anxious to visit the boiling spring, about
two miles and a half to the eastward of
Reikevig, the steam from which was pointed
out to me from a little eminence near the
town, I set out about one o’clock for that
purpose; but, after getting enveloped in a
labyrinth of bogs during a heavy rain, I was
obliged to return without being able to reach
it, and with but a few plants, which I had
not found the preceding day. This, however,
was not to be wondered at, since the most
part of the tract I went over was either barren
rock, or a morass, where the grasses
showed no appearance of coming into flower.
Near the shore, I saw several different
sorts of the duck tribe, and, especially, a
number of the eider-fowl. Cormorants were
abundant. Cast upon the beach, were scarcely
any but the more common sea-weeds of
Scotland, as Fucus palmatus, esculentus, digitatus,
ciliatus, dentatus, purpurascens, sac-
charinus, and a variety of the latter, with a
twisted frond, plumosus, jlagelliformis, ru-
bens, and Conferva fceniculacea of Hudson.
Fucus ramentaceus, which has hitherto
been found no where but in Iceland, was the
only rare species, and this was here in great
plenty. Some of these were growing in the
basins among the rocks. Of shells there
were very few. I remarked a large Balanus,
which seemed tome new. It is well figured
in Povelsen and Olafsen’s Voyage, plate 14,
but I cannot, any where, find a description of
it. My a tr uncat a, Venus islándica, and a
beautiful, but to me unknown, species of
Lepas, a Bulla, and a few Turbines, were
the only other shells I met with. Land-
birds are extremely rare. All that I saw in
this walk were Ravens, the Snow Bunting
(here called Snoe-fugle), which has rather
a pleasant note, not much unlike the Linnet’s,
but more interrupted, Snipes, and the
common Wagtail.
Juney23. Another day of rain kept me almost
entirely confined to the town.
In the morning, accompanied by Mr. Jorgensen,
I made a visit to the Bishop, Geir
Videlin, or, as he is commonly called, Vide-
linus. He has a good library; indeed, very
much better than I expected to have seen
in Iceland: it appeared to contain five or
six hundred volumes, among which are several
Dutch editiQns of the Classics, a per