It is yet inexplicable to me how he could have conducted me so safely in such a semi-conscious state; and had he not been the only one, I should certainly not have trusted myself to his guidance.
Of the want of cleanliness of the Icelanders, no one who has not witnessed it can have any idea; and if I attempted to describe some of their nauseous habits, I might fill volumes.

They seem to have no feeling of propriety, and I must, in this respect, rank them as far inferior to the Bedouins and Arabs--even to the Greenlanders.

I can, therefore, not conceive how this nation could once have been distinguished for wealth, bravery, and civilisation.
On this day I proceeded on my journey about twenty-eight miles farther to Skalholt.
For the first five miles we retraced our former road; then we turned to the left and traversed the beautiful long valley in which the Geyser is situated.

For many miles we could see its clouds of steam rising to the sky.

The roads were tolerable only when they passed along the sides of hills and mountains; in the plains they were generally marshy and full of water.