THINGEY ALLE. 
93 
made of lava and turf, in alternate layers, with 
a door for the admittance of the women, and a 
small square opening, just high enough to per¬ 
mit the sheep and lambs to be driven in; a still 
smaller one communicates with another little en¬ 
closure, into which, through this aperture, which 
is not large enough to admit the sheep, the lambs 
are put, whilst the mothers are milked; other¬ 
wise, they would be restless and unwilling to 
stand still. Many of these sheep afforded a 
quart of milk, of a rich quality, but that which 
comes of the second milking, is of, by far, the 
best; for it is the custom here, having milked 
the whole flock, to begin again and milk them 
a second time. The cows are milked in the open 
ground, with their hind legs tied by means of a 
horse-hair line. From the milking place, we 
visited the church, which stands upon a little 
eminence, at a short distance from the minister’s 
dwelling. It was of a simple construction; in 
form, an oblong quadrangle, with thick walls, 
leaning a little inwards, composed of alternate 
layers of lava and turf. The roof was of turf, 
thickly covered with grass, and from the top of 
this to the ground, the building was scarcely 
more than sixteen or eighteen feet high. The 
entrance end alone, was of unpainted fir planks, 
placed vertically, with a small door of the same 
materials. I was surprised to find the body of 
