race of footsteps,
either of men or animals; we were the only living beings in this dreadful
region. I certainly scolded my guide roundly for bringing me by such a
road. But what did I gain by this? It would have been as dangerous to
turn back as to go on.

A change in the weather, which till now had been rather favourable,
increased the difficulties of this journey. Already when we left
Kalmannstunga, the sky began to be overcast, and the sun enlivened us
with its rays only for a few minutes at a time. On our reaching the
higher mountains the weather became worse; for here we encountered clouds
and fog, which wreaked their vengeance upon us, and which only careered
by to make room for others. An icy storm from the neighbouring glaciers
was their constant companion, and made me shiver so much that I could
scarcely keep my saddle. We had now ridden above thirteen hours. The
rain poured down incessantly, and we were half dead with cold and wet; so
I at length determined to halt for the night at the first cottage: at
last we found one between two or three miles from Thingvalla. I had now
a roof above my head; but beyond this I had gained nothing. The cottage
consisted of a single room, and was almost completely filled by four
broad bedsteads. I counted seven adults and three children, who had all
to be accommodated in these four beds. In addition to this, the kvef, a
kind of croup, prevailed this spring to such an extent that scarcely any
one escaped it. Wherever I went, I found the people afflicted with this
complaint; and here this was also the case; the noise of groaning and
coughing on all sides was quite deplorable. The floor, moreover, was
revoltingly dirty.

The good people were so kind as immediately to place one of their beds at
my disposal; but I would rather have passed the night on the threshold of
the door than in this disgusting hole. I chose for my lodging-place the
narrow passage which separated the kitchen from the room; I found there a
couple of blocks, across which a few boards had been laid, and this
constituted the milk-room: it might have been more properly called the
smoke-room; for in the roof were a few air-holes, through which the smoke
escaped. In this smoke or milk-room--whichever it may be called--I
prepared to pass the night as best I could. My cloak being wet through,
I had been compelled to hang it on a stick to dry; and thus found myself
under the necessity of borrowing a