THE GEYSERS. 63 and he pleaded for our getting a second crateful pro bono publico; but he was told by the captain that hay was one of the luxuries of Iceland: this little crateful would cost about two rix-dollars, and he believed that no further quantity could be obtained from the fanner at any price. We were, therefore, obliged to be content. Six of us lay down on the floor side by side, while a seventh stretched himself alongside their feet, and an eighth packed himself up in a condensed form somewhere outside the door. I lay down in my clothes and shoes, with merely a plaid over me. The party bore a considerable resemblance to a box of sardines; and had any one been disposed to turn, a general movement of the party, somewhat like that of a Venetian blind, would have been necessary before he could be gratified. In spite of the inconvenience, we all enjoyed a refreshing night’s rest. Getting up at an early hour, I proceeded to examine the field of the Geysers. It was only necessary to cross a little grass-park with a turf-enclosure, in order to find myself in that strange scene. It forms a gentle slope of perhaps a quarter of a mile in extent, under the shade of a long hill of about 300 feet in elevation. The Great Geyser is at the upper and further extremity of the field, and between it and the rocky crest of the hill are slopes of red ddbris, which I shall afterwards have to advert to. The steam everywhere rising and waving over the ground; the slight sulphureous smell; the multitude of apertures of various sizes, many of them in violent ebullition, and some flirting up jets of boiling water; the numerous steaming rills flowing over pave- ments of silicious incrustations—are sufficient to raise a feeling of wonder, even if no greater marvels were present. The grand attractions of the place are, however, the Great Geyser, and two other apertures called the Great and Little Strokr, which are not only large in comparison, but have the peculiarity of making occasional eruptions. The Great Geyser presents itself, in its calm intervals, as a circular pool of hot water, 72 feet in its largest diameter, and 4 feet deep, resting in a basin of silicious matter, and of a regular chalice-like shape, which forms the summit of a low conical mount composed of such stuff, rising perhaps ten feet above the general surface, but which has a much longer slope in one direction than

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