515 
of Edinburgh, Session 1874 - 75 . 
jsual to take this in two stages, halting at Thingvalla, which is 
rather less than half way, or about 35 miles from Reykjavik. 
Starting with several fellow-travellers on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
the 4th, under orders to return to our steamer on Saturday evening, 
it was early morning next day wdien we pitched our tents on that 
classic plain where, on the Friday, the King was to address the 
assembled deputies from all Iceland. My companions decided to 
remain and witness this great national demonstration. After a 
great deal of trouble I at last succeeded in finding a native who 
had no scruple on patriotic motives to absent himself, and act as 
my guide on to G-eysir; and, through the goodness of some Iceland 
friends, I was able to secure the companionship of a most intelli- 
gent lad of only 15 years of age, a student at Reykjavik, who, 
besides knowing Icelandic and Danish, could speak English re- 
markably well. Making an early start, then, with these two, and 
fi ve horses, on the morning of Thursday, 6th August, we managed 
to reach the G-eysir in 8 hours, meeting the king and his retinue 
on their way down. From one or two members of the American 
party, and some English travellers, who had preceded us, I learned 
that there were great expectations that the Greysir was at last to 
go off. It had erupted twice on the morning of Tuesday the 4th, 
but not since then, so that the king had been obliged to return, 
after boiling an egg at the edge of the basin. By those who were 
now about to follow him I was congratulated as being quite certain 
to see an eruption before morning; but no such good fortune was 
in store for us. Dr Hayes, of Arctic fame, kindly assisted in arrang- 
ing the tackling of rope and cord which I had brought with me 
for letting down the thermometer, and one of the English party, a 
Cambridge man, the Rev. E. MacCarthy of King Edward’s School, 
Birmingham, was even so good as to volunteer to remain behind 
and help me with my observations, an offer which I gladly accepted. 
I need hardly attempt to describe what travellers have so often 
described already, I mean the general situation and form of the 
Geysir tumulus, and the beautiful basin filled with pellucid water, 
by which this mound of deposited silica is crowned. The water in 
the centre seemed three or feet deep to the mouth of the funnel 
proper; but of course our measurements were necessarily taken 
from its surface in the basin, and this may account for the fact 
