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to the end of our journey, Ave did not go out of the
AA'ay to visit them.
The pasturage in the plain, though marshy in
parts, being very good, Ave made a halt in order tq^
allow the horses to feed. There Avere several coavs
of a larger breed than those of NorAvay; sheep and
goats grazing in the plain. We took the opportunity
of visiting a cave, which the guides assured
us that no traveller omitted to visit, and to cut his
name on the soft sandstone Avhich forms the entrance
to it. We found a few names there, and by
AA'ay of passing the time Ave added our initials to
the number, but there was nothing remarkable that
Ave could discover in the cave.
Proceeding on our journey, Ave had to pass
through another small thicket of dwarf birch-trees,
some of Avhich Avere aboA'c five feet from the ground,
and a few might reach to the height of six feet. One
of our guides, on observing me to take notice of
them, A’clunteered the remark, that here grew the
finest Avood in Iceland; perhaps he meant that he
had seen—for the Iceland peasantry, those at least
in the neighbourhood of Reikiavik, seem to have a
very limited knowledge of their country. H e Avas
right, however, as far as my OAvn observation
went, during our rambles in the southern part of
the island.
The grassy plain had brought together a neighbourhood
of three or four small clusters of cottages.
I: ■ t:
the proprietors, no doubt, of the cattle Ave had seen;
and not far from themAvas a humble church, similar
to that Ave had slept in, the night before, at Thingvalla.
A little farther on Ave arrived at the Parsonage
of Efstedalr, where Ave resolved to pass the n ig h t;
but as the church appeared more uncomfortable (if
possible) than th a t of Thingvalla, Ave determined
upon pitching our tent and sleeping therein in
preference. The dwelling is, as usual, composed
of a loAV range of turf-roofed huts, common to all
the clergy and the agricultural peasantry. The
only variation is a room more or less, or, which is
the same thing, an additional hut, for every room
has its separate roof. The following sketch Avill
give a fair notion of a l l ;—
The Parsonage-house o f Efstedalr.
The several apartments are sometimes lighted
by a hole in the Avail, sometimes through the
AVOoden gable-ends, and sometimes through the