quite unequalled in Europe: it amply repays the toil of a journey to it in its fastnesses; and I am sure that any future visitor will be of opinion that I have underrated its wonders.

Our ride back was very monotonous; we traced the Jökulsá up, till we came in a line with the Sulphur range, and then rode straight for it, passing low craters in the desert, the bowls, more or less complete, composed of sand and cinder; and cracks in the ground formed by earthquakes, over which the horses stepped cautiously.

We were delayed a short while by my guide catching a sheep and ripping off its wool-in Iceland, shears are never used; this he tied into a bundle, and inserted between himself and his saddle.

The country brightens up a little on nearing the lava flood from Krafla and Leirhnukr, and we passed a sel, or cot for summer pasture, belonging to the Reykjahlith farmer.

Some juniper bushes, a little whortle, and some scanty grass, grew about it, and plenty of moss coated the steep sides of a stream, which had furrowed itself a way through the sandy soil.

A thin fog came on as we sighted the lava torrent, and it was curious to notice what shapes the blocks assumed through the film of mist: it seemed to me as I rode along the brow of a low hill above the flood, thoroughly exhausted with my day's toil, that I was looking down on a Devonshire landscape, from the top of a Dartmoor Tor. I seemed to distinguish rolling wooded hills, towns and churches; but, as I approached, hills and buildings became contorted, and appeared to rear themselves up in new forms, monstrous and fearful, such as perchance Schiller's diver might have seen at the bottom of Charybdis, when he says,

"The purple darkness of the deep
Lay under my feet like a precipice;
And though the ear must in deafness sleep,
The eye could look down the sheer abyss,

And see how the depths of those waters dark

Are alive with the dragon, the snake, and the shark.

There, there, they clustered in grisly swarms,
Curled up into many a hideous ball;

The sepia stretching its horrible arms,

And the shapeless hammer, I saw them all;

And the loathsome dog-fish, with threatening teeth,
Hyæna so fierce of the seas beneath."

After a ride of fourteen hours and a half, we drew rein at the door of Reykjahlith, cold, hungry, and tired.

220

CHAPTER XIII.

A SNOW PASS.

I hold a Levee-My Plans upset-The Church of Thverá-Taking French Leave Swimming across a River-MSS. Sagas-Jón's bills-Runaway Ponies-Rocky Spires-Perverseness of Grímr A Mountain Sel-A fearful Pass-Snowbridge-A desperate Scramble-Stone Bog-Midnight on the Snow-A crumbling Snowbridge-Arrival at Hólar-An alarming Proposal.

I WAS awakened on the following morning by the entrance of a young man with some goose-eggs for sale. He was not long solitary, for his father pushed in after him, to see that his son was fairly remunerated, and his younger brothers followed, that they might have a look at the Enskrmathr (Englishman) who was going to buy goose-eggs. Grímr crawled out of bed to inspect the articles, my host came in to argue about them, followed by his better half and the red-haired servant-girl, both filled with feminine inquisitiveness, the latter pursued by her admirer, and the admirer in turn followed by his brothers. Then my host's little snub-nosed daughters, who were carrying on a flirtation with the brothers of the maid's admirer, poked their snub-noses in at the door, and presently, becoming emboldened, entered the room, with four dogs which they had been feeding. Finally, some folk from Möthrudalr, who had arrived on the preceding day with a train of horses, finding that my room was the general rendezvous, edged themselves in as well. As every one had something of his own to say on the subject of the eggs, and was perfectly indifferent to the opinion of the others, the room became a perfect Babel.

My comb and brush were in the window, and, as I knew that these would be tried upon the different heads in rotation, if once any of the throng caught sight of them, I had to stifle all my sense of propriety, jump out of bed, dash through the crowd, and capture my goods. I went through my dressing operations without drawing attention from the eggs, which were still the engrossing topic of conversation.

Later in the morning, the men from Möthrudalr gave me information which completely upset my plans. That these plans may be understood, I must enter into some geographical details, which I hope will not exhaust the patience of the reader.

The south-east of Iceland is occupied by a vast heap of mountains, shrouded in eternal snows, which discharge themselves by glaciers into the sea, on the south. The extreme length of the mass is 115 miles, the width 60 miles. This huge district of volcano and snow is named Vatna, or Klofa Jökull, but the points in its fringe, some of which are of considerable height, go by separate names; of these the most important are, Hofs, Heinabergs, Breithamerks, Orofa, Skeithar and Skaptár-Jökulls. Some of these have been the foci of most appalling eruptions.

The northern fringe is hardly known, as it meets the Odatha Hraun, or "lava of evil deed," extending, as may be seen on reference to the map, from the Jökulsá in the east to the Skjalfanda-fljót in the west, and northwards as far as Myvatn. Out of this fearful tract rise mountains, standing up almost like islands above a wild black sea; they can be seen, though not reached, and these have caused the devastation of this enormous district. Their names are Herthubreith, and the two Trölladyngjas.

To the west of this lava district lie the sand-deserts of Sprengi and Stori-sandur, quite destitute of vegetation. To the east, again, beyond the Jökulsá river, are dreary wastes, relieved only at long intervals by grass patches.

The northern scarp of Vatna Jökull has once been skirted by some Danes, but in the attempt they lost a number of their horses, through cold and starvation.

My object in coming so far east was mainly to explore this tract, to ascend the higher points of the northern edge of the Vatna Jökull, and endeavour to get a glimpse of the unknown fastnesses of ice and fire beyond.

My plan was to push up the Jökulsá to its source near Kverk-fjall, then, if I found grass, to remain there a day and rest the horses, to allow for the ascent of the mountain. After this I intended crossing the spurs of the glacier to the other source of the Jökulsá under Kistufell and Trölladyngja, where I hoped to find grass again. If, however, there were none sprouting, I should be obliged to give up all prospect of advancing farther; but if I found sufficient for the support of my ponies, I intended making an effort to reach Eyvindarkofaver, a small patch of grass land between Hofs Jökull and Tungnafells Jökull, where I should rest a day to recruit the horses before proceeding south. This would make it a matter of eight or nine days from Möthrudalr to the first inhabited spot.

The news which the men from Mothrudalr brought spoiled my plan completely. They said that on account of the coldness of the spring the grass had hardly begun to sprout anywhere along the Jökulsá vale, and that it was quite out of the question expecting to find the least herbage under the roots of the Vatna. Upon this, the farmer of Reykjahlith chimed in with his story of the eruption of Skapta, which volcano, being close to Eyvindarkofaver would effectually destroy the grass there; adding, that he expected that something of the kind must have happened, as no caravans had crossed the Sprengisandur this summer from the south. As Eyvindarkofaver is the last spot of grass which is met with in a journey north over the Sprengi-sandur till Isholl is reached, which is distant twenty-two hours' hard riding, it was evident that caravans coming north, if they found no herbage at Eyvindarkofaver, would turn back without venturing on the desert. Thus, the non-arrival of the caravans showed that something was wrong at the other extremity of the sand desert.

It was a bitter disappointment for me to have to postpone