and from the mountain around which these mines lie, as far as the eye can reach, nothing is seen but one interminable region of desolation. The dismal gloom of this tract is barely relieved by the columns of smoke that are constantly ascending into the atmosphere, through apertures and fissures in various parts of the surface.

Here the Odâda Hraun or " Horrible Lava" begins, and extends to a great distance towards the south and west. It is described as the wildest and most hideous tract on the whole island. Its surface is extremely rugged-consisting of broken and pointed rocks, between which are fissures and chasms of a tremendous size, that throw insuperable barriers in the way of any traveller who might wish to penetrate beyond them.

From the north-west point of the Hof or Arnarfell Yökul, a huge stream proceeds in a westerly direction, the surface of which is very slaggy and uneven; and a few miles farther south lies the Kiöl-Hraun, an extensive stream of very cavernous lava, which has flowed from Bald Yökul, and extends to the northern margin of the Hvitârvatn. Crossing the Yökul, we fall in with the tract in which the remarkable cave of Surtshellir is situated, and further west lie torrents of lava in Nordurârdal, or West Skardsheidi, and in the division, called from this very circumstance, Hraunhrepp, or the District of Lava. The whole tract from thence to the Snæfell Yökul is almost entirely covered with the same substance, of which the more remarkable streams are the Borgarhraun, Barnaborgshraun, Budahraun, Berserkiahraun, and those in the vicinity of Kolbeinstad, and Raudmelr.

In the south of Iceland lie the extensive tracts of melted rock about Thingvalla, where scarcely any thing appears but one scene of universal desolation, and rents of upwards of a hundred feet in width are seen to stretch to the length of several miles. The divisions of Grimsness, Ölfus, and Mossfell, exhibit greater or less quantities of lava throughout the whole of their surface; and between Reykiavik and Cape Reykianess are not fewer than six different streams, some of which appear to have been oftener than once in a state of fusion.

In many parts of these lavas, the heat is still so great, that in winter, when the vapour is prevented by the snow from making its escape from the general surface of the ground, it is impossible to enter any of the caverns, on account of the sulphureous smell which they emit. The Faxe Fiord abounds with lava; and the fishermen frequently find beds of it alternating with sand-banks, at the depth of forty fathoms. The Elld-eyar consist entirely of submarine lava; and from these islands a number of dangerous rocks stretch in a southwest direction to the distance of nearly seventy miles, which have been thrown up from time to time from the bottom of the sea.

The lavas about Mount Hekla are well known; and the whole plain between that volcano and the sea is filled with the same substance, till within a few feet of the surface of the ground. The Vestmanna islands are also of volcanic origin. Behind the Eyafialla Yökul a stream of lava juts forward between the Markarfliot and a fertile tract called Thorsmark; another large torrent has inundated the extensive plain between Myrdal and Thyckvabæ Abbey; in the divisions of Sida and Fliotshverfi we meet with the recent Skaptar and Hverfisfliot lavas, which cover vast beds of very ancient lava and a little farther east, is the Brunahraun, apparently the oldest of any in Iceland.

Besides the common lavas, Iceland abounds in other mineral masses, which sufficiently indicate their igneous origin. Of these, the more plentiful are tuffa and submarine lava. Whole mountains of the former are found in every part of the island. The obsidian, or Icelandic agate, which is nothing but black vitreous lava, abounds in many districts, especially near Myvatn, where there is a mountain which takes its name from it. Of the sulphur mountains, a particular description is given in the journal.

Another proof of the universality of volcanic agency, and of the continued existence of subterraneous fires in Iceland, is the multiplicity of hot springs in which it abounds. Not that I suppose any direct or immediate communication to be kept up between these springs and some central source of

heat; but that some extensive conflagration is going forward below the surface of the earth is evident: and it seems more natural to conclude that it has originated in volcanic eruptions than in the separate ignition of fossil bodies, especially. as the hot springs are always found in connection with lava or other volcanic matter. Many of these springs throw up large columns of boiling water, accompanied by immense volumes of steam, to an almost incredible height into the atmosphere, and present to the eye of the traveller some of the grandest scenes to be met with on the face of the globe. The principal are the Geysers, near Haukadal; the Reykium springs in the district of Ölfus, and the sulphur springs of Krisuvik in the south; those of Reykiadal in the west; Hveravellir in the interior; and those of Reykiahverf and Krabla in the north.

Celebrated as this island has been for its volcanoes and hot springs, it is scarcely less remarkable on account of the enormous ice-mountains which occupy a vast portion of its surface. To these mountains the natives give the name of Yökuls, which signify large masses of ice. They have ge nerally terreous and rocky mountains for their basis; and, in many places, exhibit magnificent glaciers, which commence at a great height, and run down with a very rapid descent into the plains. The most extensive of all the Icelandic Yökuls is that called Klofa Yökul, in the eastern quarter of the island. It lies behind the Yökuls and other mountains which line the south-east coast, and forms, with little or no interruption, a vast chain of ice and snow mountains, which are supposed to fill a space of not less than three thousand square miles. The rest of the ice-mountains in that division, all of which appear to be connected with the Klofa Yökul, are distinguished by the names of Hof, Lon, Hofsfell, Svinafell, Myrar, Heinaberg, Kâlfafell, Breidamark, Öræfa, Skeiderâ, Skaptâr, Kötlugiâ, Myrdal, and Solheima Yökuls. Of these, the four last, and the Öræfa, are volcanic Yökuls. Though covered with coats. of ice of immense thickness, when the internal parts of the mountains become ignited, the mass of ice or indurated snow

is cracked and rent by the explosion which ensues; a great quantity of it is melted by the flames, or the exundations of hot water; and whole fields of ice are sometimes deposited on the neighbouring plains. Some of these Yökuls are remarkable for their vacillation; not remaining in a settled position, but moving forwards and receding again at certain indefinite periods. In the southern division of the island lie the Eyafialla, Torfa, and Tindafialla Yökuls; to the west of the Hvitârvatn stretches the chain known by the names of Bald, Blâfell, Geitland, and Eirik Yökuls; Snæfell, Glâma and Drânga, rise into view in the west; and in the north lies the Hof or Arnarfell Yökul, the only considerable mountain of this description in that quarter of the island.

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Numerous ridges of rugged and irregular mountains stretch across the interior, and, from these, other inferior mountains branch out towards the coasts, and, in many instances, terminate in high and steep promontories. Between these ridges, in the vicinity of the coasts, are rich and beautiful vallies, in which the inhabitants have erected their dwellings and many of the low mountains are covered with coarse grass, which affords summer pasturage to the cattle. The most extensive tract of low country is that between the districts of Myrdal and Öræfa, where the traveller pursues his journey, for the period of four days, without seeing any thing like a mountain in the immediate vicinity. The whole of the interior, as far as it has been explored, consists of a vast inhospitable desert, transversed in various directions by barren mountains, between which are immense tracts of lava and volcanic sand, with here and there a small spot, scantily covered with vegetation.

It is evident, from ancient Icelandic documents, that on the arrival of the Norwegians, and for several centuries afterwards, pretty extensive forests grew in different parts of the island, and furnished the inhabitants with wood both for domestic and nautical purposes. Owing, however, to their improvident treatment of them, and the increased severity of the climate, they have almost entirely disappeared; and what remains, scarcely deserves any other name than

that of underwood, consisting for the most part of birch, willow, and mountain-ash; but this want of indigenous wood is in some measure supplied by the quantities of floating timber which are drifted upon the coasts from the American continent.

That grain was produced in former times in Iceland, appears both from the names of many places, such as Akkrar, Akkraness, Akkrahverar, &c.—the word Akr signifying a corn-field, and from certain laws in the ancient code, in which express mention is made of such fields, and a number of regulations are prescribed relative to their division and cultivation. How this important branch of rural economy was laid aside, it is impossible to determine with any degree of certainty; but it is generally supposed that it was occasioned by the epidemic disease, called the Black-Death, which raged here in the fifteenth century, and carried off nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants. Many are of opinion that grain might still be raised in Iceland; but the natives are more partial to the cultivation of grass, as they consider the breeding of sheep to be much more advantageous.

The island contains several large lakes, and numerous rivers of great magnitude, many of which supply the inhabitants with abundance of fresh-water fish. To enlarge upon these is unnecessary at this place, as they are described when they occur in the narrative.

The most ancient account of the discovery and colonization of Iceland to be relied upon as authentic, is that contained in the Landnâmabok, or the Book of Occupation; a work which enters with the greatest minuteness into the circumstances and transactions of the original settlers. It was begun by Ari Frode, and continued by Kolskegg, and other learned men after his death.*

*Islands Landnâmabok: Hoc est: Liber Originum Islandiæ. Havniæ, 1774, 4to. It is published in Icelandic and Latin. In the preface to this volume it is asserted, that previous to the arrival of the Norwegians, the island was inhabited by Christians, who are supposed to have come from some part of the British isles. They are stated to have left behind them Irish books, bells, and crosiers; but no traces having been found of churches or dwelling-houses,

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