Page 89,—_Öxerá_:—It was not till the summer of 1913, a year after Chapter VII was written, that I learned a most interesting thing about this river so famous in Icelandic history. It seems that in ancient days the river followed a natural channel near the ridge that rises above the heath near _Kárastaðir_. It did not enter the lake, _Thingvallavatn_, by the way of _Almannagjá_ as it does to-day. The Vikings dispatched _Geitskour_ in 965 throughout the country to choose a suitable place for the meeting of the _Althing_. After a summer of travel he chose this sunken valley and named it _Thingvallir_. The Vikings then turned the river from its ancient bed and caused it to tumble into this rift. What joy there must have been in the hearts of those sturdy old fellows as they stood on the opposite wall and watched the torrent make its first plunge into the abyss! Hence _Axe River_, the river whose channel was fashioned by their axes. * * * * * Page 92,—_Measuring Stone_:—Various authors have perpetuated the story of this peculiar stone, as given in Chapter VII, that stands in the church yard at _Thingvellir_. They tell us, and so do the guides, that it was the standard of measurement adopted by an ancient _Althing_, from which all linear measures in the country were taken. Since writing Chapter VII, I have had another opportunity, in 1913, to examine this stone with more care. I emphatically state that it was not made by the hand of man and that the so-called “measuring marks” on it are nothing but steam holes blown through it by the great pressure when the stone was molten and cooling. The stone has been split open and the marks have the appearance of having been placed there by man. To further substantiate this I would refer to the fact that in 1913 Mr. J. C. Angus of York, England, and myself saw numerous blocks of lava in various places at _Mývatn_ with identical markings. Mr. Angus fully agrees with me in the above statement about the “measuring stone.” Further, if the people who examine this stone in the future will go around it, examine it on all sides and near the ground they will find actual holes that penetrate deeply into the stone in several places. These have evidently escaped the eyes of those who like to point to this as the “first standard of linear measurement ever prepared by the people of northern Europe.” It is a pretty story and affords the guides a lot of amusement,—but _facts are facts_. * * * * *