51 Every spring the accumulated masses suddenly melt and carry everything before them, tearing away whole miles of herbage, and covering the remainder with rocks, pebbles and lava dust. It is strange to notice how great strips of green have been sliced off the sides of the hills as if cut with a knife. In the valleys may be seen the founda- tions of several very old houses. It is the old story of life versus climate and as is generally the case here, the latter has got considerably the best of it. Beyond the plain is a place replete with historic interest, Skalholt, the ancient capital; here in the eleventh century was founded the first school; here was the seat of its first bishops; and here flourished a succession of great historians and poets. The cathedral was renowned far and wide for its size, and in the year 1100 Latin, poetry, music and rhetoric were better taught in its school than in many of the large European cities. Of its past glories Skalholt has retained nothing but its name. One only looks over the site to find that school, bishopric and cathedral have dis- appeared ; a few cottages contain all the inhabitants of the once celebrated city, and the extensive churchyard is the only memorial of its former importance. But the ever-changing tide of human affairs has not robbed the now lovely place of its natural charms, for it still remains a beautiful stretch of precious meadow land embedded in a range of hills and backed by a magnificent theatre of mountains. The river was in olden times spanned by a natural stone bridge, which according to some was destroyed by the order of the bishop’s wife, that beggars might be kept from her doors. We saw no beggars, and there is probably not one in the whole island, for as Dr Johnson said long ago A country that has no money is by no means convenient for beggars, because such countries are commonly poor and because charity requires some trouble, and some thought : a penny is easily given upon the first impulse of compassion, but few will deliberately search their cupboards or their granaries for something to give. He requires house room, fire and utensils, which the beggar knows not where to find in this country. The river which must be crossed to reach the mountains is probably the best known in

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