gathering it from the rocks, and
making a meal of it, devouring it with avidity."
He has enumerated in his list upwards of
fort,y species, almost all of them common to
Scotland and other parts of Great Britain,
a great number of which are esculent and
nutritive. Besides these, the Icelanders are in no v.ant
of indigenous plants useful for domestic,
pastoral, and medicinal purposes.
xiii. Eriophorum polystachion. 0£ the pappus
of this plant (the cotton grass) the natives make
wicks for their lamps.
xiv. Holcus odoratus. Said to be used by the
Icelanders to perfume their apartments and
their clothes.
XV. Arenaria peploides. This is steeped in
sour whey, where it ferments ; then the liquid
is strained off, and fresh water added to the

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 299
beverage, which is said to taste like olive oil.
— Voyage en Islande.
xvi. Dryas octopetala. A plant everywhere
common, of the dried leaves of vvhich the in
habitants make a sort of tea.
xvii. Thymus serpyllum. An infrision of the
leaves is often used to give an aromatic flavour
to the sour whey.
xviii. Achillea millefolium. The Icelandic ap
peUation Vall-humull (field-hops) seems to
imply that this plant has been used instead of
hops in that island, as it is still in some
parts of Sweden. At present the natives
only make an ointment of its leaves with
butter, which they apply to cutaneous and
other external sores.
xix. Zostera marina. This plant the cattle
eat, and the natives gather and dry it for their
beds.
XX. Lycopodium Alpinum and armotinum are
used abundantly in dyeing woollen cloths of a
light yellow colour, by merely boiling the
cloth in water, and mixing with it some leaves
of the Vaccinium uliginosum. A dark yellow,
it appears from Olafsen and Povelsen, is given
to cloth by the lichen Islandicus, and a deep
brown by the leaves of the arbutus uva ursi.
xxi. Gyrophora cylindrica. Used in times of
scarcity as food, but more frequently for dyeing
woollen of a brownish-green colour.

300 STATISTICS.

[Chap. IX,

xxii. Fucus serrafus. This, and various other
large species of fucus, serve occasionally for
food for the cattle and fuel for the poor
natives,
xxiii, Equisetum sylvaticum. Various species of
equisetum (of which five, besides this one, are
in the list) are given to the cattle in Iceland,
where they are said to be accounted exceUent
food for horses.
xxiv. Salix herbacea. The downy substance
from this and other species of willow is applied
by the natives to wounds both of man and
beast. The leaves steeped in water are em
ployed in tanning skins. The wood is used in
making ink, being steeped in a decoction of
the leaves, to which is added some of the
earth used in dyeing (a kind of ferruginous
clay) — all are then boiled together untU the
liquid has acquired a proper consistency.
XXV. Ranunculus acris. Often used for raising
blisters.
xxvi. Sedum acre. Mr. Povelsen says, " Com
monly used in Iceland as an emetic."
xxvii. Menyanthes trifoliata. The reidinga,
already mentioned as employed to prevent the
saddle, or any load, from chafing the horses'
backs.
xxviii. The grasses for sheep and cattle in the
meadows and valleys through which rivers or
streamlets flow are tolerably abundant, and

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 301
keep both horses aud horned cattle in good
condition during the summer months. "They
also afford good hay, when the weather will
allow them to get it well in. They consist of
those most common in all the northern cli
mates. Of the Agrostis Dr. Hooker enume
rates seven species ; of Phleum three ; of
Aira, seven ; of Poa nine ; of Festuca, six.
Besides these, there are various species of
Arundo, Triticum, Plantago, Juncus, Rumex,
Lathyrus, Vicia, Trifolium, and a great many
others. Many of the fuci or sea-weeds are
eagerly devoured by such of the horses and
cattle as are near the coast in the winter
season, when other food fails them, which is
often the case. Many of the mosses and
lichens are also eaten by the sheep and cattle,
and that beautiful lichen, the Rangiferinns,
is not the favourite of the rein-deer only, but
sought after by the domesticated animals.
The rein-deer are not included among such
in Iceland ; but many thousands are said to
run wild in the interior and uninhabited parts
of the island, having been first introduced in
the year 1770 from Norway with the intention
of making them useful*; they might, indeed,
by domestication, become most valuable : th^r
skins, when dressed, are beautiful ; at present
* Von Troll's Letters.

302 STATISTICS. [Chap. IX,
they are entirely useless to the natives. I could
not learn that any attempts had been made to
domesticate them, or that they consider them
worth the cost of the powder and ball to shoot
them ; besides which, in their wild state, they
are difficult to approach, and fly to the moun
tains on the sight of man.
In addition to the application of the pro
ducts of the soil above enumerated as articles
of food, whether for man or beast. Von Troil
mentions three plants vvhich the natives con
vert into bread : these are the flour made of
the Fial-gras, or rock grass (the lichen Is
landicus) ; of the Kornsyra, (Polygonum bis-
torta) ; and of the Melar (Arundo arenaria) ;
and these plants are said to afford no mean
substitute for the sour rye biscuits imported
from Copenhagen, and the sour doughy bread
made from rye flour. Crow-berries (Empetrum
nigrum), and juniper berries (Juniperus com
munis), they frequently mix with curds or
new milk.
The Icelanders would seem to have a taste
for sour food. Their butter even (except what
is brought fresh to Reikiavik) is generally used
sour, which they call surt smoer. It is hard
pressed down into casks, when it will keep for
years, and is supposed to be the better for
age. They keep also sour whey (called syra)
in casks, where it ferments, and is left for

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 303
months, improving, like their butter, with ao-e.
The skyr, which is the curd after the whey
has been pressed out, is also preserved for
future use. Their cheese is mostly, if not
wholly, made from sheep's milk, and is so
bad, that none of our party could venture to
eat it.
The fuci, of which there are not fewer than
forty species, and with which the coasts
abound, are in much use both by the people
and the cattle. The Fucus palmatus, the
Dulce of the Scotch, and the Sol of the Ice
landers, is perhaps the most frequently pre
pared and eaten of any other of the genus ;
but it is not eaten fresh as the Scotch use it,
and but seldom raw, and then after it has been
dried in the sun. The Fucus saccharinus,
the Laver of the Welsh, and the Sloke of the
Irish, supplies them with one of their best
vegetables; and it is somewhat remarkable
that, as the Irish eat it with sour milk, the
Icelanders make use of it with their syra, or
sour whey.
33. Q. How are medicines provided — what are
they? A. In Reikiavik by the privileged apothecaiV,
and in other places by the district surgeons, who
also have the privileges of apothecaries in districts
where no apothecaries' shops are found. Those

304 STATISTICS. [Chap. IX.
medicines which are generally used in Denmark
are also in general use here.
34. Q. Are spirits much used — ^their effect ?
A. Of late years brandy has been much
cheaper than formerly, and consequently the sale
has considerably increased, so that about 1000
barrels have been imported, which makes some-
thing more than two bottles per annum for each
individual. The effects of the increased consump
tion of brandy can be attended with no salutary
results, which however, be they good or bad, will
not be apparent to their whole extent till after the
lapse of some years.
35. Q, Are epidemics frequent ?
A. Epidemics are not very frequent.
36. Q. The state of crime, of punishment, of
morals, of education in Iceland ?
A. Crimea are rare; small thefts, especially
of sheep, are the most frequent; but the high
tribunal of the country has seldom to decide mofi
than six or eight cases per annum, private as well
as public. The whip is the only punishment
applied in this country, excepting fines. Those
who are punished with hard labour are sent to
Copenhagen. Education is altogether domestic;
every head of a family teaches his children gene
rally to read and write, and the precepts of religion
according to the religious books prescribed by law.
Obs. — The gentle and peaceable disposition of

Chap. IX.] STATISTICS. 305
the natives, their moral and religious educa
tion and sober habits, act as preventives of
crimes of a flagrant kind, so that capital
punishment, which is confined to murder, has
not occurred for many years. The last in
stance of one condemned to die was of a
peasant for the murder of his wife, when no
one in the island could be prevailed on to
perform the office of executioner, and it was
necessary to send the criminal over to Norway
to undergo the sentence of the law. No Ice
lander, unless for the accusation of a crime
that would, if proved, incur capital punish
ment or imprisonment for life, can be kept in
confinement before the time of his trial —
indeed, so infrequent are crimes of any kind,
that the Governor told us the courts of law
at Reikiavik had little or nothing to do.
37. Q. Custom-house returns for a series of years,
— the quantity of grain imported, — the sta
tistics of the fisheries for a series of years ?
06s. — No return made to this question.

£06

CHAPTER X.
LEAVE-TAKING.
Eeturn of the Prince of Denmark to Eeikiavik — his personal
Appearance and Character — his Suite— Collection of Minerals
— ^Mountain of Obsidian — ^The Prince's Visit to the Yacht —
Dinner given by the Governor — Popularity of the Prince —
Take leave of Him and the Governor — ^Passage home — Arrival
in London.
On entering the harbour of Reikiavik, when return
ing from our unsuccessful voyage to Stappen, we
observed a number of flags flying in the town, and
also on board the few Danish merchant vessels
which were riding at anchor in the bay. This
display of colours, as we were soon given to under
stand, was in compliment to the return of the
Prince of Denmark from the extensive tour he had
been making in the north-eastern part of the
island. As a matter of common courtesy, we
thought it right to join in the compliment, by
hoisting English colours, not having any Danish
on board. It was too late to go on shore that
evening, but on the following morning, which was
Sunday, vve called upon Mr. Knudtzon to ask him
to introduce us to his Royal Highness, who, while

Chap. X.] LEAVE-TAKING. 30/
we were conversing in his room, made his appear
ance without ceremony, when we had each the
honour of being presented to the Prince. He
expressed the pleasure he felt on meeting with so
many English gentlemen on this remote island,
was extremely sociable, and remained for nearly a
couple of hours in conversation with us.
The Prince is a young man, as I should think
about twenty-six years of age, of easy and affable
manners, a suavity of address, an inquisitive turn,
calculated to invite rather than repel familiar con
versation. Free from any appearance of hauteur
or reserve himself, he soon puts others at their ease
in his presence. His figure is of the middle size,
and in good proportion ; his countenance not such
as would generally be called handsome, but agree
able, and marked with intelligence; and if he
should, unfortunately for himself, not be consi
dered, which I sincerely hope he may be, as —
" The expectancy and rose of the fair state,"
and if he be not precisely such a copy of that
Prince of Denmark whose portrait our immortal
bard has drawn, and whom we have been in the
habit of admiring as —
" The glass of fashion, and the mould of form,
The observed of all observers," , *
he was yet vvhat, in common parlance, we should
call a fine young man. It was not froni a single
inteiview that I formed my idea of the character

308 LEAVE-TAKING.

[Chap, X,

of this prince. We saw a great deal of him in the
short stay we made on the island, and found him
always, and on all occasions, the same: always
civil, agreeable in conversation, and studious to
oblige. His suite consisted of two lieutenants of
the navy, as aides-de-camp ; their names Irminger
and Pencillius, two remarkably fine young oflicers,
both of whom spoke English, the former perfectly ;
a physician, and a painter of the name of Klose, a
German. On my introduction to the Prince, he immedi
ately said that we were old acquaintances ; and on
my expressing some doubt, he said. Yes, at Geneva;
he repeated the same thing at a future interview.
It was not for me to contradict him, though I
could not call to my recollection having faUen iu
with him there, or anywhere else, although I cer
tainly was at Geneva at the time he mentioned.
He told us that, whUe in the north of the island,
they had been very fortunate in the weather,
which was constantly fine and pleasant; but as they
approached the south, it became bad, with fre
quent rain, of which little or none had faUen in
the northern districts.
On the same evening the Governor invited us to
meet his royal guest, who was exceedingly com
municative, and dwelt largely on the pleasure he
had received in his northern tour. His painter
had made a number of sketches and water-colour
drawings, and his attendants had collected a

Chap. X.] LEAVE-TAKING. 309
number of mineralogical specimens, among -which
was an immense mass of obsidian, so large, in
deed, that they found it difficult to convey, and
therefore broke it into fragments, leaving the
greater portion behind ; yet what he had brought
was of immense size, and being much admired by
us for its clear, glassy, dark colour — indeed, per
fectly black, which is rarely met with in large
masses, — he offered it as a present to Mr. Smith,
observing to him that, whenever he married, he
desired he would make from it a set of ornaments
for his wife, and tell her the Prince had given it to
him as a memorial of friendship *.
He had not made any collection of minerals
* To remove all doubt as to the volcanic origin of obsidian,
about which at one time there was so much doubt and discussion.
Dr. Holland proceeded to fhe north-east of fhe island, fo a place
called Reikiadalr, to examine it in situ. He found a guide who
could conduct him to fhe spot where it was thus f o be seen : — " A
valley," he says, " nearly circular in form, and about a mile in
diameter, exhibited at its upper extremity a. vast bed of what
appeared at a distance to be the same rough lava which had so
firequently before occurred to our observation. Approaching the
spot, we were surprised and gratified to find that this mass of rock
was entirely composed of obsidian and pumice, the former of
these minerals giving a brilliant glassy lustre fo that face of the
bed which is opposed to the valley beneath. The front of the
rock on this side has an elevation nearly perpendicular of about
thirty feet (a)," Of the volcanic formation of this bed, extending
in one direction more than a mile, Dr. Holland could not entertain
a doubt. No clear glassy, black specimens could be procured ;
the greater part of the mass appeared fo be in a state of transition
into pumice. (a) Dr. Holland's MS. Journal.

310 LEAVE-TAKING. [Chap. X,
himself, but a small vessel of Mr. Knudtzon had
just at this time arrived, which he had sent to the
northward expressly to collect some for the Mu
seum of Copenhagen, Of these he allowed me to
take whatever I pleased. They consisted mostly of
such as are common in the island — zeolites of all
kinds, radiated and foliated ; several beautiful spe
cimens of chalcedonies ; chalcedonic nodules filled
with quartz crystals, large masses of grouped
quartz crystals, and specimens of siliceous sand
stone, of fine granulated quartz of the whiteness
and texture of refined sugar ; various specimens of
compact and porous lava and pumice-stone ; spe
cimens of rhomboidal crystals of double-refracting
calcareous spar, which I believe is peculiar to
Iceland, and which possesses the remarkable pro
perty that, if broken into the smallest fragments,
each fragment will be a perfect rhomboidal double-
refracting crystal. He had also in his collection
specimens of that singular mineralized wood, the
surturbrand. The Prince was invited to breakfast with us on
the following morning in the " Flower of Yarrow,"
and readily gratified us by accepting the invitation.
At eleven o'clock Mr. Smith went on shore to bring
him off in the cutter, in order that he might pay his
Royal Highness the re.spect of steering the boat
himself. The yacht was dressed out in all her co
lours for the occasion, and as she is one of the Royal
Yacht Club, she was well provided with flags.

Chap,X.] LEAVE-TAKING. 311
The flag of Denmark, which we had procured
from one of the vessels in the bay, was hoisted
on the fore-topmast-head. We soon observed the
cutter push off from the jetty ; and notwithstanding
the large party which was in her, the boat's crew
forced her through the water at a speed rarely
exceeded by the finest crew that ever pulled in a
man-of-war's gig.
The Prince was accompanied by his Excellency
the Governor, the two aides-de-camp, and Mr.
Klose, the German artist, Mr. Knudtzon, and one or
two of the principal residents of Reikiavik, who were
also invited to meet him. The Prince was dressed
in a neat general's uniform of green, and he wore
a star upon his breast. His aides-de-camp were
also in uniform. The party remained some little time
on deck ; and after inspecting the run of the vessel
(if I may be allowed to use the expression), and
admiring her deck, which was remarkable for its
space when free from the boats, they went below
into the large cabin, where a handsome breakfast
was provided. The Prince expressed himself
greatly pleased with the internal fittings of the
yacht, and was surprised at the extent of the
accommodations, more particularly at the dimen
sions of the principal cabin, which he remarked
was not only higher (being a little above six feet),'
but in every respect superior to that of one of their
frigates. Mr. Smith having proposed his Royal Highness's

312 LEAVE-TAKING, [Chap, X.
health, he immediately followed up the toast with
" The Flower of Yarrow, and the Gentlemen on
board," and he subsequently drank each of our
healths separately, addressing us severally by
name. After breakfast, cigars were handed round,
and those who preferred it smoked pipes, of which
Mr. Smith had a choice collection.
About three o'clock the party broke up, and the
Prince, on taking his leave, complimented us in the
most gracious manner, and again expressed a hope
that we should some day meet in Denmark, where
his house would always be open to us.
On showing my sketch-book to him, at the
request of some of the party present, he told me
that we must all go and look at Mr. Klose's draw
ings, which were taken during their travels on the
island, and which he thought would interest us.
This gentleman having kindly promised to allow
us to see them, we went on shore the following
morning to his house, or rather to the apartments
which he occupied, at the hour appointed.
We were not disappointed in inspecting his
performances : the sketches were full of taste and
freedom, and he had made one of the best repre
sentations of the Geyser of any I have yet seen.
We found the Prince at Mr. Klose's, and after
having carefully looked over the drawings, we
accompanied him to the Library, where we passed
away two or three hours, in examining some curious
old books. In the morning, previous to our going

Chap. X.J

LE.WE-T .IKING. 313

on shore, we received a letter from the Governor,
conveying the Prince's invitation to dine with him
at four o'clock on that day. We accordingly went,
and met the bishop and a few other of the prin
cipal people of Reikiavik. Although quite unable
to enter into any conversation with the bishop in
his own language, yet I felt great pleasure in the
mutual endeavour to instruct each other in the
names of different objects, as used by the two na
tions, many of which come very near to each other
in the two languages, — sometimes identically the
same, only perhaps pronounced a little differently ;
— and whenever this happened to be the case, it
seemed to amuse the good bishop exceedingly.
This worthy man appeared to me one of the
mildest and most amiable gentlemen I have had
the good fortune to fall in with, and this is the
character he bears on the island. He is a native,
and has risen to his present situation entirely by
his own merit, having, I believe, been one of the
scholars at Skalholt, and afterwards lector at
Bessestad. . The Governor sat at the end of the table, and
the Prince took his seat next to him on his right
hand. The dinner was remarkably well served
up, and there was a display of vegetables, poor
enough it must be admitted, but such as is seldom
met with at a dinner-table in Reikiavik, and they
were all the produce of the Governor's garden.
The Prince conversed much during dinner ; and

314 LEAVE-TAKING.

[Chap. X.

the Governor was, as usual, full of his jokes and
good humour. No one felt under any restraint,
and we passed a most agreeable evening. After
dinner we all walked up to the Scholar's Monu
ment on the hill, and enjoyed a fine view of the
grand panorama of mountains that skirt the Bay
of Faxe.
Having taken our leave ofthe Prince, who again
repeated to each of us his hope that we should
come and see him in Denmark, and re-assured
us of the kind attention he would pay to us ; and
having taken a parting farewell of the Governor
and his guests, we went on board the yacht to
sleep, with the intention of getting under weigh for
England at break of day.
I ought to state that the whole conduct of the
Prince gave great satisfaction to the resident mer
chants and the settled inhabitants of Reikiavik:
he never once complained of his banishment, nor,
of course, did any one presume to hint at a wish
to know the cause of it ; but he once observed
to his countrymen, that he supposed he owed his
visit to Iceland to his having spoken his mind too
freely at Court. The inhabitants, previous to his
northern tour, had given him a public ball, at
which he made himself very agreeable, and danced
a great deal, particularly with the belle of
Reikiavik, the shoemaker's daughter, who was-
reckoned a great beauty, and to whom he was very
attentive.

Chap. X.] LEAVE-TAKING. 315
It is to be hoped that this visit of the Prince will
have the good effect of being attended with benefit
to those who, in all probability, will become his
future subjects — indeed I am confident he will nei
ther forget nor neglect them. A small addition to
the public expenditure of Denmark might be made
an important boon to these poor people, and above
all to the clergy, whose lamentable condition he
must have witnessed on his travels. An addition
of ten pounds a-year to each of their miserable
stipends, vvhich would not entail an increase of
three thousand pounds — nay, even half that sum
— would bring down the blessings of the whole
community on his head. It would not appear that
he is much out of favour at home, for I perceive,
by the papers, that he has returned, and is ap
pointed to the command ofthe fortress and town of
Fredericia, on the eastern coast of Jutland, oppo
site to Zealand.
And now I must bid adieu to Iceland, in all pro
bability — though I hope not — for ever. I must not,
however, take leave of Reikiavik, without recording
the expression of my warmest thanks for the kindness
we received from. the Danish gentlemen with whom
we had the pleasure to become acquainted. The
marked attention and civility which we experienced
from one and all were truly gratifying. ; and I may
safely say that, during all my rambles, which have
been somewhat excursive, I never met with a more
friendly and hearty welcome than at Reikiavik.
p 2

316

LEAVE-TAKING.

[Chap. X.

To my friend Mr. Krieger I felt inyself more
obliged than I can express for the very flattering
reception I received on the renevv'al of our acquaint
ance after a lapse of a few years ; and I have
strong reasons for believing that he was equally
gratified at the unexpected visit of one whom, in
all probability, he had forgotten. . As a proof of
his desire that the recollection of it should not
altogether escape my memory, he begged my
acceptance of his Icelandic snuff-box, regretting
that he had nothing about him that might be
deemed more worthy of my acceptance ; to me it
will ever serve as a memorial of as worthy a man
as I believe exists.

Icelandic Ivory Snu^-t}0r.

These snuff-boxes are in common use among the
gentry; they resemble somewhat the mull or
sneexing-hdrn of the Scotch, but are made of ivory,
mostly of the morse or seahorse teeth, and are
neatly mounted in silver.

Chap.X.] LEAVE-TAKING. 317
There is another person, to whose unwearied
and unceasing kindness I can never repay the
debt of gratitude I owe him — Mr. Knudtzon, the
worthy cousin of our worthy companion Broder
Knudtzon — a name indeed which I believe I may
with safety say is a sufficient passport through all
Europe. We set sail on the morning of the 20th of
August, and with a light breeze reached the Meal-,
Sack late in the evening. At night the wind
freshened, and we were well clear of the land before
morning, when we encountered some very heavy
squalls from all points of the compass, accompa
nied vvith showers of hail. At mid-day the weather
improved considerably, and we got a steady breeze
on the beam, which carried us through the water
at the rate of nine knots an hour. The night was
clear, and we enjoyed a fine sight of the Aurora
Borealis, which in this high northern latitude is
seen -to greater perfection than we southerns have.
an opportunityof seeing it, more especially in the
smoky atmosphere of London. During the 22nd
we were terribly rolled about in a very heavy sea,
without a breath of wind^one of the most un
pleasant situations imaginable to a landsman, or, I
believe, to a seaman either.
The calm continued till midnight, when we were
lucky enough to get a strong and steady wind on
the beam, which enabled us to continue running
upwards of ten knots day and night, under close-

318 LEAVE-TAKING. [-Chap. X.
reefed mainsail, double-reefed foresail and reefed
stay-sail, and which continued till we got sight
of Barra Head, on the morning of the 25th, just
five days from our departure, thirty hours of
which we were becalmed. To the credit of our
mate, and the accuracy of his chronometer, the
yacht was steered for this Head, and the land-fall
was made within a few miles of what the chrono
meter gave. Passing Barra Head in the evening,
we made the Island of Isla, and soon found our
selves more quiet under shelter of the land. In
running so fast through thewater, we shipped seve
ral seas, as may be imagined, and the salt vvater
often poured copiously through the skylight, and
down the companion into the cabin.
We ran past Isla, and having stood on till we
thought we were clear of some rocks which lie off
the southern coast, we rounded the island, and
laid to during the night. The intermitting light
on the Island of Orensa, situated at the south
west point of Isla, shone beautifully bright amidst
the darkness which prevailed, and the light on the
Mull of Cantyre vvas not less brilliant, both being
visible at the same time.
On the following morning at day-break we again
got under sail, and enjoyed a fine view of the
Hebrides as we sailed through the channel to the
entrance of Ardfarrick, called in the charts Ard-
patrick. We could get no pilot to take us in, but
the weather being remarkably fine, and the channel

Chap.X.] LEAVE-TAKING. 319
completely sheltered at the back of a small island
called Ghia, we sounded our way through, the
bottom being distinctly visible, until we opened out
and entered a fine expanse of water, as smooth as a
mirror, and anchored immediately opposite to the
house of Captain Colin Campbell, a connexion by
marriage of Mr. Smith.
Thus ended my voyage in the " Flower of
Yarrow," to which I shall ever look back with the
greatest pleasure, and with a deep sense of gratitude
to my friend Mr. Smith, through whose kindness I
have been enabled to visit an island of deep in
terest, and one not easily accessible, where the
grand agencies of Nature employed in creating,
changing, and destroying the earth's surface, are
carried on to a greater extent probably than in
most other parts of the globe. I feel that to this
steady friend I cannot hope even to pay the debt I
owe for the marked attention I uniformly received
at his hands, from the moment I put my foot on
board his yacht to the hour of my leaving her.
We all went on shore to dinner at Captain
Campbell's, and having passed a very agree
able evening, being anxious to get to London, I
took leave of my fellow-travellers, and started on
horseback to East Tarbut, a distance of eleven
miles. Being a stranger to the road, quite alone,
the night dark, and the country apparently very
bleak, my ride was almost as dreary asl had found
it on my journey to the Laplanders,

320 LEAVE-TAKING. [Chap. X.
After all the tossing and tumbling about which
I had recently undergone, I slept very soundly at
M'Calman's Inn, and proceeded by the steam-boat
the next morning through the Kyles of Bute up the
Clyde to Glasgow, from whence I made the best of
my way, by the mail, to London, where I arrived
on the evening of the 30th August, considerably
benefited in health, and highly delighted with all
I had seen, without one regret, except that of not
having the opportunity of seeing more.

LONDON:
Wiu.MM Cl.ow«s, Duko rtreet, Lambeth.

5571

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