THE GEYSERS.
We had been told at Reykjavik it was necessary to carry tents, as there
was no accommodation for travellers at the Geysers, but on arriving the
wind was so strong that there was considerable difficulty in pitching
them, and while our guides and gentlemen friends were making the
attempt, we ladies tied up some tea in a muslin bag, and put it into a
kettle, which we filled at the nearest hot spring. In a very few minutes
it was infused, and with thick cream procured from the neighbouring
farm, we enjoyed it much after our long dusty ride.
Just as the tent had been, as my brother thought, securely fixed, and
while Vaughan and Mr Gordon were inside arranging the rugs and
pack-boxes as seats, unfortunately a fresh gust of wind brought the
whole affair down, burying them under the ruin. Our guides hastened to
the rescue, and, more experienced in the weather forecasts than they
were, advised their waiting till the wind had subsided before attempting
to put up the tent again. To take our tea sitting on the pack-boxes was
all we could do, encouraging each other to patience. We dare not open
our boxes of eatables till the storm had subsided, or at least until we
had some shelter to protect them from a deposit of dust.
After tea we proceeded to make our inspection of the Geysers. Our first
need was, however, to wash our hands and faces, so, armed with towels,
sponges, and soap, we knelt at the brink of the nearest pool, and
stooping down performed our ablutions, with our faces towards the east,
our persons being reflected in the clear green water. We could but liken
ourselves to Mahommedans, when they turn their faces towards Kibla, at
Mecca, or Parsees when they kneel facing the sun, which is considered by
them a representative of God.
The immediate neighbourhood of the Geysers is not pretty; hills rise on
one side, but otherwise they lie in a plain, which, when we saw it on
our first arrival, was so thickly covered with sand from the storm that
we could hardly discern any separate object. We hastened to examine the
great Geyser. Alas! it did not, and would not play; it had done so two
days previously, and we were told it was expected to renew the exploit,
but, to our great mortification, it failed to do so during our visit.
One of the peculiarities of this natural phenomenon is that sometimes at
intervals of only a few hours it will eject columns of boiling water to
the height of 100 feet, at others it will remain silent for days
together. In 1770 it is recorded that this Geyser spouted eleven times
in one day. Disappointed at losing the sight we had come so far to see,
we turned our attention to the 'Stroker,' which is situated about 90
feet from its bigger neighbour. This also seemed in a quiescent state,
but as the 'Stroker' can always be made to play by filling up the
opening with earth sods, until there is no hole for the steam to escape,
and it vomits the whole mass with a gigantic spout, we requested our
guides to arrange for this artificial display. The emetic was
consequently administered. 'Stroker' was evidently sulky, for the
process had to be gone through no less than four times, whilst we waited
the result in patience for at least two hours; but the display was all
the better when it came.
[Illustration: STROKER IN ERUPTION.]
I said we waited in patience, which was hardly true, as we were all on
the tiptoe of excitement. Continual false alarms, and we all rushed to
the 'Stroker's' side, only to be again disappointed, so we unpacked our
goods, and made preparations for our evening meal, examining the Great
Geyser and the hot springs meanwhile, grumbled at the smell of sulphur,
and nearly despaired of the eruption ever taking place, when a sudden
start from our guides, who were standing on the edge of the crater, and
a shriek from them, 'He comes!' and a huge column of water ascended
straight into the air for about 60 feet, the spray being ejected to a
considerable distance. The eruption was accompanied by a rumbling noise
and a hissing sound, as the shafts of water ascended.
We stood and watched the effect a few feet distant merely from this
boiling column, feeling the rumbling distinctly under our feet and as
the wind blew the steam back, it fell like rain, quite cold, but with
sufficient force to wet us uncomfortably.
This great fountain display continued in full force a quarter of an
hour; then the column gradually got smaller, though steam and water
issued from its mouth for a full half-hour before it quite subsided. It
was a splendid spectacle, and one which left a great impression on our
minds; the height of the column was fully 60 feet, and even after it had
subsided, we remained some time in contemplation of its cause and
effect.
Speaking of Geysers, Professor Geikie says,--
'Eruptive formations of hot water and steam, to which the general name
of Geyser (_i.e._, gusher) is given from the examples in Iceland, which
were the first to be seen and described, mark a declining phase of
volcanic activity.... It is from irregular tube-like excrescences that
the eruptions take place. The term Geyser is restricted to active
openings whence columns of hot water and steam are from time to time
ejected; the non-eruptive pools are only hot springs. A true Geyser
should thus possess an underground pipe or passage, terminating at the
surface in an opening built round with deposits of sinter. At more or
less regular intervals, rumblings and sharp detonations in the pipe are
followed by an agitation of water in the basin, and then the violent
expulsion of a column of water and steam to a considerable height in the
air.'
Dr Samuel Kneeland, in his interesting book on Iceland, says,--
'There are two kinds of Geysers, one having jets of clear water, the
other puffs of scalding vapour, coming up through a soft mud or clay of
a reddish colour, probably from iron salts. In the water silica is held
in solution by salts of soda, a silicate of soda being the chief
ingredient. They are said to have great remediable powers; but, judging
from the facility with which objects are encrusted by their silicates,
it would seem as if their free use would soon turn a person to stone....
The geyserite, or the solid incrustations, is over 80° of silica, with
3° alumina, and a little magnesia, iron, potash, and soda.'
One thing I looked for in vain at these Geysers, namely, the
pretty-coloured mud which is found at the Yellowstone Park of America,
and which I had often heard my father and brother describe. In New
Zealand the Geyser mud was formerly used by the Maoris as a kind of
porridge, which they were very fond of. It is a pity the starving
Icelanders cannot do likewise.
I wish our party could have been photographed as it stood round the
'Stroker,' waiting for the display, everybody's face a picture of
expectation, which changed to disappointment at the long time we had to
wait. As 'little things please little minds,' to pass the time, Miss T.
and I were trundled about in the wheelbarrow in which the old men had
brought the sods for the Geyser's emetic from the farm; an occasional
upset made our ride all the more amusing. It was a ride worth noting,
as it was performed in one of the very few wheeled conveyances in the
Island.
By the time the exhibition of the Geyser was over, the wind had lulled,
the sandstorm had ceased, and our tents had been successfully pitched.
In the larger tent we dined, and for such an out-of-the-way place, it
was so wonderful a meal that I must describe it. We were sitting on the
pack-boxes inside the tent, waited on by two guides. First there was
ox-tail soup quite hot, the tin having been placed in a neighbouring hot
spring--the Blissa--for twenty minutes. We had no soup plates, but
tumblers served the occasion, being afterwards washed by the guides, and
made ready for further use.
Tinned meat-collops followed, splendidly hot, and to us hungry mortals
appeared excellent. The third course was tongue, followed by tinned
apricots and thick cream. Alas! we had no spoons, and how to eat our
cream and apricots was a puzzle. Our guide, whom we had christened
'Johnny,' to his great delight, helped us out of this difficulty. He
produced some horn spoons which he had carved during the long winter
evenings, and which he offered to sell to us for a krone a-piece. It was
quite high price enough, notwithstanding the carving, but the necessity
of the occasion made us glad to close with his offer. Cheese, biscuit,
and figs concluded our magnificent repast.
After dinner, another inspection of the great Geyser, to see if it was
more inclined to favour us with a display of its power, but a fruitless
one; a walk amongst the hot springs, and then, as it was bitterly cold,
we decided to turn in for the night. Our tents were pitched exactly half
way between the great Geyser and the 'Stroker.' The large tent was to
serve for the three gentlemen and the two guides, and the smaller one
for Miss T. and myself.
We had secured some bundles of hay for our beds, and our mackintosh
sheets were used to cover over them. My brother undertook to make our
beds, and arrange our tent for the night, and disappeared inside,
carrying with him the rugs, air-pillows, etc., necessary for the
purpose.
On his returning and telling us all was ready, Miss T. and myself bid
the party good-night. We had not till then realised the height of our
bedchamber, and how to enter it was a puzzle. It was not like the big
tent, which would hold a dozen people standing erect, but a tiny gipsy
tent, the opening so low, we literally had to crawl in on our hands and
knees, whilst the whole community stood round watching us, and laughing
heartily.
Once inside, our difficulties were not over, for we found the sides of
the tent so low that we could only sit up straight in the middle. So we
could do no more than partially undress and roll ourselves in our fur
cloaks and rugs. With the exception of waking now and then to listen to
the rumblings we had been told to expect before the eruption of the
Great Geyser, we spent a tolerably comfortable night, notwithstanding we
were surrounded by boiling, seething waters on every side, and were in
hopeful expectation of the big Geyser's eruption. By the morning we had
got quite accustomed to the sulphurous odours.
We had several visitors in the early morning, who thrust under our tent
such articles as jewellery, saddle-cloths, carved spoons, etc., for
sale. We bargained for some of these, and ultimately obtained them. The
prices at first asked were absurdly high, but these simple-minded
Icelanders have an idea that our nation's liberality is unbounded.
There is really little good old jewellery left in the Island, in
consequence of the extreme poverty of the natives, who have sold to
travellers the greater portion of that which they possessed.
How to dress in our three feet tent, was a problem which for some time
our minds failed to solve, and still more, how and where to wash, until
the gentlemen informed us that as they were going to the springs to
bathe, their tent was at our disposal for as long as we wished. Here we
found that their forethought had provided a large tub from the farm,
which they had filled with warm water, so, after all, we had a luxurious
bath.
When our only looking-glass was passed round, we each in turn exclaimed,
'How fearfully burnt I am!' and so indeed we were. Our yachting caps
and deerstalkers had been shade enough on board ship, but not for a four
days' ride across country in wind and a dust storm.
We had arrived at our journey's end, had seen the 'Stroker' at any rate
play, and now if we wished to catch our steamer at Reykjavik, we had no
time to lose in preparing for our return journey, so after breakfast,
while our guides collected our steeds, packed the tents, etc., we
started for a final look at the Geysers and the hot springs, which so
abound in this neighbourhood. There are, I believe, no less than fifty
within the circuit of half a mile. These springs lie at the base of a
mountain of no great height, the tract in which these thermal waters is
found being about 700 yards in length and 300 in width.
The Great Geyser lies to the north of this plain, its basin, 60 feet in
diameter, is at the summit of a mound 20 feet in height, composed of
silica, a mineral that the Geyser water holds in solution, and which
from the constant overflowing of the water, deposits layers of beautiful
enamel, which at the top is too hard to detach, although round the base
soft and crumbly. The basin is nearly circular, and is generally, except
after an eruption, full to the brim, and always steaming, the water at
the bottom being about 228° Fahr.
The tube in the centre, from which the water spouts is about 10 feet
across, and I read somewhere that on measuring down about 70 feet, the
tube took a sudden turn which prevented further soundings. The water is
ejected at a heat of 180° or 190° Fahr., and rises over 100 feet into
the air.
These Geysers are nearly 400 feet above sea level.
The formation of the 'Stroker' differs from that of the Great Geyser in
not having any basin round its well, the latter being in shape like a
rough test-tube, about 8 feet in diameter and 36 feet deep, with two
pipe-mouths. After the eruption witnessed by 'Burton,' he noticed that
'the level of the water in the tube was at a depth of 25 feet, where
might be seen, partly submerged, the mouths of two pipes entering at
different angles, close together on the side nearest the Great Geyser.
From these pipes steam belched forth at intervals with considerable
force, churning the water in the well round rapidly.'
It is strange that the eruptions of the 'Stroker' do not affect the
water in the well of the Great Geyser, though it is not 100 yards off,
while on the other hand, when the Geyser is in eruption, the water of
the 'Stroker' subsides.
It really was very tantalising to have come so far, and be within a few
hours' distance of Hecla, and yet have to return without having visited
it. Besides, from what we gathered, we could well have exhausted another
week in expeditions in the neighbourhood, but snow-capped Hecla, the
ice-clad heights of the Jöklar, and the Red Crater, with innumerable
other interesting excursions of Icelandic note, had to be left for a
future visit, if ever we should make it, to the Island.
The name of Hecla means a mantle: its last eruption occurred in 1845.
Where is Hecla? Who has not been asked that question at school? and
little did I think, when learning geography, that I should ever see it,
even at a distance. Alas! time would not allow us a nearer acquaintance.
Visiting it meant either seventeen days round the Island in a Danish
boat, or waiting six weeks for the _Camoens_, circumstances over which
we had no control made both impossible, and we had reluctantly to give
up the excursion. While these volcanoes and their adjuncts must ever
remain, from their uncertain eruptions, a cause of terror to the
inhabitants--boiling and bubbling for years, and then suddenly bursting
forth, to the entire destruction of all around--they have, we know also,
a beneficial effect in the world's domestic economy. What, for instance,
would happen to Britain were it not for the Gulf Stream? It would be as
cold as Labrador. The streams in the Gulf of Mexico are fed from
equatorial currents and boiling springs, and rush on to the North
Atlantic 25° or 30° warmer than the sea through which it passes, warming
the air of Western Europe.
Again, hot springs (caused by subterranean fires), which, from their
curative celebrity, attract visitors and invalids, mean business, and
business means money to the inhabitants of the locality.
Taking our last farewell of these seething pools, which bubbled and
boiled around us, I could not help wondering what kind of commotion
could be going on beneath the earth's surface. A power that could thus
eject 100 feet of boiling water into the air, and not burst asunder the
surrounding ground, was indeed a marvellous phenomenon. The Iceland
Geysers, which were the first discovered, as well as those of New
Zealand (so soon to be destroyed), and those of the Yellowstone Park,
must ever be of enormous interest to the traveller and geologist, and
with regret we turned our backs upon them, having reached the
turning-point of our journey and the limit of our time. Time waits on no
man, so we tore ourselves away, feeling, however, we had seen in the
Iceland Geysers one of the greatest marvels of Nature.
Various explanations of Geysers have been attempted by scientific men,
and as some of my readers may take sufficient interest in these
wonderful phenomena to wish to know something regarding the causes which
originate them, I have got my father to write a short chapter on what he
saw and thought of the great Geysers in the volcanic district of the
Yellowstone Park, which I have appended at the end of my narrative.
[Illustration: Drinking Horn or Powder Flask. Two-thumbed Glove. Twisted
Sheeps Horns. Straps for tying on packs. Icelandic Whip, leather thong.
Snuff box. Horn Spoon. Skin Shoes. Etched F.P.F. from sketch by
Author.]