SO ilE IK EV IG .
•
Thursday, Another completely rainy day con-
une 9‘ fined me within doors, or to the
town. After breakfast a present of butter
and Crees’ eggs (Sterna Hirundo) came from
the Stiftsamptman, who at the same time
wished to know when I proposed setting off
upon an excursion into the country, that he
might previously procure me horses and
other necessary things. Hitherto, the excessively
wet weather had rendered the bogs
almost impassable, and the mountains were
still every where covered with snow. I therefore
determined to wait till this day \veek
before I started. It was proposed that I
should go first to the northern quarter of
the island, if the weather permitted, and
spend some time in Borgafiord, which is
reputed the richest and most fertile district
in Iceland.
.Friday, Till to-day, the wind had been almost
constantly in the south-west,
but it has now veered about to the north,
and promises a fine and mild day, compared
to what we have yet had. With an Icelandic
lad for my guide, who went on foot,
and frequently faster than I thought it prudéni
to ride on horsèbâck in süch à rócky
country, I set but to visit thè great bed of
Hrotun (pronounced I f ruin), or lava, about
six miles to thè south of Reikevig. Thè part
bf itj which I first' carrie up to, was within ohè
dì* two miles of Havnfiord, where its coursé
has been stopped by the sea, after extending
a length of twenty-five miles from the'
craters, which are supposed to have given
birth to this wonderful current. In some
parts of the way, there was a track which led
liS to the spot; but all traces of this track
were lost when we camé on a small morass,
aiid it Was an hour before we reached thé
Hraun. At a little distance, this huge mass
of lava has a most extraordinary appearance,
its surface being every where as much broken
Und as uneven as that of a greatly agitated
sèa, and its boundaries very distinctly marked
by the lighter color of the natural rock, or
by the vegetation which this latter produces,
Whilst the lava itself is almost black, and looks,
at a little distance, as bare as if it had issued
but the preceding day from the crater. On
leaving my horse, and proceeding on foot,
with rio little difficulty, upon the Hraun, I
was still more struck with the strange and
v o l . i . g