desolate appearance that surrounded me. The Etatsroed of Iceland, who was present at the famous eruption of Skaptar-Jökul *, informs me that the torrents of lava, which he had there an opportunity of observing running with a smooth and even surface whilst in a heated and liquid state, in the act of cooling split and broke into innumerable pieces, many of which, of a monstrous size, were, by the expansive force of the air beneath, heaved from their bed, and remained by the side of the chasm which they once filled up. From a similar cause, the whole of this prodigious mass is composed of an infinite number of fragments of melted rock, of various sizes, some twenty and thirty feet high, and of the strangest figures; scattered about an extent of twenty-five miles in length, and of from two and three to ten miles in width, in the

* It ought to have been noticed at p. 6, in speaking of the Icelandic mode of pronouncing the word Jökul, that a term very similar is, both as to spelling and pronunciation, applied to mountains of the same kind in Switzerland, where, according to Wagner, they are called Eis-jöcher, and that this word Jöcher, in Adelung's opinion, is most probably derived from the Latin Jugum ".

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wildest disorder possible. In appearance, a great part of this lava very much resembles the burnt cinders, or coke, which have been used in drying malt, and is nearly of the same color. The larger masses are generally quite bare of vegetation, but, where the smaller pieces form a tolerably level surface, Trichostomum canescens grows in great abundance, and reaches to the length of a foot, or a foot and a half, but is always barren. This, in dry weather, from the numerous colorless hair-like points on the leaves, has almost as white an appearance as snow. Among it I met with the Geranium sylvaticum, Bartsia alpina, and a few alpine Salices, but none in flower. Fragaria vesca and Rubus saxatilis were coming into blossom. Encalypta alpina, which is so rare in our own country, was not uncommon on the lava.

July 1.

Saturday, A fine range of mountains to the southward of Reikevig, called the Helgafel mountains, had hitherto been so completely covered with snow, that I knew it was in vain to attempt visiting them. As the snow was now, however, in a measure melted away, and as they did not appear to be at a

greater distance than twelve or fourteen miles, I resolved, if possible, to climb some part of them to-day, and accordingly set off on foot, and without a guide, early in the morning for that purpose. But, after going in as direct a line towards the nearest point of them, by the compass, as the nature of the country would permit, at six o'clock in the evening, I found myself, apparently, as far from the object of my walk as when I first set out. This delusion, I apprehended, was owing to the extensive valley that I entered yesterday, through which the lava had made its course, which was concealed by intervening hills from the view of a person looking towards it from the neighborhood of Reikevig. Except for the first three or four miles, the rest of my walk was entirely over the Hraun; and a more toilsome excursion can hardly be conceived: it seemed to be rendered doubly so, by my being obliged to return without reaching the mountains. The immense quantity of Trichostomum, which covered a great part of the lava, and filled up the interstices of it, only rendered walking among it more difficult; for it was impossible to see where it concealed a deep hole or a piece of lava,

which would give way under my feet; and consequently, I was frequently precipitated upon the sharp edges of the rock. The worst of all was, that I could not well have chosen a more barren spot for plants, in so long a ramble; though I met with one species that delighted me much, and made me for a time forget the fatigue: this was Andromeda hypnoides *, which I found just in flower, on the north side of a huge mass of lava, and only there. Rhodiola rosea was tolerably plentiful on the Hraun, but scarcely in flower. I also met with Lycopodium annotinum and Conostomum boreale. In boggy grounds, before I arrived at the Hraun, I found Orchis hyperborea, the scent of which is very pleasant,

* Besides the beauty of the color of the flowers of this plant, which particularly attracted the attention of Linnæus, during the course of his travels in Lapland, and induced him to say, that, "florens mirum in modum jucundissimo florum suorum colore spectatorem allicit," it struck me no less forcibly by the singular elegance of its form and general appearance. The delicate tint of the flowers was here finely contrasted with the uniform blackness of the lava. Its barren shoots, as is observed by Linnæus, exactly resemble those of a moss, or of a small Lycopodium.

and Eriophorum alpinum. On my return, I remarked on the opposite side of a large lake, a small conical hill, of a red color, looking almost as if it were then in a state of fusion. It appeared to me, that, to arrive at this, I had only to go round the east end of the lake, instead of the west, and that, by so doing, I could come into my old track again; but, after walking a great deal out of my way to reach the east end, I met with a deep and rapid torrent, which emptied itself into the lake, and, to my great disappointment, impeded my farther progress. To recompence me, I found growing in this torrent a plant, which I recollected having seen in Mr. Turner's collection, under the name of Rivularia cylindrica of Wahlenberg, who gathered it in Lapland, but has not, I believe, yet published it: it grew here seven or eight inches long, and was attached by a small expanded disk to the rocks at the bottom of the stream. Although now not more than half a mile from this little red hill, I was compelled to turn back, and, after getting round the west side of the lake, I hastened to my home, which I reached at twelve o'clock.