most dreary and fatiguing of all that can
be made in Iceland. The traveller passes from one desert valley into
another; he is always surrounded by high mountains and still higher
glaciers, and wherever he turns his eyes, nature seems torpid and dead.
A feeling of anxious discomfort seizes upon the wanderer, he hastens with
redoubled speed through the far-stretched deserts, and eagerly ascends
the mountains piled up before him, in the hope that better things lie
beyond. It is in vain; he only sees the same solitudes, the same
deserts, the same mountains.

On the elevated plateaux several places were still covered with snow;
these we were obliged to cross, though we could frequently hear the
rushing of the water beneath its snowy covering. We were compelled also
to pass over coatings of ice spread lightly over rivers, and presenting
that blue colour which is a certain sign of danger.

Our poor horses were sometimes very restive; but it was of no use; they
were beaten without mercy until they carried us over the dangerous
places. The pack-horse was always driven on in front with many blows; it
had to serve as pioneer, and try if the road was practicable. Next came
my guide, and I brought up the rear. Our poor horses frequently sank up
to their knees in the snow, and twice up to the saddle-girths. This was
one of the most dangerous rides I have ever had. I could not help
continually thinking what I should do if my guide were to sink in so
deeply that he could not extricate himself; my strength would not have
been sufficient to rescue him, and whither should I turn to seek for
help? All around us was nothing but a desert and snow. Perhaps my lot
might have been to die of hunger. I should have wandered about seeking
dwellings and human beings, and have entangled myself so completely among
these wastes that I could never have found my way.

When at a distance I descried a new field of snow (and unfortunately we
came upon them but too frequently), I felt very uncomfortable; those
alone who have themselves been in a similar situation can estimate the
whole extent of my anxiety.

If I had been travelling in company with others, these fears would not
have disturbed me; for there reciprocal assistance can be rendered, and
the consciousness of this fact seems materially to diminish the danger.

During the season in which the snow ceases to form a secure covering,
this road is but little travelled. We saw nowhere a t