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Meantime Zoega was enjoying himself by the fire in the kitchen, surrounded by the female members of the family, who no doubt were eagerly listening to the latest news from Reykjavik. Whenever their voices became audible I strongly suspected that the ladies were asking whether the steamer had brought any crinoline from Copenhagen. The pastor's family appeared to be composed entirely of females.
If there was any medicine left, a dose of quinine all around might do them good and prevent any ill effects from the rain; but, on the whole, I thought they would get along better with less baggage. "Less baggage!" cried all together. "Why, hang it, our baggage is scattered along the trail clear back to Reykjavik! It has been growing less ever since we started.
In addition to my rough ride from Reykjavik, and the various trying adventures on the way, I had walked over nearly the whole range of the Almannajau, sketched the principal points of interest, visited the Logberg, and made some sketches and diagrams of that, besides accomplishing a considerable amount of work about the premises of the good pastor, all of which is now submitted to the kind indulgence of the reader.
I wish she could have seen, as we sped across, how passionately the waves of the Atlantic flung their liquid arms about her neck, and how proudly she broke through their embraces, leaving them far behind, moaning and lamenting. Reykjavik, June 28, 1856.
We found in Reykjavik harbour a yacht belonging to Lord Dufferin.
To ascertain whether it might still be accessible from the north, it would have been necessary to have attempted a circuit to the eastward, the possible extent of which could not be estimated; moreover, we had consumed half our coals, and had lost all hope of being rejoined by the 'Saxon. Thus forced to give up any further attempts in that direction, Commodore de la Ronciere, having got the ship clear of the floating ice, took a W.S.W. course, in the direction of Reykjavik.
Nowadays, four fifths of the population live in villages and townships where some light industry has sprung up and, in Reykjavík alone, more than two fifths of the population are concentrated. In the last fifty years, the occupations of the people and their culture have changed from being in many respects medieval, and have assumed modern forms.
In reply they gave me a detailed and melancholy history of their experiences. Riley's Narrative of Shipwreck, and subsequent hardships on the coast of Africa, was nothing to it. Of the twenty-five horses with which they left Reykjavik only thirteen were sound of wind, and of these more than half were afflicted with raw backs. The pack-animals, eighteen in number, were every one lame.
Iceland ranks second among the geyser regions of the world, Yellowstone Park being first. The boiling springs and geysers are not confined to one locality but are scattered widely over the island. The most prominent are east of Reykjavik. According to its area probably no other part of the world except the island of Java has so many volcanoes.
His family came of the sturdy old Iceland stock that comes down to our time unshorn of its strength from the day of the vikings, and back to Iceland his people sent him to get his education in the Reykjavik Latin school, after a brief stay in Denmark where his teachers failed to find the key to the silent, reserved lad.
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