the mountain opposite, as far up as we could see, was covered with sulphur and clay, chiefly of a white or yellowish colour. Walking over this soft and steaming surface we found to be very hazardous; and I was frequently very uneasy when the vapour concealed my friends from me. The day, however, being dry and warm, the surface was not so slippery as to occasion much risk of our falling.The chance of the crust of sulphur breaking, or the clay sinking with us was great, and we were several times in danger of being much scalded.Mr Bright ran at one time a great hazard, and suffered considerable pain from accidentally plunging one of his legs into the hot clay. From whatever spot the sulphur is removed, steam instantly escapes; and in many places the sulphur was so hot that we could scarcely handle it. From the smell I perceived that the steam was mixed with a small quantity of sulphurated hydrogen gas.. When the thermometer was sunk a few inches into the clay, it rose generally to within a few degrees of the boiling point. By stepping cautiously, and avoiding every little hole from which steam issued, we soon discovered how far we might venture. Our good, fortune, however, ought not to tempt any person to examine this wonderful place, without being provided with two boards, with which any one may cross every part of the banks in perfect safety. At the bottom of this hollow we found a caul dron of boiling mud, about fifteen feet in diameter, similar to that on the top of the mountain which we had seen the evening before; but this boiled with much more vehemence. We went within a few yards of it, the wind happening to be remarkably favourable for viewing every part of this singular scene. The mud was in constant agitation, and often

thrown up to the height of six or eight feet. Near this spot was an irregular space filled with water boiling briskly. At the foot of the hill, in a hollow formed by a bank of clay and sulphur, steam rushed with great force and noise from among the loose fragments of rock."

Our author is of opinion, that if proper arrangements were made for collecting the sulphur, which is continually sublimating in this extraordinary spot, it might be made a profitable article of commerce. The steps necessary for this object, however, seem much too complicated to allow us to expect that they should be taken by a people so poor and so little enterprising.

From the sulphur mountain, our party proceeded to a place called Grundevick, which they found animated by a great degree of industry. Fishing was there carried on to a great extent by a number of persons from, all the neighbouring parts of the island. The following very interesting view is here introduced of the domestic economy of the natives, and the sources from which they derive their subsistence.

"One of the chief cares of an Icelander is the laying in a stock of provision for the winter season. Towards this object, almost his whole time and exertions are directed, and the sea is his great and sure resource. About the beginning of February, the people of the interior, and even those inhabiting the northern parts of the island, begin to move, and a great part of the male population emigrates towards the western and southwestern coasts. The farmers send their servants, and frequently accompany them. They take a small stock of butter and smoked mutton, and sheep skin dresses. The farmers are sometimes distinguished from their servants by having a small quantity

of

of rye bread and a little brandy. Before commencing his journey, an Icelander takes off his hat, places it before his face, and repeats a prayer prescribed for such occasions. He is welcomed at every cottage he stops at, and it is seldom that any remuneration is required for his entertainment. Many travel two hundred miles amidst snow and darkness, to the place they chuse for their fishing station; and if they have not previously made some agreement with the proprietor of a boat, a bargain is soon entered into, the terms of which have long been established by custom. By these, a person coming from the interior, engages himself from the 12th February to the 12th May, (the pe riod varies a little) to be ready to obey the call for fishing, and to assist in the management of the boat. In return for his labour he receives forty pounds of meal, (if any is to be got) and five gallons of sour whey, besides a share of the fish that are taken, The fish are divided into two shares more than the number of men employ ed, and these belong to the owner of the boat, who provides lines and books. When he furnishes nets, which are generally used during the early part of the season, he receives one half of the fish caught. All the people engaged for one boat generally live together in the same hut. The previous arrangements being made, a long period of hardship and privation begins. In darkness, and subjected to intense cold, these poor people seek from the ocean the means for subsisting their families during the following winter. As soon as the boat is pushed from the shore, the man at the helm takes off his hat and repeats a prayer for success, in which he is joined by the crew. They geneally remain at sea from eight to twelve hours, during which time they Laste nothing but a little sour whey, January 1812.

which is the only provision ever ta ken out with them. The women assist in cleaning and splitting the fish, after they have been brought to land. When the weather is so stormy that the fishermen cannot venture to sea, they frequently amuse themselves by wrestling, or playing at leap frog, and other diversions. Their mode of wrestling is somewhat peculiar The two men who are to try their strength and skill, lay hold of each other in the way they think best.As soon as they have secured their grasp, each endeavours by sudden jerks, or by lifting him from the ground, or by quick turning, to throw his antagonist; and the dexterity they display is often extraordinary. About the beginning of May, the fishermen return home, leaving their fish, which are not by this time perfectly dried, and which may amount to five or six hundred for the share of each individual, to the care of some person who resides on the spot. About the middle of June, when the horses have got plump and strong, the farmers set out on their second annual journey, carrying with them all their marketable commodities, which they dispose of, and return home with their fish and such things as they may have purshased. When the stock of fish is thought too small, they barter wool, tallow, or butter, for any additional quantity they may require, and pay a small sum for the lodging and food of their servants."

Sir George now returned to Reikiavik, previous to exploring some other parts of Iceland. After a short residence there, he set out on an excursion over the western part of the island, terminated by a very lofty mountain, called Snæfell Jokul, which our travellers were anxious to examine. Their present route lay through a more inhabited district than the former; and considerable in

formation

formation is given in the course of it respecting the domestic and rural economy of Iceland. We were much pleased with the extracts from a register kept by the clergyman of a village called Saurbar, and with the minute and beneficent inspection which it exhibits into all the concerns and interests of his parishioners. We are then conducted to Indreholm, the residence of Mr Stephenson, chief justice, and apparently the most important personage in the island. Here, therefore, our travellers had an opportunity of observing the highest style of society, free from any foreign mixture. It certainly differs considerably from our standard, particularly in one respect. The ladies of the family, instead of sitting down to dinner, waited and acted as servants; the mistress of the house, indeed, did not join in the executive part, but merely stood and observed. In other respects, however, they seem to have behaved on a footing of equality. There is no mention of any hired servants kept in the house of Mr Stephenson, though a man of considerable property.

Mr Stephenson appears to be the most zealous in the cultivation of literature of any person now in Iceland. He has a library of 700 or 300 volumes; he is at the head of the first literary society, and has the management of the only printing press in the island. Unfortunately, however, for the benefits to be derived from this latter circumstance, he is himself an author, and very voluminous; he entertains, moreover, a higher opinion of his own works than of those produced by any other of his countrymen. The consequence is, that the latter can with great difficulty find access to this only channel by which their writings could become known.

As our travellers approached the

Snæfell Jokul, the country again as sumed the character of desolation, though not so entire as that observed in their former journey. The surface was covered with lava, and many little hills formed by that substance; clearly proving that this region is also volcanic. Caves were also observed, exhibiting columnar appearances on a great scale. Two of the party ascended nearly to the summit of the mountain, higher than any of the natives had ever ventured; and a very interesting account is given by Mr Bright of the obstacles which they here met and surmounted.

The most remarkable object which they observed on their return to Reikiavik, consisted in the hot springs in the valley of Reikholt.

The third excursion embraced objects the most celebrated and most interesting of all; the Great Geyser and Mount Hekla. On their way, our travellers visited Thingvallą, a place celebrated in the ancient history of Iceland. On the shores of its lake was held the Allthing, or general assembly of Iceland; and Thingvalla continued, till within these ten years, to be the seat of the courts of justice. At that time, they were transferred to Reikiavik, and scarcely any thing now remains to mark the former greatness of Thingvalla. Our travellers next proceeded to Skalholt, which has been erroneously supposed to be the capital of Iceland. It is beautifully situated, but not of such magnitude as to deserve to be called.

a town.

About sixteen miles from Skalholt, lie the Geysers, whither Sir George immediately proceeded. He soon witnessed an eruption of the Great Geyser,a description of which our readers will no doubt be anxious to peruse.

"I returned to the Geyser in or der to collect specimens of the incrustations on the mount. I selected a

She mass close to the water on the brink of the bason, and had not struck many blows with my hammer, when I heard a sound like the distant discharge of a piece of ordnance, and the ground shook under me. The sound was repeated irregularly and rapidly; and I had just given the alarm to my companions, when the water, after heaving several times, suddenly rose in a large column, accompanied by clouds of steam, from the middle of the bason, to the height of ten or twelve feet. The column seemed as if it burst, and sinking down, it produced a wave which caused the water to overflow the bason in considerable quantity. The water having reached my feet, 1 was under the necessity of retreating, but I kept my eye fixed on what was going on. After the first propulsion, the water was thrown up again to the height of about fifteen feet. There was now a succession of jets to the number of eighteen, none of which appeared to me to exceed fifty feet in height; they lasted about five minutes. Though the wind blew strongly, yet the clouds of vapour were so dense, that after the first two jets, I could only see the highest part of the spray, and some of it that was occasionally thrown out sideways. After the last jet, which was the most furious, the water suddenly left the bason, and sunk into a pipe in the centre. The heat of the bottom of the bason soon made it dry, and the wind blew aside the vapour almost immediately after the spouting ceased.We lost no time in entering the ba. son to examine the pipe, into which the water had sunk about ten feet, and appeared to be rising slowly. The diameter of the pipe, or rather pit, is ten feet, but near the top it widens to sixteen feet. The section, which is taken across the longest diameter of the bason, gives a distinct idea of

the whole structure of the external part of this wonderful apparatus. The perpendicular depth of the bason is three feet; that of the pipe being somewhat more than sixty feet, though there may be some inaccessible hollows which extend to a much greater depth."

Sir George saw another eruption; and several of the New Geyser, which threw its waters to the height even of 70 feet. Scarcely less wonderful than the action of these springsare the effects produced by their petrifying power, some of which are thus described.

"We were occupied this morning in examining the environs of the Geysers; and at every step received some new gratification. Following the channel which has been formed by the water escaping from the great bason during the eruptions, we found some beautiful and delicate petrifac tions. The leaves of birch and willow were seen converted into white stone, and in the most perfect state of preservation; every minute fibre being entire. Grass and rushes were in the same state, and also masses of peat. In order to preserve specimens so rare and elegant, we brought away large masses, and broke them up af ter our return to Britain; by which means we have formed very rich collections; though many fine specimens were destroyed in carrying them to Reikiavik. On the outside of the mount of the Geyser, the depositions, owing to the splashing of the water, are rough, and have been justly compared to the heads of cauliflowers.-They are of a yellowish brown colour, and are arranged round the mount somewhat like a circular flight of steps. The inside of the bason is comparatively smooth; and the matter forming it is more compact and dense than the exterior crust; and when polished, is not devoid of beauty, being of a grey colour, mottled

with black and white spots and streaks. The white incrustation formed by the water of the beautiful cavity before described, had taken a very curious form at the edge of the water, very much resembling the capital of a Gothic column. We were so rapacious here, that I believe we did not leave a single specimen which we could reach; and even scalded our fingers in our eagerness to obtain them. We found the process of petrifaction in all its stages; and procured some specimens in which the grass was yet alive and fresh, while the deposition of the silicious matter was going on around it. These were found in places at a little distance from the cavity, where the water running from it had become cold."

One object only now remained to be explored; but that the most celebrated which Iceland presented. From the Geysers, our travellers proceeded towards Mount Hekla, and ascended its highest pinnacle. The phenomena, however, which presented themselves, were not of so striking a nature as we might have been led to expect. The most important occurrence was, the discovery of a large mass of obsidian, in a situation throwing great light upon the origin of that substance. This discovery was most grateful; for it had been one of the chief objects which induced Sir George to undertake his present journey. There is something very striking in the description of the scenery which surrounds this spot.

"On ascending one of the abrupt pinnacles which rose out of this extraordinary mass of rock, we beheld

a region, the desolation of which can scarcely be paralleled. Fantastic groups of hills, craters, and lava, leading the eye to distant snow-crowned Jokuls; the mist rising from a waterfall; lakes embosomed among bare bleak mountains; an awful profound silence; lowering clouds; marks all, around of the furious action of the most destructive of elements; all combined to impress the soul with sensations of dread and wonder.-The longer we contemplated this scene, horrible as it was, the more unable we were to turn our eyes from it; and a considerable time elapsed before we could bring ourselves to attend to the business which tempted us to enter so frightful a district of the country. Our discovery of obsidian afforded us very great pleasure, which can only be understood by zealous geologists; and we traversed an immense and rugged mass of that curious substance, with a high degree of satisfaction; though various circumstances prevented our tracing it so fully as we wished."

The volcanic celebrity of Mount Hekla seems to have considerably exceeded its just pretensions. The eruptions, which have desolated Iceland, are not confined to any one spot. Beneath its whole surface, subterraneous fire seems to rage, and to break out at every opening. The great number of apertures which this element has formed for itself, prevents the discharge at any one point from being very considerable. The following is a list given of the number and local situation of the recorded eruptions.