ight in my conjecture, I do
not know; I only speak according to my notions and my views.

I was obliged to pass this night in a cottage. Kalmannstunga contains
three such cottages, but no chapel. Luckily I found one of these houses
somewhat larger and more cleanly than its neighbours; it could almost
come under the denomination of a farm. The occupants, too, had been
employed during my ride to the cavern in cleansing the best chamber, and
preparing it, as far as possible, for my reception. The room in question
was eleven feet long by seven broad; the window was so small and so
covered with dirt that, although the sun was shining in its full glory, I
could scarcely see to write. The walls, and even the floor, were
boarded--a great piece of luxury in a country where wood is so scarce.
The furniture consisted of a broad bedstead, two chests of drawers, and a
small table. Chairs and benches are a kind of _terra incognita_ in the
dwellings of the Icelandic peasantry; besides, I do not know where such
articles could be stowed in a room of such dimensions as that which I
occupied.

My hostess, the widow of a wealthy peasant, introduced to me her four
children, who were very handsome, and very neatly dressed. I begged the
good mother to tell me the names of the young ones, so that I might at
least know a few Icelandic names. She appeared much flattered at my
request, and gave me the names as follows: Sigrudur, Gudrun, Ingebor, and
Lars.

I should have felt tolerably comfortable in my present quarters,
accustomed as I am to bear privations of all kinds with indifference, if
they would but have left me in peace. But the reader may fancy my horror
when the whole population, not only of the cottage itself, but also of
the neighbouring dwellings, made their appearance, and, planting
themselves partly in my chamber and partly at the door, held me in a far
closer state of siege than even at Krisuvik. I was, it appeared, quite a
novel phenomenon in the eyes of these good people, and so they came one
and all and stared at me; the women and children were, in particular,
most unpleasantly familiar; they felt my dress, and the little ones laid
their dirty little countenances in my lap. Added to this, the confined
atmosphere from the number of persons present, their lamentable want of
cleanliness, and their filthy habit of spitting, &c., all combined to
form a most dreadful whole. During these visits I did more penance than
b