myself down to rest, in a happier state of mind than I recollected having done for years.

My tent and baggage having been completely soaked with the rain, and the horses tired with the fatigues of the preceding evening, I resolved to spend the following day at this place. On the clearing away of the mist, an extensive view of the surrounding country presented itself; but, with the exception of some small huts and grass-lands belonging to the farm, the eye wandered in vain in search of houses, or the least appearance of vegetation. The whole formed one vast desert, the gloomy uniformity of which was barely relieved by some snow and ice mountains, and a number of fantastically shaped volcanoes, that crowded into the scene, in almost every direction. Of these, the most remarkable was Herdubreid, or the Broad-Shouldered Volcano, so called from the shape of the crater, which is distinctly visible from this place. This mountain forms the meridian day-mark of the Grimstad family. Few of the Icelanders being in possession of watches, the only sun-dial they make use of is the natural horizon, which they divide into eight equal points, called day-marks (dagsmaurk), availing themselves of certain peaks or projections of the mountains; or, in the absence of these, they erect pyramids of stones on the corresponding heights. Most of these kinds of pyramids have originally been raised by the first settlers from Norway, and have been held in repair from generation to generation; which circumstance will account for the difference of time between the Icelandic computation, and that in common use with us. Their divisions are as follows:

In the vicinity of the factories, the marks approximate more to our hours; the natives finding it convenient to accommodate themselves, in this respect, to the usage of foreigners. In the names they give to the days of the week, the Icelanders pretty much resemble the Society of Friends; only they do not make use of the numerals throughout. With us, they call the first day of the week Sunnudagr, Sunday: and the second Mânadagr, Monday; but Tuesday they express by Thridindagr, the third day; Wednesday is Midvikudagr, the same as the German Mittwoche, mid-weekday; Thursday is called Fimtudagr, the fifth day; Friday, Föstudagr, the fast-day; and Saturday, Laugardagr, the bathing-day, it being universally the custom of the Scandinavians to frequent the bath on that day.-But to return to Grimstad.

The family, fifteen in number, were all busy at haymaking, close to my tent. The farm is held by a widow, who is assisted in the management of it by the brother of the departed, an aged man of about seventy. She has three sons, and seven daughters, all in the bloom and sprightliness of youth. Some were employed in tedding; others were removing the cocks already dry, and carrying them to the stack; while two lads were preparing sods for a defence against the rigour of winter.

"Even stooping age is here; and infant hands
Trail the long rake, or, with the fragrant load
O'ercharged, amid the kind oppression roll.”

I could not help admiring the cheerfulness and content which shone in every countenance; and I was more than ever convinced of the truth, that happiness is confined to no station, and that the fewer our real wants are, the greater is our enjoyment of life, undisturbed by the long train of cares and anxieties which harass and perplex the votaries of artificial luxury. Uncontaminated by intercourse with polished life, the inhabitants of this obscure farm preserve all the original simplicity of natural habits; and, ignorant of the cunning

and deceit, the perfidy and intrigue, which too often pervade more populous societies, they are unsuspecting, liberal, and kind, in the highest degree. They live at the distance of thirty miles from any neighbouring habitation; so that they are strangers to the petty feuds and quarrels of vicinage; and, mustering so strong a force at home, they stand in no need of foreign assistance. Their principal earthly care is the safety and provision of their flocks and herds, on which both their clothing and food depends, as well as the barter of the summer market. To no situation, therefore, could the sage advice of Solomon more aptly apply: "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds; for riches are not forever, nor doth the crown endure to every generation. The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of thy field. And thou shalt have goats milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens." Proverbs xxvii. 23–27. Their distance from any place of worship is so great, that they can only attend twice in the year, in order to receive the sacrament; and even then they do not repair to the parish church, but to a Bœnahus, or house of prayer, situated at a considerable distance in the desert, where two other solitary families meet with the clergyman for the abovementioned purpose. They, nevertheless, discover a superior degree of religious information, which is to be ascribed to their being in possession of a copy of the Scriptures, and a number of other good books, which they read every Sabbath in summer, and during a considerable portion of the long evenings in winter.

In the course of my evening walk I fell in with the crowded pen, in which were two girls, employed in milking the sheep. Observing that they were upwards of fifty in number, and that such as had been milked were soon lost among those that were unmilked, I asked how it was possible for them to distinguish the sheep with so much ease? “O," said they, "we know them all by name;" a reply which at

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