the neck to the tail of its mother, was dragged
through, and landed on the other side
of the river, more * dead than alives, througOh
fear and cold. Our party followed, and
was equally fortunate in getting over without
any accident (except the wetting of the
luggage and ourselves), though the water
reached to the middle of the body of our tallest
horses. Here, after procuring us some
milk from a cottage close by, the priest took
his leave of us. In the vicinity of the house
were two or three boiling-springs, which
were used by the inhabitants for the purpose
of cooking, as well as for that of washing
their clothes. At a few miles distance, on
our right, we saw a very considerable column
of steam, rising from the marshes, at a place
which the guides called Reykum *, and
which they said I might visit on my way to
Skalholt. Our journey now lay either entirely
over a morass, which proved extremely
* This is not the Reykuvi, or Rykum, which Sir John
Stanley has given so full and so admirable an account o f:
many places are called by this and similar names, derived
from the Icelandic word Reik, or Reyk, which signifies
smoke; such are Reykholt, Reikevig, Reikholtsdal,
Reikanaes, &c.
fatiguing to our horses, or upon the edge of
it, where a quantity of loose soil had been
washed down from the mountains by the torrents,
and was scarcely more firm than the
bog itself. At about five o’clock in the afternoon
we obtained the first view of the mountain,
called Laugerfell, from which the
Geysers spring. It is of no great elevation,
rising, according to Sir John Stanley, who
had an opportunity of ascertaining by admeasurement,
only three hundred and ten feet
above the course of a river which runs at its
foot. It is, however, remarkable for its insulated
situation; being entirely surrounded
by a morass, which extends for a very considerable
way in every direction, except towards
the north, where this hill is not separated
by an interval of more than half a mile
from higher mountains. The north side is
perpendicular, barren, and craggy; the opposite
one rises with a tolerably gradual ascent,
and from this, near its base, we saw a
■number of columns of steam mounting to various
heights. Enlivened by the prospect, we
quickened our pace, and at eight o’clock arrived
at the foot of the hill. Here I left my
horses, &c., to the care of the guides, and