is most peculiar. One
could fancy they were clinging to the walls of rock.

This ravine is known by the name of Almanagiau. Its entire length is
about a mile, but a small portion only can be traversed; the rest is
blocked up by masses of lava heaped one upon the other. On the right
hand, the rocky wall opens, and forms an outlet, over formidable masses
of lava, into the beautiful valley of Thingvalla. I could have fancied I
wandered through the depths of a crater, which had piled around itself
these stupendous barriers during a mighty eruption in times long gone by.

The valley of Thingvalla is considered one of the most beautiful in
Iceland. It contains many meadows, forming, as it were, a place of
refuge for the inhabitants, and enabling them to keep many head of
cattle. The Icelanders consider this little green valley the finest spot
in the world. Not far from the opening of the ravine, on the farther
bank of the river Oxer, lies the little village of Thingvalla, consisting
of three or four cottages and a small chapel. A few scattered farms and
cottages are situated in the neighbourhood.

Thingvalla was once one of the most important places in Iceland; the
stranger is still shewn the meadow, not far from the village, on which
the Allthing (general assembly) was held annually in the open air. Here
the people and their leaders met, pitching their tents after the manner
of nomads. Here it was also that many an opinion and many a decree were
enforced by the weight of steel.

The chiefs appeared, ostensibly for peace, at the head of their tribe;
yet many of them returned not again, but beneath the sword-stroke of
their enemies obtained that peace which no man seeketh, but which all men
find.

On one side the valley is skirted by the lake, on the other it is bounded
by lofty mountains, some of them still partly covered with snow. Not far
from the entrance of the ravine, the river Oxer rushes over a wall of
rock of considerable height, forming a beautiful waterfall.

It was still fine clear daylight when I reached Thingvalla, and the sky
rose pure and cloudless over the far distance. It seemed therefore the
more singular to me to see a few clouds skimming over the surface of the
mountains, now shrouding a part of them in vapour, now wreathing
themselves round their summits, now vanishing entirely, to reappear again
at a different point.

This is a phenomenon frequently observed in Iceland during the fines