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placed on the backs of donkeys. The back of the
saddle or chair was sometimes open, with the exception
of a flat brass bar which, being curved,
formed the support to the rider’s back. These
saddles were covered^with small carpets or rugs,
very prettily worked, in divers colours and patterns,
hy the Icelanders themselves, and by no
means void of taste and ingenuity in the workmanship.
Ju st as we were on the point of starring
from Efstedalr, another party came up on their
way to the Geysers : it consisted of two gentlemen
and three ladies ; one of the former was a remarkably
fine young man, and proved to be a son of the
bishop ; and one of the ladies, as we afterwards
found, was his betrothed bride.
Continuing our journey, we very soon came to
the jBmer-aa, so called from its having a small
wooden bridge thrown across it, or rather across a
chasm in the midst of the bed of the river itself,
into which, from both sides, the water rushes down
in the form of a cascade. The river here ran with
great impetuosity, and we could not help thinking
it was a singular place to have chosen for a
bridge, to which thé horses could only arrive, and
afterwards descend, by wading through the water
belly-deep on both sides of it. Having crossed in
safety, I thought it, from its singularity, worthy of
being sketched. Neither this river, nor any other
we had yet occasion to cross, was sufficiently deep
to oblige the horses to swim; but the Bruer-aa
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