lled and
devoured by a prodigious animal with two heads--and so on, without
end. Nothing is too marvelous for their credulity. One of my most
pleasant experiences was to talk with these good people, through the
aid of my guide, and hear them tell of the wonderful sights they had
seen with their own eyes. Nor do I believe that they had the remotest
intention of stretching the truth. Doubtless they imagined the reality
of whatever they said. It was very strange to one who had lived so
long among a sharp and rather incredulous race of men to hear
full-grown people talk with the simplicity of little children.

About half way on our journey toward Thingvalla it was necessary to
cross a bog, which is never a very agreeable undertaking in Iceland,
especially after heavy rains. This was not the worst specimen of its
kind, though; we afterward passed through others that would be
difficult to improve upon without entirely removing the bottom. A
considerable portion of Iceland is intersected by these treacherous
stretches of land and water, through which the traveler must make his
way or relinquish his journey. Often it becomes a much more difficult
matter to find the way out than to get in. Along the sea-coast, to the
southward and eastward, some of these vast bogs are quite impassable
without the assistance of a guide thoroughly acquainted with every
spot capable of bearing a horse. On the route to the Geysers we
generally contrived to avoid the worst places by making a detour
around the edges of the hills, but this is not always practicable. In
many places the hills themselves abound in boggy ground.

The formation of the Icelandic bog is peculiar. I have seen something
similar on the Pacific coast near Cape Mendocino, but by no means so
extensive and well-defined. In Iceland it consists of innumerable
tufts of earth from two to three feet high, interwoven with vegetable
fibres which render them elastic when pressed by the foot. These tufts
stand out in relief from the main ground at intervals of a few feet
from each other, and frequently cover a large extent of country. The
tops are covered with grass of a very fine texture, furnishing a good
pasture for sheep and other stock. So regular and apparently
artificial is the appearance of these grassy tufts, that I was at
first inclined to think they must be the remains of cultivated
fields--probably potato-hills, or places where corn had grown in
former times. Nor was it altoget