Dwellers we should undoubtedly learn many startling facts concerning the people who left them. ("Occupations and Social and Religious Customs of the Cliff Dwellers," will be the title of the next article of this series.) BY PROF. J. C. HOGENSON, OF THE UTAH STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLECE "For the strength of the hills, we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God; Thou hast made thy children mighty, By the touch of the mountain sod." Not for the strength of the hills in a mere physical sense, but for their strength in the sense of the rich treasures which they contain, for the rocks and soil which are yearly washed down into the valleys to replenish our already fertile soil. For these, O, Lord, we bless thee. "Thou hast made thy children mighty, by the touch of the mountain sod." Those who till the soil are truly made mighty. There are no soils in the world deeper or more fertile than the soils that yield so abundantly and readily to the touch of cultivation and irrigation. in these mountain valleys. So the author of the above song said probably more than he knew, when the inspired words came from his pen. LOGAN UTAH From the Far North BY ELDER ELIAS W. ERICKSON I arrived here July 11, 1913, with my father. Elder John Johannessen has been laboring here for fifteen months, during four of which he was alone. Several persons are investigating the gospel. We are tracting Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. This city has a population of 13,000, and is pleasantly situated on the shore of a shallow bay. The city has a colonial appearance, with its white painted houses and little jetties stretching far out into the sea. The metropolis of Iceland is by no means the dirty place so often represented. The streets are broad and clean and the yards are sanitary. The climate averages thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit, but is very changeable. Considerable rain has fallen during the past month, due to polar ice in the vicinity of the coast. On sunny days the atmosphere is so clear that one can see mountains distinctly at a distance of one hundred miles. Elias W. Erickson, Cleveland, Utah; In summer we have little or no darkness at night, even in the south, while in the north the midnight sun is almost constantly visible. The atmospheric effects are often magnificent, the landscape portraying the mountain tops with their glaciers and snow fields bathed in the crimson glow of the evening aurora, while later in the night the northern lights (Aurora Borealis) hold high revel in the firmament, with a kaleidoscopic effect. The The scenery in this vicinity is weird in the extreme. bristling lava floods of vast extent in the distance, with rugged masses piled up in wildest confusion, and tremendous rifts extending for miles, resemble in form and outline my boyhood playground, the "Bad lands" of Castle Valley. Fjords and lakes are engirdled with lofty snow-capped mountains denuded of all vegetation, and they rise almost abruptly to enormous heights. There are numerous streams that drain the snow banks in the ravines, forming a series of magnificent cascades and picturesque rapids as they dash to the sea. These contrast wonderfully with the grass and heather-covered lowlands and foothills, where horses, cattle and sheep graze, and of which most of the inhabited portion of the island consists. A short distance from this city is "Thingvillir," wild, romantic spot of historic interest where, in the lawless days of the tenth century, a mass of lava in the midst of a deeply-fissured. moss-covered plain was selected as a meeting place of the "Althing" or House of Representatives. On the south bank of this rift is a detached fragment of rock known as the Bloodstone on which, for certain offenses, the backs of criminals were broken, the victims being allowed to fall over backwards into the rift. In the Sagas mention is made of many a stormy debate and remarkable trial that took place here, often terminating in bloodshed and life-long feuds. In this vicinity, also, is the world-famed geyser, where enormous columns of boiling water are ejected to the height of a hundred feet or more; also Hekla, the worldrenowned volcano, with its mantle of snow, while in the neighborhood are embosomed geysers and wells of boiling water from which rise clouds of smoke. Reports in the American papers that Hekla was in eruption, I found to be false. Slight eruptions in small craters, some miles northeast of Hekla, were noticed, but outside of destroying a stretch of grazing land little damage was done. Besides the many beautiful and wonderful sights in nature, the people with their customs, habits and language, form an interesting study. As a race, the Icelanders are somewhat reserved toward strangers, but an affable and genial manner quickly breaks down the flimsy barrier temporarily erected for the benefit of the foreigner whose manners and language are not wholly familiar. The true side of the native's character is then disclosed. He is innately hospitable, civil and obliging. Among the first things a person notices in coming to a strange land are the animals and plants. The little Iceland ponies, twelve hands high; the black-faced sheep; the Iceland dog, with its pointed snout, short ears, curly tail and short legs; as well as hundreds of kinds and colors of fish and birds, all add to the novelty of this isolated island. During the summer many tourists visit here, some for pleasure, some for health, and others to study. I join them in saying Iceland is one of nature's beauty spots. REYKJAVIK, ICELAND |