ON THE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY OF ICELAND. 243 
Part III. 
REMARKS IN REFERENCE TO THE GEYSIRS AND THE FISHERIES 
OF ICELAND. 
The Geysir. 
On the 11th of July, at 10.30 a.m., the Reverend F. W. 
Henstock and I started for the Geysir with two guides and 
eight ponies. Our route, for a considerable time after leaving 
Thingvellir, lay through an extensive forest of birch and 
willow. After gaining the summit of a steep rise we halted 
for luncheon, and at 12.55 started again. At 2.30, after the 
descent of a long and steep slope, we rested for a short 
time in the midst of a grassy plain. The mountains imme- 
diately surrounding this plam resemble gigantic cinder 
heaps, diversified by grey lichen in many places of the upper 
portion of their surface. Geometride proved abundant, 
especially on the first portion of our journey. The weather 
was cloudy, much cooler and more adapted for travelling 
than it had been. Up a valley stretching to the left of our 
line of route we observed a large hole half-way up the side 
of the mountain, but I had no means of obtaining accurate 
information how far this cave extended within the hill. We 
then passed two lakes at some little distance on our right ; 
—during the last part of this day’s journey there was a 
drizzling mist on the mountains, Myrdal farm, the half-way 
house to the Geysir, is close to a newly-built church of wood, 
a clean building, where we obtained a comfortable bed, 
eider-down quilts being brought from the farm for our 
benefit. The rivulet at Myrdal, as it issues from a dark and 
gloomy gorge close by, is divided into various sections, 
encircling extensive beds of moraine, and is known by the 
name of the Skyrlandsa, A small green-flowering orchis, 
Platanthera hyperborea, is to be found in tolerable abund- 
ance here, as also, subsequently, on the approach to the 
Geysir, and a small flowering Epilobium (Epilobium palustre), 
whose natural habitat is this loose shingle. The only centi- 
pede (Lithobius forficatus) that I have seen in Iceland was 
discovered by me this evening, under a stone on the wall of 
the Myrdal homestead. 
After a pouring rain, which continued all night and also 
