u

lakes lay before the Apan, and the Log arvain A for being full of beter is: be, sol il

Ranunculus glacialis. Under covert of the bushes, crept a little Briar, (Rubus saxatilis), with bunches of white blossoms peeping saucily from under the glossy birch leaves.

We scrambled across the Hrafnagjá, a rift much like the Allmannagjá, only on a somewhat smaller scale, and passed some caves resembling Surts-hellir in conformation, but probably not so extensive. We had neither time nor inclination to explore their recesses.

A low rise of sand and cinder on the right, crowned by a slag chimney, is worth a visit, as this chimney appears to be the vent from which has been ejected the ash and dust which cover the mound. A trembling Alpine Rock-cress (Arabis petræa) was nestled within the lip, vibrating with every blast which rolled over the black gulf. The funnel-shaped throat is about five feet across, and stands up about fifteen feet above the sand; it is vitrified, and streaked red, yellow, and black. If a stone be dropped into the abyss, it is heard to strike before very long, and, judging from the time it takes in falling, I suppose the hole to be about seventy feet deep.

After leaving this ash vent, we rode over cinder till a rapid descent brought us to a sandy plain, beneath the gloomy but picturesque range represented in the opposite plate.

The most distant cone is reddened by volcanic fires, though not to the extent to which the charring of Hlitharfjall and other mountains around Myvatn has been carried.

On surmounting the next rise, we came in sight of a great marshy plain, extending for fifty-five miles to the sea. Two lakes lay before us, the Apavatn, and the Laugarvatn famous for being full of hot-water jets; beyond these, stretched vast morasses, out of which rose puffs of steam, which rolled away before the breeze. Heckla stood up majestically beyond, covered with snow, and flushed with the evening sun; and far away in the horizon, soft as summer clouds, and tinted like the tenderest blush-rose petals, rose the peaks of Tindfjalla and the back of Eyjafjalla, their bases lost in the bloom of evening.

The boggy tract in front of us was blue-veined with some