THE ICELANDERS. 



105 



CHURCH AT THINGVALLA. 



patched up with turf and rubbish of all sorts, very much in the style of a stork's 

 nest. A low stone wall encircles the premises, but seems to be of little use as a 

 barrier against the encroachments of live-stock, being broken up in gaps every 

 few yards. In front of the group some attempt has been made at a pavement, 

 which, however, must have been abandoned soon after the work was com- 

 menced. It is now Jittered all over with old tubs, pots, dish-cloths, and other 

 articles of domestic use. 



"The interior of this strange abode is even more complicated than one 

 would be led to expect from the exterior^ Passing through a dilapidated door- 

 way in one of the smaller cabins, which you would hardly suppose to be the 

 main entrance, you find yourself in a long dark passage-way, built of rough 

 stone, and roofed with wooden rafters and brushwood covered with sod. The 

 sides are ornamented with pegs stuck in the crevices between the stones, upon 

 which hang saddles, bridles, horse-shoes, bunches of herbs, dried fish, and various 

 articles of cast-ofE clothing, including old shoes and sheepskins. Wide or nar- 

 row, straight or crooked, to suit the sinuosities of the different cabins into 

 which it forms the entrance, it seems to have been originally located upon the 

 track of a blind boa-constrictor. The best room, or rather house — for every 

 room is a house — is set apart for the accommodation of travellers. Another 

 cabin is occupied by some members of the pastor's family, who bundle about 

 like a lot of rabbits. The kitchen is also the dog-kennel, and occasionally the 

 sheep-house. A pile of stones in one corner of it, upon which a few twigs or 

 scraps of sheep-manure serve to make the fire, constitute the cooking apartment. 

 The floor consists of the original lava-bed, and artificial puddles composed of 



