of these, the farms of Vik are situated, where the Sysselman Jon Gudmundson and the Surgeon Svend Paulson reside. They are surrounded by high ridges of mountains, which form an excellent defence against the rage of the volcano, except in front, where a noble view of the sea presents itself. At the termination of the mountain on the right, several high rocks appear in the water, which, in foggy weather, resemble a fleet of ships; and, indeed, I actually mistook them for ships at first sight. As the house of the surgeon came first in my way, I sought shelter with him from the heavy rain to which we had been exposed most part of the road. This gentleman is indisputably the first Icelander of the age with respect to natural science, especially those departments of it which more nearly concern his own island. He has travelled through the most of it, for the purpose of examining the numerous interesting phenomena with which it abounds, and has constantly kept a journal of his travels. Were this to be published, it would certainly present the world with a fuller and more accurate account of the natural history of Iceland than any we have yet received. He has also written a topographical description of the Yökuls, and other mountains of the island, which were communicated to a society in Norway; but as that society ceased to exist immediately after, Mr Paulson's essay never appeared. Were he invited to become a member of any of our geologic societies, he would be able to furnish them with much valuable information. One would almost suppose he had fixed his residence at this place, for the express purpose of watching the motions of Kötlugiá, as he has only to repair to the summit of the mountain behind his house, in order to obtain a magnificent view of the whole region. The rain continuing on the 14th, I did not leave Vik till three o'clock in the afternoon, when I proceeded with Mr Paulson into Myrdal, or the Valley of Bogs, from which the whole tract takes its name. As the afternoon was serene, the smoke arising from the numerous cottages, scattered on both sides of the valley, produced a very fine effect. Cros sing the swamps with considerable difficulty, we ascended a bare and stony mountain, the opposite side of which we reached a little before dark, when I prevailed on Mr P. to return, after he had pointed out to me the house of a clergyman where I intended stopping all night. My servant and I now descended into the plain; and after riding about a mile in it we came to Hafursâ, a river otherwise of no great magnitude, but which was now much swelled by the rain. Having forded several inferior branches, we arrived at the main stream, which the servant immediately entered; but he had only proceeded a short way, when his horse was carried off his feet, and once or twice both he and the horse were completely immersed in the flood. The baggage-horses following, they were rolled furiously down by the impetuosity of the current to the distance of ten or twelve yards, so that I gave up all for lost; but, in the kind providence of God, they reached a sand-bank on the opposite side of the stream, and got all safely to the margin. To pursue the tract marked by them I considered presumptuous, notwithstanding their having eventually succeeded in getting over; and riding a little higher up, I attempted to ford the same division of the stream where it broke off from the body of the river; but my horse, as if sensible of the risk his companions had run, would not proceed, and turned just in time to save both himself and me. I then returned, and called to my servant to proceed to the house, which lay close by, and request some of the people to come and shew me the proper fording-place. After an interval of about twenty minutes, I could but just discover a person on horseback endeavouring to come over to me; but, being always forced back again, I was at last told that the river was ofær, or unfordable, and had no resource left but to endeavour, as well as I could in the dark, to reford the branches I had already crossed, and, as there were no houses in the vicinity, to ride back to the side of the mountain, where I resolved to spend the night. As I returned, I descried a light moving in the vicinity of the river; and, my imagination being somewhat disturbed by the gloominess of the scene, I fancied I heard a person screaming, which gave me great uneasiness, as I feared either my servant, or some person belonging to the house, had fallen into the river; but I learned next morning that the light had been exposed by the good people of Hollt, to prevent me from bewildering myself in the dark. Having reached a part of the mountain where there was plenty of good grass, I took the saddle off my horse, and tying what strings I had about me to his bridle, I fixed the other end to the stirrups, in order to give him as extensive a range as possible, and sat down on the saddle, which kept me off the wet ground, and in this situation awaited the return of day. In one sense, I could say with Colma, “It is night. I am alone; forlorn on the hill of storms. The wind is heard in the mountain. The torrent pours down the rock. No hut receives me from the rain; forlorn on the hill of winds." But I could also, with a nobler propriety, adopt the effusions of Thomson: ." "Tis nought to me; Since God is ever present, ever felt, In the void waste, as in the city full; And where he vital breathes, there must be joy." The night was long, and a number of showers fell; but the length of the one was shortened, and the disagreeableness of the other ameliorated by the happy state of my mind, to which a sense of Divine preservation, and an unshaken confidence in God, had given a tone of elevation and joy. The following lines were so completely in unison with my feelings, that I could not refrain from repeating them aloud as I approached the mountain: "Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly; Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on thee; Still support and comfort me. With the shadow of thy wing." About two o'clock, as I felt rather fatigued, I went to some cliffs that were fast by, and, in imitation of the patriarch Jacob, "took of the stones of that place, and put them for my pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep." After day-break, when the shadows of night had vanished, I began to survey the surrounding scenery. To the right, at no great distance, lay the volcanic Yökul; the isolated mountain Pietursey appeared in the plain to the left, and before it the breakers were dashing with a tremendous roar upon the rocks. Direct before me lay the plain, through which the river was still pouring its restless contents: and, in the distance, I could descry the Solheima, and part of the Eyafialla Yökuls. Committing my way afresh to the Lord, I saddled my horse about five o'clock, and as I approached the river, I was met by a peasant on horseback, who had come over to my assistance. The water having now considerably abated, we got over without much difficulty; and, arriving at Hollt, my servant and I congratulated each other on our again meeting in the land of the living. I was immediately presented with an excellent dish of boiled milk, on which, in addition to what I had in my provision-chest, I made a most hearty meal, not having partaken of any since the forenoon of the preceding day. food CHAP. VIII. Fell-Solheima-Yökul River-Solheima Yökul-CavesSteinar-Varmahlid-Vestmanna Islands-Algerine Pirates-Hollt-Markarfliot-Intelligent Peasant-Fliotshlid-Odde-Dean Jonson Sæmund Sigfusson-Mount Hekla-Number of its Eruptions-Eyrarbacka-Desolate Mountains-Rein-deer-Reykiavik. On the 15th of September, after spending about an hour and a half in the company of the clergyman's wife at Hollt, who could not sufficiently regret the absence of her husband, I proceeded round the hill to Fell, where I was kindly received by the Dean, Sira Thord Bryniolfson. As this gen• tleman had only been recently invested with the office of Dean, it was not in his power to give me an exact idea of the actual state of the people within his bounds relative to the Holy Scriptures; yet he was of opinion that not many copies of the entire Bible were to be met with, but that several copies of the New Testament, published in 1807, had found their way thither. thither. He engaged to exert himself to the utmost in ascertaining what number of copies would be wanted; to write to his clergy, requesting them to notify the arrival of the Scriptures to their congregations; and after he had learned the result, to transmit it to Reykiavik, in order to secure the requisite supply. About ten o'clock the Dean dressed, and accompanied me to Solheima. Excepting a small tract to the west of Fell, which consists for the most part of stones and sand, and is intersected by floods from the Yökul, the road lay over hills that were completely covered with rich grass; and as no cliffs or breaks were visible, the landscape reminded me of some familiar lawns in the Lowlands of Scotland, while the |