sh prints ornament the
whitewashed walls; porcelain, plate, cut-glass, &c., are displayed on
chests and on tables; and flower-pots with roses, mignonnette, and pinks
spread a delicious fragrance around. I even found a grand pianoforte
here. If any person could suddenly, and without having made the journey,
be transported into one of these houses, he would certainly fancy himself
in some continental town, rather than in the distant and barren island of
Iceland. And as in Havenfiord, so I found the houses of the more opulent
classes in Reikjavik, and in all the places I visited.

From these handsome houses I betook myself to the cottages of the
peasants, which have a more indigenous, Icelandic appearance. Small and
low, built of lava, with the interstices filled with earth, and the whole
covered with large pieces of turf, they would present rather the
appearance of natural mounds of earth than of human dwellings, were it
not that the projecting wooden chimneys, the low-browed entrances, and
the almost imperceptible windows, cause the spectator to conclude that
they are inhabited. A dark narrow passage, about four feet high, leads
on one side into the common room, and on the other to a few compartments,
some of which are used as storehouses for provisions, and the rest as
winter stables for the cows and sheep. At the end of this passage, which
is purposely built so low, as an additional defence against the cold, the
fireplace is generally situated. The rooms of the poorer class have
neither wooden walls nor floors, and are just large enough to admit of
the inhabitants sleeping, and perhaps turning round in them. The whole
interior accommodation is comprised in bedsteads with very little
covering, a small table, and a few drawers. Beds and chests of drawers
answer the purpose of benches and chairs. Above the beds are fixed rods,
from which depend clothes, shoes, stockings, &c. A small board, on which
are arranged a few books, is generally to be observed. Stoves are
considered unnecessary; for as the space is very confined, and the house
densely populated, the atmosphere is naturally warm.

Rods are also placed round the fireplace, and on these the wet clothes
and fishes are hung up in company to dry. The smoke completely fills the
room, and slowly finds its way through a few breathing-holes into the
open air.

Fire-wood there is none throughout the whole island. The rich
inhabitants have it brought from Norw