86 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



swept off their legs. It was not a pleasant sight 

 to see all one's belongings being whisked down the 

 current at seven miles an hour. Geoff said all his 

 plates were irrevocably destroyed, and many of 

 the boxes were entirely submerged. We made all 

 speed down-stream parallel to the swimmers, 

 chiefly anxious because a high bank crowned the 

 other side, and it was impossible to see any landing- 

 place where the ponies could get footing. But it 

 is a very bad place indeed that puts a good Iceland 

 pony in a fix, and first one little animal got footing 

 on a steep place, out of which a man could hardly 

 have climbed, and then another, till the whole lot 

 stood shaking and dripping on the further shore, 

 and we were in a measure comforted. It was 

 some time before we made a crossing, and Thor- 

 grimmer had to hold Mary on to her pony and work 

 very slowly across the torrent, which coursed over 

 our saddles." 



The next day we reached the Central Fiskivatn, 

 a big chain of lakes in the middle of Iceland and 

 famed for its excellent trout-fishing. Here we 

 stopped for three days and enjoyed some excellent 

 sport. The first day I caught three dozen trout, 

 averaging nearly a pound each, and on the second 

 we went far afield to a stream where Thorgrimmer 

 said there were fewer trout but bigger fish. In the 

 morning I captured five or six fish ranging from 

 two to three and a half pounds. They were nice 

 lively fellows, and, being in somewhat better con- 

 dition, fought well. In the afternoon, following 

 the same stream, there was the usual place where 

 a small lake debouched into a river again, and full 

 of good trout. I fished away steadily for an hour 



