In the year 1845 I undertook another journey; {2} a journey, moreover, to the far North.

Iceland was one of those regions towards which, from the earliest period of my consciousness, I had felt myself impelled.

In this country, stamped as it is by Nature with features so peculiar, as probably to have no counterpart on the face of the globe, I hoped to see things which should fill me with new and inexpressible astonishment.

How deeply grateful do I feel to Thee, O Thou that hast vouchsafed to me to behold the fulfilment of these my cherished dreams! The parting from all my dear ones had this time far less bitterness; I had found by experience, that a woman of an energetic mind can find her way through the world as well as a man, and that good people are to be met with every where.

To this was added the reflection, that the hardships of my present voyage would be of short duration, and that five or six months might see me restored to my family.
I left Vienna at five o'clock on the morning of the tenth of April.