hich is Mount Hecla, situated in the southern part of the
island: its elevation is about 4800 feet above the level of the
sea."

GEORGE. "And there are hot springs, too, in this island; but they
have not all the same degree of heat. Mamma, do you know anything of
them?"

MRS. WILTON. "Those springs, whose tepid waters issue as gently as
an ordinary spring, are called Langers, or baths; others that throw
up boiling water with great noise, are denominated Caldrons, in
Icelandic 'Hverer.' The most remarkable is the Geyser, which is
found near Skalholdt, in the middle of a plain, where there are
about forty springs of a smaller size. It rises from an aperture
nineteen feet in diameter, springing at intervals to the height of
fifty or even ninety feet. In these hot springs, which formerly
served to baptize their Pagan ancestors, the Icelanders boil their
vegetables, meat, eggs, and other articles of food; but it is
necessary to cover the pot suspended in these steaming waters, in
order to prevent the volcanic odor from imparting a taste to their
contents. Iceland is not so barren as you might imagine from its
extreme cold, for gardening is cultivated throughout the island: but
there are no large trees."

MR. WILTON. "The present houses of the Icelanders differ little from
those used by their ancestors, who first colonized the island, and
are, no doubt, the best fitted for the climate. They are only one
story high; the stone walls have all the interstices stuffed with
moss, and are about six feet in thickness. In the better sort of
houses, the windows are glazed, in the others, secured by a thin
skin stretched over the frames. They have no chimney or grates; the
smoke escapes through a hole in the roof. The beds are merely open
frames filled with feathers or down, over which they throw their
blankets, and cover themselves with a counterpane of divers colors.
Their seats are, in general, the bones of a whale or a horse's
skull. But much is said and done in these rude huts which would
astonish you."

EMMA. "Are the Icelanders civilized people: I mean, at all refined?"

MRS. WILTON. "Every Icelander knows how to read, write, and
calculate, which is more than we can say of the English. They are a
grave, honest, benevolent people, but not remarkable for their
industry. Their favorite amusements, when assembled together,
consist in reading history or poetry, in singing, or playing at
chess, in which game they take great del