!
!
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either to Apa-vatn or Thingvalla Lake ivould have
given him as much fine trout and other fish as his
horse could have brought home. Of the general
poverty of the clergy I had heard and read m u ch ;
but nothing except sheer mismanagement could
have reduced this poor man to such a degraded condition
as is here stated.
We slept the next night, for the second time, in
the little church of Thingvalla, and the following
day arrived at Reikiavik, sufficiently fatigued, not
having been in bed, nor in fact had our clothes
off our backs, except to indulge in a hot bath at
the Geysers, since we left the capital; but we Avere
nevertheless higldy gratified Avith our journey.
CHAPTER VII.
HAViNEFIORD A N D B E S S E ST A D .
Cathedral Service at Reikiavik— Supper at Mr. Knudtzon’s—
Journey to Havnefiord— W id e extent of country covered with
Lava— Various shapes and situations of— Situation of Havnefiord
— Disappointment in not seeing the Sulphur Mines of Krusivik
— Proceed to Bessestad, the only Collegiate School of Iceland—
Some account o f it— Salaries of the Instructors—Literature of
the Clergy— The Sagas, Eddas, and Scalds—The Songs of,
sought after by European Courts— The Visits o f Scalds to the
Court of England in the reigns o f Ethelred and Alfred—
Condition o f the Clergy compared with that of the Peasantry—
Number and value of the L iv in g s— Studious habits o f the
Clergy—Example of Jonas Thorlakson—Church of Bessestad.
ft
On the Sunday after our arrival at Reikiavik Ave
did not fail to attend divine service in the Cathedral.
It began at one o’clock, and lasted about
an hour. The clergyman read, or rather chanted,
some prayers from the altar, and afterAvards
preached a sermon from the pulpit, which he delivered
Avith considerable energy, and to Avhich the
congregation, both male and female, appeared to
listen Avith attention. Several of the people assembled
joined occasionally in the chanting during
r