but continued altogether quiet, after having
been corked, and tied round the mouth
water rises in the well they burst into pieces : this
experiment has been proved on many score bottles, to
try the efleets of the water.”—I fear there can be but
little more credit attached to this story, than to the one
which the same author mentions in a page or two
following of his work, but which he has endeavored very
candidly and justly to disprove. I allude to the account
of a particular species of bird, which is affirmed, say
Povelsen and Olafsen, by persons worthy of faith, to be
found in the hot-springs, and not only to swim upon
the surface of, but also to dive into, the boiling water.
This ornithological rarity is reported to be of the form
and size of a duck, of a deep brown color all over the
body, except that there is a very conspicuous white ring
round the eye. At the appro^ph o f a human being it
dives and remains under water a long time, and sometimes,
continue oui1 Icelandic historians, it never comes
up again! Much more curious matter, relative to this
creature, maybe found in the Voyage en Islande, tom. v.
p. 88—89, whence I will extract a few lines, in the
words of the author, or rather, of the French editor, for
the amusement of such as may not possess the work.
“ Nous n’osons pas démentir tant d’assertions et des
attestations de personnes dignes de foi; mais regarder
ces oiseaux comme naturels, a combien de contradictions
ne nous mettons nous pas en bute ? Leur plumage, leur
bec et leurs jambes défendus par une peau calleuse,
pourraient, si l’on veut, supporter l’eau bouillante en
nageant, mais en plongeant, que deviendraient leurs
with fresh sheep-skin *. Having now completed
a number of sketches of the most
interesting features of this remarkable spot,
particularly of the two Geysers, and having
concluded such notes and observations as I
was able to make during my stay there, I
found myself obliged to proceed on my
journey. As I had learned that it was impossible
to reach Heel a without first going
yeux 1 ” After starting other probable objections to the
power of diving in the hot waters, possessed by these
birds, they conclude their remarks by saying, “ nous
croyons donc que si ces oiseaux existent, ce doit être des
amphibies ; en ce cas, ce serait une grande et intéressante
nouveauté pour les naturalistes.”
* These I had earnestly reckoned upon bringing to
England for my chemical friends, and it was therefore a
mortifying circumstance to me to find when, on setting
out upon my second excursion, I was asked by our
steward if he should fill again with water the bottles
which I had brought in that state from my last journey,
that he had emptied out every drop of what I had with
so much pains secured, as I supposed, for a long voyage.
I, however, dispatched some persons, with proper directions
to the Geysers for another and a larger supply,
and they actually brought back two horse loads,
which shared a still worse fate on boai d the Margaret
and Anne,