ll
have to swim. The guide and boatmen cannot leave the shore till the
horses have been forced into the stream; and even then they have to throw
stones, to threaten them with the whip, and to frighten them by shouts
and cries, to prevent them from returning.

When we had made nearly twelve miles on marshy roads, we came to the
beautiful waterfall of the Huitha. This fall is not so remarkable for
its height, which is scarcely more than fifteen to twenty feet, as for
its breadth, and for its quantity of water. Some beautiful rocks are so
placed at the ledge of the fall, that they divide it into three parts;
but it unites again immediately beneath them. The bed of the river, as
well as its shores, is of lava.

The colour of the water is also a remarkable feature in this river; it
inclines so much to milky white, that, when the sun shines on it, it
requires no very strong imaginative power to take the whole for milk.

Nearly a mile above the fall we had to cross the Huitha, one of the
largest rivers in Iceland. Thence the road lies through meadows, which
are less marshy than the former ones, till it comes to a broad stream of
lava, which announces the vicinity of the fearful volcano of Hecla.

I had hitherto not passed over such an expanse of country in Iceland as
that from the Geyser to this place without coming upon streams of lava.
And this lava-stream seemed to have felt some pity for the beautiful
meadows, for it frequently separated into two branches, and thus enclosed
the verdant plain. But it could not withstand the violence of the
succeeding masses; it had been carried on, and had spread death and
destruction everywhere. The road to it, through plains covered with dark
sand, and over steep hills intervening, was very fatiguing and laborious.

We proceeded to the little village of Struvellir, where we stopped to
give our horses a few hours' rest. Here we found a large assembly of men
and animals. {42} It happened to be Sunday, and a warm sunny day, and so
a very full service was held in the pretty little church. When it was
over, I witnessed an amusing rural scene. The people poured out of the
church,--I counted ninety-six, which is an extraordinarily numerous
assemblage for Iceland,--formed into little groups, chatting and joking,
not forgetting, however, to moisten their throats with brandy, of which
they had taken care to bring an ample supply. Then they bridled their
horses and prepared for depar