Monday, After having given up the early
July 31 ■' part of the morning to the preservation
of my botanical riches, we set off
upon our journey, proceeding for th e , first
part of the way over a shoulder of Skoul-a-
fiel, and then over a mountain called Swein-
a-scaur, the descent of which, through a
gulley where we had to cross a torrent at
least twenty times, was excessively steep
and rocky, and so exposed to the fury of
the north wind that we were compelled to
alight from our horses and walk. The
ground we trod upon was, however, not
altogether bare of vegetation; for several
grasses and other plants appeared in the
places that were free from snow, and at a
great elevation Geum rivale, which is found
in the flat meadows of Norfolk, was no less
abundant than its alpine neighbors, Veronica
fruticulosa and Arabis alpina. In some
hollows of the rock, that were filled with the
water of the torrent, I met for the first time
in my life with the Harlequin duck (Anas
histrionica), which, from what I could learn,
does not seem to be a scarce bird in Iceland.
A very serpentine course, in consequence of
the steepness of the hill, at length led us into
a rather extensive level tract of country,
bounded on all sides by black and lofty
mountains. For some way near the banks
of a wide stream in the centre of this, a
tolerable pasture was afforded tor our horses,
and we rested ourselves awhile at a dwelling
called Meurawatl ; a thing the more necessary,
as a dreary mountain ride lay before
us, and we were told it would not be in our
power to meet with grass again till we had
got round the head of Hval-fiord (the bay of
whales). The steep and barren sides of
Renewaltehauls afforded nothing interesting,
but from the summit the distant view of
snow mountains in the more northern part
of the island was most grand. Here we rode
over a bed of rock, curled on the surface,
which, though cracked in a few places
with deep fissures, had the appearance of
being a solid mass, and of having suffered
no change; but not so with a heap of rocks,
broken, indeed, yet still of immense size,
which, piled one over another to a great
height on our left, seemed to have been at
a distant period thrown out in a melted state