142 
HAUKARDAL. 
and by means of thick walls and a roof of turf, 
they are enabled to live without a fire in their 
sitting room throughout the year. I heard the 
riches of the inhabitant of Haukardal much 
talked of; they consisted of ten cows, five rams, 
and about an hundred sheep. An Icelandic 
churchyard is often in part enclosed by a rude 
wall of stone or turf, and the area, excepting 
only as much as is occupied by the building, is 
thinly sprinkled over with elevated banks of the 
green sod, which, alone, serve to mark the bu¬ 
rial places of the natives. This spot, previous 
to the arrival of the minister, on a sabbath affords 
a most interesting spectacle. Numerous parties 
of men, women, and children, who had come 
on horseback, and in their best apparel, were 
continually saluting each other; and any person, 
that had been absent from the place of worship 
for a more than usual length of time, either 
through illness or any other cause, was kissed 
by the whole congregation. As they were little 
accustomed to see strangers, they all flocked 
around us, presenting us with milk and cream 
from the neighbouring farm, and asking us an 
hundred questions. Many were surprised at our 
having come so far for the sake of seeing the Gey¬ 
sers, which they are accustomed to look at with 
the utmost indifference. The dress of the female 
