BARNAFOSS AND THE SURTSHELLIR CAVES
The sun had crossed the meridian next day before we left Reykholt. We
had coffee with the minister and his wife, from whom we parted on the
best possible terms; they and their children waved their adieux to us
as we proceeded on our way up Reykholtsdal. We struck across towards
the Hvitá, and soon came in sight of that river, a swift-flowing
stream whose milky-white colour denoted that its source must be up in
the snow-and ice-fields of the Jökulls. Along the Hvitá (white river)
valley there were many evidences that the river had at one time been
far wider, for up the valley sides several terraces marked levels at
which alluvium had formerly been deposited. We lunched at Stori Ás,
in view of the conical peaked mountain, Strutr, and Eyriks Jökull. We
were then not far from the bridge that spans the Hvitá and affords
communication between opposite sides of the river, so Miss Hastie and
I walked on while Hannes and Jón were adjusting pack-saddles, etc. I
came upon an interesting specimen of wind erosion at the top of a rise,
where the sandy soil had been blown away from round a turf-covered
mound. We passed through a small birch wood, but the trees were very
diminutive, three to five feet being the average, with a few rather
more; a photograph I took gives the impression of much greater height.
On the opposite side of the river we could see recent lava, and on the
hillside beyond, the farm-house of Gilsbakki. This lava had come from
a considerable distance, for I traced its course from Gilsbakki, right
away past the liparite mountain, Tunga, and beyond Strutr, where it
divides and flows in two streams. This lava determines the courses of
the principal rivers thereabouts, which flow along its edges.
[Illustration: A FOREST NEAR BARNAFOSS.]
Just below the bridge a very remarkable sight is to be seen. For
more than half a mile along the right bank of the river a series of
cascades and waterfalls flow into it. The water issues from beneath
the lava of which the steep bank is composed, and then flows down its
side; it is a very striking proof of the great extent of some of the
subterranean rivers. Just above the bridge there is a very fine fall
in the Hvitá, known as Barnafoss; though fine, it cannot be compared
with Gullfoss in grandeur, and the glory of this part of the river is
the series of cascades on its right bank. The spot is supposed to have
been named from the drowning of two children near the fall--Barnafoss,
the children's waterfall; but the minister at Reykholt declared that
the tale is not true, and that the name is more likely to have been
corrupted from Bjarni, which is a man's name. It is worthy of note
that the birch woods seem to flourish best in the decaying lava in the
scoriaceous lava-fields; it also seems to do well in soil produced
from liparite, for it grows high up on the east side of the liparite
mountain, Tunga.
[Illustration: THE CASCADES AT BARNAFOSS.]
At the Hvitá bridge the party split into two--Miss Hastie going on with
Hannes to Gilsbakki, while Jón and I went along the left bank of the
Hvitá past Husafell, thence onward across the river Kaldá, where we
got among lava and birches. The birches were much of the same height
as those in the Barnafoss wood, though I saw several that stood about
seven to eight feet high. I took a photograph of one of them--one in
which the wood had attained a thickness of some three or four inches;
it was the finest specimen of a birch-tree that I saw in Iceland.
There are bigger birches in the land, for I have seen a photograph
of a clump of about a dozen that are over twenty feet in height, but
they are in a particularly favoured spot on the eastern side of the
island. I got Jón on his pony to stand while I photographed the wood
through which we were passing, for it was a typical Icelandic forest.
On crossing the next river, the Geitá, I found the lava much broken up
and denuded, and there was spread over it a quantity of the alluvial
pebbles that are brought down in times of heavy rains and melting ice
by the rivers flowing from Lang Jökull--it is a sort of flood plain, in
fact. This continued until we reached the Hvitá, but on the other side
of it we once more found ourselves upon the unbroken rough lava. Close
beside this river we came to a halt for the night at the farm-house of
Kalmanstunga, which is situated in a very picturesque spot facing Lang
Jökull, the glaciers and ice-fields of which are in full view; it has
the liparite mountain, Tunga, and a portion of Eyriks Jökull on the
right, and the extinct volcano, Strutr, on the left.
[Illustration: MAP]
In the morning I ascended the rising ground at the back of
Kalmanstunga, and thence obtained an interesting view over the country.
In the foreground beneath Lang Jökull a long valley filled with lava
from beyond Strutr stretches away from left to right; two rivers flow
down the valley, one on each side of the lava, which determines their
course along its edges. The Hvitá flowed on the edge of the lava just
at the foot of the hills whereon I stood; on the far side of the
valley, on the other edge of the lava, the Geitá flowed at the foot
of the outlying hills of Lang Jökull. Away to the right in the valley
between the two rivers, towards their confluence, I could see the
denuded alluvium-covered lava noticed on the way. This alluvial matter
is deposited during floods, when the waters of the swollen rivers unite
and flow over the lava as one.
It was nearly mid-day before we got a start, for there had been delay
over a very important matter. Jón had awakened me several hours earlier
to inform me that there were no candles in the house! Now, candles
would not seem to be a matter of much importance to us, considering
that it was then broad daylight and that we had but little use for
candles in the ordinary way, because daylight continued practically
during the whole twenty-four hours; nor would the lack of them seem to
be a thing to cause a delay in starting; but it was really the case,
for we were about to proceed to the Surtshellir Caves, and candles
were required to enable us to explore their passages. That being so, a
messenger had to be sent to the farm-house at Husafell, where a stock
was generally kept for anybody wanting to visit the caves. The caves
were distant about two hours' ride--one rarely mentions distance in the
ordinary way when travelling in Iceland, because ten miles, say, might
represent a journey of three or four hours, or the same distance might
be traversed in little more than an hour in very favourable ground.
After crossing the rise at the back of Kalmanstunga, we descended into
the valley of the Northingafljot, a clear-water river having its source
in a number of lakes of glacial origin known as Fiskivötn, lying beyond
Eyriks Jökull. The valley is filled with lava from the same source as
that on the Hvitá side of Strutr, whence I had just come. Here the lava
is noted for the number and extent of the caves that underlie it. There
is a sharp rise as the river is ascended, the stream in consequence
being a swift one--so swift, indeed, that it has been able to carve a
way through the lava, which it crosses from one side of the valley to
the other, a very unusual thing. The upper portion flows on the western
edge of the lava and at the foot of the hills on that side; while the
lower, after crossing the lava, flows along by the eastern edge at the
foot of the mountains Strutr and Tunga.
[Illustration: THE NORTHINGAFLJOT CUTTING ACROSS THE LAVA.]
The caves at Surtshellir are remarkable for several things. Their
origin is probably due to a big bubble formation, helped partly,
perhaps, by a crust of lava being forced upward in the form of an
arch by pressure acting from the sides; though there is no doubt that
they have been much enlarged and deepened by the eroding action of
flowing water. An underground river used to flow through the caves,
but as it does not do so now, some lower channel has doubtless been
found. There was evidence of lower caves beneath those visited, for
on stamping on the ground in several places, distinctly hollow sounds
were produced. The falls into the Hvitá at Barnafoss, which are only a
few miles away, lie in the Surtshellir line of drainage, and are proof
that very large quantities of water are still flowing underground in
this neighbourhood; in fact, it is highly probable that a great deal
of water from the numerous lakes, the Fiskivötn, on Arnarvatnsheithi,
escapes underground. There are two entrances to the caves--one near
what is known as the Bone Cave, the other close by the Icicle Cave.
The caves are in a picturesque spot, and beyond the entrance that we
used there lies the great ice-covered Eyriks Jökull, one of the highest
mountains in Iceland. There is a depression in the lava at this spot--a
double depression, in fact, for inner and outer rims indicate them very
distinctly, and it is obvious that the opening in the caves is due to
the falling in of part of the roof. Access to the caves is obtained by
scrambling down the loose broken lava to an opening at the bottom. The
photographs do not give much idea of the roughness of the "going"; from
end to end, except in the Icicle Cave, where difficulties of another
kind were met with, the floor of the caves was strewn with broken lava.
The fragments that have become detached from the roof and now lie upon
the floor are angular blocks of extreme raggedness and hardness, piled
up in confused heaps that test quality of boots, strength of ankles,
and toughness (or tenderness) of skin, to say nothing of the mysterious
capability of hanging on "by one's eyelids" that is almost absolutely
necessary in places.
[Illustration: THE DOUBLE DEPRESSION IN THE LAVA AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE
SURTSHELLIR CAVES.]
[Illustration: IN THE SURTSHELLIR CAVES NEAR THE ENTRANCE, SHOWING THE
WATER-WORN LINES.]
Jón and I were accompanied by the farmer from Kalmanstunga, a man
acquainted with the caves, who had come with us in the capacity of
guide. We scrambled down to the entrance and then lighted our candles.
When once inside, there could be no doubt as to one of the causes
of their existence or enlargement, for there along the sides of the
caves, indicating the different levels of the old river, were numerous
water-worn lines. The photograph shows this very clearly; it also
shows the lava fragment bestrewn floor, and the roof from which the
fragments have fallen. We followed our guide into the main channel,
but he soon turned to the left into a branch known as the Bone Cave,
because of the number of animal remains (bones) that bestrew the floor.
It is said that some twenty to thirty outlaws at one time occupied the
cave, and that the bones are the remains of the sheep and oxen which
the outlaws stole from the flocks and herds in the neighbourhood, and
which they consumed for food. That may have been so, or it may not, but
it would account for the presence of the bones; except for some such
tale it would be difficult to do so, for the animals could hardly have
strayed so far from daylight, to say nothing of the difference of level
between the floor of the main channel and that of the Bone Cave. This
branch cave was soon explored, for in about two hundred yards the roof
gradually converged to meet the floor, and we found it necessary to
crawl on hands and knees--a painful thing to do over the rough angular
lava blocks. Retracing our steps we descended to the old river-bed
again and scrambled over rough boulders for a considerable distance,
to emerge after awhile by a long rising snow slope into the open air.
The snow remains in the caves all the year round; it drifts in through
the opening during the winter, and the warmth of the whole summer's sun
does not suffice to melt it--it was then the end of July.
The opening has been caused by the falling in of the roof, but there
is no way out--the edges overhang quite beyond reach. On again we
went, down another snow slope to the second section of the caves,
where the "going" was indescribable. Our way lay over the roughest and
sharpest-edged blocks of lava that it is possible to imagine, where
nothing but the strongest of boots would have withstood the wear and
tear; it was one continuous scramble on hands and feet. I found it
most difficult, for in addition to the candle in my hands, a camera
was slung from my shoulders, and the wretched thing would continually
work round in front and get mixed up with arms or legs at critical
moments when my body was contorted in scrambling up, down, or over, a
particularly awkward series of sharp-edged boulders. At last we reached
another long snow slope, at the top of which there was another opening
to the caves--the second entrance already mentioned. The snow-drifts
are not very deep in places, for I went through twice, though I was
able to scramble out again without assistance.
The last section of the caves is most remarkable. After descending into
it by another snow-drift, we found ourselves in a region of frost and
ice. Water trickled everywhere from the roof, crystallising into long
icicles, and the drops that fell upon the floor were converted into
smooth ice, or gradually built up ice stalagmites. For several hundred
yards the whole floor was coated with ice; there were myriads of
icicles pendent from the roof, and on the floor stood ice stalagmites,
pillars and columns innumerable. One of the first features to notice
was a fine group of clear ice columns, while we came upon the most
beautiful thing in the caves a little farther on, after descending an
ice slope that was most difficult to negotiate without alpenstock and
ice nails in boots. However, by the exercise of great care we got down
without tumbles, and were rewarded by the sight of a very beautiful
snow-white cascade of ice; the scene was very pretty and fairy-like,
illumined as it was by the light shed upon the surroundings by our
candles. It was after passing the cascade that the real difficulty
of the journey began. For several hundred yards we had to make our
way over countless lava boulders, but no longer were they sharp and
angular, and rough to the touch; no, they were far otherwise, for they
were coated with ice and were as smooth as glass, and oh, so cold! and
as slippery as the proverbial glass, only more so, for no glass could
be so slippery. Up and down we went at the slowest possible rate of
progression, climbing over huge blocks of ice-coated lava, hanging
on with hands to some of the ice stalagmites that, fortunately for
our safety, were in hundreds--nay, thousands, and feeling cautiously
with feet for projecting pieces of ice on which to rest them and get
a sort of foothold; but our slips were many in the pitchy darkness
that was but faintly relieved by the dull light from the candles we
carried, which we clasped convulsively in our hands as we clutched at
the icy stalagmites, and slid and slipped and blundered along. At last
we emerged from the ice-bound region to find ourselves on scoriaceous
lava, coated in places with a thin layer of a loamy deposit. Over this
we crunched for a few hundred yards till we came to a cairn built in
the middle of the cave. In a recess of the cairn there was a tin box,
which the guide soon brought to our notice. It contained a number of
visiting cards that had been left from time to time by tourists wishing
to immortalise themselves, for this is one of the least visited of
the "lions" of Iceland. On the top of the cairn, which stood nearly
shoulder high, there was a wooden board, having on it a number of
coins, ancient as well as modern, for one of them, a Danish coin, bears
the date 1743. It is a time-honoured custom for visitors to leave a
coin there; but as water drops from the roof upon the board containing
the coins, they speedily decompose; indeed, many of them were already
unrecognisable from decay. The end of the cave was but a short distance
beyond, perhaps a hundred yards, and there two staves, about three feet
long, with hollow ends, rested in an upright position on the floor at
a spot where the roof and floor rapidly converged; they were kept in
place by the sloping roof, which meets the floor a few yards beyond.
In the hollows of the staves there were several old coins, one of them
being a Danish piece about the size of an English crown. To get out of
the caves we had to retrace our steps over the ice-covered boulders and
through the Icicle Cave to the second entrance. The photograph shows
the view looking towards the entrance just before ascending the snow
slope; we had already passed most of the icicles, but on the floor,
which is of ice, a few of the very small stalagmites are shown.
[Illustration: SURTSHELLIR--THE ICICLE CAVE.]
In the Icicle Cave we met Miss Hastie and Hannes, who had come over
from Gilsbakki because the day was so fine and summer-like--it was
one of the few days that really felt summery. After lunch beside the
Northingafljot we started for Gilsbakki, proceeding down the lava
in the Northingafljot valley. We crossed the river at a convenient
ford not far away, and rode along on the right side of the valley.
We passed by the liparite mountain, Tunga, this time on the western
side of it; the lower slopes were covered with birch, though it did
not grow so far up as on the eastern side. The colouring of the bare
exposed rock was brown, yellow, purple, etc.--just the same as that
at the hot springs at Kerlingarfjöll, and it looked as if several
places were the sites of hot springs, then extinct. I had no time to
examine the mountain, but I should doubtless have found the matter
quite hard, whereas that by the hot springs at Kerlingarfjöll was of
the consistency of soft clay. Beyond Tunga, the Northingafljot lava
joins that coming from the other side of the mountain in the Hvitá
valley, and thence they continue as one flow down the Hvitá valley to
just beyond Gilsbakki. We travelled for several miles beside the river
Thorvaldsdalsá, and could not help noticing that it decreased in volume
as we descended, although several streams flowed into it from the
mountain-sides; its waters drain underground, and doubtless contribute
to the falls on the right bank of the Hvitá, a few miles distant at
Barnafoss.