234 SIR WILLIAM RAMSAY 



last. He too had made for the cliffs ; he took a gully of his own, 

 and must have been coming up when I was going down, or we 

 should have met on the plateau at the top. Then he walked 

 inland along the promontory, looking for another way down, 

 but found everything too difficult till he got a long way inland. 

 I was glad to meet Sigurjon again at Akureyri 19 years later, 

 and to hear him talk of the day when Mr. Ramsay was lost on 

 the hill. Then we came to Reykjavik ; I remember the surprise 

 of one of our Eyjafjord horses at first seeing a cart moving on 

 wheels. There are automobiles at Eyjafjord now, though it 

 will probably be some time yet before they have command of 

 the whole way between Akureyri and Reykjavik. 



We spent some days in Reykjavik, where we met again our 

 friends from the Thyra, Miss Taylor and D. W. Wheeler. They 

 were going home, and Ramsay with them, in the Laura ; I 

 stayed on to see more, and to take the Thyra again on her return 

 voyage west and north about. Before the Laura started, we saw 

 the sights of the capital of Iceland ; best of all the perpetual 

 view (it was then very fine summer weather) of the white dome 

 of Snaefell, 70 miles away, rising out of the sea the whole Snaefell 

 peninsula being of course very much hull down at that distance, 

 and the lower mountains east of Snaefell showing like mere islands 

 above the sea-line. 



I remember pretty clearly a walk to the hot springs of Reyk- 

 javik, a little way from the town. The water of the springs is 

 useful, and most of the Reykjavik washing is done there. Ramsay 

 I fo^k had been neglecting his argon and helium all this time ; 

 but the sight of the springs put him in mind of such things. 

 Then began the quest of the bottle among the washerwomen ; 

 the bottle was found ; and then Ramsay had to fill it with gas 

 from the spring, standing on stepping stones and treated with 

 no great respect by the dames who had to cross the water with 

 their bundles. I was sorry to be told that the bottle gave no 

 results afterwards." W. P. KER. 



