We Therefore Made A Halt Of Two Hours, To Let Our Poor
Horses Pick A Scanty Meal.
Large swarms of minute gnats, which
seemed to fly into our eyes, nose, and mouth, annoyed us dreadfully
during our stay in this place.
On this moor there was also a small lake; and here I saw for the
first time a small flock of swans. Unfortunately these creatures
are so very timid, that the most cautious approach of a human being
causes them to rise with the speed of lightning into the air. I was
therefore obliged perforce to be content with a distant view of
these proud birds. They always keep in pairs, and the largest flock
I saw did not consist of more than four such pairs.
Since my first arrival in Iceland I had considered the inhabitants
an indolent race of people; to-day I was strengthened in my opinion
by the following slight circumstance. The moorland on which we
halted to rest was separated from the adjoining fields of lava by a
narrow ditch filled with water. Across this ditch a few stones and
slabs had been laid, to form a kind of bridge. Now this bridge was
so full of holes that the horses could not tell where to plant their
feet, and refused obstinately to cross it, so that in the end we
were obliged to dismount and lead them across. We had scarcely
passed this place, and sat down to rest, when a caravan of fifteen
horses, laden with planks, dried fish, &c. arrived at the bridge.
Of course the poor creatures observed the dangerous ground, and
could only be driven by hard blows to advance. Hardly twenty paces
off there were stones in abundance; but rather than devote a few
minutes to filling up the holes, these lazy people beat their horses
cruelly, and exposed them to the risk of breaking their legs. I
pitied the poor animals, which would be compelled to recross the
bridge, so heartily, that, after they are gone, I devoted a part of
my resting-time to collecting stones and filling up the holes, - a
business which scarcely occupied me a quarter of an hour.
It is interesting to notice how the horses know by instinct the
dangerous spots in the stony wastes, and in the moors and swamps.
On approaching these places they bend their heads towards the earth,
and look sharply round on all sides. If they cannot discover a firm
resting-place for the feet, they stop at once, and cannot be urged
forward without many blows.
After a halt of two hours we continued our journey, which again led
us across fields of lava. At past nine o'clock in the evening we
reached an elevated plain, after traversing which for half an hour
we saw stretched at our feet the valley of Reikholt or Reikiadal; it
is fourteen to seventeen miles long, of a good breadth, and girt
round by a row of mountains, among which several jokuls sparkle in
their icy garments.
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