218 
JOURNEY TO BORGAFIORD. 
direction, firmly imbedded in the solid rock,, re¬ 
sembling those figured in M. Bory de St. Vin¬ 
cent's Voyage excepting only that the Icelandic 
ones did not extend to the base of the rock, but 
merely occupied a few yards of the surface. The 
singularity of this place detained me till a late 
hour; yet, in spite of the fatigue of the day, I 
had the vexation to find on my return to the tent, 
that the continuance of the wind and cold caused 
me to spend as sleepless and uncomfortable a 
night as the preceding one. 
Monday, After having given up the early part 
July si, 0 r p le naming to the preservation of 
my botanical riches, we set off upon our journey, 
proceeding for the first part of the way over a 
shoulder of Skoul-a-fiel, and then over a mountain 
called Swein-a-scaur , the descent down which, 
through a gulley where we had to cross a torrent 
at least twenty times, was excessively steep and 
rocky, and so exposed to the fury of the north 
wind that we were compelled to alight from our 
horses and walk. The ground we trod upon was, 
however, not altogether bare of vegetation; for 
* See plate xi. of that work, where, on the left hand, 
is represented a rock containing similar horizontal pillars. 
Basaltic columns of the kind figured on the right hand of 
the plate are not uncommon in Iceland. 
