ALMANNEGTAA. 
85 
this rude but natural staircase, the sides, which 
were perpendicular, became proportionally higher, 
till, winding round some huge fallen pieces of 
rock, we entered the great chasm. A grassy 
bottom of considerable width, and extending as 
far as we could see, afforded a sufficient, though 
not a very luxuriant, pasture for our horses; and 
this determined me to have our tents fixed here, 
that we might remain all night in this remark¬ 
able spot. On the left of the entrance to my 
tent, rose a perpendicular wall, of, probably, two 
hundred feet, black and craggy, with here and 
there a little vegetation, and a stunted birch, 
which took root among the ledges of the rock: 
it was on the lofty summit of this that our priest 
told us criminals used to be executed * : on the 
grimpent, et menent leurs chevaux, qui montent ces 
“ degres, en faisant des sauts qui ne les av an cent pas 
“ toujours .”—Povelsen and Olafsen, § 863.—I presume, by 
the word tallies , Messrs. Povelsen and Olafsen do not mean 
to imply cut by art; for I certainly could not perceive that 
any artificial means had been employed, nor could they have 
been so to advantage, without more powerful engines than 
the Icelanders are possessed of. 
* On looking into the French edition of Povelsen and 
Olafsen's Travels , I find the above place mentioned as la 
f( roche escarpee d’ou l’on precipitait jadis, dans le b&cher, 
<c les victimes condamnees a etre brulees pour crime de sor~ 
“ celerie.” Tom. v. p. 363. 
