against so impetuous a current, was altogether out of the question. Apprehensive, therefore, of danger, and conceiving that the lad might not be able to get the horses back alone, I at last resolved to wade over to his assistance. I chose, as nearly as I could, the place we had forded, which, owing to a gentle declivity, was more shallow than any other; but had nearly paid dear for my temerity, as the water stood almost to my middle, and twice or thrice I felt myself borne a little down, and must inevitably have been carried away, had not the stones at the bottom held my feet, while I inclined with all my strength against the current, till, after a few violent efforts, I succeeded, by the kind providence of God, in reaching the dry land. Having returned thanks to my Almighty Deliverer, for this fresh instance of his mercy, and emptied my boots of the water that had got into them, I bent my course into the desert; and, after walking about a mile, to my no small joy, met the lad with the horses. We now made again for the sand-bank, and driving them into the river, somewhat higher up, they at length gained the opposite bank, near the place where my servant was waiting; and, while the lad plied at the oar, I had the disagreeable task assigned me of holding the reins of one of the horses, while swimming, which we could not venture with the rest; and which threatened, at times, to overturn the boat with his head. In a minute or two, we were far below the sand-bank; and, had it not been for my confidence in Divine protection, I must have viewed myself as swept along to a watery grave; but," he that had delivered, did again deliver," and brought me in safety to the wished-for bank. It had now become so dark, that we could scarcely see to re-load the horses; and yet we had six miles of a desert country to explore alone, the guide from Reykiahlid quitting us at this place. At first we could discover the track from the greater darkness of the sand, but we had not advanced two miles ere it became wholly invisible; and, after alighting from our horses, and feeling in vain with our hands, we were obliged to commit ourselves to God, and the instinct of one of our horses, as his instrument during the remainder of the way. I had often heard of surprising feats being accomplished by the Icelandic horses; yet they had more the appearance of the tales of other years than that of sober facts. In my present circumstances, an opportunity presented itself of bringing them to the test of experience. Suffering the steeds to go loose, and placing the oldest first, we were conducted, without a single accident, over heights and hollows, till, all at once, we were stopped in our progress by a steep elevation, the nature of which, with all our groping, we could not possibly ascertain. At last, after crossing and recrossing it several times, my servant explained the mystery, by exclaiming, "Ho! here is a window!" * so that, after having rode four miles across an unknown desert, in a night of extreme darkness, we had the great satisfaction to find we had arrived at Grimstad, the appointed limit of our journey for that day. As it was past twelve o'clock, the family were sunk in the most profound sleep; yet, on being called up, they arose with the greatest alacrity; and I had scarcely got time to hang up a lamp they had the kindness to lend me, when the landlady and one of her daughters made their appearance in the tent, with a large bason of hot milk, bidding me repeatedly welcome, and tenderly sympathizing with me in my perplexities and troubles. With heartfelt gratitude I prostrated myself before the God of my life; praised him for the numberless mercies of the day; and, commending myself, during the remainder of my journey, to his blessing, I laid 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 * On relating this anecdote to one of the most respectable public officers in Reykiavik, he informed me that, one dark night he was in like manner puzzled by a height that fell in his way; but applying the whip to his horse, he obliged him to mount it, and did not discover his situation till one of the fore-feet of the animal sunk into a hole, which, on stepping off, he found to be the chimney of a house! 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 grasslands 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: |