The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . heweather-cock it appears to have been built in 1858. The congregation is sup-plied by the few sheep-ranches in the neighborhood, consisting at most of halfa dozen families. These unpretending little churches are to be seen in thevicinity of every settlement throughout the whole island. Simple and homelyas they are, they speak well, for the pious character of the people. The pastor of Thingvalla and his family reside in a group of sod-coveredhuts close by tlie church. These cheerl
The polar and tropical worlds : a description of man and nature in the polar and equatorial regions of the globe . heweather-cock it appears to have been built in 1858. The congregation is sup-plied by the few sheep-ranches in the neighborhood, consisting at most of halfa dozen families. These unpretending little churches are to be seen in thevicinity of every settlement throughout the whole island. Simple and homelyas they are, they speak well, for the pious character of the people. The pastor of Thingvalla and his family reside in a group of sod-coveredhuts close by tlie church. These cheerless little hovels are really a curiosity,none of them being over ten or fifteen feet high, and all huddled together with-out the slightest regard to latitude or longitude, like a parcel of sheep in astorm. Some have Avindows in the roof, and some have chimneys; grass andweeds grow all over them, and crooked by-ways and dark alleys run amongtlieni and through them. At the base they are walled up with big lumps oflava, and two of them have board fronts, painted black, while the remainder arc THE ICELANDERS. 105. CHLRCH AT THINGVALLA. patched up with turf and rubbish of all sorts, very much in the style of a storksnest. A low stone wall encircles the premises, but seems to be of little use as abarrier against the encroachments of live-stock, being broken up in gaps everyfew yards. In front of the group some attempt has been made at a pavement,which, however, must have been abandoned soon after the work was com-menced. It is now littered all over with old tubs, pots, dish-cloths, and otherarticles of domestic use. The interior of this strange abode is even more complicated than onewould be led to expect from the exterior. Passing through a dilapidated door-way in one of the smaller cabins, which you would hardly suppose to be themain entrance, you find yourself in a long dark passage-way, built of roughstone, and roofed with wooden rafters and brushwood covered with sod. Thesides a
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