In
plain, and the surface was strewed with slaos of
lava, between which were tufts of grass growing, and,
among other plants, a beautiful sjiecies ot vaccinium
in full blossom. The Lichen Islandicus was orow- o
ing plentifully, and tlie Lichen rangiferinus bean-
tifiilly, among the lava. I brought some of this
latter plant to England, and on spreading it in
a saucer of water, all its little delicate tubular ra mifications
became full and plump, taking their na .
tural position ; but it turned black the second day.
The plant however that was here the most conspicuous
among the tribe of mosses was the Trichosto-
mum canesceiis, a soft, greyish moss, pleasant to
tread upon, provided the surface of the lava beneath
it, on Avhich it seems delighted to groAv, happens to
be an even one ; hut we found it, as Mr. Hooker
did, filling lip the interstices, and only rendering
the Avalking upon it the more precarious and dangerous.
There was no ivant of bogs or swamps, but these
we sometimes succeeded in avoiding by jumping
from one tuft of grass to another, with which the
boggy patches ivere thickly studded, and also with
the cotton-grass (Eriophorum polystachion), of the
fine silky fibres of which the inhabitants make wicks
for their lamps. Having cleared the morass by the
help of these little tufts or hillocks, we arrived at
the spot where we had observed smoke to be issuing
from the ground. I t was a clear spring of water in
the midst of a morass covered with verdure. Close
to the spring was a small wooden shed, on opening
the door of whicli we discovered five or six young
women busily employed in washing linen in the
warm water of the springs, which they had taken
up in tuhs. I imagine these Naiads wci’e not overpleased
at our intrusion, as on Mr. Knudtzon,
out of mere curiosity, taking hold of the tassel of
the cap worn by one of them, to see of what material
it was made, the young lady took it in high
dudgeon. We tliought it best therefore to leave
them to themselves, and to give them no further
interruption.
Having left my thermometer behind, not being
prepared for the visit to these springs, I was unable
to ascertain the temperature, but I should judge,
by plunging in my finger for about a second of
time, that the temperature was under 200°. A rivulet
runs close by the springs which receives the
heated water, smoking as it runs along, and the
banks of which, for a considerable distance, exhibit
a more than usual luxuriance of vegetation. The
water from the springs is remarkably clear, and I
could not discover the slightest smell or taste,
though it is said that, when left to stand for some time
exposed to the air, a slight sulphureous smell is
perceptible. It is said that there are also hot
springs thrown up in the bed of the rivulet, and
that bubbles are frequently perceptible on the surface
; I did not observe any myself, but the rivulet
contained an increased heat to a very considerable