for some distance from Reikevig, a sort of beaten way, along which we went with greater ease than I had expected. Before we arrived at the doors of the first house we met with, the inhabitants came out to offer us sour whey and milk, in large wooden bowls, carved with no other instrument than a knife from birch-wood, and covered with a lid, on which, and sometimes on the two ears, are cut leaves and other ornaments. They hold about a pint and a half, and are used by all the natives to carry their butter, when they go upon a journey, as well as to drink their whey and milk out of, when at home. These good people were examining, with great attention, a pistol, which Jacob had slung at his girdle, and which they were very anxious to know the use of; but this it was not so easy to explain to them, nor would it have been prudent in our present situation, when we might be called upon to make use of it in our own defence, against these very persons, whose ignorance was our surest protection. From this place, which I understood was named Kirkat, and which lay due east from Reikevig, we took nearly a northerly course, in our way to the head of

Thingevalle-vatn, or the Lake of Thingevalle. The weather was so rainy and thick, that we scarcely saw any thing of the country, till we arrived at the base of the mountain, Skoul-a-fiel, whose three lofty and cone-shaped summits are plainly seen from Reikevig, and by far exceed in height any of the neighboring hills. At the foot of this mountain, a deep and narrow chasm caught our attention, which seemed as if it had been formed by some violent convulsion of nature, and continued for some way by the side of our road. Near it, I also remarked the perpendicular side of a hill, composed of basaltic columns, jointed here and there, like those in Staffa, but not more than eight on ten inches in diameter, and less regularly columnar. From this place, till we got to the banks of the Lake of Thingevalle, nothing interesting occurred. The country, through which we passed, consisted either of a dreary moor, over which large masses of rock were every where scattered, or of a disagreeable morass, into which our horses not unfrequently sunk up to their bellies. In one of these morasses, I passed a woman, driving a horse, loaded with

the trunk of a tree, which had been dug up close by: it was so large as to appear nearly as great a burthen as the beast could well walk under, and was, probably, five or six feet long, and nearly a foot in diameter. I do not recollect meeting with any remarkable plants, different from those I had before seen about Reikevig, except an Orchis, with a singularly inflated and semi-transparent nectarium, of which I could find no description in the Flora Scandinavia. Several sorts of dwarf willows were common, as well as Bartsia alpina, Geranium sylvaticum, and Conostomum boreale. When we reached about half way of our day's journey, we stopped half an hour to bait our horses, and arrived at Heiderbag, where we proposed to remain the night, between ten and eleven o'clock. The priest Egclosen, at whose house I called to deliver a letter from the Stiftsamptman, rose from bed, and assisted us to fix our tents, and unload the horses; but the heavy rain had wetted almost every thing, so that we passed but an uncomfortable night, lying in our damp clothes, and on the moist and swampy ground, where our tents were pitched.

Sunday,

Early this morning, the priest

July 9. came to invite us to breakfast at his house, which I readily agreed to, taking with me tea, coffee, and other provisions; a precaution absolutely necessary, for his house would afford nothing but milk, skiur, butter, and fish. I was even obliged to send back to my tent for a kettle to boil the coffee in. The only part of the house to which we were admitted was that in which the fish, tallow, wool, milk, &c., were kept; for this, being the best part of an Icelandic building, is used for the reception of strangers. It had walls of alternate layers of turf and stone, without either cement to unite them, or plaister to conceal their nakedness, and the floor was the bare earth. One chair was all our host could furnish, and, indeed, there would not have been room for more, so completely was the place lumbered up with old chests, old clothes, &c. What little provision there was in the house was most willingly offered, and it was with difficulty I could prevent him from killing a lamb, to entertain us better. This man had been secretary to the Stiftsamptman, who had procured for him the curacy of Thingevalle

(there being no church at Heiderbag), which would be the means of his ultimately obtaining a more lucrative situation. At present, his income is extremely narrow, being only six rix-dollars a quarter (twenty-four shillings) from government, but the marriage and burial fees amount to something more; the former ceremony, I think, is performed for two marks: in addition to that, he has a house to live in free of expence, and some glebe, which enables him to keep five cows, and twenty-eight sheep. Three miserable cottages, also, stand upon his glebe, for one of which he receives four dollars, for another three, and for a third two dollars per annum. The chief employment of the female part of his family, besides knitting, is making butter, skiur, and sour whey, which constitute almost their only food. In the winter, if the weather is very severe, the priest is obliged to kill some of his cows and sheep, for want of a sufficient quantity of hay, and in such cases, only, can they afford to live upon flesh. After breakfast the priest visited his nets in the lake, which had been set for the first time for catching a fish, which the Danes call Forelles, and which is allied to