31 JANUARY 1874, Page 21

Six Weeks in the Saddle : a Painter's Journal in

Iceland By S. E. Waller. (Macmillan and Co.)—Mr. Walter's bright little book, which is admirably illustrated, opens with a whimsical account of the motives of his journey. "Burnt Njal," it appears, " was at the bottom of it." Mr. Waller got Dr. Dasent's version of the Saga into his constitution, and nothing would satisfy him short of visiting Iceland, and identifying the scenes of "the peerless Gunnar's " remorseless hen-pecking by Haligorda, and the feuds between that very odious woman and the almost as detestable Bergthora. Gunnar was the chief object of Mr. Waller's admiring sympathy, though he felt a mild interest in Njal, "that groat good man," as he calls him. It is not necessary to share his enthusiasm, which indeed borders occasionally on affectation, in order to enjoy his book, and we are not ill-pleased to find that after the first chapter, he lots off Gunnar and Njal with very slight mention. The general impression, in a practical sense, which his narrative, very brightly and pleasantly told, produces, is that Iceland may be a nice country to visit if one is young, strong, indifferent to one's meals and one's sleep, impervious to wet, capable of riding any horse anyhow, a master of the art of swimming in icy and torrential streams, so naturally jolly that hunger and soli- tude cannot depress, and so naturally healthy that the absence of all the normal conditions of civilised existence, without any sustaining interest or excitement as compensation, cannot injure one. If one is not all these things, and an artist with a sense of humour, like Mr. Waller, besides, then one had better let other people look up the topo- graphy of the Njala, and report upon it. Of course, Mr. Waller would not accept this as a fair conclusion, but he leads us to it, though he makes out the best possible case for Iceland.