recorded,--the last having
occurred in 1845-46. One was prolonged for a period of six years,
spreading desolation over a country which had formerly been the seat of a
prosperous settlement, and burying the cultivated fields beneath a flood
of lava, scoriae, and ashes. During the eruption of 1845-46, three new
crater-vents were formed, from which sprang columns of fire and smoke to
the height of 14,000 feet. The lava accumulated in formidable masses,
and fragments of scoriae and pumice-stone weighing two hundredweight were
thrown to a distance of a league and a half; while the ice and snow which
had lain on the mountain for centuries were liquefied, and rolled in
devastating torrents over the plains.

Hekla is not the only volcanic mountain of Iceland. Mounts Leirhnukr and
Krabla, in the northeast, are very formidable; and one of the most
terrible eruptions recorded in the island annals was that of the Skapta
Jokul in 1783.

We have now completed our summary of Madame Pfeiffer's Icelandic
excursions. From the country we may pass to its inhabitants, and
ascertain the deliberate opinion she had formed of them after an
experience extending over several weeks, and under conditions which
enabled so shrewd an observer as she was to judge them impartially. Her
estimate of their character is decidedly less favourable than that of her
predecessors; but it is to be noted that in almost every particular it is
confirmed by the latest authority, Captain Burton. And the evidence goes
to show that they are not the simple, generous, primitive, guileless
Arcadians which it had pleased some fanciful minds to portray.

Their principal occupation consists in the fisheries, which are pursued
with the greatest activity during the months of February, March, and
April. The people from the interior then stream into the different
harbours, and bargain with the coast-population, the fishermen proper, to
help them for a share of the profits. On the other hand, in July and
August many of the coast-population penetrate inland, and lend their
services in the hay-harvest, for which they are paid in butter, wool, and
salted lamb. Others resort to the mountains in search of Iceland moss,
which they mix with milk, and use as an article of food; or grind it into
meal, and make cakes with it, as a substitute for bread. The labours of
the women consist in preparing the fish for drying, smoking, or salting;
in tending the cattle, in knitting, an