it not being more than half past one, and
our having already taken some refreshment,
had kept us from being hungry. We found
the table set out in the large room which I
have already mentioned. It had a tolerably
good boarded floor, and walls that once were
white-washed. The furniture consisted of
five wainscot chairs, a table, and two large
chests of drawers, on which were displayed
such articles of use as approached the nearest
to china; some of them, I believe, really
were so. Two closet doors were also opened,
and exhibited a considerable quantity of
excellent silver plate. Two large and old-
fashioned mirrors occupied the space between
the windows, and beneath them were
marble slabs, placed upon gilded feet; but
they were broken, and lay completely out of
a horizontal direction. About sixty prints
and drawings, some of them in frames, and
a few glazed, concealed in some measure
the nakedness of the walls: they were, it
must be confessed, for the most part, of a
very ordinary stamp; but, as many of them
were portraits of the Stiftsamptman’s friends,
or prints of the sovereigns, and other great
men of Denmark, they had their value, and
their natnes and titles were detailed to us
With evident satisfaction. Such as it was, it
mi^ht truly be said to be the best collection
of prints and pictures in the country. When
We sat down to table, a little interruption
was caused by the breaking down of the
chair upon which his Excellency had seated
himself; but this was soon settled, as there
fortunately was still a vacant one in the
room to replace it. The arranging of a
dinner-table is attended in Iceland with little
trouble, and would afford no scope for the
display of the elegant abilities of an experienced
English house-keeper. On the cloth
Was nothing but a plate, a knife and fork, a
Wine glass, and a bottle of claret, for each
guest, except that in the middle stood a
large and handsome glass-castor of sugar,
With a magnificent silver top. The natives
are not in the habit of drinking malt liquor
or water, nor is it customary to eat salt with
their meals. The dishes are brought in
singly: our first was a large turenne of
Soup, which is a favorite addition to the
dinners of the richer people, and is made
of sago, claret, and raisins, boiled so as to
become almost a mucilage. We were helped