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perceived, come close behind the horse’s heels,
when he immediately kicked at him, and struck
him a severe blow on the head. The poor animal
staggered backwards, and appeared to have received
his death-blow; but the wound bled profusely,
and he fortunately sustained no permanent
injury.
But that which surprised us not a little was,
that notwithstanding the poverty of the food of
these animals and the scantiness of it—for in
winter they barely exist, and have nothing whatever
in the summer months but the grass and
small plants they can pick up on the hills—
they were all in high condition as to flesh. We
had moreover been told that Prince Frederick had
taken Avith him, on his tour to the north-eastward,
all th a t were worth having in the neighbourhood
of Reikiavik, to the number of fifty. This
however we were afterwards satisfied could not
have been the case, as we had an opportunity of
inspecting his Royal Highness’s stud on his return
to Reikiavik; and there was not a single animal
in the whole group that was in any way superior to
the generality of our own.
The Icelander is not a very active person, and
our guides fully participated in the general character
of the country, which is that of a want of
energy and bodily exertion. Some hours were
consumed in packing the baggage-horses, yet the
articles were neither bulky nor heavy. Our clothing
occupied five wooden boxes, to which were
added a small quantity of provisions, such as
we were not likely to meet with on the journey,
most of them stowed away in barrels. A tent, with
all its necessary appendages of pegs and pole,
formed also a part of our baggage; and a long
AVOoden case, containing fishing-rods, made up the
sum-total, or nearly so, of our goods and chattels.
We Avere all rather singularly equipped for the
journey : some of the party wore large boots coming
up to the knee, similar to those used by fishermen,
which were found to be invaluable in crossing many
of the rivers on horseback. For my own part I was
content with a pair of waterproof Wellington boots,
which I had purchased at Tronyem for about sixteen
shillings Fnglish money, and they were found
to answer thoroughly, being in all respects what
they professed to be.
A great part of the time consumed by the guides
was lost in determining how the baggage should be
divided, and on Avhich horse should be placed the
heaviest and on which the lightest load ; and more
time still was expended in shifting the loads from
one horse to another several times after they had,
as I thought, made up their minds. At length all
being arranged, we each mounted our steeds and
proceeded onwards. We were escorted for a short
distance by two or three of the Danish residents of
Reikiavik, Avho, after taking leave of us, proceeded
to Havnefiord. The first part of our route was
strewn o\'er with rocks, partaking of the same
il
km