CHAP. XII.

Journey through the Syssels of Dala, Bardastrand, and Isafiord-Hvam-Svinadal-Saubæarsveit-KampurDomestic Scene-Reykiaholar-Hot Springs-Breidafiord and its Islands-Eider Ducks-Flatey-Hergisley -Effects of Drunkenness - Briámslæk - Bildudal — Hrafnseyri-Foxes-Thingeyri-Hollt-Return-Superstition-Vatnseyri-Saudlauksdal-Eggert Olafsen -Bardastrand-Sturturbrand-Gilsfiord-Raudsey— Skard-Basaltic Pillars near Budardal.

IN the forenoon of Monday, the 5th of June, I got the farmer of Snoksdal to accompany me to Hiardarhollt, the residence of the Dean, in our way to which we had to pass two formidable rivers, Haukadalsá and Laxá, both of which had been unfordable for several days, and we found the latter still swelled, and rolling along with great rapidity. At a short distance from Snoksdal, we passed to the right of Kvennabrecka, the birth-place of the learned antiquary, Arna Magnæus, who was very industrious in collecting the ancient Icelandic MSS. and bequeathed to the University Library of Copenhagen, what of his own private library escaped the flames which consumed his house in the year 1728. It is from these MSS. that the critical edition of the Edda, and editions of the more important Sagas are publishing by a committee of learned gentlemen in Copenhagen, acting as trustees of the legacy.

I had now to cross several of the long dales which give the name to the Syssel, most of which produce excellent pasturage; and the low hills by which they are separated from each other are overgrown for the most part with coarse

grass, heath, or stunted birch. It was pleasing to see the flocks of sheep and lambs that were scattered about in every direction; though, at the same time, the agreeable sensation was in some measure diminished by the reflection that numbers of the lambs were dying from the intensity of the cold. I was informed, that, at an average, the mortality this season amounted to nine or ten on every farm: a loss of a very serious nature to an Icelandic peasant.

The Dean I found to be an aged man of seventy-seven. He expressed great satisfaction at the new supply of Bibles that had been provided for his countrymen. His investigation had just been completed, from which it appeared that the greatest want of the inspired volume existed in the Dales. Having given him an order on Mr Benedictson of Stickesholm for the requisite number of copies, and partaken of some refreshment, I pursued my journey across the hills and dales that stretch forward and terminate in the eastern shore of the Hvamsford; which bay I skirted for some time, till reaching its termination, I struck off to the church of Hvam, from which it takes its name, where I arrived about six in the evening.

Hvam is most agreeably situated on the east side of a short, but beautiful and fertile valley, surrounded on every side, excepting the south, by high precipitous mountains, some of which furnish specimens of long four-sided needles of obsidian, surturbrand, and various minerals of volcanic formation. It was first taken possession of by Audur the Rich, widow of a noted pirate king called Oleif the White, who, after having made the conquest of Dublin, was proclaimed King of that part of Ireland; but his kingdom was of short duration, as he soon afterwards fell in battle. His queen was obliged to make her escape into Scotland; but not deeming herself safe in that country, she caused a vessel to be built privately in one of the forests of Caithness, and proceeded by way of the Orkney and Faroe Islands to Iceland, with twenty free men in her train. Establishing herself at this place, she soon rendered herself conspicuous by her profession of the Christian religion, and chose, as the

place of her devotions, a bold and precipitous rock in the front of the mountain, where, at a distance from the bustle of human affairs, and commanding a majestic view of the works of God, she caused a cross to be erected, and adored that Redeemer into whose name she had been baptised. From this circumstance, the rock obtained the name of Krossholum, which it still retains. On the re-establishment of idolatry in these parts after her death, a place of heathen worship was erected upon the rock,* and it was held in such repute that the superstitious multitude regarded it as the gate of the invisible world.+

Hvam is also famous as the birth-place of Snorro Sturluson, the celebrated northern historian. It was long occupied by a succession of mighty chiefs, the relics of whose authority are still visible in an octagonal mound, called the Lögretta, where they were accustomed to administer justice among their dependants.

The incumbent, Sira Jon Gislason, received me in the kindest manner; and I soon recognised in him a deep sense of religion, and a spirit and manners truly apostolic. We spent the remainder of the evening in religious conversation, in which he took the most lively interest. Indeed, I anticipated this immediately on entering his room, as the Bible he had just been reading was still lying on the table.

As it was necessary for me to have an interview with the Sysselman, I purposed to travel the following day along the base of the mountains on the north side of the bay; but learning from my host that he was absent, I resolved to visit him on my return, and directed my course into a wild mountainous region through the valley of Svinadal, a little to the east of Hvam. The mountains on either side are of an ordinary height, but very irregularly formed, and pre

The ancient Scandinavians had two different kinds of places appropriated to the worship of their idols; the one open and unroofed, with a huge stone in the middle, to which they gave the name of Hörg: the other, properly a temple, and designated by the appellation of Hof. It was the former that was raised on Krossholum.

+ Landnám. Part II. caps. xv. and xvi.

sented evident marks of the successive revolutions to which they had been subjected. Large masses of lava, that had fallen down from their original beds, lay scattered about on both sides of the valley; and, at one plac, I fell in with several fragments of surturbrand, but the ravine through which they had been washed, being still full of snow, it was impossible to discover its site.

That the heat which once raged in this tract is not yet altogether extinguished, is plainly discoverable from the hot springs in the mouth of the valley; and the white incrustations that present themselves in various places, prove the existence of numerous springs in former times. We had here to cross a river repeatedly by means of snow bridges, many of which were of no great thickness. The quantity of snow we encountered in our descent was immense. never melts, but accumulates from year to year; and there is every reason to suppose that it will ultimately become a

Yökul.

It

Leaving this cold and cheerless tract, we entered a valley that strikes off from its termination in a westerly direction; at first narrow, rocky, and sterile, but gradually opening into an extensive marshy plain, the farms of which collectively assume the name of Saurbæar-sveit. From the isthmus to the north of this plain, a central chain of mountains extend through the whole of the north-west peninsula, and shooting forward collateral branches from its sides, it receives a number of large bays from the circumjacent ocean. The road lies across these mountains; but though the season was considerably advanced, the quantity of snow that filled their gulleys rendered them absolutely impenetrable, so that I was obliged to abandon the idea of reaching the most distant Syssels by that route. By the advice of my kind friend, who had accompanied me from Hvam, I left my horses and the greater part of my baggage at the farm of Hvol, the peasant to whom it belongs engaging to proceed with me as far as Reykianess, from which place I was to make the tour of the islands in the Breidafiord.

About eleven o'clock at night I set off with my conductor,

a middle-aged man, of a good natural understanding, and clear and serious views of divine truth, in order to reach a difficult pass at the base of the mountains before the return of the tide in the Gilsfiord. This bay runs far up into the peninsula, but is of no great breadth. It is bounded by precipitous mountains on either side, from which numerous disruptions are incessantly taking place, so that the road is neither safe nor easy. At two o'clock we gained the end of the bay, where we found two small solitary cottages, one of which belongs to Dala, and the other to Bardastrand Syssel. Here winter still maintained his benumbing sway. The most of the ground was covered with snow, and only a few patches of vegetation appeared in the immediate vicinity of the houses. The mercury stood two degrees below the freezing point.

Passing the church of Garpsdal, we pursued our course to the eastern shore of Kroksfiord, which was strewed with beautiful chalcedonies, zeolites, and green jaspers; and at a short distance in the bay, rose several small islands, whose sides displayed superb basaltine appearances. We next crossed a tract of white schistiform stones, which seemed to owe their formation to the depositions of hot springs; and arrived about six in the morning at the small farm of Kampur, where I resolved to enjoy a few hours sleep.

Having left my tent and bedding at Huol, I was now under the necessity of choosing an Icelandic bed, which, I must confess, I did not like, on more accounts than one; but as my fatigue was excessive, I was the more easily reconciled to my situation. I was shewn into an out-house, while the mistress of the farm made up a bed for me in the sleeping apartment, to which I soon repaired, through a dark passage, from which a few steps led me into my chamber. The most of the family being still in bed, raised themselves nearly erect, naked as they were, to behold the early and strange visitor. Though almost suffocated for want of air, I should soon have fallen asleep, had it not been for an universal scratching that took place in all the beds in the room, which greatly excited my fears, notwithstanding the new