“When we reached the middle of the stream, the roar of the waters was so great that we could scarcely make our voices audible to one another; they were overpowered by the crunching sound of the ice, and the bumping of large stones against the bottom. Up to this point a diagonal line, rather down stream, had been cautiously followed; but when we came to the middle, we turned our horses’ heads a little against the stream. As we thus altered our course, the long line of baggage-horses appeared to be swung round altogether, as if swept off their legs. None of them, however, broke away, and they continued their advance without accident, and at length we all reached the shore in safety.” [Illustration: 61. ICELANDIC BOG.] After a day’s journey in Iceland, rest, as may well be supposed, is highly acceptable. Instead of passing the night in the peasant’s hut, the traveller, when no church is at hand, generally prefers pitching his tent near a running stream on a grassy plain; but sometimes, in consequence of the great distance from one habitable place to another, he is obliged to encamp in the midst of a bog where the poor horses find either bad herbs, scarcely fit to satisfy their hunger, or no food at all. After they have been unloaded, their fore legs are bound together above their hoofs, so as to prevent them straying too far, while their masters arrange themselves in the tent as comfortably as they can. [Illustration: 62. COAST OF ICELAND.] CHAPTER VIII. THE WESTMAN ISLANDS. The Westmans.--Their extreme Difficulty of Access.--How they became peopled.--Heimaey.--Kaufstathir and Ofanleyte.-- Sheep-hoisting.--Egg-gathering.--Dreadful Mortality among the Children.--The Ginklofi.--Gentleman John.--The Algerine Pirates.--Dreadful Sufferings of the Islanders.