IC2LANO. 



The hot springs of Iceland have been for ages cele- 

 brated, and some of them, have even ranked among the 

 seven wonders of the world. I was so fortunate as to 

 witness a very successful performance of the Great 

 Geyser (i.e. Gusher), and congratulate myself on the 

 same, as in his old age he is becoming less fond of display, 

 and has even remained gloomy and taciturn while Prince 

 Napoleon and his photographers and painters and mathe- 

 maticians were standing ready for days to picture, 

 measure, and immortalise him. 



Geysers are very common in Iceland. They may be 

 frequently seen steaming away like energetic pots in the 

 plains, and waving their white flags in the breeze. Some- 

 times they obligingly throw their hot water into the icy 

 lakes, and doubtless thereby gladden the cold toes of the 

 fish ; sometimes they bubble and boil deep down below 

 ground, in dark holes of unpleasant aspect. 



In the valley of " Hawk-dale," where the Geyser 

 presides, it is said above one hundred hot springs are 

 found ; but only a few of them are in any way remarkable. 

 Most of these are placed on the slope of a low hill of slaty 

 tuffa, which rises to a height of about three hundred feet 

 above the valley ; and from the summit of this hill a most 

 beautiful view is got, not only of the boiling springs below, 

 but also of the long green valley, with its many rivers 

 and purple ridges of bordering hills, immediately beyond 

 which towers the double cone of Heckla, and the range of 

 dome-shaped Jokiills on either side. 



Near the base of this hill there is a most beautiful, 



