of the Icelanders. At the head of the beach we were met by the superior class of the inhabitants, by whom we were welcomed to the island, and among whom I was happy to recognise some of my own countrymen. We then proceeded to the house of Mr Knudsen, the partner of Mr Petræus, where we made an excellent supper on fresh salmon, and returned on board about one o'clock in the morning.

The day after my arrival was principally occupied in getting my luggage ashore from the vessel, and paying my respects to the Right Rev. the Bishop of Iceland, His Excellency the Governor, the Landfoged, and others, who, in the warmest terms, expressed their approbation of the object I had in view, in visiting the island. The bishop in particular, to whom I was favoured with a letter of introduction from the Right Rev. the Bishop of Zealand, testified his conviction of the great good that would result from the present instance of foreign benevolence; confirmed the accounts that had already been received by the Bible Society, respect, ing the extreme want of the Scriptures on the island; declared how sensible he was of the obligations under which his countrymen lay to their spiritual benefactors; and kindly promised to render me every assistance in his power, towards facilitating the attainment of my object.

Reykiavik, which, about fifty years ago, consisted merely of a few houses, has lately risen into some notice, having become the residence of the governor, the Episcopal see, the seat of the Supreme Court of Judicature, and the principal mercantile station on the island. It is situated on the south side of a considerable inlet of the Faxè Fiord, upon a low marshy ground, between two eminences that are partially covered with grass, and studded with a number of small cottages. It consists of two streets, the longer of which, built only on the one side, stretches along the shore, and is entirely occupied by the merchants: the other, which strikes off at the west end of the town, and runs almost in a direct line back to the margin of a small lake, contains the houses of the Bishop, Landfoged, and others not immediately engaged in trade. About the middle of this street, on the

east side, lies the public burying-ground, which is neatly enclosed with a new earthen wall, and has two gates, one to the street, and the other at the south-east corner opposite to the church. At the east end of the town, behind the range of houses along the beach, and in a parallel line with them, are the houses of the Governor, and Sysselmand; and a little behind these, to the south-west, is the church, which stands by itself, on a gentle rise of the green, occupying the space between the town and the lake. It is a heavy building of stone, and might make a commodious place of worship, were it not that the roof, which is covered with red tiles, is sadly out of repair, and it is not without danger that the congregation assemble in it in stormy weather. On the rising ground at the end of the governor's house, from which it is separated by a small rivulet, lies the house of correction, a large whitewashed stone building, which, at a distance, has the most respectable appearance of any about the place. The dwellinghouses, with two exceptions, are all constructed of wood in the Norwegian fashion, and have generally a storehouse or two, and a small garden attached to them. On the height to the west is the observatory, a small building of wood; and on the summit of the opposite eminence stands the school monument, which the students have raised with much pains from the calcined stones in the vicinity. At a short distance in the bay, are several small islands, the principal of which is Videy, which, on account of its agreeable situation, the richness of its pasture, and the number of eider-ducks that annually frequent it, is reckoned superior to any other spot in the southern parts of the island. It was formerly famous for its monastery, founded in the year 1226, but belongs at present to the crown, and is occupied by Chief Justice Stephenson. In many places it rests on beautiful pillars of basaltic lava, which, in conjunction with the crater a little to the west of the houses, leaves no room to doubt of its having been thrown up by a submarine volcano. Similar appearances are visible on the opposite coast near Reykiavik, where are also some hot springs, from which the bay most probably derives its name.

It is rather a striking coincidence, that the capital of Iceland should, as it were, by mere accident, happen to be built on the very spot where Ingolf, the first of the Norwegian emigrants that settled on the island, fixed his habitation. In conformity to a superstitious practice common in those days, that adventurer, on approaching the eastern coast, threw the principal wooden pillars of his former habitation into the sea, vowing he would settle wherever they were cast on shore. After some time, his slaves, whom he sent in search of them, found them driven up at this place, and Ingolf, true to his vow, fixed his abode at Reykiavik, though reproached by his own slaves for preferring so rugged and barren a spot to the fine districts they had passed on their way from the east. *

On the 17th I rode, in company with my friend Mr Pctræus, to Gardè, the residence of the very Rev. Marcus Magnusson, the archdeacon of Iceland, and dean of Guldbringè and Kiosar Syssels. In our way we fell in with the first effects I had seen of subterraneous fire-a tract of lava, rugged and wild, which, at first sight, threatened to put a stop to our journey. To whatever side we turned, nothing presented itself to our view but the dismal ruins of mountains, which have been so completely convulsed by the rcciprocal contention of the elements beneath, that, after having emitted immense quantities of lava, their foundations have given way, and the whole structure has fallen in, and continued to burn till the more fusible parts were entirely caleined. Large masses of rock, which one would scarcely suppose had been affected by fire, lie intermingled with the lava, which has burned with the most dreadful violence. These ruins are scattered in every direction, and assume the most forbidding and gloomy aspect. Having gained the summit of the hill to the west of the lava, a more agreeable prospect presented itself. Garde, from which this lava takes the name of Gardè-hraun,† lay directly before us; and, a

• Landnámabok. Part I. cap. 6, 7, 8.

+ Hraun, pronounced Hroyn, is the Icelandic for lava, and properly signifies a rough and rugged tract formed by melting or precipitation.

little to the right, the narrow peninsula of Alftaness, which juts out into the Hafnarfiord, and is adorned with the church and school of Bessastad, and a number of beautiful cottages. Besides the church, a pretty large building of wood, Gardè consists of several small houses, most of which are occupied by the archdeacon. On our arrival, he met us at the door, and gave us a welcome reception. After some desultory conversation, we came to the subject of the Scriptures; and I was happy to be informed, that the copies of the New Testament that had been sent him in 1812, had soon been disposed of, and that the desire of obtaining them was at last so keen, that the peasants would have paid double the price, if it had only been in their power to obtain them. He produced a specimen of the high estimation in which the Divine oracles are held by the Icelanders, and the assiduity with which they apply to the study of them. It was a copy of the Bible in folio, a great part of which had been devoured by the tooth of time; but the defective pages had all been replaced, and the text supplied in the most accurate manner. The hand-writing was such as would do honour to any writing-master in Europe. On my putting the question, whether it had not been written by a clergyman, or some other person in a public capacity, I was told, to my no small surprise, that it had been done by a common peasant, and that such instances of elegant penmanship are by no means uncommon in Iceland.

Having received, from the archdeacon, repeated assurances of assistance in the prosecution of my object, we left Gardè, and rode over a rough stream of lava to Hafnarfiord, which is situated on the north side of the bay of the same name, and near its termination. Just before coming to the harbour, as we were scrambling over the sharp crusts of the broken bubbles of lava, some of which were upwards of fifteen feet in height, I received peculiar gratification from the sight of a small hamlet neatly built of lava, and a garden in full verdure, which lay in the heart of one of these. This spot is completely sheltered from wintry blasts by the lofty walls formed by the surrounding crust, and has a fine south

ern exposure. The scenery was strikingly grotesque; and the contrast between the verdure and regularity observable in the garden, and the blackness and distorted forms of the lava, was inimitably grand. Hafnarfiord consists only of two mercantile houses, with their store-houses, and a few cottages inhabited by the working people. It is, however, remarkable, on account of its dry dock, which owes its erection to the enterprising spirit of Mr Sivertsen, and is the only thing of the kind on the island. We were here kindly received by that gentleman, who is already known to the friends of the Bible Society by the share he took in the distribution and sale of the New Testaments sent over in 1812. On our return to Reykiavik, the way led us through a tract of the lava still more horrific than that described above. The road, which in most places did not exceed the breadth of an ordinary foot-path, was so filled with sharp-pointed pieces of lava, that our poor horses could only proceed by cautiously stepping over one stone after another; and every now and then we were annoyed by large masses jutting out from the sides, which threatened to lacerate our feet, or, if we were off our guard, to precipitate us from our horses. Besides melted masses, resembling those on the other side of the tract, we encountered large and dangerous chasms, between which, at times, there was scarcely sufficient space left for our horses to pass. The gloom of night added to the horrors of the scene, and it was not without the most powerful apprehension of danger that we reached the opposite side of the tract. We arrived in town about one o'clock in the morning.

On my arrival in Iceland, it was with deep regret I learned, that the most favourable opportunity for the distribution of the Bibles and New Testaments this season was irretrievably lost. Had I come a month sooner, I should have arrived in the very middle of what is called the Handels-tid, or period of traffic, when several hundreds of the inhabitants repair to this place from all quarters of the island, and barter their home productions for foreign commodities, and articles of necessary use for the winter. They had now