—————Fire that art slumbering there,
Like some stern warrior in his rocky fort,
After the vast invasion of the world!
Hast not some flaming imp or messenger
Of empyrean element, to whom
In virtue of his nature are both known
The secrets of the burning, central void below,
And yon bright heaven, out of whose aëry fire
Are wrought the forms of angels and the thrones?
Festus.
VOLCANIC eruptions in Iceland have presented some remarkable features.
There are volcanoes that are much higher than any in this country;
but, in the amount of lava thrown out at one time, no eruption on
record ever equaled that of Skaptar Jokull in 1783. A notice of this
may not be considered out of place. In May, about a month before this
eruption, a volcano rose up from the bottom of the sea, over seventy
miles from land, to the southwest of Cape Reykianes, and more than a
hundred and fifty miles from Skaptar Jokull. This was one of the most
remarkable submarine eruptions ever recorded. It formed a large island,
and ejected vast quantities of pumice, a light, volcanic substance that
floated on the surface of the water. It covered the sea for more than
a hundred and fifty miles, and in such immense quantities that ships
were detained in their progress while sailing along the coast. The
sea-birds paused and screamed in their wheeling flight, and the more
adventurous took a ride on a new volcanic raft. His Danish Majesty,
on hearing of a creation of new territory near his ancient possession
of Iceland, sent a ship with orders for its immediate annexation. The
commander took formal possession of it in the name of the king. But
the end was not yet. The flag of Denmark had not waved above it for
a twelve-month, before it sunk back into the ocean and disappeared
forever. Soon after this eruption in the sea—from the first to the
eighth of June—violent earthquakes were experienced in the vicinity of
Skaptar Jokull, and clouds of smoke obscured the sun for some days. It
was often so dark in the middle of the day, that a sheet of white paper
could not be seen when held up before the eyes. An immense shower of
ashes, sand, and sulphur filled the air, and completely covered the
land. It poisoned the vegetation, destroying every green thing where
it fell. Fortunately the wind carried it to the south, and it soon
reached the ocean. Incredible as it may seem, this shower of ashes and
sulphur was borne over the Northern Sea to the Faroe Isles, Shetland
and Orkney, entirely over Great Britain, across to Holland, and far on
to the continent of Europe, nearly two thousand miles from the place
where it started. Around the mountain, for many miles, darting flames
and lightning filled the air, and the sulphur flashed and burned far up
into the heavens. The next effect produced, was the heat of the volcano
melting the ice that had shrouded it for centuries; and this caused
such a deluge, that the rivers, particularly the Skaptá, overflowed
their banks, and submerged, washed up, and even carried away farms.
On the 10th of June, ten days after the first symptoms of an eruption
appeared, the torrent of lava burst forth, and poured down the side
of the mountain. This followed so quickly after the flood of water,
that in less than twenty-four hours the river was entirely dried up,
and people walked across its bed, where, for years, it had only been
passable in boats. While the fire was contending with the water, a
terrible and deafening, roaring sound was heard, and immense quantities
of steam filled the air. The fiery torrent poured down the bed of
the river, often from 400 to 600 feet deep, and over two hundred in
breadth. Lightning flashed through the heavens, thunder and concussions
of the earth were constantly heard and felt, and the volcano kept up
a continued and terrible roaring. In its course down the bed of the
river, the lava came to an immense chasm or pit, into which for many
hours it poured with a deafening noise. The stream of lava flowed first
south, then east, destroying farms, houses, and churches, and burning
up the thickets of wood near Kirkubær. Often great chasms in the earth
would get filled with the melted lava, and then, as it cooled on top,
the heat below would cause it to explode, and blow large masses of it
high in the air. For three months the lava continued to flow, but it
was not until the next February that the mountain ceased throwing out
ashes, sand, flames, and hot stones. The effects of this eruption were
more terrible than any thing of the kind that ever happened in Iceland.
The showers of ashes, sand, and sulphur, completely destroyed every
green thing for a long distance. Another most singular effect of this
eruption, extended to the ocean. The fish that had always frequented
the coast, were entirely driven away, and never returned. A terrible
famine ensued. Within two years, over 190,000 sheep, 28,000 horses, and
11,000 cattle, died of starvation. About 10,000 inhabitants—one-fifth
of the entire population of the island—perished from want and exposure.
The amount of lava ejected from this volcano was probably greater than
that of any eruption of the same duration, ever recorded. It covered a
tract of country 500 square miles in extent; and had it lain of equal
thickness over the entire surface, would have been over 300 feet deep.
The lava would have filled the channels of fifty rivers as large as the
Hudson from Albany to New York.
It is said that the personal appearance of a certain quadruped does not
give an unfailing indication of the distance he can jump. This can
scarcely be true of Skaptar Jokull. If size is an indication of power,
the vast magnitude of this mountain would seem to show that its
eruptions would be terrible. It is over one hundred miles in diameter at
the base, and more than three hundred and thirty in circumference. The
most of it is wrapped in a pall of eternal snow, and centuries sometimes
elapse without an eruption. Inaccessible, except in some places around
the edges, it appears from different points of view like several
distinct mountains; and in different parts it goes by different names.
On the west, it is known as Skaptar Jokull; and on this side the great
eruption occurred. On the south, it is called Oræfa Jokull; and at this
point it is the highest mountain in Iceland, being over seven thousand
feet above the level of the sea. Its vast central surface, and all
throughout its northern boundary, is known as Vatna Jokull or Klofa
Jokull, and is supposed to contain in its hollows large pools of
standing water. This particular account I had given me in a conversation
with Herre Biarni Gunnlaugson, the indefatigable Icelandic geographer,
who traveled over every part of Iceland for a period of twelve years.
During this time, he saw the entire country, and gathered the
information and executed the drawings for his most elaborate and
valuable map of the island. I can lay claim to some personal
acquaintance with Skaptar Jokull. Standing on the summit of Hekla, I
could look directly over nearly the entire surface of the mountain. It
does not rise from all sides to one peak in the center, like Ætna,
Stromboli, Hekla, and Vesuvius; but to the eye it presents the
appearance of one vast, glittering plain of snow. The few travelers who
have ascended the jokulls of Iceland, have described them as presenting
immense cracks in the snow and ice; making their ascent more dangerous,
in proportion to their height, than probably any other mountains in the
world. The enormous bulk of Skaptar Jokull may be imagined from one
comparison. Were it as steep and high in proportion to its breadth of
base, as the Peak of Teneriffe, its perpendicular height would be more
than ten miles above the level of the sea. Next to this mountain and
Hekla, the most noted in Iceland are the Eyjafjalla and Tindfjalla
Jokulls, in the south, and Snæfell Jokull in the west.
As an instance of the effects of volcanic eruptions, and also of the
inaccuracy of geographers respecting Iceland, one fact may be mentioned.
On nearly every English or American map where Iceland is represented,
there will be noticed a large lake called the “Fiske Vatn,” or _Fish
Lake_. There is not such a lake in existence, nor has not been for many
years. There _was_ such a lake, long ago—I have not the date, but think
it was nearly a hundred years since; and a volcano rose up from the
bottom, filled its entire bed, and literally drank it up at a draught!
Now there is no vestige of a lake in the vicinity; but there is a
mountain, and I saw it. It lies between Hekla and Skaptar Jokull, and
goes by the name of FISKIVATNAVEGR, or “Fish-lake-mountain.” Nature
works by general laws, but this particular sample of its work seems to
us rather singular. Now, this is a geographical and historical fact, and
poetry can be quoted to prove things that are quite as strange.
_Festus_, in describing his tour in “giant-land,” related some of the
customs of the inhabitants, and told how they lived.
——“A wheat-stack here would but make
One loaf of bread for them. Oak trees they use
As pickles, and tall pines as tooth-picks; whales,
In their own blubber fried, serve as mere fish
To bait their appetites. Boiled elephants,
Rhinoceroses, and roasted crocodiles—
Every thing dished up whole—with lions stewed,
Shark sauce and eagle pie, and young giraffes,
Make up a pot-luck dinner,—if there’s plenty.
STUDENT. And as to beverage?
FESTUS. Oh! if thirsty, they
Will lay them down and drink a river dry,
Nor once draw breath.
* * * * *
When death takes place,
They burn the bodies always in a lake,
The spray whereof is ashes, and its depths
Unfathomable fire.”
Now, either of these can be taken to prove the other. The poetry is
consistent, for it agrees, in all essential particulars, with the
natural phenomena in this case.
Mount Hekla has a greater celebrity than any other mountain in Iceland,
owing to the frequency of its eruptions. All of these, for eight hundred
and fifty years, are said to be recorded, and amount to twenty-four in
number. They have averaged about three in a century; and, though
occurring at irregular intervals, at no time has more than seventy-seven
years elapsed from one eruption to another. The following are the
periods of
THE ERUPTIONS OF MOUNT HEKLA SINCE THE YEAR 1000.
Interval between the
eruptions.
1. A. D. 1004
2. “ 1029 25 years.
3. “ 1105 76 “
4. “ 1113 8 “
5. “ 1157 44 “
6. “ 1206 49 “
7. “ 1222 16 “
8. “ 1294 72 “
9. “ 1300 6 “
10. “ 1340 40 “
11. “ 1374 34 “
12. “ 1390 16 “
13. “ 1436 46 “
14. “ 1510 74 “
15. “ 1554 44 “
16. “ 1583 29 “
17. “ 1619 36 “
18. “ 1625 6 “
19. “ 1636 11 “
20. “ 1693 57 “
21. “ 1728 35 “
22. “ 1754 26 “
23. “ 1766-68 12 “
24. “ 1845,46 77 “
According to the Icelandic records, the surface of the land in the
vicinity of Mount Hekla has been entirely changed by the eruptions.
Formerly, there were beautiful farms on every side, and the country was
thickly settled close up to the base of the mountain. The successive
eruptions or inundations of lava have covered the land for many miles
around, with a charred and blackened mass.
The Icelanders are much more devoted to history and poetry than to exact
science; and on this account the various eruptions of their volcanoes,
and other remarkable natural phenomena, have received much less
attention, and been recorded with far less accuracy and minuteness, than
historical events. Owing to this, we have not as many records of their
volcanoes, spouting springs, and submarine eruptions, as would be
desirable. Had we a more extended series of facts, much that now seems
irregular and mysterious, could be reduced to system.