In My Guide I Made The Acquaintance Of A Remarkable Antiquity Of
Iceland, Who Is Well Worthy That I Should Devote A Few Words To Her
Description.
She is above seventy years of age, but looks scarcely
fifty; her head is surrounded by tresses of rich fair hair.
She is
dressed like a man; undertakes, in the capacity of messenger, the
longest and most fatiguing journeys; rows a boat as skilfully as the
most practised fisherman; and fulfils all her missions quicker and
more exactly than a man, for she does not keep up so good an
understanding with the brandy-bottle. She marched on so sturdily
before me, that I was obliged to incite my little horse to greater
speed with my riding-whip.
At first the road lay between masses of lava, where it certainly was
not easy to ride; then over flats and small acclivities, from whence
we could descry the immense plain in which are situated Havenfiord,
Bassastadt, Reikjavik, and other places. Bassastadt, a town built
on a promontory jutting out into the sea, contains one of the
principal schools, a church built of masonry, and a few cottages.
The town of Reikjavik cannot be seen, as it is hidden behind a hill.
The other places consist chiefly of a few cottages, and only meet
the eye of the traveller when he approaches them nearly. Several
chains of mountains, towering one above the other, and sundry
"Jokuls," or glaciers, which lay still sparkling in their wintry
garb, surround this interminable plain, which is only open at one
end, towards the sea.
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