riding, for two hours more, so far up as the horses would go safely, since travelling on foot in Iceland is accounted very mean. Leaving the horses at the end of that time, we began to ascend in earnest, but soon afterwards became enveloped in a regular white mist-which made the local guide from Noefrholt commence presently to look about him, so as to show us every now and then, smiling, an unmistakably fine set of teeth. "Fog," says the Icelandic proverb, "is a beautiful king's daughter, veiled in spells : she will be freed from them, only when all shepherds and mountaineers shall agree in blessing her." This is like saying that whenever the so-called " organ upon the face of the cliff at the Giant's Causeway shall begin to play, the whole natural curiosity will turn round three times or that whenever, and directly, the ruined palace of Ballyscullion, close to Lough Beg in the county of Londonderry, is restored, the Duke of Connaught will come there to reside. To return

to our present situation, the compass proved entirely useless, by reason of some iron, most likely, in the mountain; and our footing moreover was by no means sure, any more than on the ashes of Vesuvius; while the surrounding scene was at this crisis like some vast remains of a smouldering fire, only just extinguished, its ashes and cinders all fresh, black, loose, and of great size, while the mist rolled in between them. Here for a time we remained standing, not knowing whither to proceed; our bearings were entirely lost, nor did we make them out until Einar Sæmundsson (second guide) discovered on the ashes very near to where we stood a footprint -which was proved afterwards to be that of Captain Burton (or one of his party this year)— and we followed the direction of it right on to the summit, arriving about five o'clock upon the brink of that narrow crater, made by the last eruption. Down into this we now crept upon the ice and snow, in very humble attitude, the

others allowing me-with all due ceremony-to go first. Presently the opening admitted only a limited supply of light: so finding we had gained a place where it was possible to stand upright, and hoping there might be some extraordinary echo, I called a halt and made the others chant a national air, one that was of great antiquity; the song went off very well, but the echo was disappointing. Coming out again into the light, each one of us took part in that ode of Horace -for the Icelanders know Latin-which has been set to music by a man named Flemming, and commences

“Integer vitæ scelerisque purus,

Sive per Syrtes iter æstuosas,

Sive facturus per inhospitalem

Caucasum, vel quæ loca fabulosus

Lambit Hydaspes,"

which the connection between the Caucasus and Iceland, before alluded to, might tempt one to change into Hyperborean latitudes if the ode were English, or into Hyperboreos

montes if it were another metre, "an imaginary range of mountains in the N. of the Earth, afterwards applied by geographers to various chains, as for example-The Caucasus."

We scraped away a little of the snow beneath our feet, then made a slight hollow in the earth, and the heat of the stones resembled that of redhot coals, no easy matter to lay hold of, even at this short distance from the surface; then as the mist showed no sign of clearing up or letting us have any of that view so magnificent in fine weather, I agreed we should descend-but did not see the reason of such violent haste as the others now began to show in making for their horses. I was borne along in the confusion, and sadly began to feel (by the way these fellows went on) the force of that old established saying, standard proverb, and wise maxim, that

"An old man in love, is like Mount Hecla: the summit is covered with snow, while the inside is full of flame!"

Gudmundr, whose name has occurred already

as a companion, continued so throughout the time I spent upon the island: whether receiving or returning the hospitality of Reikjavik, whether travelling by land, or going anywhere by seain town he shared my lodging, at sea my cabin, and on land my tent. His attainments made him of great service in explaining the literature and language of the people throughout Iceland, as he knew the old language naturally, and spoke excellent English besides, having been at the college of Reikjavik, and there made good use of his time; explaining to me also, by his knowledge of past history, everything upon the route for the usages of the present day in Iceland are the same as they have been for centuries, and many a humble dwelling that we passed was inhabited by a family that dated back as far, if we are to believe them, as the time which the Sagas describe. Not more than twenty years of age, Gudmundr possessed features of that pure Norman type that we occasionally