JOURNEY TO THE GEYSERS. 
75 
expiration of a fortnight at longest* lest the vessel 
should be ready for sea; for that there was no 
prospect of my getting to England this year* if I 
did not return with the Margaret and Anne* 
since the Flora* a ship of Mr, Phelps’* whose 
arrival he expected soon after our own* was not 
yet corns* and no other British vessel was ex¬ 
pected. Three horses were loaded with tents, 
provisions* &c., and a fourth was a relay. These 
were fastened to each other in a line, by a rope 
of twisted horse-hair* tied at one end to the tail 
of the first horse* and* at the other* to the under 
jaw of that which was next to it; and so on with 
the rest. My guide rode before* holding a line* 
fastened to the mouth of the first luggage-horse* 
so that they all followed exactly the same track s 
and* so accustomed are these horses to this mode 
of travelling, that, if they are not tied, they will 
still keep following each other, to the great an¬ 
noyance of any person who may happen to be 
riding them, and may wish to go a little faster 
than the rest* or to leave the regular line. A 
man from the ship* of the name of Jacob, who* 
although a German by birth, understood suffi¬ 
cient of Danish to act as interpreter between me 
and an Icelander, who spoke that language, rode 
a sixth horse, and I a seventh; yet even these* nu¬ 
merous as they may appear for one person, were 
found not sufficient for our journey. There is* 
