, 1885-02-07
ICELAND'S GEYSERS.
TRAVELS OF A NEW JERSEY SCHOOL,
MASTER IN THE NORTH.
A Trip 10 he Famous Hot spring. on =
Pony and Aione-Iceiand's Poet
IAnreats-A Surprise
-~strokksr."


my next advonture." said Mr.. JamaI
Ricnltou, tho Travelled ~choolmastsr OF
Mapiewood. to a Times reporter IN tho
courns Of an interview. ~was to visit the gsy-
sen, ninety miles from R~eIkiavik. over a des-
olafa and pathles country. found that I
should b unable to afford tho trip as IL Is
usually made, a. travelling Is so expensive In
Iceland. Tbs usual outfit for n tourist who
makes this journey IA at least one guide and
two ponies. with two ponies for himself and
ono for the extra baggnge The trip there
and back usually occupies five days, and
provisious have to be carried 10 last for this
time. When l told my landlord that I was
going 10 nttempt the Journey alone, he was
even more aatonished than nt my visit 10
Ezia- He said that Il would be absolutely
impossible for mo 10 find my way and that /
ran q rlsk. OF losing myself and perishing
from hunger or exposure Several English
mon had attempted to find the geysers with
out assistance. he anid, but they had always
cither come back TO tho hotel, or hired n
guide on tho routs. I told him that because
Engliahmen had failed was no reason that
an American would, and I was deaf 10 his
remonstrnnccz. hut at once began prcpera-
lions for tho jonrney.
Il tried to hirs a pony, but when tho own
ers learned that l Wa going to the geysers
without n guide they refused 70 let their ami
mails for fear we would 10 lost together.
Theroforo ! bought q pony for f54, and n
very good, strong pony be was, too. sold
him for SO upon my return from tho Coy
sar< equipped myself with provisions, a
tin pail, an alcohol lamp, and n tent, which
1 loaded upon my stout pony. They weighed
about sixty pounds, and ! started OF In the
afternoon leading tho pony. An English
man had started before me In the morning
with his vito, two guides and several ponies.
Tho route was ovar a fat country, with
numerous paths branching of, marked only
by stones. took n piece OF chalk with me,
and for the FIRST few miles l marked tho
stones at Intervals 50 that II I got lost ]
could tell II 1 crossed my own trail. But l
got tired OF that very soon, threw the chalk
awny, and kept ON toward whore l had
been old the geysers wone situated
In the evening 1 came across some mounted
lcelandnra who could speak q little Eng
hsh, and they told mo that ! was twelve
miles out q my why, and going direct 10
the Thingvalin forest. They asked me 10 go
home with them and stay over night, but l
got them 10 point out my proper route and
decided TO push on.
-But ! reckoned without my pony. When
the lcelanders gallopcd away-thay always
ride at hruak-neck specd-my pony dashed
after them IN spite Of my utmost efforts,
and ! had all l could do TO keep from being
thrown as he swcrved about the big bowl
den and among tho rocks. l could only
cling 10 his neck and lot him run. Tho
other ponies were les heavily loaded, how
ever, and they soon left us out OF sight, but
my animal had brought me within sight OF a
house. decided TO apply there for guild
nnco about my route, and ! had a peculiar
experience. The house was one Of the ma
two huts constructed Of lava blocks and
mos, and when I knocko1 an old woman
came TO the door and babe mo enter. She
conducted mo through a long narrow pas.
sage into the interior room, whore I found a
very pleasant-featurod man. To my sur
prise he addressed me In very good English. .
Well, DO said, what do you wantr
u was 50 surprised at his use OF the lang
ungo that I did not answer at once, and he
finally repeated very brusquolyi
~'Woll, what do you wantl Do you want
something to eatI And do you want to pay
for IL or have mo give IL TO your
II rutortod very Indignantly; III wore
a bcggar shouldn't come 10 Iceland TO carry
on the profession
Then ho leaned lack In his chair and
laughed very heartily, and l discovered tina
his abruptness OF speech was only n manner
ism.
II you have ever heard Of Bayard Tay.
ior,' said. you might know that | an
hciv on tho same errand that brought him
10 300 the country
~'Heard Of Bayard Tayiorr said tho leo
lander, Well, / ahould say had l knew
him well, and he lived with me while he wal
in this country. Why, I translated hi
poems Into our language and he Translates
somo Of mini into English.
II found that my hnaf xraa No L. . 49,.
sonAgs than Nautilus Jocumson. tho poe
laureate Of Iceland, whom Bayard Taylor
mentions In his book OF trnvel2 Tha poe
was very hospitahle, and asked mo to stay
with him over night. However, 1 docldel
10 pitch my tont In his yard and sleep undel
that, and his servant took my pony TO "a,
pasture. l got ready 10 proceed on m,
journey about . O'Clock noxt morning, and
wanted TO pay Jocumson for the pony
pasturage But l couldn't wake anybody Vi
except the old woman servant and shI
couldn't understand what wanted
Finally she directed me to tho poets bed
ROOM l went in and found the whole fam
ly asleep in ono big bed, with heads, arms
and legs sticking out all around the edges .
the coverist How / wished l had tn
photograph instrument that l aftsrwars
o on my trip 10 Brazil 1 could scnrcel,
restrain my laughter rs looked at them
FINALLY | decided that the biggest foo
sticking out at the bottom OF the bed mus
belong to the laureate, and / gave Il a jerk
AT once the foot disappeared from the 10,
tom Of the quilt aud the head Of the noe
appeared at the top l told him my errand
and ho charged mo n coin equal In value 4
about one-hfth Of a cent This handed L
him. he soiHsd IL, his head went under tn
quilt again, bis foot came out at the bottom
and 20 l hade farwell TO Nautilus Jocumsou
the poet lauroats Of Iceland
4 did not lose my path again, but tzavoleI
all that day, and put up near another nafis
hut at night Itraveled all tho day follow
ing. and finally reached the gsysers at lO.s
O'Clock that night l found a tent pitche'
near mine, which belonged 10 the English
man who left thu hotsl At Refkiasik before
did He had arrived only al
hour befofs me, Ia spite o
his guides His pane was Robin
son, and We visited the gsysora together
Ihare aro two great geysers. ono called Tn
Graaf hfro8ker and the other the -Strokker
Ths goysrr do not spout all tho lime. somp
times Remaining guiat for a whole week, hu
We made the iStrokker spout with a.
emotic Tho emgtic We used vas the sod
We thrsw ah1ut so pouIi1s Of I'd into to
nponlng, which hlied mp the conlcaL shgpe'
mouth Of the Interior q tho oriico. Thai
We RETIRED TO a safe distance. Soon wo hnar
q fnpqhling M The earth. aud then. with
terrific uola. . cloud q steam and a column
OF boiling water shot ninety feet into tho air
Il was a remarkable aight. and We spent thI
day IN watching H. Il took = day and a hal
70 return TO hsikiaTik. and bsfoIu ! soil ml
pony 1 made = trip with him 70 the AulphuI
springs thirty miis1 away. ufthouta Kuida'
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