“After a ball at the Governor’s on the e_Ultima Thule; or, A Summer in Iceland. vol. 2/2

in the morning for Thingvellir, accompanied by Captain Raffenberg, three

officers of the ‘Thor,’ our kind host and entertainers, and by young

Count Carl Trampe, son of the Governor, with forty-one horses, and

arrived on the field of the Geysers in the evening of the 30th. Shortly

before, as we were descending to the ford of the river, a column like

smoke was observed in the distance before us; this, as we afterwards

learnt, was from Geyser--one of his great displays.

“A little tent pitched near the great Geyser was not proof against the

pelting rain, but I was glad to get a friend to share it, the rest of

the party taking refuge at the neighbouring farm-house.

“The night was dark, with heavy rain. Geyser (as he is emphatically

called by the Icelanders) gave no sign.

“The first of July was warm and bright.

“There were several eruptions during the day, making me familiar with

his operations, but there were none of them to any great height, lasting

only for two or three minutes: the basin not quite emptied.

“Several eruptions of Strokkr were witnessed, two of them by giving him

a dose of turf: the prescription discovered by Henderson. These were a

series of violent explosions, without any warning; the first burst went

up like a rocket fifty or sixty feet, followed in such quick succession

lower and higher that frequently the ascending mass passed through the

descending waters, falling outwards on all sides. During the ten minutes

they lasted, a stream of boiling water was given off only inferior to

that of the Great Geyser.

“The last shoot into the air was generally the highest.

“It is not quite safe to be near this fellow in his spasmodic pranks,

but they cannot be looked upon without amazement. The action is

altogether different from that of the orderly majestic movements of the

great King of all the Geysers, with whom he has evidently no connection.

“In his normal state, eight feet down from his not very pretty mouth,

the water in Strokkr is always in violent ebullition.

“The estimate we formed of the extreme height of the sheaves of water

was above 100 feet. In order to assist in the computation, we had

measured that distance to the ground where we stood. The more practised

eyes of the naval officers agreed in this estimate.

“It was now eleven P.M.; the sky as clear as day.

“With the exception of my tent friend and a companion, who had gone to

visit the Little Geyser, the rest of the party had left for the night.

“Standing on the edge of the basin to windward, assisted by the

Hoffmeister in measuring the line I had stretched across it at different

points, several heavy thumps were felt under our feet, followed by

earthquake movement, and the rolling sound, so often described, coming

from a distance to the south. My assistant had thrown down the lines and

fled.

“The water in the basin was as smooth as glass, the slight vapour rising

being carried to the south-west, when suddenly in the centre of the

basin over the well or pipe (10 feet 4 inches in diameter, as afterwards

measured) the water rose, through the water in the basin, to the full

circumference of the pipe (31 feet), to the height of about 3 feet.

“The column appeared for an instant as if a solid body, immediately

falling into the basin, and ruffling its surface with a series of

waves.

“Lord Dufferin, in his charming ‘Letters from High Latitudes,’ in happy

illustration of this phenomenon adds in a foot-note:

‘As if an angel troubled the waters.’

“Again, the water rose 5 or 6 feet, falling as before, creating a little

storm in the basin, and rushing out at the two openings in the rim, the

one on the north-east, the other on the east. By the third and fourth

rise of these columns, following each other with increasing rapidity,

the boiling water came tumbling like a cataract over the basin and down

the mound on all sides. Compelled to retire a little distance, columns

of water were now dimly seen following each other with loud noise, as

they rushed through the tube into the air, each succeeding column higher

than the one before it. These were now a series of explosions, giving

off enormous clouds of steam, black from their density.

“My two friends then joined me and witnessed this rare sight in all its

grandeur. The display lasted for about seven minutes from the

commencement.

“Immediately after the last and highest explosion, the flow down the

sides of the mound suddenly ceased, and running up and into the basin,

we found it empty, and the water standing some ten feet down, the tube

gradually filling again.

“The Hoffmeister of the ‘Thor’ had returned, and throwing some stones

into the well, myriads of steam bubbles were disengaged, and rose to the

surface, making him run again for his life from the wrath of the demon

he had thus provoked.

“_2d of July._--Fast asleep in the tent at six in the morning. I was

roused by the underground thundering to the south: my friend, who was

up, had looked out and thought it was only an abortive attempt; the

noise continued, accompanied by the sound of rushing waters near us.

Following my friend, I lost him for a minute or two in the dense mass of

steam, which smelt of sulphur, but he speedily joined me in my former

position; and before the explosions had attained their highest

elevation, the whole party were near us. Their opinion was, that the

height the explosions had attained was quite as great as that of Strokkr

on the previous day. I was much too near to form any adequate opinion.

Rising above the dense clouds of vapour, the water in columns was

distinctly seen opening out at the top into separate shoots at varying

heights, the lower curving outwards, the higher shot up perpendicular,

and shattered into diamond drops, sparkling in the sun. The well opens

up trumpet-shape into the basin, the diameter of the curve being about 2

feet 6 inches. To this it appears to be due that most of the water falls

outside its margin.

“From one of the last columns about a third broke off, and, bending

between me and the sun, left his image quite black upon the retina.

“Prepared for the close, we had reached the basin in time to see the

last portion of its contents running into the well, leaving the basin

burning hot, and not a drop of water in it. The well was standing about

12 feet down, the water slowly rising, and taking about 15 minutes again

to fill the basin.

“During these eruptions the rush of boiling water never ceased; but

uniting to the east of the mound, it flowed down to the river in a

continuous stream, in some places 20 yards in breadth.

“Taking the average height of the columns of water at 45 feet, and eight

shoots in a minute during a period of eruption of 7½ minutes, the

discharge is 1,410,600 gallons; or take one column 80 feet by 10 feet 4

inches diameter, gives 41,797 gallons at one discharge; a shot weighing

186 tons 11 cwts. 3 qrs. 17 lbs. from this great gun, to which the

Woolwich Infant is but a babe.

“To the eye, so far as could be seen, the pipe was quite cylindrical;

and, plumbed all round, no irregularity was discovered, except at the

bottom, which was very irregular, giving to my line a depth of 80 feet

on one side, 82 on the other. My tent companion and friend, the late

Robert Allan, in a paper read at the meeting of the British Association

at Glasgow in 1855, and published in its Transactions, gave the depth 83

feet 2 inches. The diameter of the basin from two points--72 feet 6

inches, 68 feet 1 inch: my four measurements taken twice on the surface

of the water gives the average of 66 feet.

“Assembled round the basin, which had now filled, the water smooth and

bright, with a thin screen of vapour carried to the south, a curious

discovery was made. Standing with his back to the sun, and looking into

the basin, the spectator saw his face and head clear as in a mirror,

surrounded by a halo of bright prismatic colours. The coloured rays

extended round the head to the distance of 2 or 3 feet, forming

two-thirds to three-fourths of a circle, the lower portion wanting. The

observer could only see his own likeness, not that of his neighbour.

“The temperature of Geyser at rest varied from 180° to 188°, but no

perceptible difference was noticed before or after the explosions.

“The heat of the water may be ascertained very nearly by observing the

amount of steam given off.

“During eruptions the water was expelled at a temperature far above the

boiling point, as the dense masses of steam clearly showed.

“There was no steam from Geyser, which was not given out from the water

itself, during the explosions.

“On examining the basin, little ripple markings were found all over its

surface, similar to what are left on the sands of the sea by the

retiring tide.

“It was unbroken by sacrilegious chisel and hammer, then busily employed

by all three in collecting specimens.

“On my visit three years after, in 1858, some of these rejected

specimens were found so firmly cemented in the place they were left that

my hammer could not disengage them without tearing up a portion of the

rock to which they adhered.

“In the little pools on the sides of the mound films of pure silica were

discovered; and on the edge of the little falls of the stream towards

the river I got some good specimens of calcedony in process of

formation, but they were too brittle to carry safely away.

“On my second visit to the Geysers I was congratulated by Captain Verron

of the ‘Artemise’ of being sure to witness a grand eruption, seeing he

had been two days there without one; but, storm-stayed for four days,

and never out of sight of my tent, I was disappointed. The incessant

rain had so subdued the motive powers of action that the Great Geyser

seldom rose near half his former height. Strokkr growled, making some

praiseworthy efforts, and the smaller Geysers did their best under such

adverse circumstances.

“Among the preparations made I had for ascertaining the temperature of

the well of the Geyser:

“1. A cord repeatedly shrunk in hot water, then stretched, and marked

every ten feet.

“2. Another to span the basin with a ring in the centre, through which

No. 1 was passed.

“The thermometer being attached to No. 1, was let down into the tube

every 10 feet successively, and with the help of two assistants on

opposite sides of the basin, bringing it home to note the temperature.

“Unfortunately, a Negretti by Stevenson, though in a case, and well

protected, got injured during the operation; one of the screws which

fastened the glass tube to its case was out, and a bit at the upper end

broken off. The injury I found, after all, would not have amounted to

more than a difference of 5° to 6° Fahrenheit in temperature, but I had

lost confidence in it.

“So far as observed, the temperature rose very nearly in proportion to

the depth of the well, from about 188° at the top to about 260° at the

bottom.”

The following are the temperature measurements at the Great Geyser,

taken on August 6 and 7, 1874, and given on April 29, 1875, at the Royal

Society of Edinburgh by Robert Walker, Esq., a Fellow of the Society:

Depth in feet from surface. Observed temperature (Fahr.).

0 = 187°

10·5 = 190°

18 = 197°

27 = 211°

36 = 243°

39 = 247°

45 = 250°·5

49·5 = 254°

54 = 256°·5

58·5 = 254° (?)

67·5 = 259°·5

77·5 = 257°

“As an example of change in these springs: on the first visit, a pool

was found near the Little Geyser, from which a stream ran eastwards, the

temperature on the surface was 168°; adhering to the sides thick fleshy

leaves of Algæ of a greenish-brown colour were floating. The spot was

marked, and three years after, the Algæ were gone, all but a little on

the sides, the temperature reduced to 139°, the water had sunk down, and

the stream had ceased, leaving its former course quite discernible by

the grass which covered it being of a lighter green tint than that on

each side of its course. To the west, steam issued out of a minute hole:

a stroke of the hammer disclosed a little pool in ebullition, but the

temperature was only 184°. Is this little fellow destined at some future

day to rival his companions?

“Between the Geyser and the beautiful caverns often described there is

an ugly hole about 8 feet diameter, most dangerous, and horrible to look

at; unlike all the rest, containing the purest water, it is filled to

within 4 or 5 feet of its mouth with a silicious paste of a dark-brown

colour, of the consistency of porridge, alternately popling and boiling

furiously.

“Visiting Reykir in 1858, we were informed by the pastor that the period

of _its_ Geyser was just six hours, so we had but an hour to wait. True

to time, the water gradually rose with a continuous flow, rising higher

and higher during a space of twenty minutes, until it had reached a

height of 38 feet. A little instrument, designed by the Astronomer Royal

for Scotland, with the aid of a friend from Bo’ness, was sufficient to

give this close approximation.

“The charm of the Geyser at Reykir could not be exceeded; the shafts, as

they rose, curved outwards all round in perfect symmetry, a tree of live

water, throwing off steam, but not sufficient to obscure its marvellous

beauty, as the sun played and sparkled among its branches.

“It is difficult to account for these various phenomena.

“Place a glass tube half filled with water over a lamp or gas light.

After the water is boiled, it will be ejected by successive spurts; and

looking at the bottom of the tube, an air space will be seen, expanding

as the water is ejected. This is the explosive material so often

referred to, and it is upon this operation that the diminutive Geysers

have been constructed to so far explain the action and time of these

water volcanoes.

“The observations made upon these two visits led me to the following

conclusions as to the phenomena accompanying the eruptions of the Great

Geyser:

“The cavity of Sir George Mackenzie, or boiler, as I shall here term it,

I would place from 200 to 230 yards to the south of it, not far from the

little Strokkr, from which the sound of underground ‘artillery’ is heard

to proceed. Here it is that the explosive force--highly superheated

steam--is generated. Connected with it and the underground passage to

Geyser is the reservoir of hot water.

“These underground caverns are numerous over Iceland, Surseitler being

the most famous; in it the sides of the cave, a mile in length, are

smooth and rounded to the ceiling, evidently formed when the lava was in

a plastic state--blown out like the molten glass under the hands of the

bottle-maker. From the roof large blocks had fallen, rendering the

passage extremely difficult.

“It seems highly probable that the cause of the sharp rattling noise

heard during eruption is due to such loose angular masses of lava rock

being driven against each other with the force that propelled the rush

of waters to the Geyser. The explosive force unequal at first to impel

more than a portion of water up the tube, the resistance becomes less as

the reservoir gets emptied by its escape up the tube, and so the water

is propelled higher and higher to the last. The explosions cease by the

steam in the boiler being suddenly condensed, and the vacuum thus

created drawing back the water from the passage, and from the basin, and

in part from the well. The premonitory thumps were probably caused by

the first waves of the rushing mass of water striking against a wall of

rock close to the bottom of the well.

“Numerous Geysers worthy of note are scattered all over Iceland, the

joint production of water and the subterranean fires which underlie

them.”

SECTION IV.--TO THINGVELLIR AND BACK TO REYKJAVIK.

The next morning (July 16) saw our departure. The breeze had chopped

round to the north, and, perhaps, this change of wind produced the

general excitement which we noticed in the springs. Both yesterday and

to-day several parties of Icelanders came to see the sights, the women

shawled to the ears, despite the hot sun, and with bodices unpleasantly

tight-laced by lines of eyelet-holes across the breast. Formerly the

people “never passed the Geysir without spitting into it; or, as they

say, _utí Fjandans munn_--into the Devil’s mouth.” We set off at eleven

A.M., passing south-south-west to the Laug farm, where some travellers

have slept and “lost the eruption,” and crossing the filthy swamp, where

sheep graze and curlews scream, we forded the little stream which drains

between the Laugarfjall and its trachytic outlier. The approach to the

thermæ from the south is even meaner than the eastern, a dwarf slope of

bright-coloured ground trending from the concave lump to the Túngufljót.

Most of this march is only fit for the itinerary. The path in places

becomes like the hollow ways of the Brazil, whose gullies spread over a

hundred yards of ground, and the “forest,” as on the Anti-Libanus, shows

more root than hole, the tree hugging earth, as it were, to save itself

from being blown away. The first chapel farm gives an extensive view of

the coast features and of the highly picturesque formations, the

Jarlhettur rampart, the twin bluffs and spines of Hagafell, and the

grim, black isolated castellation of Hljóðufell, outlying the

Lángjökull. At about half-past one P.M., warned by a rustling which was

mistaken for that of the forest, we came “lickity, lickity, switch,”

upon the planks of the Brúará or Bridgewater: in Perthshire there is

also a Bruar, so called from its natural arch. Gaimard, carefully copied

by later writers, shows a plank forty feet long, utterly undefended by

“gardefou,” and “spanning the depths of a narrow cleft in a precipice,”

where men “rush for their lives,” and where “the danger is at least a

hundred feet.” Symington was reminded of the Mósi-wá-túnyá (Victoria)

Falls, the Niagara of South Africa! The river, classical in Iceland

story for the lynching of Jón Gerikson, the Swedish bishop, here washes

over a rocky channel about 160 feet broad. There is a ferry below;

higher up a gash, nearly 100 yards long, forms a wedge-shaped crevasse,

opening down stream, and a drop of half-a-dozen feet in the bed combines

to make a miniature horse-shoe, over which the blue water pours, foaming

and mildly roaring. Over the gash is thrown a bridge of twelve

planks,[113] some twelve feet broad, and well guarded by iron-cramped

rails. Man must lately have suffered from “Dil. Tre.” to feel nervous in

such a place, and we went our ways laughing.

Shortly after six P.M. we sighted Thingvallavatn, the “monarch of

Iceland lakes,” an expanse of placid blue, ruffled by the pleasant

south. Its two crater-islets are Nesjaey, small and green, near the

western shore, and larger Sandey, a two-pronged lump of black stone and

green turf, rising a little south of a “Lisán,” a dark foreland

projected by the eastern shore. Shortly afterwards we came suddenly upon

the Hrafnagjá, or Raven’s Geo,[114] whose “startling depths” extend from

the snow-patched Hrafnabjörg, or Raven’s Crag, about four miles long to

the Vellankatla, Bay of the Lake. This longitudinal crevasse is the

facsimile of a “Ká’ah” in Hauránic Leja or the Refuge; the long parallel

lines show corresponding angles, and there is little difference of level

between the upper and lower lips of the barranco; in fact, it is the

lateral rent to be found, in a smaller scale, upon every lava-field. The

arched form is common to such streams, and where the sides find a soft

and yielding foundation, and cold contracts the heated mass, it splits

on both sides of the major axis, and thus forms chasms, often one or

more, upon each flank. Here, at least, no “collapse theory” is wanted.

A fair causeway across the Raven’s Rift is made by the falling of many

rocks. Upon the lower slopes we found “forest,” which does not exist on

the sister formation. We then crossed the eastern or, as it is known in

history, the “upper plain;” the surface on both sides of the path is

streaked with “Geos,” mostly running parallel; we remarked one disposed

obliquely to the lay, and the various names given to us were Háflagjá,

Hólagjá, and Breðnigjá. At half-past nine P.M. we entered the

Thingvellir church: the altar-piece, a Last Supper, is old; the pulpit

dates from A.D. 1683; and the loft is not, as usual, a store-room for

the farm, but a sleeping apartment for travellers, provided with pillows

and mattresses, decently clean. Prófastr Bech was happily absent: his

wife sent us forelles and Kaka,[115] thin rye cakes, but Icelandic

modesty did not admit of our seeing the lady.

The next morning was spent in prospecting the humble wonders of

Thingvellir; the Tingvold of Norway; the Dyngsted of Oldenburg;[116] the

Dingwall of Ross-shire; the Tingwall of Hjaltland; and Tynwald of

Dumfries and the Isle of Man. This assembly plain owes all its fame to

history; its civilising influence upon the race reminds us of the annual

reunions of the Greeks at Delphi, and the Hebrews at Jerusalem.

Sentimentalists would restore the obsolete practice, and transfer the

legislators from their comfortable hall at Reykjavik to this wild and

savage spot--why not propose that the barons of England meet in

parliament at Runnymede?

The lake is computed at thirty miles in circumference, and the depth in

places to exceed a hundred fathoms. The aspect on a cloudless morning is

that of the humble Scotch waters, wanting only gentlemen’s seats and a

small steamer: here, however, we are in Snowland, and we see it. The

depressed plain begins with the rugged delta of the Öxará,[117] or

Axewater, and runs to the north-east about four miles each way: the

limits north and south are mountains and hills, east and west run the

twin “stone-streams.” Maps and plans make all the lava flow to the

south-west from Skjaldbreið: this must be an error, as in parts it would

flow upwards. I suspect a crater behind Hrafnabjörg, whence issued the

double stream, which can be seen from Thingvellir: the two forks circled

round that burnt red cone, anastomosed, and formed the Hrafnagjá and two

shorter Geos in the eastern half of the same stone-torrent: the latter

do not cut the road, but they are visible from every height. The fiery

flood west of the plain which forms the Almannagjá (all-men or great

rift),[118] is not so easily traced. A traveller might pass a

satisfactory week to himself and others by journeying to Skjaldbreið,

where a path leads, and by ascending the mountain high enough to map the

lava-sources and the streams which form the two Geos.

[Illustration: LÖGBERG AND ALMANNAGJA.]

The popular theory is, that the whole plain, an item of the pyroxenic

plateau from Reykjavik to Geysir, has bodily “dropped at once and

subsided” to its present level, leaving exposed a section of the rent

rocks on either side. It reposes solely on the evidence of the two

parallel Geos, and I do not see that they bear it out. Both of the inner

sides have sunk, not from subterraneous crevassing, but because the

strips of ground which subtended them could not bear the weight. Mr

Scrope would account for the fosses, not by vertical settlement of

superficial lava into any cavity beneath, but by the “simple and usual

process, the bulk of the semi-fluid lava-stream, upon the cessation of

supply from above, having run out into the depths of the Thingvalla

Lake.” The normal operation of this movement, however, is to form a

tunnel, not an open trough, and this objection is one of the least.

The contrast of mountain and water, as usual, gives a certain

picturesqueness to the site. South-east of the lake rises the Búrfell,

here a goodly presence, and no longer the little cone seen from about

Reykir; south lies familiar Ingólfsfjall, and south-west towers the

“tall hanging hill,” Hengilshöfði, famed for sulphur springs;

snow-streaked, blue-tinted, and shaped somewhat like an elephant’s head.

Wheeling round to face north-west, we see the pinnacles of Súlarfell,

bristled as with trees; the fretted peaks about Gagnheiði; the dull

black heap of Ármannsfell, so called from Orman the Irish giant, who

there lies in his grave; and the ridgelet of Jornkliff, crouching below

it. There to north-east stands Skjaldbreið, shield-shaped as its name

says, ending in a snow-flaked umbo which suggests a crater. The peaks of

Tindaskagi at its foot apparently connect with the great Hrafnabjörg;

and far behind them, but brought near by the surpassing atmospheric

clearness, sparkle the snows of Lángjökull. The eastern view ends with

the quaint serrations of Dímon, which may be either lava blisters, or

the lips of a true crater, with the long buttress-like promontory of

Arnarfell, and with the background heights of Miðfell.

Dasent’s “Topography of the Thingfield,”[119] will confine our notices

of details to a narrow range. We inspected the Ell-stone or

Fathom-stone, a block of vesicular lava, 4 feet 9 inches high, opposite

the church door, and planted upon a rubble foundation. The six lines

upon the east face measure 1 foot 9 inches, 11 (10·50), 8, 7, 5, and 4

inches; they may be standards, but they look like the work of nature. We

then walked up to the grassy site of the Althing, and that local Sinai,

the Lögberg or Moothill, the latter a natural stone-mound to the north.

Parliament was formerly held on an island; it was for the best of

reasons transferred here, where the public was railed off by deep

chasms, and where hon. members could be attacked only by a single

gateway. So the Shetland Tingwall (Thingvöllr) was held on a holm,[120]

accessible only by stepping-stones, and the Thing-booths were on the

lake-plain. East is the Hrossagjá, and 20 yards west, the

Nikolásagjá,[121] with the smaller Brennrugjá below the latter. These

miniatures of the two great rifts, distant about a mile and a half from

the lake, are of crumbling subcolumnar black rock, varying from 16 to 40

feet in breadth, and falling sheer some 30 feet to clear blue-green

water, whose depths show detached blocks of lava. The two former unite

to the north, the second and third to the south, enclosing a long oval

with a natural bridge, a few feet wide, to the south-east. We admired

the leap, worthy of Morton and the Black Linn, by which Flosi escaped

the “blood-stone;” this article was shown to us on the western bank of

the Hrossagjá, a detached slice some 12 feet long, whence the victim

would fall into the “Geo.” Below to the west lay the lower Öxará, which

has probably changed all its features since Njál’s day. Yet the guides

still point out the islet, where holm-gangs were fought in presence of

the multitude;[122] and amongst the sand-banks formed by ankle-deep

rivulets, the “Thorleifshólmr,” upon which criminals were beheaded.

I passed the greater part of the morning examining the Almannagjá, whose

total length is about two miles,[123] and the average breadth 100 feet.

Ascending the outer or eastern edge by a slope of 20°, I found the upper

strata to be ropy, treacly, and scoriaceous lava, whilst below and

inside the couches are hard and crystalline. There is a slip in the

“Topography of the Thingfield” (p. cxxvii.), where it says, “about a

mile and a half from where the great rift touches the lake, its inner

lip ceases,” and the “Enlarged Plan” makes it break off where it is very

distinctly marked. The sole was a mass of _débris_ fallen from the

sides, and good pasture streaked with many a path. Up the chasm there

are rude dry walls of mortarless stone, the Makíl of the Syrian

goat-herd, and serving as Sæters for sheep--the guides declare them to

be the Búðir of the old Thingmen, but their booths did not extend north

of the river. The upper or western wall, whose crest is weathered into

pinnacles, varies from 80 to a maximum of 100 feet, whilst the lower

ranges from 30 to 50; both are perpendicular and show stratifications

which seem to proceed from a succession of discharges.

The Axewater, above the “Geo,” is a stream like an English rivulet,

flowing through a wild and desolate Heiði. It tumbles over the western

lip by a gap about 50 feet high; here the layers of lava are well

defined on both sides, and it is easy to climb up either flank of the

toy cascade. This fall was sighted during the last march, and suggested

great expectations as the foot was hidden. M. Gaimard takes the liberty

of removing the screen, and showing the whole height prodigiously

exaggerated. It does not “explode in a cataract,” but falls decently

into a font-like kieve, and threads the sand and boulders of the Geo.

After a few yards it finds a gap in the inner lip, and here it dashes

towards the plain with two falls, mere steps in the rock. In the lower

basin, “sack-packed wretched females”--the author must have been

dreaming of the Bosphorus--were let down by ropes and drowned as a

punishment for infanticide. Farther on, witches were burned; less lucky

than other travellers, I could not find their bones. After thus

bisecting the Geo from north-west to south-east, the Axewater runs along

its eastern base, and enters the Thingvallavatn. The latter is drained

to the south-east by the Sog (inlet) outlet, which eventually feeds the

Ölfusá or lower Hvítá; it may be reached in five hours’ sharp riding

from Thingvellir, and in about double that time from Reykjavik. Here in

July any quantity of salmon-trout may be caught; the fish lie above the

first foss thick as water-plants. My informant had taken twenty-five in

one day; the heaviest was 7 lbs., and only two weighed under 6 lbs.; but

he had been almost blinded by the plagues of gnats and flies, which

covered his pony with blood-points.

In the afternoon we rode merrily “home.” The road began by fording the

Axewater, after which was a rude causeway of basalt, about thirty feet

long, ascending the eastern lip. It crossed diagonally the grassy

surface of the “Geo,” and climbed the western wall. A short ramp, paved

for beasts, like a bad flight of steps, runs between the true rampart

and a slice of rock which has been parted from it. Travellers usually

sight it from above, hence we read of the “frightful dangerous chasm,”

and we are told (N.B.--_not_ by an Irishman) that “this is perhaps the

most unique scene in the world.” The moderns compare it with the

“Devil’s Staircase” in the Pass of Glencoe. The path would hardly

startle the most nervous girl, and a Harfushi horseman would gallop his

Arab up and down it.

Beaching the summit, we spurred across the Mossfellsheiði, which those

fresh from home describe as a “horrible stony waste, bordered by lofty

mountains.” But we had met with worse things than this

“ever-to-be-avoided heiði,” where, moreover, labourers were working at

the road. Seen in bad weather, it must be grim enough, as the many

“stone-men” show; hence, doubtless, general complaints about the

“mournful wail of the plover, and the wild scream of the curlew.”[124]

We found a number of these birds, besides sandpipers, purple

oyster-breakers, whimbrels, whose “soft fluid jug,” according to the

“Oxonian,” “is not unlike the nightingale’s song,” and a fair scatter of

ravens. I proposed a turkey-buzzard on a blasted tree, proper, as the

arms of Dahome, and Grip on a lava pinnacle would suit Iceland passing

well.

The only interest of this day’s ride is, that it crosses the “great

trachytic band” opposed to the lesser trachytic band of Snæfellsjökull;

the former made by old writers to stretch clean across Iceland from near

Reykjanes (south-west) to Langanes (north-east). We examined a few veins

of that rock, but the surface was mainly lava above and Palagonite

below. The latter is said to be remarkably well developed in the

Seljaland gorge,[125] and we dismounted to secure red specimens, and to

find, if possible, an Irish rose. This feature, I suppose, is one

writer’s “vast precipice, where there is only about sixteen inches to

tread on,” and the “deep ravine, wild, horrid, and frightful,” of

another pen, whose pencil supplies it with a herd of deer.

As we drew near Reykjavik the sun, after shimmering horizontally along

the ground, obliged us by occasionally setting behind the hills, and

when it

“Burned

The old farm-gable, we thought it turned

The milk that fell in a babbling flood

Into the milk-pail, red as blood.”

The moon arose with a judicious repression of details: the silver light,

the dark purple brooding at the hill-feet, and the gleam of the golden

west gave more colour than usual to the view. The ponies, under boxes

now empty, seemed to fly as they scented home. The only difference in

the familiar scene was a vast eruption of peat-stacks, made, like hay,

whilst the sun shines. Shortly before midnight we were again at home: in

Iceland there are no hours, and kind-hearted Frú Jonassen did not keep

us waiting either for supper or for bed.

ITINERARY FROM REYKJAVIK TO HEKLA AND THE GEYSIR VIA KRÍSUVÍK.

REYKJAVIK TO KRÍSUVÍK.

_Monday, July 8, 1872._

Left Reykjavik at A.M. 11.30. Rounded heads of two dwarf Fjörðs (1

_P.M._), Fosvogr and Kópavogr (seal-cub voe); turf at valley-heads.

1.45 P.M.--Hafnafjörð = 2 hours 15 min. riding; path tolerable up

torrent bed; crossed first divide of rugged ropy lava; path bad.

3.20 P.M. (= 3 hours 50 min.).--Changed horses in grassy cup-shaped

hollow, under broken wall of lava.

3.30 P.M.--Started again; at 4 P.M. forded Kaldá (cold water) River.

4.45 P.M.--Short halt on grassy bottom at foot of Lángahlíð.

6.30 P.M. (=7 hours).--Kleifarvatn (cliff-water); path along western

shore of lake.

7.15 P.M.--Left lake; over bog and up hill.

⊙ I. 8.30 P.M.--Reached Krísuvík (Bay of Krísa, proper name of woman), 5

hours + 3.50 = 8 hours 50 min. Frequent halts and delays with

pack-saddles. At most 3 miles per hour by 9 = 27 indirect statute miles.

People call the distance “10 to 15 miles.” Road upon map, 16 direct

geographical miles from Reykjavik to Krísuvík. General direction, north

to south with a little westing.

Good, grey, travelling day; no sun and no rain till night.

Paid at Krísuvík, $1, 3m. 0sk. (the cheapest).

KRÍSUVÍK TO LITLALAND.

_July 9._

Left Krísuvík 10.45 A.M.; floundered over bog. Great arid plateau of

Iceland to left.

11.45.--Crossed rocky divide. Short cut over livid plain of lava; sea to

right; road along slopes.

12.45.--Entered great lava-field, which lasted with intermissions

throughout day.

1.15 P.M.--Sweet-water lakelet (not shown on map) of Herdisarvík

(Her-dís, proper name); first great lava-stream ends.

3.15 P.M.--Rode across Hlíðarvatn, at foot of Lángahlíð, now not open to

sea as in map; water brackish. Halted 1 hour near Vogsósar (voe’s

mouths) farm; gnats and flies. Rode 4 hours 30 min. = 13½ indirect

statute miles.

4.15 P.M.--Left Vogsósar. Basaltic sands and shells; thin grass. Then

loose sand and old flow of lava; domes, caves, and circular blow-holes,

like those of the Haurán. Deep sand, black and red. Rocky divide; went

gently over the stones.

7.30 P.M.--Passed Hlíðarendi (not _the_ Lithe-end, or Ridge-end) to the

left (north); farm under green slope.

Forded streamlet in swampy river-valley; rough causeway; should have

crossed at the stone-man farther down.

⊙ II. 8 P.M.--Reached Litlaland; five-gabled farm of Magnús Magnússon.

Rode 3 hours 30 min. = 11 indirect statute miles. Total, 8 hours =

24½ indirect statute miles; on map, 19 direct geographical miles.

General direction, west to east.

Misty morn. Day like yesterday, but more sun. Wind ranged from

south-east to north. At night cirri; show clear day to-morrow.

Paid $2, 0m. 0sk.

LITLALAND TO REYKIR AND LAUGARDÆLIR FARM.

_July 10._

Set out 10.30 A.M. Up rise over cindery lava.

11.30.--Road forks, right branch leading to big farm. Took path to left;

reached old beach, water-worn galettes lying in long lines. Skálafell

above to left (north-west).

11.35.--Right bank of Ölfusá (proper name) valley, higher up called the

Sog. Ölfusvatn is the old name for Thingvallavatn.

11.45.--Hjalli (a hillock, much the same as “Hóll;” Cleasby says, “a

shelf or ledge in a mountain-side”); chapel farm. Skirted tall

Palagonite precipice on left.

1 P.M.--Passed through Níupat (?), filthy Bær, dunghill to pony’s knees.

Up right bank of Varmá, influent of broad Ölfusá. Wet riding, water

draining and sinking from above. Then white, smooth soil.

1.50 P.M.--Forded Varmá; easy descent and ascent; water to horses’

knees. Left baggage animals. Reached Reykir 2 P.M. Morning ride, 3 hours

40 min. by 4 miles = 16 indirect statute miles; on map, 9 direct

geographical miles. Direction, south-west to north-east.

Left Reykir 3.40 P.M. Circled round south of hill spine dividing Varmá

and Ölfusá. Forded two small streams and trotted over causeway (Brú),

here common, with some dwarf bridges. After third stream fine riding

along west and south walls of Ingólfsfjall. On slopes and at tongue-tip

fallen masses of light, lavender-coloured Palagonite, water-worn to

shape of volcanic bombs. Crossed two causeways, down slope of Ölfusá

valley.

⊙ III. At 6.45, ferry of Laugardælir; spent 1 hour 20 min. in crossing.

Reached farm of Sæmund Bjarnarson 8 P.M. Afternoon ride, 3 hours by 5 =

15 miles; on map, 6 direct geographical miles. Direction,

north-north-west to south-south-east. Total ride, 6 hours 45 min. = 30

indirect statute miles; on map, 15 miles. General direction,

south-south-west to north-north-east.

Weather charming; real enjoyment. Sun clear, not hot; high north-easter;

lofty cirri and woolpack. Evening cloudy. Rain at night; wind changed to

west and south-west; heat brought bad weather.

At ferry paid $1, and the bishop paid $2. Tariff, 10sk. Danish per

horse, and 12sk. per man or load. Pays well at this season; travellers

by day and night. Englishmen have been asked $20 and got off with $12

(rascality of guide?).

For lodging (church) and forage, coffee and biscuits, paid $3.

LAUGARDÆLIR TO THJÓRSÁRHOLT FERRY.

_July 11._

Horses strayed. Left at noon. Over delta-like flat between Hvítá and

Thjórsá (bull’s water); to north of former, detached bills of Búrfell (a

cabochon seen from north and south, and a hogsback elsewhere),

Stóraborg, and Hestfjall, resembling dots. Bog on old lava: stone

outcrops at places; wettest part often most solid base.

1.30 P.M.--Hraungerði (lava garth) chapel; two farms 8 miles from ferry;

horses and neat cattle.

2 P.M.--Hill dividing Ölfusá and Thjórsá. Rough work; showed

lake-country below, and Thjórsá line raised by refraction. Along natural

lava-dyke to dismal, dreary moor, all knobs and hummocks. Even ravens

avoid it in this weather.

4.30 P.M. (3 hours 30 min. = 18 indirect statute miles).--Halted thirty

minutes and changed horses at Lángamýri; large farm-house, one of many;

wire fence, two strands, and stripped branches for hedge.

5 P.M.--Remounted. Bad riding.

5.40.--Came upon Thjórsá. Ólafsvellir to left; ferry saves distance, but

dangerous in fierce wind. Path along stream excellent, black basaltic

sand, at times cut off corners, clay covering sand. Turned from

north-east to east. Farms and cattle. Passed Sandlækr and tall riverine

islet, Arnesthing. “Rústir,” or ruins, on right. Ponies tired; when

leaving river often lost way.

7 P.M.--Country more thickly peopled.

⊙ IV. 8.30 P.M.--At Thjórsárholt ferry-house (3 hours 30 min. = 20

miles). Total 8 hours, varying pace = 46 indirect statute miles; map, 26

direct geographical miles. General direction, west-south-west to

east-north-east.

Weather vile, unlike the finest month, July, as possible; forenoon cold;

driving rain. At noon stopped. Furious in afternoon. At times drizzle,

like hoar-frost on grass by decomposition of light. Rain again violent

till end of march.

Paid $3 for night’s lodging and ferry. Tariff, 11sk. per man or pack; on

return paid $1.

THJÓRSÁRHOLT TO NÆFRHOLT FARM.

_June 12._

Left Thjórsárholt 10 A.M.; up stream to ferry. Spent 1 hour 30 min.

crossing Thjórsá.

11.30 A.M.--Over turf of left (east) valley, like a dwarf prairie; 50

min. Many farms; good land, grassy sward, two to three feet deep.

Threads of lava, with dangerous holes and sinks, sometimes covered with

grass-turf. In places lava bare and broken. Crossed rivulet.

12.55 P.M.--Stóruvellir parsonage, 1 hour 30 min. = 6 miles; map, 4

direct geographical miles. Direction, south with a little easting. Place

afflicted by winds from Sprengisandur, distant two to three days’ ride.

2.30 P.M.--Left Stóruvellir with guide. Pastoral scene at foot of Hekla,

a pampa. Sheep everywhere; ditto stinging flies throughout the inhabited

part, few at Geysir.

3.45 P.M.--Leirubakki farm. Changed guides. After a few minutes reached

Vestri (west) Rangá (“wrong” or crooked stream), at the mouth called

Ytri (outer or uttermost) Rangá. Forded two preliminary brooks, and

tethered horses together for third or main channel, girth deep. Dwarf

forest, birch and willows. Then two streams, one a ditch, the other a

“lavapés,” flowing, like lava, north-east to south-west.

⊙ V. 5 P.M.--Næfrholt (birch-bark copse), last cottage at foot of

Bjólfell, western outlier of Hekla. Formerly travellers slept at Selsund

farm, south-south-west of Næfrholt.

Afternoon march, 2 hours 30 min. = 12 indirect statute miles. Total of

day’s ride, 4 hours = 18 indirect statute miles; map, 10 direct

geographical miles.

Grey day, like the start; clouds had expended ammunition. Wind

south-east. In evening weather doubtful, wind west. Hekla misted over,

good sign; travellers often stopped by fogs, and even by snow, in July.

Flies suddenly disappeared, wings wetted; not the case with the gnats

and midges acting mosquitoes.

Instruments in evening.

Aneroid, 30·24; thermometer, 58° (F.).

Hygrometer, 4° (exceptionally dry).

AT NÆFRHOLT.

_July 13._

Ascended Hekla.

Left Næfrholt 8.25 A.M.

Rode down the turf lane; crossed the dwarf stream (lavapés), up right

grassy bank, and crossed again. Entered basin of “Unknown Lake”--thin

strip of flat land with holes often marked by grass and willows. All

“sinks” (sink-holes) and punchbowls, as if limestone country. Last thick

vegetation 1500 feet high. Then into dreary region, sand and cinder;

powdery red cone of fine cinder on left. Slabs of heat-altered trachyte.

Obsidian of two kinds--(1.) Huge blocks of pitchstone found from top to

bottom of cone, hard and flinty (Hrafntinnu proper); and (2.) Small

pieces of “Samidin,” or obsidian with crystals of white jasper like that

of Tenerife and other places. Bombs showed furious cannonade. Palagonite

everywhere _in situ_ and in scatters: some contained obsidian.

Made for big, rough lava-stream, rusty and in heaps; in places rapidly

degrading, and leaving only core. Ponies sank to fetlock. Hugged left of

Steiná (stone stream). After two hours’ ride, at 10.30 A.M. crossed

hill, reached barren divide too steep for horses.

Aneroid in air, 28·18 (difference, 2·06); thermometer, 92° (in pocket);

hygrometer, 2°.

Walked up slope of divide; descended very short pitch of stone and

_débris_, steepest bit of whole march. Crossed vein of lava (Sept. 2,

1845) like pulled bread, all slag and clinker; pulverising above.

Reached a kind of _couloir_, a rim on left of lava-stream. Black sand

and two large tongues of ice-based snow, white and brown, ridged with

dirty earth, and dotted with dwarf ice-tables, sable above and ermine

below. More ice as we ascended, keeping on the earthy parts. Many halts.

12.20.--Reached crater of 1845. Observed instruments.

Aneroid in air, 26·33 (difference, 3·90); thermometer, 83° (in pocket).

Stiff ascent (15 min.) to First or Southern Crater. At 1.13 P.M. sat

down upon its western lip. Walking lasted 2 hours 45 min. Total ascent,

4 hours 45 min.

Aneroid, 25·94 (difference, 3·30); thermometer, 68° (air); hygrometer,

0°.

Passed over ridge, and reached snow; thence to north-east lip of Second

or Northern Crater, the apex. Reached highest point 1.53 P.M. Total, 3

hours 13 min. (included halts, not bad for difference 2·56 of aneroid).

Aneroid, 25·62 (difference, 4·84); thermometer, 67°; hygrometer, 0°.

2.30 P.M.--Began descent (walked 1 hour 25 min.).

3.28 P.M.--Lowest snow.

3.45 P.M.--Mounted horses (rode slowly 1 hour 45 min.).

5.30 P.M.--Næfrholt farm. Total descent, 3 hours 10 min.

Total of ascent and descent, 7 hours 55 min. (say 8 hours).

Day clear, sun very hot; air thirsty for man and beast.

Paid guide $1, 4m. 0sk. To house for forage, etc. (two days), $5.

NÆFRHOLT TO GEYSIR.

_July 14._

Long, weary day.

Left Næfrholt 9.40 A.M. Wind drove away flies. Crossed Rangá and five

other streams.

12.10 P.M.--Reached Thjórsá, 2 hours 30 min. of fast riding--five miles

per hour. Ferried over at Thjórsárholt. This third of road good.

1.45 P.M.--Remounted; crossed flat land; two Kálfá; east fork big and

west fork small. Bad mosses; rounding foul swamps; one furlong of good

path to one mile of bad.

3.45 P.M.--Reached (Eastern) Laxá; reported bad ford; found it very

good.

4.10 P.M.--Crossed Laxá valley to Sólheimar (sun-home) farm. Rounded

fens and crossed morasses. Passed a made tank for washing sheep--rare

luxury here. Foul bog of cotton-grass; deep vein along causeway.

5.20 P.M.--Hruni chapel; 4 hours 35 min. from Thjórsá, fast riding. This

third of road moderate.

6.45 P.M.--Left Hruni; road to Geysir now very bad; five fast or seven

slow hours; took guide ($1), or it would have been worse. Went north;

road not on map. Crossed ugly wet swamp to Minni Laxá (lesser

salmon-river); ford not bad.

Up divide of Palagonite running north-east to south-west. Rounded and

crossed easiest part of another swamp. Causeway. Up another divide

showed us valley of Hvítá. West of us smokes of Reykholt, Laugs

everywhere. Avoided causeway, because it runs through tún of large farm,

Gröf (the pit).

8 P.M.--Changed pack-horses. Ugly swamp and causeway to Hvítá River.

8.20 P.M.--Forded Hvítá stream; the heaviest, but not bad. Up right

bank, a wild gorge; guide left us. Through swamps. Entered ugly system

of broken ground, rock-walls, earth and stone, faults and dykes.

10 P.M.--Fell into long descent of birch “forest.” Long trot. Forded

Túngufljót (Tongue, _i.e._, Mesopotamia or Doab) River.

10.50 P.M.--Beached Geir-hóll farm, then villainous swamp for tired

nags. Crossed eastern three branches of the Árbrandsá (upper

Túngufljót), all troublesome; and two other foul, flowing fast influents

of the right or western bank.

⊙ VI. At 12 P.M. reached Geysir.

Total of this day’s ride, 12 hours 20 min., at least 50 indirect statute

miles; map, 31 direct geographical miles. General direction,

south-south-east to north-north-west.

Dew very heavy, yet plague of flies. Sweltering morn. At 9 A.M.,

thermometer 82° (F.). 9.30 A.M., good sea-breeze from south. Fine day.

In evening cold; clouds from east gathering, 9 P.M.; thick at night,

threatened rain.

GEYSIR TO THINGVELLIR.

_July 16._

Left Geysir 11 _A.M._ Passed Laug farm to south-west, and crossed spongy

bog and swamp in rivulet-influent of Túngufljót, passing between

Laugarfjall and the outlier. Rounded south end of Laugarfjall.

12 (noon).--Múli (muzzle, maul, mull) farm, one of the best; skirted

southern Bjarnarfell, between ugly, black, bare hills and swamp over

triangle (Biskupstúngur), formed by Túngufljót and Brúará.

12.20 P.M.--Chapel farm, Uptirhlíð (?); extensive view; sunk road. Two

rivulets, second small and boulder-paved. Forest (birch and willow)

begins and lasts with interruptions all day. See more wood in one hour

than on all south coast.

1 P.M.--Passed to left chapel farm, Úthlið, at foot of Hraun of same

name.

1.40 P.M.--Crossed bridge of Brúará (bridgewater), and entered lands of

Laugardalr. Forded a fourth stream. On right, Efstidalr (uppermost

dale), at foot of black plateau, ugly, bare, and gashed with many

drains. Hognhöfð pyramid to north, rhinoceros head and horn. Left

Miðdalr chapel on right, and rounded upper swamp of Apavatn (ape or fool

water, from a settler in the ninth century).

3.15 P.M.--Crossed streamlet fed by many drains and trickles; first

down, then up bed, sand-bars and islets; must be unfordable below.

Rounded Laugarvatn (lake), large farm and hot spring.

4 P.M.--Halted Laugarvatnsvellir; fine pastures. Five hours tolerably

fast = 20 indirect statute miles. Good view of Hekla. Saw two

snow-fonds, up which we had walked.

5.20 P.M.--Left Laugarvatn by made road on “barmr” (edge) of low rolling

ground and humus, confining big swamp on north; Bjarnarfell hill to

right, then three peaks of Kálfstindar. Travellers and caravans.

6 P.M.--Entered old lava. Path rose to 600 feet, and showed Thingvellir

Lake. Grim hill, Reyðarbarmr (red, _i.e._, salmon-trout edge), to right.

Road rutty. Dimon or Tindhruni (Bryson’s Tintron), an extinct crater in

shield form, rising at base of high hill on right.

7.30 P.M.--Gjábakki farm, close to Vellankatla (boiling kettle),

north-eastern bay of lake (proper name of boiling well; Cleasby supposes

it sank below water-level), along lake.

8.15 P.M.--Hrafnagjá; eastern crevasse.

9.15 P.M.--Middle crevasse, called Háflagjá, Hólagjá, or Breðnigjá (?).

⊙ VII. 9.30 P.M.--Chapel of Thingvellir.

Second march, 4 hours 10 min. = 20 miles. Total, 40 indirect statute

miles; map, 26·5 direct geographical miles.

General direction, north-east and by north to south-west and south.

Glorious morning; cloudless; gentle breeze from north. At 11 A.M.,

chopped round to south-west. At noon west, blowing dust in face

everywhere except on lava. Clouds. Few drops of rain. Presently weather

recovered itself. Very fine evening and night.

THINGVELLIR TO REYKJAVIK.

_July 17._

3.35 P.M.--Left Thingvellir (paid $2, 3m. 0sk.).

Forded Öxará; up rude basaltic causeway, some ten yards long, a little

south of where Öxará escapes into plain--site of Búðir. A few yards down

grassy surface of Almannagjá. Up split in western wall. Dreary scene on

summit; old lava, grassy and moss grown.

5.40 P.M.--Last sight of Thingvellir Lake, and first view of black

buttressed Esja, with gleam of sea. Entered Mosfellsheiði; soil damp,

sour, and barren; signs of road-making, and Varðas everywhere. Left to

right two ponds, Leiruvogsvatn and Geldingatjörn, latter undrained;

skirted east and south base of Grimmansfell (ugly man’s fell); to right,

steaming spring (Reykjalaug).

7 P.M.--Descent to the far-famed Seljadalr (sallow = willow dale).

7.45 P.M.--Dwarf ravine on left. Its stream finds the Hrafnavatn

reservoir of Reykjavik Laxá. Rode down grassy basin; forded stream

twenty-five times, fetlock to knee-deep.

8 P.M.--Halted to graze ponies. First march, 4 hours 25 min. = 20

indirect statute miles.

8.45 P.M.--Remounted. Continued Seljaland valley; ponds on both sides

with and without drains. View of Snæfellsjökull. On left

porcupine-shaped Helgafell.

Hill and basins. Travellers camped where forage is not paid for. Then

inhabited country.

10 P.M.--Causeway and made road to Reykir. Ponies dashed through two

branches of Laxá.

⊙ VIII. 11.30 P.M.--Reykjavik. Home.

Second march, 3 hours = 15 indirect statute miles. Total, 8 hours= 35

miles; map, 24 direct geographical miles.

General direction, east and by north to west and by south.

Weather fine and clear like yesterday. Sun now sets at 10 P.M., and air

grows cold. Find people strolling at midnight. Dust in Reykjavik very

bad.

EXPENSES OF TRIP FOR TWO TRAVELLERS.

Guide (10 days at $2, 3m. 0sk.), $25 0 0

Boy (10 days at $1, 3m. 0sk.), 15 0 0

Returning horses to owners, 4 3 0

Hire of pack-saddles and boxes, 7 0 0

Twelve horses (at $1 per diem), 120 0 0

--------

Total, $171 3 0

The extras and minor expenses, $27, 2m. 0sk.

Share of each traveller, $104, 2m. 8sk., or £12 for ten days.

CHAPTER XII.

ON HUMAN AND OTHER REMAINS FROM ICELAND.

Shortly after my return to England the following letter was sent to the

Anthropological Institute:

“I have the pleasure to forward a small collection of human remains and

“After a ball at the Governor’s on the evening of the 28th, we started