escape from death, having one evening slipped
into a chasm that was half filled with snow,
where he remained till the next morning,
when he was searched for, and, fortunately,
discovered in time to save his life* On
returning to the house, we found the women
and girls milking the sheep, which were for
this purpose enclosed in a large oblong four-»
sided wall, made of lava and turf, in alternate
layers, with a door for the admittance of the
women, and a small square opening, ju st high
enough to permit the sheep and lambs to be
driven in: a still smaller one communicates
with another little enclosure, into which,
through this aperture, which is not large
enough to admit the sheep, the lambs are
put, whilst the mothers are milked; otherwise,
they would be restless and unwilling to
stand still. Many of these sheep afforded a
quart of milk, of a rich quality, but that
which comes of the second milking, is, by far,
the best; for it is the custom here, having
milked the whole flock, to begin again and
milk them a second time. The cows are milked
in the open ground, with their hind legs tied
by means of a horse-hair line. From the m i lk-
ing-place, we visited the church, which stands
upon a little eminence, at £ short distance
from the minrsterV dwelling. I t was of a
ample construction;, in form, an oblong
quadrangle, with thick wails, leaning a little
inwards, composed also of alternate layers of
lava and turf. The roof was of turf, thickly
Covered with grass, and, from the top of this
to the ground, the building was1 scarcely
more than sixteen or eighteen feet high.
The entrance end alone was of unpainted
fir planks, placed vertically, with a small
door of the same materials. I was surprised
to find the body of the church crowded with
large old wooden chests, instead of seats;
but I soon understood; that these not only
answered the purpose of benches, but also
contained the clothes of many of the congregation,
who, as there was no lock on the
door, had at all times free access to their
wardrobes. The walls had no covering whatever,
nor had the floor any pavement, except
a few ill-shapen pieces of rock, which were
dither placed there intentionally, or, as seems
most probable, had not been removed' from
their natural bed at the time of the building
of the church. There was no regular ceiling:
only a few loose planks, laid upon some
beams, which crossed the church at about