166 
SKALHOLT. 
the use of the frill of the shirt, and led me into no 
less perplexity by consulting me on the best mode 
of converting it into an article of apparel that 
might be serviceable to herself. I was much struck 
with this incident, as singularly characteristic of 
the simplicity of manners even of the higher 
classes of the inhabitants, and trifling as it may 
appear in itself, I therefore recorded the anecdote 
in my journal. A rainy afternoon made me come 
to a determination to turn our backs at once on 
Hecla # , and return without delay to Reikevig, 
in pursuance of which, about six o’clock in the 
evening, having struck our tents and procured 
guides, we took leave of our kind hostess at Skal- 
holt, and set out upon our journey, proposing to 
travel on, keeping along the south side of Apn- 
vatn, till we reached Thingevalle. The first part 
of our route was truly execrable, lying over rocky 
hills, whose surfaces were every where strewed 
with loose angular pieces of stone. A steep de¬ 
scent brought us to the banks of a deep and wide 
river, where we found a miserable conveyance for 
ourselves and luggage in a boat which had been 
formed out of half a larger one, and was so leaky 
as to require continual baling till we reached the 
opposite shore. Our horses were obliged to swim, 
which they did with great dexterity, keeping 
* See Appendix C. for an account of this mountain. 
