rate shoes. He eat anything that was put before him without showing any preference for one food over another; and, if his dinner were forgotten, he never asked for any. He seemed to understand simple sentences, but never replied. He was employed in conveying letters as a post-boy, and was most punctual in the discharge of his duties. On one occasion, when the ferry boat was absent, he swam across a large sheet of water between Lierjanes and Santander. Thus he spent nine years at home, and then disappeared.

Some fishermen declared afterwards that they had seen a figure like him playing in the bay of Asturias; but he was never again captured.

The facts of this singular narrative have been collected and critically examined by the great German writer, Ludwig Tieck, in Der Wassermensch, 1835, and it is almost impossible to escape from the conclusion that they are authentic. I have given them here to show the reader that it is quite possible that there may be a foundation of truth to the worldwide fable of the existence of merfolk.

I cannot conclude this digression better than by translating the verses sung by a marmennill, when he was carried back to his favourite element after a brief sojourn on dry land. They are given in the Saga of Half and his knights:

"Cold water to the eyes!

Flesh raw to the teeth!

A shroud to the dead!

Flit me back to the sea!
Henceforward never,

Men in ships sailing!

Draw me to dry land

From the deep of the sea!"

From Skogkottr we could not see the mountains on the farther side of Thingvalla lake, so dense was the cloud of dust and sand which filled the air. The head of Armannsfell was visible only through a film, and Hengill was blotted completely out of the landscape.

We slept the night in our tent, and intended riding to the

Geysir on the following day. Mr. Briggs, the Yankee, and Martin, were accustomed to doze off with their pipes in their mouths; but, to prevent accidents, these were attached to the main pole of the tent by pack thread, so that as the smokers dropped off, the pipe slid from between their lips and hung in the middle of the tent. I heard each pipe click against the pole before I fell asleep. Next morning we were awakened by Gúthmundr stepping over us with a tray of hot coffee and sugar-candy.

354

CHAPTER XXI.

GEYSIR.

Flowers-A Natural Chimney-Extensive Plain-Laugarvatn-An eccentric Bridge-Uthlith-Sleeping in a Church-Position of the Geysir District -Description of the Springs-The Little Geysir-Jack in the BoxBoiling Wells-Strokr-Blue Ponds-Experiments-Great GeysirKeeping Watch-Magnificent Explosion-Mr. Briggs misses seeing it— Theory of the Geysir.

It was not till afternoon that we left Skogkottr for the Geysir, as some of the horses had escaped, and as the luggage had to be sorted, so that what was superfluous might be sent to Reykjavík under the charge of a guide.

The road lies through very picturesque country, better wooded and more grass-grown than any I had seen in the island hitherto.

The brightness of the day, the warmth of the sun, the fragrance of the birch, and the brilliancy of the flowers, made our ride most enjoyable. A change had come over the scene since our last visit to Thingvöllum; the mountains had lost much of their snow, the soil was drier, and the coppice was now radiant with the purple Wood Geranium, whose flowers are of every possible hue, from carmine to plum. My little friend the moss Campion was out of flower, and the Dryas had shed her eight cream white petals, and was busy maturing seed in the warm days of July. The Dandelion thrust its showy head out of grass nooks, the Saxifraga hirculus, like a golden star, sprinkled the shaley slopes; Thrift shook its pink tufts among the lava crevices; the sward was dappled with the rosy tassels of the Alpine Catchfly, and the golden cups of the