The New York herald., 1874-08-27

ming to descend by steep winding path - the side
OF q lofty preclpice.
The further we descend the more this precipice
develops and Is now seen to trend away In q
northeasterly direction for several miles. Pres
emily we come to the bottom OF the soping path,
and another cln not high as the other, rises on
the right. There is much green grass anu great
masses OF lava blocks In the space between the
two. 1t is strange sight and grand one tha'
meets the eye as we look along THIS vale
between the Cliffs which on the one
side may be three hundred and on the
other fifty feet high. The lava rocks present
all sorts OF wonderful shapes. We are IN tue
famous Almana Rja. Beyond we discover q fine
waterfall 1t Is the Oxara River tumbng into the
gja trllt) The stream courses through the ga for
something like quarter OF q mile, and then
travels 10 the right through break In the wan
into broad plain below. Through another oreak
we descend into this plain, cross the Oxara below
the last fall and are on
THE PLAIN OF THINGvALLA,
and near the head or Thingvala Lake, which is q
beautiful sheet of water, grdled round by high
mountains Rising little slope we are Of the
Church Of Thingvala, and few yards further on
Is the farm house. where lives the pastor, who ad.
dresses US in Latin and bids US welcome The
Kings camp Is pitched to the right, and IL all
ready Tor him. We 60 TO the lett, through mar.
row lane, and pitch our single tent In oreen neid
beside IL.
And now let us leave the turf ana climb little
hilock near at hand. We see the conformation OF
the plain perfectly. The Almana gIa stretches
away to the left; seven miles to the right Is seen
another rift, running parallel to IL, called the
Hrafna gja, while all through the plain are seen
other riffs, some running diagonally, but most Of
them nearly parallel with the Aimana gja and the
Hrafns gia. Two OF these strike the eye at once.
Curiosity leads US on to the narrow space between
them. We reach a place not above twelve tees
wide, bounded by yawning chasm on either side
(which man can pass over, and wander on.
The space widens and becomes smooth, and we
ind 1t covered with rich 500 rom which q crop OF
grass has been recently moved. We 60 about
hundred yards and the width between the chasms
has increased to forty yards. We follow on beyond
the green to some ugly hummoks OF lava which
we With some dif1culty ascend, and at three
hundred yards distance from the narrow
passage which was only twelve feet wide,
we come to sharp point. Beyond these
is rift. With the most marvellously ptctur.
esque walls about q hundred feet hign and say
thirty or forty yards apart, with water Of immense
depth and perfecs transparency at the bottom.
The water Is still, and We look away down into
1t and see the very pebbles on the bottom. This
rift branches at our feet, one branch running u
the left, the other to the right.
We have passed over the ancient LHgborg, or
LAW MOUNT,
where the Athing OF the Icelanders was held for
SO many centuries and from which the laws were
annually proclaimed, where the judges sat,
where Justice was meted out between man and
man and man and the state, and where all who
could come nocked to listen and to plead ana
argue, or were brought for Judgment Ten thou
sand people might gather together upon It, but
except the narrow passage py which We ap-
preached IL, no human being could reach it.
single sentinel might land history says did 30 in
the olden time) guard 1t. There Is no place where
man could spring across the riit on either side,
and II he should descend by rope on the one
side and swim across the chilly waters he could
not possibly climb up on the other.
OLD IcELANDIC JUSTICE
The place where the judges sat 10 the green spot
near the CENTRE and from the judgment seat,
now mound OF grass covered with earth, many q
poor wretch has been doomed to destruction by
being hurled forthwith headlong into the gawn.
ing abyss below, or ordered to prove his inuo-
cence by doing battle little island 10 the river.
below the lall; or, II a woman, TO be tossed into
that same fall from the rushing whirlpool beneath
| which no one ever escaped with lille.
| The view from the top OF this Law Mount IL
grand ana wild and almost terrible. ThinGvalla
plain, about two miles long. Is almost wholly deso'
late, with little vegetation and only patches OF
| stunted birch and willow bushes here and there.
| On every side IT. meets the mountain SLOPE except
TO the southwest, where 1t melts into Thingvana
! Lake. The great ru21ed cifs OF the AlInana gja
and the Hrafna Rja seem to be huge walls, making
Of 1t vast enclosure. These rifts are Indeed
only to be passed at one point.
The origin OF this singular plain seems easy
enough OF explanation. Many years ago the whole
was mass or molten lava, cooling year BY year.
But the fiery liquid az the bottom did not cool
| before hard crust was formed on top, and, fnd-
ing an outlet, flowed away and the crust has
fallen IN and cracked, and lett the two great rits
! that are SO wonderful and so gloomy Other rifts
have crossed 1t here and there, as 1t ie and left
1t as we now behold it, only that time has rounded
many OF the sharp fractures and broken down
| many Of the ragged cifs.
The only part of the plain which exhibits any
richness at all OF vegetation Is along the banks o!
the river alter 1t leaves the gja. and In the VALLEY
tor nall q mile above. From the Law Mount to the
| gja Is about quarter Of o mile. The river howt
quietly through It. enclosing, directly oppoAN
the Law Mount, the little green isle already refer
THE ISLE OF BATTLE
for, when the old Icelanders held their Athine
here, the whole world has agreed that the ordeal
of battle was the most sound Kind Of law. No man
dare refuse the challenge. The guilty man might
be condemned to punishment, but II he appealed
to MS judges sucn trial his accuser dare not re-
fuse him; and this was the grand tournament OF
the annual Althing An Altning was seldom held
without display OF such gladiatorial skill; and
when the trial came, the women sat on the slope
OF the Almana gia, while the men sat upon the
Lagborg The men had already given Judgment
and 1t was the women now who pronounced
upon the question OF fair or four play as the night
went on, and cheered the victor as ne stood trk
umphant over the PROSTATE body OF his dead foe
and made obeisance TO them
Along this plain 1t was thai the people pitched
their camps and planted their booths and some Of
them meant to last from year to year, are not yet
so broken down by time that their foundations
D,ov not ha trocod Ono NJ rham indaad verv