第10章 LETTER VI(1)

REYKJAVIK--LATIN CONVERSATION--I BECOME THE PROPRIETOROF TWENTY-SIX HORSES--EIDER DUCKS--BESSESTAD--SNORKOSTURLESON--THE OLD GREENLAND COLONY--FINLAND--A GENOESESKIPPER IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY--AN ICELANDIC DINNER--SKOAL--AN AFTER-DINNER SPEACH IN LATIN--WINGED RABBITS--DUCROW--START OF THE BAGGAGE-TRAIN.

Reykjavik,June 28,1856.

Notwithstanding that its site,as I mentioned in my last letter,was determined by auspices not less divine than those of Rome or Athens,Reykjavik is not so fine a city as either,though its public buildings may be thought to be in better repair.In fact,the town consists of a collection of wooden sheds,one story high--rising here and there into a gable end of greater pretentions--built along the lava beach,and flanked at either end by a suburb of turf huts.

On every side of it extends a desolate plain of lava that once must have boiled up red-hot from some distant gateway of hell,and fallen hissing into the sea.No tree or bush relieves the dreariness of the landscape,and the mountains are too distant to serve as a background to the buildings;but before the door of each merchant's house facing the sea,there flies a gay little pennon;and as you walk along the silent streets,whose dust no carriage-wheel has ever desecrated,the rows of flower-pots that peep out of the windows,between curtains of white muslin,at once convince you that notwithstanding their unpretending appearance,within each dwelling reign the elegance and comfort of a woman-tended home.

Thanks to Sigurdr's popularity among his countrymen,by the second day after our arrival we found ourselves no longer in a strange land.With a frank energetic cordiality that quite took one by surprise,the gentlemen of the place at once welcomed us to their firesides,and made us feel that we could give them no greater pleasure than by claiming their hospitality.As,however,it is necessary,if we are to reach Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen this summer,that our stay in Iceland should not be prolonged above a certain date,I determined at once to make preparations for our expedition to the Geysirs and the interior of the country.Our plan at present,after visiting the hot springs,is to return to Reykjavik,and stretch right across the middle of the island to the north coast--scarcely ever visited by strangers.Thence we shall sail straight away to Jan Mayen.

In pursuance of this arrangement,the first thing to do was to buy some horses.Away,accordingly,we went in the gig to the little pier leading up to the merchant's house who had kindly promised Sigurdr to provide them.

Everything in the country that is not made of wood is made of lava.The pier was constructed out of huge boulders of lava,the shingle is lava,the sea-sand is pounded lava,the mud on the roads is lava paste,the foundations of the houses are lava blocks,and in dry weather you are blinded with lava dust.Immediately upon landing I was presented to a fine,burly gentleman,who,I was informed,could let me have a steppe-ful of horses if I desired,and a few minutes afterwards I picked myself up in the middle of a Latin oration on the subject of the weather.Having suddenly lost my nominative case,Iconcluded abruptly with the figure syncope,and a bow,to which my interlocutor politely replied "Ita."Many of the inhabitants speak English,and one or two French,but in default of either of these,your only chance is Latin.At first I found great difficulty in brushing up anything sufficiently conversational,more especially as it was necessary to broaden out the vowels in the high Roman fashion;but a little practice soon made me more fluent,and I got at last to brandish my "Pergratum est,"etc.in the face of a new acquaintance,without any misgivings.On this occasion I thought it more prudent to let Sigurdr make the necessary arrangements for our journey,and in a few minutes I had the satisfaction of learning that I had become the proprietor of twenty-six horses,as many bridles and pack-saddles,and three guides.

There being no roads in Iceland,all the traffic of the country is conducted by means of horses,along the bridle-tracks which centuries of travel have worn in the lava plains.As but little hay is to be had,the winter is a season of fasting for all cattle,and it is not until spring is well advanced,and the horses have had time to grow a little fat on the young grass,that you can go a journey.I was a good deal taken aback when the number of my stud was announced to me,but it appears that what with the photographic apparatus,which I am anxious to take,and our tent,it would be impossible to do with fewer animals.The price of each pony is very moderate,and I am told I shall have no difficulty in disposing of all of them,at the conclusion of our expedition.

These preliminaries happily concluded,Mr.J--invited us into his house,where his wife and daughter--a sunshiny young lady of eighteen--were waiting to receive us.As Latin here was quite useless,we had to entrust Sigurdr with all the pretty things we desired to convey to our entertainers,but it is my firm opinion that that gentleman took a dirty advantage of us,and intercepting the choicest flowers of our eloquence,appropriated them to the advancement of his own interests.However,such expressions of respectful admiration as he suffered to reach their destination were received very graciously,and rewarded with a shower of smiles.