A Summer in Iceland - Forgotten Books

ULTIMA THULE ;

A SUMMER IN ICELAND .

RI C HA RD F . BU RTON .

W ith ia iztut ica l fintru‘

au ntiun, mama, anti fillu stra tiuna .

VOL . II .

WI L L I A M P. N IMMO .

LON D ON : 1 4 KIN G WILLIAM STR EET,STR A N D ;

A N D ED IN BU R GH.

1 8 7 5 .

E D I N BUR GHPR IN TE D BY M

‘FA R L A N E A N D E R SK IN E ,

S T JAM E S SQUAR E .

C ON T E N T S .

CHAPTER VI. PA GE

T h e Pr ess—Visit to th e La tin School— Libraries a nd C olleet ion s -Gu nnl a u gsson

’

s M a p— N ote (N atu ral History

a nd An thropology),

CHAPTER VII .

T ou rists a nd Tou rs— Gu ides a nd Hor ses— Hor se Gear ,T r a ps, a nd Ten ts, 24-43

CHA PTER VIII.

Exc u r sion s abou t R eykjavik— T h e Islands— The Lau g or

Hammam— The Sou ther n La xa or Salmon R iver,

44-59

CHAPTER IX.

Fu rther A field—Asc en t of th e E sja a n d th e Ska rosh eioi

Th e H of or Hea then Temple of Kj a la r n es, 60-83

CHAPTER X .

N orthwards Ho To S tykki sh olm a nd Gr a fa ros, 84-129

CHAPTER XI .

T o Hekla a nd th e Geysir in H a u ka da lr,

130-2 1 1

CHAPTER XI I .

On Human a nd other R ema in s from Ic eland,

vi CONTENTS .

CHAPTER XI I I . PAGE

T o Ea stern Ic ela nd—We reac h M i -vatn , 22 1-278

CHA PTER XIV.

T h ree D ays at th e Solfatara of M y-Vatn , 279-302

CHAPTER XV

R etu r n to D Ju pivogr a nd E nd of J ou rn ey, 303-328

APPE N D IX

On Su lph u r in Ic ela n d, by Hen c h el,S ir S. M a c

kenz ie,M r C on su l C rowe

,C a pt a in Bu r ton (N otes

on M r Vin c en t’s Paper ), a nd C . C . Blake, 329-377

Lea sing C on tra c t—R eport of th e Alth ing, 378-389

Su lphu r in S i c ily, 390-400

Su lphu r in T ran sylvan ia, 400-402

Su lphu r in A ndama n Islands, 402-404

IN D E X,

405-408

L I S T OF IL L U S TRA TION S .

VOL . II .

PA GE

D an ish Fishing C ompany’s Station a t Ber ufjarc , Fr on ti sp i ec e.

T h e Ba sa lt Hammer a nd th e Ston eWeight ,

T h e Pret ty Gu ide,Inven tory of R eykholt Kirk,

S n aefellsjo'

ku ll from th e N orth,

H a fn a fj 61-5 , which ou ght to be th e C apital of Ic eland,

Sn aefellsjoku ll from th e Sou th,S u kkertoppr a nd L ikki st a (Su ga r-Loa f a nd C offin ),Th e Amu let ,

T h e Kr isu vik Min es or Su l phu r Mou n t a in s,

The Su lphu r Spr ing,Solfata ra ofKr isu vik,

Th e R u ral Sc en e,

L'

dgberg a nd Alma n n a gj a,

H uman C lavic le,

T h e Broad-Shou ldered,

Plan of Lei r h n ukr a nd Kr a fla Springs,R eykj a hl io Chu rch,

M a p of th e M y-va tn a nd Va tn ajoku ll D istr ic t ,

View of th eVa tn ajSku ll from th e Sou thern Slope of (Eastern )S n aefell,

Ston e-A xe i n Mu seum,R eykj a vik,

ULTIMA THULE ;

A S U M M E R I N I C E L A N D .

C H A P T E R V I .

THE PRES S— VIS IT TO THE LATIN S CHOOL— LIBRARIES AN D C OL

L EOT ION s— GU N N LAU GS S ON’

s MAP— NOTE (NATURAL HISTORYAND ANTHROPOLOGY) .

THE first n ewspaper prin ted in Icelan d began in 1 775 : in the

cata logue of writers prefixed to the work of U n o Von T roi l , it

is called the I sldndz’

sch eZei tu ng. This I slendingu r , n ot long de

fu n c t,gain ed con siderable reputation ; the back numbers are to

be foun d at the College Library . At presen t the islan d pub

lishes three periodicals,of which two are prin ted at the capital .

The first,which appears regularly twice a mon th

,is called the

T hjdodlfr} a n old Icelandic Christian n ame ; a nd in 1 872 num

bered its twen ty-fourth year. The sheets vary from on e to two,according to the amoun t of n ews ; the column s are double

,the

page is about 1 0 in ches by 85 ; the subscribers’ list shows some

1 1 00, a nd the yearly subscription is $1 , 2m . 0sk. The editor,Hr Procu r ator JOn Gu Omu ndsson , a barrister, con ducts it worthily,a nd with great in telligen ce ; he is outspoken ,

but not factiously

so . The T imi nn (Times) appears on ce a mon th ; its poli tics areof the Hlut-lan sir,

”lot-less, or n eutral tin t, wh i ch would have

caused it to be ostracised at Athen s ; a nd there is some mystery

1 From T h JOO, old High Germ . Diot, a people, a n a tion ; often fou n d in compositl on , a s T t O-fu ndr constitu en t a ssembly, T t O-rekr Germ . Diet-ri ch , a ndT t O-ma rr Germ. Dit-ma r (Clea sby).

VOL . II.

2 ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

about the editor,who is usually supposed to be Hr Pall E yul fs

son ,Silversmith a nd ciceron e . The th i r d is the N ormnfa r

'é

(Northern Traveller) ofAkureyri,1 the ch i ef commercial station in

the n orth. It usually comes ou t some twen ty-six times a year in

the full size of four pages,a nd at in tervals wi th reduced propor

tion s : matter is fearfully scarce during the four win ter mon ths,when there are n o mails

,and local subjects must be at

“

a premi um . As regards the sparring of rival journ alists, it is, to quote

Arlequin ’s saying,tout comme chez n ous .”

The history of prin ting-presses in Icelan d has been copiouslytreated . They were fir st established at the two bishoprics of

Skalholt a nd Holar ; privileges were then gran ted to Leira,Vi iiey,

2a nd H r appsey a nd n ow there are two

,in Reykjavik a nd

Akureyri. The office at the capital is in High Street,where

three men work the two presses a nd four cases : the foldingmachin e has yet to be in troduced.

The Icelandic Literary Society (H is Islen zka BOkmen ta fela g)still survives : after passing through the usu al phases

,it is now

loyal a nd respectable . Con cern ing the first,or Societas Invisi

bilis (H is Osyn i lega Fela g) , established in 1 760 , ample in formation will be foun d i n Bishop Petu r sson ’

s“ Hist. Eccles . Isl .”

(pp . 339 The second (H i t? Islen zka leerdomsl i sta fela g) ,dating from 1 779, is treated of in Macken zie (chap . vii . ) it a dmi tted corresponding a nd hon orary members . The third (Hitskon u nglega I slen zka laerdOmsli sta fela g) in 1 787 became aRoyal Society : it is in teresting because it first treats of thesulphur min es a nd trade of Iceland in the reign of Frederick II .

(1 336 a nd the presiding gen ius was the celebrated J enE iriksson . This worthy, whilst under the influen ce of melanc h oli a , committed suicide, a proceeding as rare amongst men of

1 Aku reyr i h a d a n oth er paper , th e Gdngler z’

,wh ich cea sed pu blica tion in 1 872 .

It con ta i n ed some va lu a ble a rticles , especia lly one h ea ded Wh a t am I to payto t h e Th i ng ? ” a nd t h e a n swer wa s a ppa ren tly not ea sy

,a s it occu pied seven

i ssu es, begin n ing with Febru a ry 7 , 1 871 .

2 It wa s h ere in Hender son ’

s time, a nd it wa s disliked beca u se ch a rged witha

_

tenden cy to introdu ce t h e illumin a tion of t h e Germa n sch ool. ” A t presen t,besi des t h e presses of Reykja vik a nd Aku reyr i

,th ere i s a th ird a t th e E ll iOava tn ,

one h ou r 8 r i de from th e capita l . It belongs to a certa in H r Benedikt, ex-a ssessorof t h e High Cou rt of Ju stice, wh o wa s removed for th e best of rea sons . H e h a sno li cence to pr i nt .

A SUMMER 1N ICELAND . 3

distin ction in the post-Christian as it was common during thepagan times Of Iceland. I inquired in vain about the savan t

’s

bust,which was broken on the voyage to this islan d ; my in

forman ts had on ly a hazy idea that the head had been return ed

to Copenhagen . A medalli on of the great Scan din avian li terato,now i n the hands of Hr S igu rOu r Gu O

‘

mu ndsson,shows h im in

profil e,with protruding chin a nd brow,

a n ose worthy of Fielding,a long-tailed wig with a tlas dep igeon ,

a nd a frilled shirt.

The fourth Royal Society of Gen eral In struction in Icelan d

(H i tsKonu nglega i slen z ska L a ndsu ppfr aedinga r Fela g) was establ i sh ed by Magnus Stephen sen . The fifth

,Vi sinda og U pply

singar-S tifta n (In stitute for Kn owledge a nd In struction ) , wasconducted by Bjorn Gottskalkson ,

when the press was removed

from H r appsey to L eiraga rc a r . The sixth, which actually exi sts (H is i slen zka BOkmen ta Felag), was foun ded by the celebr a ted Professor Rask in 1 8 1 6

,on March 30, which is kept

as its birthday. The bye-laws were prin ted in Icelan dic a nd

Dan ish at Copenhagen in 1 8 1 8 : the Skyr slu r , or annual report,first appeared in 1 825 .

The object of the Society is to publish a nd circulate,at the

cheapest price,useful

,stan dard

,a nd also origin al books, together

with n ewspapers a nd periodicals . Such li terature is still a prime

wan t in the coun try,a nd a n en terprising publi sher like Mr N.

T rii bn er might do a good stroke of busin ess . ” The two bran ches,

Dan ish a nd Icelandic,choos e their own executive every year,

a nd keep separate accoun ts,which are blended in the gen eral

annual statemen t : the latter is published by Hr Bian co Lun oof Copenhagen

,in Fren ch a nd English

,as well as in Scandi

n avi an . The books are also printed at the metropolis, a nd sen t

ou t to the island . The ma gn um op u s is the annual review,

historical report,a nd magazin e of gen eral li terature, classically

called Skirn ir,the Narrator

,or Eddaic messenger of Freyr .

The Society numbers some 720 Felaga r (members), besidesa few corresponding a nd hon orary, Fren ch a nd English, Germana nd American .

” The subscription is $3 per annum. The

Icelandi c bran ch meets,besides extraordin ary occasion s

,twice

a year,in March a nd July ; the latter is the Syn od time, corre

sponding with ou r May meetings ; a nd the venue is at the Priests’

4 ULTIMA. THULE ; OR,

Seminary for wan t of other room. The first presiden t was HrArn i Helgason ; Bishop Petu rsson has held it for twen ty years,a nd it is actually tenan ted by Hr JOn T h orkelsson , head-master

of the Latin School . The rector, Hr Jen s S igu rfisson , is the treasurer ; Hr Pall M elsteo is secretary ; a nd Hr H alldOPGu Omu nds

son acts li brarian .

Formerly there was a high school at each bishopric, a nd

a prime grievan ce of the islan d is that the two having been re

du c ed to one,the n orthern a nd eastern provin ces are put to n u

ca ll ed for expen se a nd in conven ien ce . Children learn the “ fourR’s at home from their paren ts : hen ce the un alphabetic arerare

,a nd some priests even refuse to marry them. At the

capital both sexes may attend a preparatory school in HarbourStreet (H a fn a r str aet i) , till the age of confirmation , or fourteen .

The cost is small, $8 per annum ,

but all the pupil s,even those

who come from afar,must live in the town . Besides the ele

ments of kn owledge,they learn history a nd geography

,Dan ish

a nd Icelandi c, but n either Fren ch a nd English . Music is littlecul tivated

,the pian o is n ot unkn own

,but the singing is chiefly

confin ed to hymn s,a nd of these few are origin al. Dan cing a nd

gymn astics are equally n eglected .

I visited the Supreme Court a low bui ldi ng in the row n orthof the L a ndféget i or treasurer s office, under charge Of the stiffold usher. The left room is for the town coun cils ; the right for

the admin istration of justice,as shown by the oval table

,by

four chairs within , a nd by two small tables a nd ben ch withoutthe cross-rail. It would be hard to swing a c a t, with anythinglike safety to the an imal

,in side this temple of Themis, a nd its

mean proportion s gave me satisfaction . The n ext move was tothe Latin School, which has now taken the place of the ScholaBessa sta den si s . The hi ghly un in teresting building, alreadycollapsing in its twen ty-n in th year

,is approached by a bridge

spann ing the foul drain,a nd is fron ted by a sloping, grassy

lawn kept in decen t order. The civil hall-porter acts ciceron e .Turni ng to the left of the hall

,where a big clock stands

,we find

the younger classes preparing for examination , a professor walki ng about to preven t cribbing : this is the written portion ;the vi ed voce process will be conducted in th e fron t hall of the

A SUMMER IN ICELAN D. 5

first floor,where the Althing meets . It is a fair-sized room

,

with the royal portrait at the bottom opposite the en tran ce,

fron ted by a long desk of green cloth : the rest of the furn iture

con sists of ben ches covered with green baize . The govern or sitson the proper right of royalty

,a nd the presiden t of the Diet on

the left. The last session (1 871 ) was described tome as somewhat stormy

,a nd the n ays (n eis) far outnumbered the yeas : the

latter (ja), when reiterated i n excitemen t a nd pron oun ced yc'

i u ,

sound somewhat comically,a mann er of bark, yow, yow,

yow.

There are two dormitories in which the little beds stand side

by side . Everything is of the humblest description ; even the

ceili ng of the professors’ sitting-room wan ts repair . A change

to the capital has somewhat modified the excessive un cleann esswhich foreign visitors remarked at Bessa staOi r , but there i s still

much to be desired .

I n the In troduction I have given the details of the HighSchool . The programme leaves little to be desired

,but sen sible

Icelanders agree with strangers that the education is sterile a ndnot serious

,

”in the Fren ch sen se of the word inven ted about

1 830 . The pupils learn a smattering of many things,but

n oth i ng thoroughly. This is doubtless the resu l t of a social c ondition in which on ly superficial kn owledge is at a premiumthe same may be remarked in the Un ited States a nd in the

Brazil,compared

,for in stan ce

,with Oxford a nd Coimbra

,where

studen ts find specialties n ecessary.

1 The con sequen ces of study

ing Icelandic a nd Dan ish, Latin a nd Greek,English

,Fren ch

, a nd

German,are that very little c a n be learn ed. At th e beginn ing

of the cen tury every priest could converse in Latin— I have

now met many wh o can n ot speak a word of it, a nd I have not

met on e wh o spoke it even tolerably. The useful cosmo

politan dialect has been exchanged for modern languages

S imil arly the Magyar n ow cultivates his own dia lect,a nd h a s

1 And even Engla n d la cks th e fou n da tion s wh ich en cou ra ge specia lties inGerma ny . Wh a t we wa n t i s a n umber of stu den ts wh o a re a ble to devote th eirtime to pu rsu its n ever likely to pa y i n a pu blish ing sen se . Some day, perh a ps ,on e of th ose ph ila n th ropists wh o give h a lf-a -million ster ling to a n h ospita l or toa ch u r ch , will provide th e n ecessa ry a ccommoda tion in th e Temple of Scien ce

per a n n um,divided in to in comes r a nging from £200 to £300, wou ld

su pply a grea t desider a tum.


abandon ed the La tin which,to h im almost a mother-tongue,

kept Hungary in con tact with the cu l ture of the West.

The pupils are hard workers a nd have excellen t memories ;they must chiefly

,however

,depend upon books

,a nd the result is

that wh i l st many of them coll ect a fair stock of phrases,a nd pro

n oun ce them remarkably well,they c a n hardly understan d a

word of the reply. An other a nd a severer charge is broughtagain st the establishmen t. The dissipation s of Reykjavik

appear very mild to a dweller i n_European cities, but they are,

comparatively speaking,con siderable . Youngsters between the

ages of fourteen a nd twen ty-three easily learn to become boon

compan ion s,a nd to lay the foundation of habits which affect

th eir after-lives . The professorial Hetaera being unkn own ,the

studen ts are apt to make a ny conn ection s which presen t themselves

,a nd in trigues with the “ an cilla” sometimes end in marriage

perforce . Thus the coun try clergyman or the franklin begin s lifeburden ed with a helpmate utterly unmeet for h im who n eglectshis house a nd children

,who thinks of n othing but

,dress a nd

pleasuring,

”a nd who leads h im rapidly on the road to ruin

,i n

a coun try where all domestic comfort a nd worldly prosperity de

pend u pon the gudewife . Hen ce the old system of schools atSkalholt a nd HOla r

,a nd even at Bessa staOi r

,is greatly preferred

,

a nd, perhaps, even n ow the semin ary might with profit be r e

moved to T h ingvelli r . Here it has been proposed to lay outa model farm

,where the alumn i could add agriculture to their

pastoral acquiremen ts .About the age of twen ty-three the Skola-pilta r, or pupils, become studen ts,

” that is to say,

I n order to en ter the

learn ed profession s,especially the law

,they matriculate at the

Un iversity of Copenhagen,where they are housed a nd receive

annual stipendiums of £1 5 to £20 . They distinguish themselvesby thrift a nd cann in ess

,emulation

,en ergy

,a nd abundan t appli

cation ,when the place agrees with them . But often they suffer

from the in sidious attacks of a climate which even Englishmenwould call rigorous ; the comparative mildn ess acts upon themas tropical heat upon us

,a nd in n ot a few cases they di e of

pulmonary disease .

Medicinemay be studied at Reykjavik. The school is simply

A SUMMER IN ICELAND. 7

a room in the Hospital,a nd subjects for dissection cann ot be had

without a permission,which is gen erally refused . On the other

hand,studen ts have the ben efit of lectures from thoroughly able

men,Drs H ja lta lin a nd Jonassen . The course lasts from three

to five years,a nd after a n examination the L aekn i r (M UD ) may

either practise in private,or aspire to become ph ysi c u s,

” atsome ou t-station .

Theological studen ts atten d the Priests’ Semin ary at R eykja

vik. It con sists of two lecture rooms,fron ting the sea

,in H a fn a r

str aet i,a nd furn ished with chairs a nd black desks

,a stove

,a nd

a list of lectures . The candidates who reside in the town are

taught by the Lector S igu rOr Melsted a nd two“Docen ts

,Han n es

Arn ason a nd H elgi H a’

lfda n a r son . The examin ation s take pla ce

in Jun e a nd August ; the former tests their progress in logic a nd

psychology,the latter in theology

,ecclesiastical history, exegesis,

a nd canon law. The course lasts at least two years,a nd at

the age of twen ty-five, after the fin al examin ation , studen ts

obtain the degree of candidat .” Some do n ot choose to be aton ce ordain ed

,reserving the final step for later in life

,but the

material advan tages of the profession in Icelan d n ever allow it

to lack recruits . The result of such a course is to saturate the

min d with the Bible,learn t from tran slation s a nd explain ed by

the individual opin ion s of swarming commen tators . It makesmen fall down a nd worship ”

(as the great Spin oza has it) a n

idol composed of i nk a nd paper, in stead of the true word of

God.

”A nd when the superficial a nd ill-taught divin e ” has to

do battle with a polemical Catholi c or a pugn acious Ration alist,

the action gen erally en ds in a ludicrous defeat . I especially

a llude to the late controversies with M . Baudouin,a nd the dis

putes with Free-thinkers,” recorded by Professor Pa ijku ll

the Great Book,or Commen tary on S t John

,wr itten by Can di

dat (Theologies) Magnus E i r iksson , is attacked by a n OldPastor

,

” with a n obsolete virulen ce worthy of the In qu i sition .

I was in troduced to Professor Hann es Arnason ,the geologist

of the Governmen t College, who kindly showed me the colleetion s of natural history. Of botany there is n on e

,the h or tu s

siccus seems to be gen erally n eglected i n the smaller museums

of the world : the studen t must con ten t himself with Dr Hjalta

8 U LTIMA THULE ; OR,

lin ’s work, a nd the Flora Dan ica, of which a good, but u ntin ted

,Copy is found in the College Library. Zoology is confin ed

to a few stuffed birds . 1 The min eralogical collection is richer ;mostly

,however

,it is a r u di s i ndigesta gu e moles ; the upper

part Of a chest wil l be labelled,a nd the lower drawers in most

un admirable disorder. Moreover,where the travell er wan ts on ly

local specimen s,they are mostly gen eral ; for in stan ce, a small

cabin et of fourteen drawers con tain s Germany.

2

We then proceeded to the College Library, a detached building ofsolid con struction

,but suffering sadly from damp accumulating in

the porous ston e . I n the big blu ewa sh ed room fires are n eglected,

con sequen tly the books are damp a nd mil dewed .

3 At the bottom,

I

1 T h e pr in cipa l a re th e r ed-brea sted merga n ser (M ergu s merga n ser ) ; t h e r a re l a pwing (Va n el lu s c r i sta tu s) ; t h e wa ter -r a il (R a llu s a qu a ti cu s ), a lso u n common ; t h eth ru sh (T u r du s elea cu s) th e willow wren (M ota cc

‘

l la tr och i lu s) ; a n d t h e littler egu lu s with big feet a nd bill (T r og lodytes bor ea li s), t h e Pjetu r N onsma d

, or PeterDinn er of Norwa y

,beca u se h e i s not seen a fter n oon , a n d th e Fu gle Kongr , be

ca u se h e r ides th e ea gle. Cu r iou s stor ies a r e a lso told a bou t th e wren a t Tr ieste ;h e a ppea r s a nd disa ppea r s with t h e th r u sh es , avoiding th e h ea ts of summer : t h e

same i s sa id a bou t t h e A bu H in (th e fa th er o f Henn a ) a t Dama scu s . T h e bla ckbird (T u rdu s mer u la ) i s sometimes dr iven to Icela nd by sou th ern ga les .

2 Of loca l specimen s we were sh own va r ieties of t h e M O-berg (Pa la gon iteespecia lly from th e S elj a da lr , which feels soft, between ch a lk a nd stea tite, somewh ite or du l l yellow

,a cted u pon by a cids ; oth er s brown a n d bla ck . Pa lagon ite

conglomera te with la rge pieces of felspa r . Blu e compa ct ba sa lt from Kja lla rnes,with a nd with ou t dru sie cavities ; h exa gon a l ba sa lt ; r en iform pebbles of t h e samema ter ia l . J a spers , r ed, yellow, a nd green , from th e n orth , t h e la tter con ta in ingcopper . Dolerite or green ston e. A collection of Hekla la va s , pa ssing from th e

por ou s to t h e h igh ly compa ct . M ica ceou s glimmer sch iefer stu dded withga r n ets . Zeolite a nd Icela n d Spa r ; silica tes of lime. Qu a rtz n eedles from th e

Geys ir , a nd oth er qu a rtzes, u n crysta llised a nd crysta llised in to fin e h exagon s,

la rge a nd sma ll, often con ta in ed i n bolides . Alumin ou s cla ys a nd oxide of iron ,some with regu la r a ngles a nd meta llic r evetmen ts . Con cr etion s from L a u ga rnesa nd th e Geysir , th e sta lks of pla n ts r esembling petr ified bon es . T h e Cyp r i na

Ga i 'ma r dt’

a ndByssomea a r c ti c a , from th e n orth . Oth er sh ells : Ba la n u s, M ya tr u nc a ta , Ven u s I s la ndi c a , L ep a s , Bu llet , a nd T u r bi n u s . Tr u e ca nn el coa l fromS u deroe, to th e west ; lign ites, old a nd n ew ; pieces of S u rt a r-br a nd, fla t ,

‘

a ndsh owing impression s of leaves ; large fr agmen ts of tru e pitch -ston e resembling

,

a nd oth ers in tr a n sition to,obsidia n . H r a fn t inn a (Raven -flin t ,Ga ga tes I s la ndz

’

cu s),obsidia n or Icela nd aga te, bla ck a nd liver -br own ,

like J ews ’ pitch or a sph a lt,from

My-va tn a nd th e H r a fn a t innu h r a u n of Hekla . Hen derson (i. 1 78) mistr a n sla tesP iedm dc Ga li n a zzo

, or r aven-ston e ” (for bu zza rd-stone) . Aga tes,

ch a lcedon ies, a nd tra nsition a l opa ls , from M fi la s l a,T inda stoll, a nd Heima

klettu r , in t h e Vestma n n a eyj a r : a ccording to Professor Abel, t h e sou th -ea sterncoa st a ffords th e n oble ston e, a nd th e isla n ders believe th at a bou t 1 821 a M r

M eth ley ca r r ied h ome a va lu a ble collection . Pr ofessor A rn a son kindly gaveme a little box of ch a lcedon ies wh ich looked like onyxes .

3 T h e Skyrsla (Report) of t h e Libra ry gives a tota l of 387 works , distr ibu tedamongst eigh t sta nds of sixteen sh elves— th ey a r e by n omea n s well filled . Cla ssica la u th ors occu py two ca ses on th e left of th e en tr a n ce ; on th e r igh t a re tra n sla tion s oft h e Testamen t, a nd some elemen ta ry works in Ar a bic a nd Armen ia n ,

Hindosta n i,


above a broken globe, is a votive tablet erected to a n Engli sh ben e

factor,CharlesKellsa l l ofLondon ,

wh o supplied funds for the build

i ng, a nd who left it a library, which, they say, has n ot yet begun

its journ ey I c ela ndwa rds : there is n on e to Mr John Heath , who

prin ted the Rev. JOn T h orlaksson’

s well-kn own Eddaic paraphrase of Paradise Lost,

”

a nd to whom the Icelandic Literary

Society owes a heavy debt of gratitu de .

The prin cipal library is in the D Omki rkja, under the charge of Hr

JOn Arn ason ,in spector of the Latin School— in Icelan d, as amongst

Moslems,the church is con sidered the n atural place for the li brary .

You Open the Lich—gate, ascen d the right-han d staircase, a nd a

secon d dwarf flight leads to the gren iers under the roof. When

the su n shin es, the slates are too hot for the han d : this keeps

the collection dry ; a nd the reader is disposed to enjoy it.

The library open s on Wedn esdays a nd Saturdays between

twelve a nd on e P.M .,when you are allowed freely to borrow after

sign ing your n ame . The in terior is n ot prepossessing. The

total of the volumes may be but the catalogue is still

to be made . Prin ted papers lie about in extreme confusion ,a nd

vieux bouquin s are so strewed a nd piled that you c a n hardly

find what you want. Many of the sets also are imperfect, having

been lost or stolen . The three large deal stands,a nd the shelves

ranged again st the higher wall,do n ot supply accommodation

en ough,a nd the single writing-table is always desert. The

curiously-carved black press from the west, a nd the pulpit with

the fou r'

eva ngeli sts rudely cut upon it, are in teresting, but should

be tran sferred to the An tiquarian Museum .

1

M a h a r a t i,a nd Ben ga li, a ll dea d letters h ere . A t th e fu rth er end a re modern

books pr inted i n Reykjavik . T h e sma ll collection of Icela n dic ma n u scr ipts i s a llon paper , th e more va lu a ble vellum h a s left th e isla n d for

“ foreign pa r ts . Th er ea r e bu ndles of ecclesia stica l ar ch ives , ta ttered a nd u nbou n d copies of th e defu n ctIslendingu r ,

” wh ich i s more qu oted in Engla n d th a n i n Icela nd a nd fin a lly,

th ere i s a sma ll set of n ovelists, Wa lter Scott (in Germa n ), Dicken s, a nd Bu lwer ,len t to th e rea ding pu blic .

1 T h e on ly r ema rka bilities a r e th e Bibles a n d t h e ma n u scr ipts . Among t h e firstwe find th e la rge folio Biblia of 1 584—th e first en tire work— tr a n sla ted from th e

Germa n ver s ion of Ma r tin Lu th er by GuObr a nd T h or laksson , Bish op of H Ola r , a ndth ere pr in ted . Th is a dmir a ble work, wh ich r iva ls ou r esta blish ed vers ion

,

”i s

n ot divided in to ver ses,a nd i s ch iefly cu r iou s beca u se th e mech a n ica l dign ita ry

,

wh o i n 1 574 imported n ew types , ma de h i s own capita ls , pla tes , a nd woodcu ts .

H e wa s a ssisted by th e Icela nder JOn JOn sson , a nd preceded by J oh n M a th ieson ,

a Swede, wh o brou gh t th e first pr in ting press a bou t 1 520, a nd wh o pu blish ed th e

1 0 ULTIMA THULE OR,

The manuscripts are a private collection belonging to thelibrarian

,Hr JOn Arnason . They number 226 , but n ot a few of

them are copied from Sagas,a nd other works already prin ted ;

this is often don e i n Iceland,where time is cheap a nd books are

dear. A comparison of the state of Icelandic with that of Persian literature wou l d bring ou t a curious similarity

,resu l ting

from similar condition s,men tal as well as physical ; a nd it is the

more in teresting when we con sider the in timate blood conn ection

of the two families . Hr J(in Arnason wan ted £200 for his n eatlyboun d collection

,a nd it has

,I believe

,been sold in London .

1

The An tiquarian Museum, tworooms fron ting n orth, is upon

the same floor as the Library,un der the charge of Hr S i gu rh r

Brevia r ium N ida ros ien se in 1 521 a n ecclesia stica l h a ndbook, Lu th er ’s Ca tech ism

,a nd oth er s of th e s ame kind . Th ese works , especia lly th e Br evia r ium,

a r e so r a re a s to be pr a ctica lly u nprocu ra ble . A ccording to my in forma n ts,no

E lu c i da r i u s”h a s ever been pu blish ed i n Icela nd . T h e R ev. T h orwa ldr Bj a rn a son

a ssu r ed me th a t th e oldest Icela ndic ma n u scr ipt i s on e of th ese ca tech isms,tr a n s

la ted,a s th ey a ll were, fr om La tin ,

a nd da ting from t h e th irteen th centu ry. T h e

secon d Biblia a fter th e D a n ish vers ion of Bish op R esi n i u s , i s th e work ofBish op T h or l ak Sku r l a son of Hola r , wh o divided it in to verses . T h e type i s bla ckletter , u ltra -Goth ic Goth ic, a nd t h e two folios a re i n th e best condition . Th erei s a copy of t h e N ew Testamen t (1 540, Henderson ,

ii. 265) tr a n sla ted by Oddr

Gottskalksson , with t h e distingu ish ing ma rk 3 (G . T . a n d cross), a la rge a nd

th ick du odecimo, with th e begin n ing a nd th e end restored by ma nu scr iptIcela nders , a s a ru le

,a re very skilfu l i n su pplying lost pages . Of th is book on ly

th ree copies a re kn own , th e two oth ers a re a t th e dea n ery of Hr u n i a nd i n Gla sgow.

An oth er N ew Testamen t repr in ted a t H OIa r by Bish op GuO’br a nd, wh oseh igh -n osed a nd fork-bea rded fa ce remind u s of h i s kin sma n Ru stam in fa r Ir a n ,

i s a sma ll stou t octavo,with a n old binding a nd meta l C la sps

1 T h e va lu a ble pr in ted books a re t h e fou rth volume of F i r mJOn sson ’

s“ H i s

tor ia M on a stica ,” of wh ich on ly th ree copies exist in t h e isla nd ; th e S c r iptores

Rer um D a n i c a rum (J a c obu s L ongebek, 8 vols . folio, H a fn i ae, 1 772) a nd t h e

C rymogea ofA rngr imr JOn sson ,4 vols . octa vo : th e la tter i s so u n h a ppily divided

th a t it i s most diffi cu lt to find a pa ssa ge r equ ired. Some of t h e sh elves a re filledwith presen ts ma de by pa tr iotic Icela nder s a nd liber a l pu blish ers , su ch a s T h e

Gen tlema n’

s M a ga z i n e till 1 77 1 a few Smith son ia n a nd Pa ten t Offi ce Repor tsL e Plu ta rch Fra nca is Conversa tion s Lexicon s th e “ Allgemein e Deu tsch

Bibl iotek th e Biblioth equ e des Roma n s C h ambers’

s In forma tion for t h ePeople Diction n a ire de Bayle,” a nd t h e Ch r on iqu e des Religieu x de Sa intDen is , by L . Bella gu et

—a cu riou s mixtu re by th e s ide of Th a ckera y, Dicken s ,a nd Ma r rya t . T h e list of loca l works , so mu ch wa n ted

’

by tr a vellers a nd so r a r elyfou nd, i s emin en tly defective. Neith er th e first nor th e second volume of Clea sbywa s among th e n umber , a nd a lth ou gh t h e La tin tra n sla tion of th e Njala exists ,M r D a sen t

’

s Bu rn t Njal did n ot a ppea r . Of E nglishmen i n Icela nd , I fou ndHooker a nd Ma cken zie, Lord D u fl

'

er in , a nd Symington . Ga ima rd’

s sumptu ou sa nd expen sive work, in clu ding t h e folio illu str a tion s, i s th ere : i t s fa te h a s beengen er a l a bu se a nd u n limited “ cr ibbing. ” I wa s sh own i n Lon don some ph otogr a ph s Of explor a tion i n th e Va t n aj iiku ll , wh ich were mere r eprodu ction s of t h eft

‘

S

S

pfmmet da S n aefells JOku ll a nd ma ny a book of travels h a s s imila r ly enr ich ed

I e

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

1 2 ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

h i s past life : he had forgotten the detail s, but he rememberedthe main poin ts . After Spending his youth in teaching mathe

ma ti c s a nd n atural philosophy at the College,he resolved to

map out his native island with theodoli te, compass, a nd reflectingcircle

,a nd to this labour of love he con scien tiously devoted

twen ty years,not twelve n or eighteen

,as has been gen erally

said. He was n ot very sure about his proceedings upon theVa tn ajOku llsvegr , the path n orth of the great sou th-eastern

glacier,before his time con sidered utterly impracticable ; a nd my

curiosity was chi efly,

for this poin t. He men tion ed his fellowtraveller

,Sira S i gu rbr Gunn arson ,

then a young ma n,who had

just taken his degree . He believed that the march took placein July or August, but n ot after. Of the eight pon ies, two wereladen with hay

,a nd they found grass at TOma sa rh agi , n orth

west of the Va tn aj'

Oku ll . Du ring his march, n o volcan o was .

observed,either i n t h e glacier or to the n orth of it ; a nd he

seemed to have n eglected tracing ou t the sulphur diggings .When con sulted about the Va tn aj

'

Oku ll svegr , Professor Gunnla u gsson strongly advised me to avoid it, as the an imals wou1dbe exhausted before the real work of exploration began . Theeasiest attack upon the great glacier

,he said

,was from the n orth

,

especially wh en the polar winds were blowing,a nd thus travellers

might pen etrate to the cen tre without encoun tering the di ffic u lties of the Klofaj

'

Oku ll to the south . Al together he was infavour of Beru fj

‘

Orh, the starting poin t. As the Dan ish steamer

is bound, weather permitting, to touch at that port, I had thoughtwhen in Englan d ofmaking it my base ; unhappily, the lin e wasrepresen ted as too rugged for tran sit

,i n fact

,impassable

,whereas

it is distin ctly the reverse .The Napoleon Book (p . 94) declares that Professor Gu n n la u gs

son began the wrong way by details in stead of by a n en semble

or gen eral plan— a primitive style which would leave much of

perfect topography to be desired . It forgets the prelimin arytrigon ometrical labours of the Dan ish officers, detailed in theIn troduction to these pages

,a nd which left to Professor Gunn

l a u gsson on ly the task of filling in the already measured

triangles . These meritorious men ,as often happen s

,did the

best part of the work,yet their names have well n igh sunk in to

A SUMMER IN ICELAND . 1 3

oblivion . But what c a n we expect when politics a nd party

Spir it en ter in to scien ce ?

NOTE ON ANTIQUARIAN MUSEUM.

T h e room first en tered is divided in to two by a glass case, c ontain ing the toilette of the past cen tury

,when dress, worth some

$300, was a n heir-loom,a nd when costume was purely in sular ;

n ot as n ow,a mixture of Icelandic, D a n i sh

ra nd cosmopolitan .

The Museum of Scien ce a nd Art at Edinburgh con tain s some

articles presen ted by the gen tleman to whom these pages

are in scribed ; a nd M . de Kerguelen (1 772) sketches a“ lady of

Icelan d” in telligible on ly when the several items are seen . The

case is surmoun ted by a rude portrait, with Latin verses, in

hon our of a certain Frul HOlmfriOr : her hair is con cealed by a

white koffu r or fill et wrapper,somewhat like that worn by the

married German Jewess at the four holy cities of Palestin e, a nd

this is surmoun ted by the H aeltve,or travelling hat . The steeple

crown ed broad-fla pped felt is precisely the Petasus of the old

Greeks,a nd probably came to Icelan d with the pilgrims of the

Middl e Ages . For the house there are skull caps in plen ty,

mostly black velvet a nd gold embroidered ; some of them have

flaps like the “ Ka n -top of Hindostan,others show the rudi

1 T h e oldest form i s Fra u va , a nd th e la ter Fru i s proba bly a con tr a cted form ofFru vu

,or of Freyja (Venu s), a ccording to th e Prose Edda (c . bu t in t h e

glossa ry to th e Poetica l Edda , it i s from Pr iOr , h a ndsome,wh en ce Fr iOl a

,a c on

cu bin e,correspon ding with t h e Germa n Fr a u , bu t pu t a fter a s well a s before th e

n ame. It wa s little u sed before th e th irteen th cen tu ry, a nd in t h e fou rteen th itwa s a pplied to a bbesses a nd th e wives of kn igh ts

,n ot of pr iests . A t presen t, it i s

given with ou t distin ction . H usfreyj a i s Germ. Ha u sfra u E ng . Hou sewife,a lwa ys a ma r r ied woma n . Ju n frfi i s Germ . Ju ngfr a u

,a pr in cess in th e th ir teen th

cen tu ry, now s imply M a demoiselle . Vif (Weib, a wife) i s pu rely poetica l in Icel. itis su pposed to be or igin a lly a wea ver (Vefa , vifitir) . Hen ce th e Anglo-Sa xonWifma nn woma n ,

n ot womb (Icel . V6mb) ma n . Herra Germ. Herr ) wa s a

title given in A . D . 1 277 to th en ewNorwegia n cr ea tion of ba r on s (H ersa r ) a nd kn igh ts :bish ops a nd a bbots were a lso so styled . A fter t h e Reforma tion it became a n in tegr a lpa rt of th e a ddress of bish ops , a s Sira of pr iests, bu t on ly a pplied like th e La tinD on (domin u s) to Ch r istia n n ames . Now it i s ou r M ister or Esqu ir e in wr iting : inconversa tion Icela nders h ave n o equ iva len t for th ese words ; t h e per son ,

if n ot aclerk , i s s imply a ddressed by h i s Ch r istia n n ame. T h e old sca le of pr eceden ce wa sKonu ngr , Ja r l , Hersir (th e ba ron of Norma ndy a nd Norma n Engla nd) , H 61dr(yeoma n ), a nd Bfia ndi or BOndi , Germ. Ba u er , a tiller of th e grou nd (Clea sby).

14 ULTIMA THULE ; OR ,

men tal crest which culmin ated in the Ska u t-fa ldr .

l This fools

c ap, built with a card-board frame, is then covered with lin en ; athin plate ofmetal forms the crest shape, a nd the white materialis stuffed with cotton

,like the Hufa (pron oun ced H u a , our hood) .

It is fasten ed to the hair by pin s ; a nd a n outer ban d, spangledwith a dozen silver-gilt stars

,secures it round the brow, ending

behind in a cravat bow a nd two ribbon s,which h i de the fasten ing.

Finally,a deep fall or lace veil is turn ed back, passed over it,

a nd thrown upon the shoulders, reaching almost to the waist .This Ska u t-fa ldr is a n excrescen ce, whi ch deserves to be c om

pared with the T a n tur , or silver horn of the L iba n u s, which was

a nd is gen erally confin ed to married, though sometimes worn by

marriageable women .

The other articles of dress are the Ski r ta (shift) of woollenstuff

,worn n ext to the body : according to some authorities

,th e

health of the people has been improved by cotton ,which others

deny. The U pph lu tu r is the long-sleeved bodice, or waist piece,with gold embroidered cuffs

,a nd velvet stripes covering the

seams . I n modern days it is of velvet,brought from Europe .

The Fat is a Wadmal petticoat,extending to the ankles

,a nd of

these articles sometimes two or three were worn for warmthThe outer on e is copiously worked

,a nd is faced by the coloured

Svin ta (apron ) . The Treja is a tight-fitt ing jacket, with chasedbutton s : the Hempa

,a sh ort outer coat

,worn by men a nd

women,button ed over the chest

,is wide at the bottom

,about

a hand’s breadth shorter than the skirt, a nd Open at the

flaps to Show the embroidered petticoat.’

The U ppl g or c u fl’

s

are slashed ; round the n eck is a H alsklutr (white cravat) ,a Hals-siken er , or cravat of purple silk a nd for full dressS trutr

,little black collars on the jacket n eck, a nd Kr aga r , stiff

hoops or ruffs of black embroidered stuff,which make the head

look as if it were di shed up . The termin ation s are S okka r,coarse

woollen stockings,a nd Skor

,the Icelan d papu sh es : finally

,

1 From Fa lda , to fold, h en ce th e Ita l . Fa lda a nd Fa ldetta,h ea d-dress . A s

women vied in th e size of th is “sta tely n a tion a l h ea d-gea r ,

” it obta in ed th esa r ca stic n ame S t iku -fa ldr

,

“ ya rd-long fa ld .

”In modern poetry, Icela nd, with

h er gla ciers, i s r epresented a s a woma n with h er fa ld on . S ka u t i s th e “sh eet

or veil, wh ich h u ng down beh ind (Clea sby).


Kvenn vetlinga r , rough gloves, protected the hands . The trim

mings of the gown s, skirts, a nd petticoats are very h andsome ;n othing of the kind c a n be foun d in the presen t day ; a nd thepeople have the lost art of cutting wool so as to resemble velvet

pile. The black dye is admirable ; it is a fast colour, a nd lasts

exception ally long. According to the Custodian,it was made

by steeping the cloth in dark mud, a nd then treating it with

the juice of the arbutus (v a u r si, S u r ta r lyng), ou r bear-berry

a nd the can e-apple of Ireland . The modern toilette has beengreatly simplified to the Ska u t-fa ldr a nd bodice

,the skirt of

black broadcloth a nd velvet,embroidered with green silk

, a nd the

waist-belt,a poor filigree copy of old work . It costs £17 to £1 8 ,

a nd might a n swer for a civil ised fan cy ball : the gen eral aspect

is that of a Circassian woman’s dress— in Circassia .

The orn amen ts,belts

,button s, bodi ces, chain s, a nd rings

,

mostly heir-looms,are as numerous as the articles of dress : they

are survivals of the time when people wore all their wealth .

Some of the H n appa r (button s) , round a nd ofworked surface, haveon e or more figures of the Crucifixion hanging to them . These

are no longer made . There are E rma h n appr , silver-gilt button s,for the sleeves

,

1a nd much larger, with Clasps, for the wa ist ;

bodki n s (Laufa pr iOn a r ) , orn amen ted with silver ; Kehja, chain s

of sorts ; H alsfest i for the n eck, a nd H erh a festi for the shoulder ;rings of gold, S ilver a nd brass, on e of them spiral a nd elastic ;Nisti (bracelets) , a nd M a l linda , velvet girdles , embroidered with

silver. Some of the belts are plates of gold a nd silver,linked

together,a nd hanging down in fron t almost to the kn ees . There

is a n immen se demand for these curios : every stranger carr ies

off some specimen s of the old work, with which the own ers are

compelled by n ecessity to part : the coun try people would be

buyers, not sellers . Modern imitation s are made without a nysuccess at Reykjavik, but n ot elsewhere . You give Germandollars to Pall E yril fsson ,

or to Hr S igfu sson ,if the latter is

sober, a nd they convert them in to filigree work

,which does n ot

con trast well with the n eat, plain j ewellery of Norway,n ow

becoming kn own in England . Needless in these days to warn

1 Forbes ’ sketch of Helda ’

s bu tton s gives a n excellen t idea of th e a rticle.


strangers again st coun terfeits,the Iceland snuff-boxes of

walrus tooth are mostly made in Germany.

Near the door is a quain t bird’s-eye sketch, dating from 1 770 ,

brought from the Borga i rh sysla,a nd illustrating the dress of

the time at a Baer,

1or farm-house . In fron t of the buildings,

which are all ou t of perspective, as if the pain ter had Chin ese eyesobliquely set

,stan d groups of men a nd women

,walking,riding,

a nd working. The former have kn ee-breeches, a nd on e of them

not a li ttle resembles in suit the portraits of Doctor John son .

There are two_sawyers, a nd others ply the iron -shod wooden

spade,of which a specimen hangs in the room . The women

,

raking hay,or pumping, drawing, a nd carrying water in pails,

bear the Ska u t-fa ldr , n ow cOnfin ed to Sundays a nd festivals .An other portrait of a woman (1 772) wears a foulard roun d thehead

,in stead of the skull c ap or foolscap . A curious pen cil

sketch,probably copied from the origin al in the Ska rh church

,

Breih a i rh,shows Dah i Bja rn a rson (ob . set . 68

,A .D . 1 643) a nd

his wife A rnfrydu r , both kn eeling with cuffed hands : he wearsa Skegg (beard), in c u t a nd shape most like a tile

,huge trunk

hose,tight stockings

,a nd shoes with big rosettes .

The same room con tain s a variety,

of domestic implemen ts,

especially worked tapestry : in an other part specimen s of large

meshed white lace are preserved . There is a bed,dating from

1 740, box-shaped, but n ot so much as the modern : on the outerside the occupan t a nd the clothes are guarded by rudely carvedRUmml (bed foils) or planks, five feet long, still used here a ndat the Faeroes . Being carpen tered in to the chamber-walls

,the

other S ide requires no such protection . Curtain s shelter it fromthe cold : there are coverlets a nd a n ight-cap

,in those days

often used as a day-cap ; a nd the outer corn ers are suppliedwith ru de human figures . The mann ikin at the tester holds akind of candlestick

,eviden tly to facilitate the practice

,pleasan t

but wrong, of reading in bed. Upon the top of a press stands alan tern , with scan ty glass, a nd woodwork rising flamboyan t, or

1 M . Ga ima rd dedu ces th is word from th e Germ . Ba u er , pea sa n t eviden tly a nerr or . T h e N orth of Engla n d n ames, of wh ich twenty to th irty end in -by,e. g . , Kirk-by, der ived th e su ffix from th e Da n ish a nd Swedish -by, wh ichi s Icel. Beer (Clea sby) .


rather like green sausages, above it. All the rooms con tain u p

right planks, grotesquely carved : these are lin eal descen ts from

the con secrated high seats of the heathen ry, a nd in more modern

times they were ranged round the hall, with hangings between .

One of them shows a mermaid with penden t bosom a nd child ;of course, desi n i t i n p i scem. The single chair has a tall carved

back,a nd in side th e two doors are sets of orn amen tal iron work.

The quain t-shaped kn ockers are purely Roman— they are stilldug up in Syr ia.

The weapon s,which date from A .D . 1 050 to 1400, are repre

sen ted by old spears a n d halberts . A good imitation Toledo

blade,with sunk midrib ; daggers a nd battle-axes, on e of wh i ch

was taken from under a heap of ston es in the Vestmann aeyjar ;chain armour

,a nd a variety Of large a nd small Bigon es (hon es) ,

Of smooth compact basalt,for clean ing a nd sharpen ing weapon s .

A saddle cloth,hanging again st. the wall

,shows figures of various

an imals,tolerable tambour work

,in the Persian style . There is

a coll ection of iron ,wooden

,a nd bon e stirrups

,a nd sundry prick

Spurs . The cups are interesting ; a nd one of them,probably in

ten ded for a ma n a nd his wife,con tain s at least a quart bottle .

The fin est are made of walrus teeth (R ostu ngr , T r i ch ecu sr osma r u s) , the animal being often cast ashore in the n orth :poorer specimen s a re of horn . Here we find the material forthe Guma Min n i, or memorial bowls ; the Gu Od u rs Minn i

,or

c u p quaffed to God the Father ; the H ei lags Anda Minn i, to the

Holy Ghost ; the toast to the Archangel Michael, a fighter like

old Thor ; the M a r in Minn i,of the Blessed Virgin ; a nd the

M a rteinn’

s Minn i,to Martin (T u ron en si s) . The snuff-boxes are

un like the horn s n ow used on e is a n oval,with a n upper plate

of ivory a nd wood below,hooped round with brass

, a nd con ta ining a cu l lender, probably used for pulverising the leaf. Mangling

seems to have been a favourite occupation ; the hand articles

(Kefli ) are found in numbers the roller is smooth ; the upper stick

is carved, a nd gaudily pain ted ;

1a nd the e

’

tu i s are as numerous

1 T h e in strumen t occu rs in th e proverb, “ S va eru Plosa rah sem fa r i Kefli .Plosa pla n s a r e a r olling cylinder (Gr . Oi Oé w h iz/Opu s dh hm

"

é7r’

GANG ¢épou7 a t),th emetaph or being taken from a ma ngle (Clea sby) .

VOL . II. B


as the mangles . One case con tain ing bobbin s is fasten ed to a n

embroidery cushion ; an other bears date 1 677 . Some hold horn

spoon s,others razors

,others button s

,a nd all are shaped like the

inkstands of the East, a nd curiously but artlessly carved . Thereis a coarse plan e for the carpen ter. The weaver of rude clothworked his sword-shaped shuttle of polished bon e, yielded bythe whale

,whose ribs also suppli ed rafters

,more expen sive but

more durable than wood . The mammal gave material for dicea nd draughtsmen played at Kotra (tables), a nd these are then earest approaches to the chessmen made of fish bon es,

”

men tion ed in Old books . There is a specimen of the Langspiel

(violin ), a nd its horsehair bow,formerly so well kn own in the

Scoto-Scandin avian islands . 1 This in strumen t has three pegs forstrings

,a nd seven teen frets

,but no bridge possibly it was played

with the thumb,as the Barber of Seville is still won t to do . U no

Von T roil supplies it (p . 92) with six brass wires, acting strings ;but I do not understan d what his symph on

” is . Macken ziesketches it

,but shows the side in stead of the face ; a nd Hooker,

drawing it from memory,draws it in correctly.

The spoils of the Old Church are n ot numerous : they con sistof two altar-c loths embroidered in colours ; the altar ston e fromthe Skalholt Cathedral

,white marble

,blacken ed above by use ;

a n an tique mon stran ce with a Latin in scription ; and some fin eenamelled a nd jewelled c ru c ifixes

,said to date from AD . 1 300

many of the ston es have been picked out,but the eyes remain .

There is also a rudely carved salmon,supposed to have been a n

ex voto.

I n the same room stand two cases (unnumbered) con taini ngfinds from a grave open ed at Ba ldu r sh eim in the n orth

,a nd

supposed to date before the Christian era (AD . Besidesa few bits of rusty iron

,serving for differen t purposes, it has a

calvaria without fron t teeth,a nd with a large occipital projection

like a woman ’s . A third case,also from the same place

,shows

fragmen ts of an other calvaria,a large' jaw a nd other bon es

,

a small tooth-comb,a nd sundries . A fourth has horse-bits of

1 T h e la tter a lso h a s introdu ced th e ru de Scotch Posh or fiddle, strung withTorren , th e sma ll gu t of th e sh eep (Edmonston ) .



Strictly speaking,n o pre-historic remain s exist in Icelan d

perhaps it is sa fer to say that n on e have yet been found . Atpresen t we must believe

,despite the syn ecdoche of Ultima

Thule,

” that the island,when colon ised by the Irish monks

,

was a desert,a nd we must con tinue to hold this Opini on un til

Mongoloid skulls or other remain s shall have been discovered.

The n eolithic-ston e age still endures in Icelan d,as it does in

the Brazil,n ot to men tion other coun tries . Here almost every

cottage,in places where iron is wan ting

,has a ston e-hammer for

pounding fish : it is a rounded ball of porous basalt about fourin ches in diameter

,a nd bored through to admi t a wooden

handle . The gen eral use of the article may convin ce studen tsthat the pierced celts a nd ston e axes which, on accoun t of easyfracture

,were held to have been in ten ded for worshi p or dis

play,a nd

,perhaps

,for reproducing copper or bron ze forms

,

might have been used for battle if n ot for work .

The ston e articles in Iceland seem to be imitated from those ofthe outer world ; a nd the similarity of type, extending from E ng:

lan d to Australia has n ot a little aston ished an thropologists : 1

Tan t il est vrai,says Sig. Viscon ti, que l

’

espr i t de l’homme

,

malgre’

la differen ce des siecles et des climats, est di spose a, agirde la meme man iere dan s des circon stan ces pareilles

,san s avoir

besoin u i de tradition n i d’

exemple.

” Hen ce the New Zealanders,

as well as the old Icelanders,gave names to their an cest ral

can oes,th eir paddles

,a nd their weapon s . The steatite bowls

might be from Min as Geraes : the material, according to thepeople, was supplied by the southern islands . On the otherhand, Macken zie (chap . ix .) found about D rapu h l ic , a yellowishwhi te substan ce

,having a smooth shin ing fracture ; it may be

c u t with a kn ife,a nd appears to be steatite .” He also men

tion s (p . 428) friable, white a nd reddish-brown steatite,n ear

the hot springs of Reykjavik . A trun cated, tetragon al pillar ofbluish soap-ston e

,with a square corn ice a nd a shallow cup end

i ng in a cylinder pierced right through, is somewhat mysterious

1 T h e day, h owever , h a s not come wh en th ese wea pon s c a n be r a nged str ictlya ccording to da te

,a nd wh en a n a rr ow compa r ison of differen ces, n ot of su perficia l

r ese

l

r

aibla n c e, c a n be ma de between th ose discovered in different pa rts of th e

wor

A SUMMER IN ICELAND . 21

possibly i t was used, a nd so local tradition asserts, as a portable

fon t.The basaltic specimen s are : 1 . Weaver

’ s weight bored for

stringing 2 . Sinker for fi sh -net , with deep groove round the

longer waist of the oval ; 3 . Weight,dating from 1 693

, shaped

like a con ical cann on -ball, a nd adorn ed with ban ds a nd

bosses ; 4 . Circular quern -ston e with hole through it ; 5 . Con e,with flat base

,used to grind colours ; 6 . Rude ladl e with broken

handle ; 7 . Pierced ston es for spindles, resembli ng the African ;8 . Various hon es, before alluded to ; 9. Prismatic column with

run es,taken from a tomb ; and, lastly, what seems to have been

a club or axe. Though made of the hardest a nd closest basalt,with broad ribs whose angles are n ow roun ded, the specimen i s

imperfect : the handle, on e foot one in ch long, is partly broken

away,a nd the head, four in ches broad, lacks the edged part.

Still it is the most valuable of the c er a u n ei lapides .

T H E BASALT H AM M E R . T H E STON E WE IGH T .

The c a st room has a large cen tral stan d of four compartmen ts.We especially remark : 1 . The seals of ivory a nd bon e . 2 . An

iron cha telain e to wh i ch hung a kn ife,a skewer

,a nd a key

,

n ot unlike those we use for watches,but with the han dle

more rounded : it is in scribed I. H . S . 3 . A diminutive f‘H am

mer of Thor,

” 1 with a magical character on the head whichdiscovered thieves : the on ly other M iOln er on the island

1 It is n oth ing bu t th e cr oss cr ampon n é of h er a ldry, a nd i s gener a lly ident ified with t h e myth ic th u nderbolt h en ce

,proba bly, t h e pr e-Ch r istia n crosses

of Sca ndi n avia n ins cr iption s . Of th e sa cred cross i n th e Hu a ca a t Cu zco,we

lea rn th a t t h e In ca s did n ot worsh ip it, beyon d h olding it in ven er a tion on a c

c ou n t of th e bea u ty of i t s form , or for some oth er rea son wh ich th ey cou ld sca r celygive expres sion to (Ga r c i l a sso de l a Vega , tr a n sla ted, et c . , by Clemen ts R . M a rkh am

,C . B.

,for th e Haklu yt Society

,London

,It may be r ema rked th a t

t h e pre-Ch r istian cross

,sh a ped a s a n ordin a ry Greek cross

,wh en n ot conn ected

with th e sa cr ed T a u of Egyp t, was th e symbol of th e fou r qu a rters ; wh en su r

22 ULTIMA THULE OR,

belongs to a widow at Hos s . 4 . Button s of horsehair fromthe man e a nd tail ; they were still used by the Faeroese in 1 81 0 .

5 . N o specimen s of the L a u sn a r steinn ,a flat, hard seed two

or three inches in diameter, which here, as in Cornwall, was supposed

,when drunk in infusion ,

to facili tate partur ition : thesuperstition van ished when it was found to be n ot a magic bean

but on ly a horse-chestnut thr own ashore, like the D oli ch os u r ens

a nd the E n ta da giga lobi u m,by the curren ts . 6 . Onyxes a nd

agates, called Na c h tu rn - steinn (n ature ston es) , which, beingbanded

,were held to be charms

,a nd preven ted the own er losing

his cattle,whilst the Oska-steinn (asking-ston e) gave h im al l he

wished. 7 . A fin e Christ, eviden tly from a crucifix ; the blood

is en amell ed,a nd the work appears to be Byzan tin e .

Two cases to the east con tain a few early types cut in wood, a nd

one of them is devoted to those of H reppsey . On ly on e letter

of 1488 remain s, a nd there are a few capitals used by Bishop

Gu hbr a nd at Nu pufell in E yja i rO. The drawers ben eath protec t Old manuscripts written with decoction of will ow-bark

,or

with the arbutus-juice which served as cloth-dye : the colour iswell preserved. A glass box hanging to the western wall c ontain s German coin s

,pottery,quain tly rounded silver spurs, a nd

Bishop Gu hbr a nd’s drinkin g-cup. An other a nd a simi lar caseshows the on ly procession flag in the island ; it is of faded pinksilk , almost colourless, with a wh i te lin en cross a nd a n edgingof three lappets fringed with green a nd gold . There are alson arrow webs for weaving ornamen tal cords .Over the western doorway hangs a n old lace bed-curtain

,wh i te

,

a nd well made . Scattered about the room are various articlesvi z . : 1 . A wooden plank with a n epitaph dated 1 755, a nd

quite in the style of the “ lying tombston e ; 2 . Carved doorposts for thechurch or the house 3 . A large wooden chair, thearms ending in carved kni ghts

,whose horses are those of ou r

rou nded by a circle, it den oted th e sola r pa th fr om left to r igh t r ou nd th e wor ld.A la ter symbol of th e same order wa s th e H indu Swa stika (mystical ma rk, meet1ng of fou r r oa ds, wh ose a rms , a ccording to M r Bea l, sh ou ld alwa ys bedrawn from left to r igh t, a nd n ot , a s i s sometimes don e, widdersh in s,

”or in th e

r everse way. Fi n a lly, t h e croch eted cross (Cr u z a n sa ta a t fou r ends) i s th e Arya nsymbol of th e sa cred fir e lit by Pr ama th a (Prometh eu s) .


chessmen ; a nd 4 . A beam,ten feet long, pierced with thirty-two

holes—with such a n in strumen t Pen elope might have woven her

web. There is also a specimen of the old Fleki , two or threeboards thirty-two in ches long by twen ty-eight ; it was drill ed

with holes pierced for sn ares of twisted horsehair, a nd an chored

off some skerry with ropes,a nd ston es or horse-bon es . A decoy

bird upon each in strumen t was useful to catch guill emots .

24 ULTIMA THULE ; OR

C H A P T E R V I I .

Tou RIS T s AND TOURS— GUIDES AND HORSES— HOR SE GEAR,TRAPS

,AND TENTS .

PRESENTLY the steamers left Reykjavik, a nd the torpid li ttlecommuni ty h ybern a ted on ce more : it will awake a nd buzz

for a whil e when the n ext mail comes . In the mean time

T h e skies th ey a re a sh en a nd sober ,T h e streets th ey a re dirty a nd drea r .

The weather makes the fain test struggles, even in mid-Jun e, to

be fin e,but a tolerable day

'

appears always to exhaust its efforts ,a nd to be followed bya violen t break . The Reykjavik climateis essen tially fickle

,a nd the invalid c a n rarely n eglect

,till late

summer,the warm overcoat of which the Ciceron e at St Peters

burgh persisten tly remi nds his charges . A bitter n orth-c aster,with high cirri

,a nd

T h e sh r ieking of th e mindless wind,

remind us that we a re in high latitudes . All the th oroughfaresare deserted, a nd the houses are fast closed again st the roaring,screaming blast.We were the first batch of the year’s tourists

,arriving

,how

ever, on ly one day before the “ Dian a,

”which brought with it

sundry others . Whilst I remain ed at the capital to con tinuemy studies, Messrs B . a nd S . determin ed to do the usual tripas soon as possible . A five days’ delay

,without books or some

defin ite object, makes the headquarter village a purgatory tostrangers . Most of them bring ou t a n Eton Latin grammar

,

under the impression that,by its good aid

,with a course

of Matthaeus C order i u s, they will make themselves at home


amongst the learn ed. But the English pronun ciation is impos

sible,a nd too often a total n eglect of the “ literae h uma n iores ,

”

persisten tly distributed over long years,has swept away all

memory of mu sa,mu soe

, a nd of h i e,h a ze

,h oe. Con sequen tly,

second-hand Anglo-La tin grammars are cheap a nd plen tiful at

Reykjavik.

Those who would save time i n travelling c a n hardly expect

to spare their expenditure . My compan ion s wisely called in the

head guide,Geir Zoega , pron oun ced SO

’

gh a , a nd frequen tly simplified by the Briton to Goat-sucker. The classical Italian n ame

(De Origin e et Usu Obel i sc orum,etc .) shows his origin ,

but the

family has drifted through Germany,a nd

,as his grandfather

settled in Iceland,he has wholly thrown Off the Latin aspect .

A tall, robust ma n ,with harsh Scotch features

,high cheek

bon es, yellow hair, a nd blue eyes, in earlier days he would have

been most useful to explorers ; n ow,however

,he has waxed

rich : he is farmer a nd fisherman,cattle-breeder a nd capitalist,

boasting of house,boats

,beasts

,a nd other symptoms of wealth .

These may represen t a capital between £500 a nd £700, a nd

almost un in cumbered by expen ses— a cen tury a nd a half ago

the same fortun e would ful ly have con ten ted a master-cutler at

Sheffield . Con sequen tly,Geir Zoega will on ly engage for short

trips, a nd, despite rumours of he refused to accompany

the two young Coun ts d’

E lbe,

” who came with the in ten tion of

spending some six weeks in the in terior. Having busin ess of

his own i n the east,he undertakes the tourists as far as the

Geysirs,but he positively refuses Hekla

,forage being still wan t

i ng there . During the bargain he amused me by certain poin tsof resemblan ce with the Syrian dragoman taking command of a

party of youngsters : the same covered a nd respectful con temptof greenhorn s

,the same inten se objection to inn ovation

,the same

unwillingn ess of experience to be guided by “ bumptious i n ex

per i en c e, con trast curiously with the pliabili ty of the Italian

courier or Ciceron e,who thinks onl y of his bill .

Finally, Hr Zoega agreed to supply a ten t, absolutely n ec es

sary for the Geysirs,a change of horses for each rider

,a nd three

baggage an imals,moyenn a n t a total of $14 per diem— his own fee

being a daily $5 . Moreover, the travellers were to feed'

their


n in e beasts at the rate of a mark each per march . This confirmsMr Newton ’s Opin ion that

,on the whole, travelling in Icelan d

is n ot more expen sive— perhaps he might have said muchcheaper— than in most parts of Europe .1 Yet we find ProfessorMelsted

,a n I celander

,describing his n ative lan d to Metcalfe

as “ the most diffi cu l t a nd expen sive coun try i n the world.

”

During one day on the Congo,I have been asked, for simple

permission to pass onwards,three times more than the cost of

a three mon ths ’ tour in Iceland.

Mr S . being a barrister, drew ou t a written agreemen t, wh ichthe guide sign ed : the precaution ,

however,is Of little value, as

the stranger is completely in the n ative’s power, a nd a threat todrive away the horses will bring the most recal citran t Gr ifi toabsolute submission . If you turn off your leader

,as a certain

traveller did,he will assuredly sue you in damages at Reykjavik ;

a nd for on e who cann ot speak Icelan dic, or at least Dan ish, to

be gu i deless is to be cast n aked upon a desert shore. It is onlyfai r to say that Hr Zoega gave ample satisfaction ,

a nd we only

regr et the more that the deceitful n ess of riches has spoiled athorough l y hon est a nd in telli gen t gu i de.My compan ion s found n o di fficulty in starting : the dilatoryIcelandic movemen t

,of which Old travell ers complain so loudly

,

is now a thing of the past. The weather improved,as usual

,

after they left Reykjavik,a nd there were onl y a few showers to

gladden the peasan t’ s heart. The birds were hatching, so theydid n ot shoot : the water

,cold

,a nd clear as crystal

,wan ted

vegetation , without which even gold-fish cann ot live, c on

sequen tly there was no fishing. There had been scan ty reasonto complain of what the Brazilian s call immu ndi c i es —the

small er an imal creation— but a Neapolitan might have recitedevery morn ing the popular song

Qu a ndo mi cocco a letto,

et c . , et c .

1 T h e tr ip of eigh t days th u s costs £1 4, bu t th e tr avellers h a d potted provision s ,

l i qu or , a nd oth er comforts, wh ich may h ave brou gh t th e expen se u p to £20£1 0 ea ch . Allowing £3 for th e s ix da ys of dela y, i n or a bou t Reykj avik, tillt h e fortn igh tly steamer sta rts ; £6 for coming from a nd retu rn ing to Gr a n ton ;a nd £3 for extra s t h e tota l of £22 ea sily does th e Geysir s . Of cou rse, th osewh o a r e n ot h u rr ied will pay mu ch less.



a n ejaculated No,invariably in troduced . He began by find

ing fau l t with everything, a nd by telling his employers thatthey must cook

,make beds

,groom

,saddle

,a nd u n saddl e for

themselves . Presen tly he scen ted English provision s— feedin gamongst these people is all-importan t as to the Bedawin— a nd

the discovery greatly modified his ton e . They did n ot , however,come to terms ; a nd he amused himself by doing all he could tohinder the tourists . The same worthy called upon us, proposinga n exchange of sovereign s, n ot for our ben efit, a form of an n oyan cerecogn ised by previous travellers ; he also brought a cow

’s horn ,

very badly c u t,for which he modestly asked a poun d sterling.

Aftermaundering about for several days in despair,the travellers

T H E PR E TTY GU IDE .

enga ged on e H a ldOr Joh a n n sen ,a saddler

,a nd certain ly one of

the ugliest saddlers in the world . He began by objecting to theEnglish ropes, of which they had brought a store, a nd he could


n ot travel without Iceland gear, which stands about as much

work as twisted straw. He proved himself a perfect MarkTapley on the road ; but, on his return from the first trip, he so

abandon ed himself to the cultus of Bacchus that he could n ot

be r e-employed. This party lost time a nd mon ey in purchasing

n ags,at first they were asked £1 0 for an imals worth at most £4 .

They bought,after weary bargain ing

,three an imals

,for £7, £8 ,

a nd £9,a nd the con sequen ce was that two out of thr ee came to

grief. They also brought out a very exten sive kit,

” which they

flattered themselves would readily sell after return to Reykjavik— i t fetched the liberal sum popularly called half n oth i ng.

”

They made two trips,on e to Hekla via Kr i su vi k, a nd the other

to Surts-h elli r,praised the fishing

,a nd foun d the shooting a

farce .

As will be gathered from the following pages,the Icelandic

Fylgima h r fugleman ”or guide) is still in a rudimen tary sta ge .

He is apt either to lag behind like the African,or to gallop

ahead like the Gaucho of the Pampas, utterly reckless of his

charge . He is sure n ot to be cunn ing in those details of coun try

wh i ch save so much time a nd which,ign ored

,so often lead to

grief. As a rule, old paths have been broken up by weather,

a nd only those on the spot c a n kn ow the later lin es : when,

therefore,you see the least doubt

,engage a temporary assistan t

for a few marks,which are n ot wasted . He has on e great merit :

h i s language is n ot foul, a nd he does n ot exhort the impen iten t

quadruped ” with the emphasis of his brother bipeds elsewhere ;he believes that swearing will cause his tongue to become bla ck

Spotted . I n poin t of con servatism he is a Hindu ; wain -ropes

will not move h im from settled use a nd custom .

” Those I

found of most accoun t'

were Pall E yulfsson ,S igu rh Jon a sson ,

who accompan ied Lord Dufferin Ein ar S imon sson,a nd Bja rn i

Stefan sson,the two latter speaking a little English .

A nd n ow to add a few remarks about Icelan d poni es,

1 con cerning which gross exaggeration prevails : one traveller

,who is

gen erally remarkable for sobriety, would ride them over the

ruin s ofWestmin ster Abbey. The origin of the horse,as of the

1 T h e figu res h ave been trea ted in th e Introdu ction , Sect. VI I .


ma n,is Norwegian ; these n orba ggers reminded me of the little

hay-fed n ags of the Con tin en t,a nd OfWrangell’ s Siberian travel .

I n Scandin avia,however

,breeding has don e something, here

n othing. N0 sign s of a n indigen ous horse,like the zebra-Shaped

Hipparion of Europe,Asia

, a nd America, have yet come to light;but the old bon es dug up in several parts of the islan d show amuch larger an imal . The troops of wild Icelandic horses, whichshift for themselves even in the severest win ters, when theyperish in large numbers

,

” is a traveller’s dream, like tales ofwildcamels . Traces of the pony breed are found in Ireland a nd theScoto - Scandin avian archipelago

,n ot to men tion New Forest ;

the A stu r ion es, or small moun tain -pon ies,which were so called

,

says Sir James Ware,because imported from the Span ish

Asturias,waxed scarce during the en d of the last cen tury

,a nd

n ow they are well n igh extin ct. The sheltie of H ja ltla nd hasbeen wrongly derived from Iberian blood : it is also becomingrare

,a nd

,curious to say

,though enjoying a much milder climate

,

a nd a comparatively plen tiful forage, it is more stun ted a nd of

lighter build than those in the more barren n orth . The Orkn eygarr on was a n admirable an imal, a nd, you r sa ng, like the oldNorman

,which I have seen in the haras of Abbevill e

,fin e

limbed a nd high-spirited as a n Arab . The common garron,

”

a mixed breed,was short a nd ugly

,but a n excellen t roadster

,like

the Tartar Yabu,which we have allowed to become Obsolete in

India : ten years ago it fetched £5 ; the race has been ruin edby breeding for size

,the sires being big hammer-headed stallion s

from Aberdeen . The Faeroese,un like the Icelanders, have sold

off all their best an imals, a nd it is hardly fair to judge from

the refuse . I would back again st a ny Icelander, a N ew

Forest pony or a Mah aratta tattoo a nd my Kurdish Rahwanat Damascus would have kn ocked the wind ou t of a ny in theisland.

It has been shown that the total of horses in 1 871 was on ly31 64 over the number assign ed to 1 804 . The reason is n ot

hippophagy, which is almost unkn own ,but which might have

been practised with advan tage save for a n obsolete superstitionas a rule, also , those classes are most particular about their diet

who c an the least afford it ; a nd the Obsolete Mosaic Code, so well


adapted to its day a nd latitude, has n ot yet been exchanged forthe sen sible omn ivorous system of China . Thus

,it is now sa id

,

while horses are eaten in Fran ce, they eat us up in England .

The three commandmen ts issued by Christian ity to her proselytes

were,Marry on ly one wife, expose not your children ,

a nd feed

not On horse-flesh .

” These were accepted by all parts except th esouthern coast

,where h ippie meat, like the Gi ftessen (arsen ic

eating) ofmoun tain ous Styria, en sured a good complexion ; a nd itis well kn own that in the Far West men prefer three-year—old

mustang ” to bison or common beef. But H rossei tr became a

word of reproach,a nd Icelan d gave up what was supposed to be

unhall owed flesh offered to idols ; the horse being, as i n the

A swamedh a of the old Hindus,a great a nd ceremoni ous sacrifice .

The Devil always scratches his writin g on a blighted horse’ s

bon e ; the heathen swore by the shoulder of a horse a nd th eedge of a sword ; a nd the horse’s head formed a n ithing-post

of peculiar efficacy. The truth i s,that the Icelander wan ts

every blade of grass a nd bay for his cows a nd sheep ; he, there

fore,either traded off his colts

,or c u t their throats a nd sold

their skin s . Un der the influen ce of a ready market,breeding

will again be resumed .

The export was caused by the rise of prices elsewhere ; the

New Forest n ag advan ced, for in stan ce, from £5 to £1 2 . But

the Icelander has had the sen se to part with in ferior an imals,

jades fit on ly for the kn acker a nd the kenn el. He has a curious

idea that pon ies used in the English min es are first blinded, likedecoy singing-birds upon the Shores of the Mediterran ea n .

I n 1 770 the horse fetched $3 (r ixdolla r s, say half-crown s) .During the early part of the presen t cen tury Macken zie a nd

others paid $6 where we now disburse pounds sterling. In

1 862 a picked an imal sold from $1 2 ; this price, in 1 864 , rose,as has been shown ,

to £5, 5s . a head . The Con sular Report of1 870-71 says, The price for a good horse averages at presen t

from £2 to £4 . During my visit, the mean sums paid by the

steamers were £3 to £4 . Baggage pon ies for travellers commanded£5 to £6 , a nd good riding-n ags £7 to £9. Perhaps no article inIcelan d has ru n up so rapidly as horse-flesh , a nd the residen t

feels it as well as th e travell er. This, however, is, as I have


shown,probably a provisional grievan ce ; a nd, despite the i n c on

ven i en c e, the trade is perfectly legitimate . Happily for Iceland,n o class corresponds with ou r small fund-holder, who is in a fair

way of finding life i n England impossible, a nd who must disperse,like the large British colony of small ren tiers in Paris, whenin come became stationary a nd outlay became imperial .

Hen derson (i. 1 9) a nd other travellers make the H ross1

average from 1 3 to 14 hands . If this be true they have fallen

off sin ce the begin n ing of the cen tury, which is improbableas the degen eracy of peaches recorded in Gil Blas .” BaringGould says 14 . I should lay down a h i gh average between 1 2

a nd 1 3 ou t of a number which were measured the shortest was

1 03 ; a nd on ly on e i n a dozen barely reached 1 3 . The curiousfact that the climate least fitted for the horse, a nd the landwh ere it fares worst, produces larger a nd stronger animals thanthe southern islan ds

,c a n be explain ed on ly by the superior size

of those first in troduced. After a time the eye becomes accus

tomed to the stun ted stature, at least when n ot con trasted witha tall rider. The best specimens are shaped somewhat like theSuffolk “ pun ch

,

” with big barrels,thick n ecks

,a nd short

,stout

legs . They have roun d n oses of the Norman type,bearded

chin s,well -open ed eyes

,ears short a nd pretty

,erect man es

, a nd

the square box-head which appears in the classical horse of

medals a nd statuary. The strong poin ts of the fubsy little

an imals are the man es a nd tails ; the former even when hoggedcon ceal the crest like a lion ’s c r i n ier e, a nd if not cut would hangto the kn ees ; the latter wou l d be ornamen tal but for the localfashion of thinn ing them at the roots

,a nd of tying up wisps of

hair in small kn ots .The horse i n Iceland is a n in evi table evil

,the climate being

too cold to breed mules . The beasts Show many sign s of falli ng

Off besides size, a nd we should wonder if it were otherwise .Stalli on s are allowed freely to ru n with the mares ; a nd the

1 Bross in Icela ndic (Germ. Ross, Fr . Rosse) i s singul a r a nd plu ra l . So Ch a u cermakes “ h ors ” plu r a l, a nd we still say, a tr oop of h orse, like a flock of sh eep .

So in Sh etla nd Ru ssa -ba irn (sta ll ion ,ma le) i s Opposed to Hesta -ba irn (ma r e)

ch ild . Tile Hengist a nd Horsa of ou r inn ocen t ch ildh ood were der ived from th e

same wor s .


evil of inbreeding is exaggerated by the small number— sometimes a parish will not have more than one. In the classical

days of Iceland men rode en tire horses, a nd a favourite festal

pastime was a fight : the Hesta-thing horse meeting sug

gests the champion camels wh i ch bite each other at Smyrn a . It

seems to have been a brutal custom, as the an imals had to be

flogged,li ke the Older sort of Chin aman soldi er, to the fray ; what

a con trast with the Indian ma n -eater,

” which safely faces a

tiger ! The Sagas also men tion racing as a popular amusemen t :this

,also

,is apparently obsolete

,at least I n ever saw it. Stal

lion s are now con sidered too fierce for gen eral use, a nd yet, like

all the an imals in the coun try, they will be found exception ally

free from vice : mares also are rarely ridden ,a nd the people tell

you that they are in capable of hard work,of course

,a n utter

prejudice ; in fact, geldings, as with us, are the rule . The Arab,it is well kn own

,moun ts the mare because she has more endur

an ce a nd is less given to n eighing at times when surprises arein tended : the Span iard preferred stallion s, a nd to Show his

contempt for the Ishmaelite, put the jester a nd the buffoon upon

the mare— this custom has prevailed throughout SouthAmerica,

though its origin is now forgotten , a nd Yeguas are still

slaughtered in thousands for their hides a nd fat. A nd there are

superstition s about marks a nd colour which remind us of c om

plicated Arabian system ; for in stan ce, a horse marked with a

cross will n ever drown you.

The effect of promiscuous in tercourse a ppears in wall-eyes,

locally called glass-eyes,” which are pain fully common

,a nd in

coats of many colours, fit only for the circus . The n oble bay,

chestnut,a nd iron -gr ey are rare : many are skewba ll s

,a nd the

piebald,which in Texas would be called Pain t

,

”a nd in the

Brazil Jardim (a garden), are perhaps con sidered the best. Somewriters declare that the white are most esteemed

,a nd the black

least —I foun d both exceptional as in the Arabian breed . The

foals often wear long fleecy coats, a nd here the ren own edMr Barnum might have bought many woolly h orse

,

” real,

not manufactured ; but whether the few would have lasted inthe latitude of New York, depon en t sayeth not . Of course theyare hardy a nd sagacious from mode of life. In win ter n one but

VOL . II. C


favourites are stabled a nd fed on hay ; the others are left out tofare as they best c a n

,on the refuse of the cows and on offals

,

such as fish bon es a nd heads . 1 At last,when it becomes a

matter of life a nd death,the poor brutes are put under shelter

,

a nd fed with a few h an dful s of fodder . On the other hand, theyare perfectly free from the dire cohort of equin e diseases produ c ed by the close a nd heated stable . 2 Like the sheep, theythrive u pon the many a nd plen tifu l fuci that lin e the sh ore ; aS imilar n ecessity teaches the horse in the in terior of the Brazilto paw open a nd eat the cac tus flesh . Thus the price is n earlyall profit to the breeder. During the cold season Icelanders ridevery li ttle

,if at all : where the sn ow is deep a nd hard they use

sledges a nd rough-shoe their n ags . They are ready for travel i nearly Jun e

,although I wa s told the con trary in Englan d by

those who Shou l d have kn own better ; but the razor-backs atthis season require carefu lly-padded saddles . From that timethey get in to better condition ; they are best in Jul y, but inAugust again they are soft a nd blown ou t by too much greenmeat. All are shod

,and very badly shod ; the ston es are sure

to injure the frog,a nd Arab plates would be a great improve

men t. The on ly remedy kn own for sore backs a nd saddle gallsare cruel seton s in the breast : the Raki Of Syria a nd theOaxa ca of Brazil

,applied when the saddle is removed

,would

preven t much of this evil,but spirits a re too precious for uso

estern o .

” The c a rs are cut off,n ot to preven t the Pasha im

pounding them,but as a ma rk ; a nd the n ostrils are slit with

the silly idea of improving th e wind. They n ever see grain,

which they must be taught to eat,a nd salt is n ot regularly

served ou t to them . From perpetually licking on e an other’ sskin s, they supply fin e specimen s of ( E gagropiles, the light a nd

1 N oth ing ea s ier th a n to tea ch th e h or se mea t-ea ting a nd fish -ea ting . Wh erelittle a nd h igh ly n u tr itiou s food i s for ced by th e n ecessity of saving weigh t, th eh abit i s a cqu ired in you th .

2 In th is ma tter th e la st few yea r s h a ve seen a wonder fu l improvemen t amongstu s ; still, I h ave visited wea lth y sta bles in Engla n d wh ere th e th ermometer stooda t 72

°

equ a l to Boston Hotel, or to a n Anglo-India n Lon don Clu b . It i sdifficul t to reform th e evil wh ere grooms sleep a bove th ese oven s, wh ere h ot a i rsaves grooming coa ts, a nd wh ere t h e vet . requ ir es to make a l ivelih ood . T h e

perfection of h orse-sta bling a ppea r s to me a modifica tion of th e Afgh a n systemprotecting th e ch est a n d body with felts, th ick or th in a s th e sea son demands,a nd a llowing th e h ea d a nd th roa t to be h a rdened by cold, pu re a ir .



side,in stead of traversing : this is the well-kn own Paco, in tro

du ced in to Southern Europe by the n earer East. Many have afalse amble (a h va lh opa ), can tering with the forehand, a nd bogtrotting behind : this the people like because it easily covers sixmiles a n hour. They are utterly un train ed to trot a nd can ter

(a t st ikkva ) con sequen tly, all go false : I cann ot but think thetrot proper a pur ely artificial pace ; in the so-call ed wild horseit serves on ly to conn ect the walk a nd the can ter, a nd it is n everkept up for long distan ces. This does not apply to the amble or

shuffle of the Barb a nd his American descendan ts : the formerwas driven to th i s specialty by the n ecessity of raising the forelegs to clear rough

,thorny ground

,a nd the peculiarity has been

artificially developed. If you attempt to make them back, theywill probably

,li ke Argen tin e an imals

,tangle their legs a nd fall ;

few are accustomed to leap,a nd the small est di tch makes them

spring lik e buck-jumpers when put to it . They might be ex

pec ted to prove surefooted, yet systematic tripping a nd stumblingon easy groun d are inveterate evil s ; the people blame the riderwhen the pony breaks its kn ees, a nd the arms ache with the exer

tion of holding the brute up. I on ce tried,for experiment

,giving

my n ag its head upon a tolerable road, a nd i t came down withme three times in a few hours’ march : my mi litary saddle, however, was unusually heavy ; a nd, of cour se, in crease of weightrequires exception al an imals .It is a good plan for the first day or so to use Spurs

,Which

,as

I have said, are now all but unkn own to the people . The onl y

in strumen t of pun ishmen t is a whip with short handl e a nd strap,the latter always coming off

,a nd if this be absen t the an imals

become utter slugs . The comfortable traveller brings with h ima n English whip

, a nd the long thong is very useful for driving.

Education is confined to making the an imal stand still when therein s drawn over the head are thrown upon the ground : thecustom is gen eral throughout Australia a nd the Argen tin e R epublic ; a nd I shoul d recommen d it to cavalry where the thongsare n ot always li able to be wet a nd di rty they are great at climbi ng moun tain -paths a nd hopping from rock to rock ; they fordrivers well, walking crab -wise with heads up stream,

a nd in

the scour,”

violen t shall ow water,they kn eel to their work. The


worst footing for them is the bou l der-paved bed . If they happen

to fall in fording,the best way is to slip off on the curren t side,

to hold the rein firm, a nd to steady on e

’s self by pommel or

can tle till the shore is reached. Those taken to England soonS icken under change of diet a nd climate ; some have don e well aspon ies for children

,a nd I saw a n eat pair driven at Edinburgh .

There is a n art in riding these little mustangs, a nd a n Ice

lan der wil l get more work a nd better pace ou t of them thana stranger. Of course the slowest gives the rate to the caravan

,

a nd this will sometimes n ot exceed three miles a n hour—making

the journ ey a n e’

c aeufr a n te cor oe

’

e. All assure you that they n ever

kick ; you hear the same in the Argen tin e Republic ; you beli eve

,a nd soon er or later you are kicked : two Englishmen of

my acquain tan ce su ffered in the flesh, a nd a n Iceland pony sudden ly did its best to kn ock ou t my teeth . Rearers a nd bolters

are rare,a nd I saw on ly one biter ; the people are n ot brutal to

their beasts,but on ly careless . Temper n ever shows so much as

when they are loaded ; the worst are the riding an imals, which

lose all mann ers,apparen tly feeling in su l ted by the proceedi ng .

They will n ever keep Indian file like mules,they rush past on e

an other, bumping a nd striving to destroy the traveller’ s traps ; if

a load happen s to become loose or to shift on on e side, there is

a grand scen e of plunging,of lash i ng ou t

,especially at pots

,

kettles,a nd kegs

,a nd of run n ing away till everything is strewed

on the groun d. About even ing when hunger becomes imperious,

a nd especially where forage appears, they wax wild as an telopes .

Omn i s c ommodi ta s su a fert in commoda secum

but this is a n in conven ien ce worse than anything that I have

seen,even when travelling with half-broken Brazili an mu l es .

The people boast that their shaggy, long-backed, short-legged

poodl es equal the n oble blood of Arabia, cover 1 00 mil es a day,a nd carry 300 lbs .— U no Von T roi l says 400 . The Th ingma n n a

leih,the recogn ised march to the Al thing, h owever, is from twen ty

to twen ty-five English statute miles, a nd I have foun d 1 00 lbs .

to be a fu l l baggage-load.

1 By proper managemen t,the Lest

1 Th is i s a gen er a l r u l e 65 for a n a ss , 1 00 for a pony, a nd 1 20-1 50 for a n ox .

T h e la tter a re n ot tr a ined to ca rry lu ggage in Icela nd, a nd it i s h a r d to tell th erea son wh y.


(caravan ) may be pushed on at a pin ch some thi rty-five to fortymi les a day

,but every third march should be followed by a halt .

On on e excursion we allowed three rests in twen ty days, but the

n ags di d n ot recover for many a week . They must n ot start before

ten or eleven A .M .,after they have had a good morn ing feed .

They are allowed to drink when a nd where they please, but onlyafter the chill is off the Water. The Icelander seeing a fresh,green grazing

,gen erally dismoun ts to let his an imal have a bite

a nd stretch its limbs,like a dog fresh from sleep . A careful ma n

will walk up a nd down the heaviest places . About three or

four PM . there is usually a n hour’s halt a nd, during the summer,as the n ags suffer greatly from the su n ,

n ight-travelling,if we c a n

so call it,where a ll appears on e n ight a nd on e day

,is the rule .

Straying is also a n inveterate evil, especially in bad weather ;the hobbles are rotten cords or withers fasten ed by bits of sheep’sShanks. Side-hobbling must be attended to ; if only the forehandis tethered or kn ee-hobbled

,the beasts have learn ed by practice

to hop as fast a nd as far as kangaroos, a nd they will easily waste

the best part of a n aftern oon . Like the Norwegian n ags,they are

exceedingly fon d of rolli ng in the sand,a nd con sequen tly the

saddle suffers . The shoes shoul d be in spected after everymarch ;i n the coun try parts they may gen erally be replaced for $1 thepair .

Icelanders ride from the days when they first see the bloodupon their teeth their foot gear a nd the n ature of the coun try

in capacitate them from walking,yet with our shoes they wou l d

soon learn to climb well . There is a fashion i n these things .The M a ni luk Bey would n ever cross even the street except uponhis mare ; a nd the Brazilian church-goer will send many milesfor his horse to ride the same n umber of yards . A walker InIcelan d is a low fellow

,like the Za lama h of S yria . The

islander moun ts as often on the wrong side as n ot— of courseevery cavalry-ma n should be train ed to do the same . His longback a nd short legs make h im a curious con trast with his dwarfmon ture, a nd apparen tly he is easily dislodged— I have seen men

come ofl’

even when the an imals are on ly bogged . An oth erelemen t of grotesquen ess is the perpetual hammering of the u narmed heel again st the an imal’ s ribs ; th i s devil

’s tattoo keeps


the feet warm,a nd the horses will lag without it

,as the Egyptian

Fell ah wakes when his water-wheel ceases to creak a nd groan .

The effect is a n in describably loose a nd sh ambling seat.Al though cavalcades look tolerably well from afar

,individuals

are ungraceful a nd unhandy riders compared with the Gauchosa n Englishman Observed to me that the latter will do in thedark what would puzzle the former in the light. The gen eral

seat is somewhat like the English,a kind of j u ste mi li eu n ever

adopted by purely equestrian races . The Eastern horseman ,take

the Tartar for a type,S its his horse with crumpled legs

,

” as if

upon a chair. The Western,that is to say

,the peoples of the

New World,without exception

,stan d

,as it were

,upright with

legs apart,riding by balan ce alon e . The Orien tal style wa s pro

bably suggested by the greater steadin ess of a im,with bow or

gu n , obtain ed by rising upon the shovel-iron stirrups clear of the

an imal’

s back. The Occiden tal seat was eviden tly the result oflong weary marches over mon oton ous prairies a nd pampas

,a nd

it n ever leads to rupture like our cavalry seat ; riders carry little

weight, a nd their waists are n ot tightly buckled down so as to

press upon the part most likely to give way.

It is a spectacle likely to be remembered,the shoeing of I c e

land pon ies by the farrier,who is almost always unprofessional .

Five men ,without in cluding half-a -dozen spectators a nd advisers

,

bodily engage i n the task ; on e holds the cruel twitch, two hangon to the several limbs

,on e or two hold up the hoof

,a nd number

five plies the hammer. A nd the resul t is that in travell ing youmust always expect your an imals to be pricked.

The traveller should take ou t with h im a comfortable pony

bridl e,if he in ten ds to ride far. A n Iceland bit is horrid to

look at,but the long

,heavy mass of brass is n ever cruel ; the

chain is not tighten ed, often ,in deed

,it is absen t

,a nd sometimes

a bit of cord does duty. Happily for the horses, they have n o

curbs,a nd I have many a time wished that we in England could

un learn the use of them,or rather learn to use them on ly when

required. Nothing more unpleasan t than to see both sexes in

Rotten Row worrying their an imals in to perpetual fidgets, a nd

making them throw up their heads like giraffes on the r u n .

A nd this is n ot confin ed to Hyde Park : at Edinburgh I saw a n


escort of one of ou r best cavalry corps so pulling at their c urbs,that every charger seemed to be upon wires . A light hand is

not given to every rider, but all c a n spare the mouth by using

the sn affle .Upon the whole, I should say, hi re your nags . Buyers no

longer sell for a song, as the foreign h orsedea ler s are ready topay fairly for good an imals ; yet besides the risk of beingjockeyed— a nd in the matter of h orseflesh the Icelander is quite

the peerOf a Yorksh ireman h ippodamoio

the own er,as has been said, will be obliged to travel slowly,

a nd he will incur addition al troubles where the in evitable amplysuffi ce . Tolerable riding beasts (R ih h esta r) may be

'

hired for

$1 ( 2 2 2s . 3d. ) a day, a nd baggage-an imals (Puls or Klifia bestar)for four marks . The hire should be paid after return . Theguide is sure to take the best

,in order to whip up stragglers,

a nd he’

will be the more careful of his mon ture if he be itsown er. Formerly

,dogs train ed to bark a nd to keep the Indian

file straight,always accompan ied caravan s : n ow they are rare

a nd dear. The use of the M a dr ifi a,or bell-mare, is utterly n u

known—what does Henderson mean by making the Arab’ s bellcamel go last in the lin e in stead of first ? An extra baggagean imal, besides remoun ts, is always n ecessary : the day of theHesta-kaup is long past when you could exchange a lame or

tired—Ou t animal at a ny farm-house .The Iceland saddle (H n akku r), well stuffed a nd provided witha sheepskin , c a n be bought at Reykjavik at prices varying from

$1 5 to $50, but the Old campaign er will prefer a roomy old

English hun ting saddle,duly prepared for razor backs .” T h e

woman’

s saddle (SOh u ll) costs from $40 to $80 : it is a kind ofa rm chair, fron ting the n ear side

,a nd covered with brass orn a

men ts : the feet are supported by a piece of board ; a nd thewhole affair is very dangerous— M . l

’

A bbé Baudouin saw a

woman , drown ed when crossing a n ot very rapid river by thefau l t of her riding gear . 1 The lower classes ride a c a lifou r ch onlike the h a u tes c l p u i ssa n tes dames of the old noblesse de C am

1 Astr a ddle wa s dou btless th e ea r liest form of femin ine sea t, yet M r Newtonfou nd a t Bu drum a sta t u e of Dia na sitting h er h orse sidewa ys .


pagn e, a nd roll off like bundles of old clothes . However un seemly,

the straddli n g style is ever the safest, a nd I shou l d strongly

advise the seat en c a va li er in coun tries where the side-saddlemight lead to acciden ts . The form of riding should be that of

the L iba n u s,with a long a rm a nd a Short bridle

,always ready

to hold up the an imal,but n ever attempting to check it . A nd

those disposed to ver ti ges should look at the bank, n ever at the

fast-flowing water.The baggage will be a perpetual trouble . I deposited at

the rooms of the An thropological In stitute a specimen Of the

Klifberi (crook-saddle), the Klibber of the Shetlands, with itspegs of reindeer horn

,so useful for fraying everything they

touch . This article will cost the stranger $3 to $6 . There is,

however,a modern a nd improved form

,which is far worse ; the

arch,banded with iron

,rises some five in ches above the animal’s

back,a nd effectually destroys whatever rubs again st it . If the

people could be induced to adopt th e ‘

Ota go pack-saddle, used bythe tran sport train s in the Abyssin ian expedition

,a nd c om

mended by Messrs Fresh field (Caucasus) a nd Stanl ey, it wouldbe invaluable . I also exhibited specimen s of ropes with horn

circlets,for making fast the lu ggage ; they are expen sive as use

less,a nd $3 buys a very small supply. Fin ally

,I showed the

popular n amda h of the island,two heavy S labs Of turf

,n ot

unl ike a very th i ck ma t : they are the fibrous roots of the buck

bean or marsh trefoil (M enya n th es tm'

foli a ta ) , in books call edHor-bla hka

,but here kn own as R eih inga -gras . The damp heat

produced by this article acting upon chafes causes back-sores,

which are sometimes fatal : the Faeroese smoke a nd chew the

leaves of the “Bukka Blaa” as tobacco,a nd hold that i n in fusion

they cure scurvy. In the pagan days of Iceland,strips of buck

bean turf made a yoke under which crimin als were compelled to

walk ; a nd when two men swore brotherhood or foster-brother

hood,they passed through a n arch of three long sods

,whose ends

were attached to earth,a nd whose cen tre was raised by a spear.

The Icelan d box is very like that which old-fashion ed

Brazili an s use for mule travel : it admi ts wet ; it readi ly fallsopen ; a nd, when tourists are n umerous, it is not easily foun d at

Reykjavik . Mr Sheph erd, of North-West Pen in sul a fame, had a


model pair made by Silver C o,which own but one dis

advan tage— being n u -Icelan dic,the guide will object to load

them . On e writer sen sibly advises travellers to pack u p a nd toroll everything down the staircase ; if the cases stand this test,they may be passed with approval. Still everything will bydegrees be smashed a nd spilt : cartridges will be crushed or

shaken loose ; salt a nd sugar will be mixed ; oi l a nd Spirits willswamp books a nd flies ; a nd collection s of botany a nd geology

,

un less in spected every day, will be lost or damaged ; strong tin swill be cru shed like paper even cast-ir on would n ot be safe . Thescen e on unpacking for the first time after a march is “ a caution

Iceland in this matter reminded me of Bla-lan d (Blue Land,i .e.

,Blacklan d) , where the ingen ious n egro man aged to split a

Papin’

s Digester,making me “ marvel h ow.

” Saddle-bags are

hardly fair to the pon ies,a nd carpet-bags a nd canvas-bags being

strange luxuries,will be stowed away over the boxes

,a nd will

be worn through by the hide-lariats which assist the rottenwoollen ropes . Though bred to loading from his childhood

,the

Icelandic guide has n either the_skill n or the applian ces of the

Iberian or Brazilian “Arriero anything like a miscellan eousload wi ll at on ce be Shaken off by the rough jog-trot of thepon ies ; the girths break, a nd the halts for reloading become

hourly,a nd even bi -hourly. There are two ways of conducting

a caravan : on e is to drive the an imals loose (a h reka h est a r) ,the other is to lead them (lei5a h esta r i t a umi , i .e.

,in team) ;

the latter is gen erally don e by the care-taker (L estama h r) whenapproaching the farmhou se-mi n

,a nd halters are fasten ed to tails

in a way that would surprise a Syrian thoroughbred in to theheight of misbehaviour. This cringing

,as Shetlanders call

it,is also the tether for short halts

,a nd it proves effective

en ough,as they c a n on ly wheel roun d in a n arrow circle— vicious

withal .The travell er will find a ten t n ecessary in the in terior

,but

only on accoun t of the rain . During their September excursion s,

when the farmers ride con siderable distan ces to collect Sheepfrom the distan t pastures

,they camp ou t like Bedawin : as

amongst the Canadian Indian s,thi s change from the super

heated atmosphere of the house grows a plen tiful crop of colds,



C H A P T E R V I I I .

EXCURS IONS ABOUT REYKJAVIK— THE ISLANDS— THE LAUGAR ORHAMMAM— THE S OUTHERN LAXA OR SALMON RIVER.

T HE weather appears to be that of the In fern o-circle, especially

rich inL a piova

Etern a , ma ledetta , fredda e greve .

However,we take heart of grace to visit the islands . A boat is

readily found at the Bridge-House pier,the cen tre of industry.

Here are kn ots of fishermen ,who might be in Leith

,save that

they are a wee bit rougher ; a nd the stout young women labouri ng with coals a nd rolling up barrels of Spirits

,reminded me of

the Teu ton ic emigran ts to Rio de Ja n ei ro,where each one wou l d

girth double, a nd probably weigh treble, the average Br a z i lei r a .

At times there is a lively scen e when poni es are Shipped, a n

operation man aged very rudely,n ot to say brutally : the an imals

are dragged or driven down the slimy,slippery pla nkway, a nd

are forced to spring in to the n earest barge ; they are accustomedto ferries, but n ot to this kin d of embarkation ,

wh ich barks theshin s a nd wounds the ‘hin d legs . At times a little an imal isjostled Off the n arrow gangway

,but in stead of falling or leaping

down,it clings li ke a c a t with the forelegs

,a nd holds on long

en ough for men to ru n down a nd catch it in their arms . Themost amusing scen e was when a n Englishman inflated a waterproof cloak

,the Halkett-boat

,a nd an other

,taking i n hand two

apologies for paddles,began a series of aston ishing gyr ation s . All

Reykjavik flocked to the pier,possibly under the stimulus thus

poetically recorded

Pu ll h im ou t ! pu ll h im ou t ! h e fell from yonder boa t,We sh a ll eith er get a sov

’

r eign or a on e-pou nd n ote.

”

They were disappoin ted,however

,for the Britisher gallan tly held

his own ,a nd taught the spectators a thi ng or two.

”


A few minutes of sharp sailing placed us at E ngey, meadow

islet,the cen tral of the three largest which defend the Rade of

Reykjavik . It projects to the south-east, a long spit of loose

rocks,covered

,as usual

,with fucus 1 a nd seaweed : here two

huge raven s are hung up as scarecrows to keep ofl‘

their kind,

a nd to frighten away the great Ern e or cin ereous eagle (Fa leoa lbi ei lla ) : thi s determin ed en emy of the eider duck sometimeshaun ts the Laxa. mouth . The “ ben efi c en t palmipede” is about

two feet long,a nd weighs 6-7 lbs . : it swims the water grace

fully as a swan,a nd is a strong a nd straight-flying bird, giving

excell en t sport : the drake ’s plume is silver,tipped with jet ;

the duck is much more modestly clad . The ZE h r has a good

time of it in Iceland. Their homes are,like those of olden c om

merce,the islets n ear the coast ; they will n ot build

,as some

travellers have related,in in

'

lan d lakes,a nd they are rarely seen

ashore,preferring damp rocks

,where they c a n feed on seaweed

a nd in sects . From its haun ts dogs a nd cats are carefully excluded.

No salute must be fired at Reykjavik for fear of frighteni ng

somateria mollissima .

” The drake is sometM es poached after

the breeding season in August a nd September : I n ever tasted

it,but should imagin e that the flavour must admirably combin e

fiSh a nd sea tang. The people declare the flesh to be excellen t eating, worth all the other game put together, but fine a nd

confiscation of the offendi ng weapon await the poaching gour

mand : the amenole is a r ixdolla r per shot, a nd if the Offen ce be

repeated, confiscation of the gu n . H ow we longed to see this

happen to ou r Cockn ey frien d !

The landi ng-place is the n ormal n atural pier,a horrid mass of

slimy,S lippery bou l ders n ear a small curing establishmen t, whose

1 In forma tion con cern ing th em may be met with in Gosselin (Historia Fu corum) : traveller s h ave pa id sca n t a tten tion to th is br a n ch of bota ny. T h e wr a cksfeed ma n a nd bea st, a nd serve for fu el, bed stu ffing, a nd oth er domestic pu rposesconsequ en tly some forty-fou r kin ds h ave been descr ibed, especia lly th a t impostor ,th e Zoster a ma r in a , wh ich lies in loose h ea ps . T h e most common a re th e Fu cu s

pa lma tu s , S a eeh a r i nu s escu len tu s, edu li s , foen ieu la eeu s, a nd digi ta tu s . T h e fir st

men tioned i s th e Sol, ea ten in Irela n d a nd in Scotla n d, wh ere it i s ca lled Du lcea t Or eba ck (Eyr a rbakka ) , it sells for 70 fish es per voet z 80 T h e secon d

,

F . sa c ch a r i n u s (A lga sa eeh amfer a ), i s t h e Welsh Laver , wh ose spir a lly-twistedleaves

,s ix feet long by on e broa d, become str a igh t wh en dry . In th e Sh etla nds

th e la rger fu ci in gener a l a re ca lled Ta ngle, Ta ng, a nd Wa re, a nd a re extensivelyu sed a s ma n u re.


rich aroma made us hurry fran tically past, kerchief over nose .

Here the islet is a strew a nd scatter of cods’ heads, Cods’ bon es

,

a nd cod’s sounds : they would be the best of compost if system

a t i c a lly used. Hopping from hill ock to hill ock of fishy grass,we reached the large a nd prosperous-looking farm-house, wh i choccupies a domed rise to the n orth-west. The own er, Hr Christian

Magnusson,was superin ten ding his c ider-down : he lives too n ear

Reykjavik to ask us within his doors.We then walked over the tussocky groun d to the west, where

the warm exposure has special attraction s for the brown mothers .Our compan ion s were troops of n oisy peewits a nd tern s : theformer are spoil-sports

,as in the Brazil

,where I have often been

exasperated in to giving them the ben efit of a barrel ; a nd thelatter

,here termed Kria (plur. Kr i u r) , when ce ou r Cree

,

”

sweep down upon th e in truder in resolute style,screaming

furiously,a nd sometimes admin istering a vicious peck . Possibly

S tevna h i r u ndo kn ows.

that its egg is delicate food for ma n,a nd

becomes a winged Timon accordingly. In places these birdsseem to have fled the sea

,a nd are

“

found hovering over the fieldsin search of food : they shou l d n ot be shot

,as they serve to

keep down the earth-worms,a nd here the lumbricus is a pest

,as

in the Faeroe Islands . Poultry would be useful for the samepurpose

,but it cau ses trouble

,a nd is seldom seen in the in terior.

It will be remembered that the an cien t Briton s kept fowls on lyvolu pta t i s causa ,

” which some understand for the sake of

cock-figh t ing.

”

Travell ers describe the eider as a very wild bird in winter,

bu t a mere barn door during the summer season,so tame

that,like the frequen ters of the gull-fair

,Ascen sion

,or of the

Lage n ear Brazili an San tos,it c a n be taken up with the hand .

We foun d that they scurried away from us,uttering a hoarse

c rrr ,”

a nd on ly on e showed mild fight in defen ce of herflapper s . Nor did we see more than a single mon ogamous ducki n ea c h

r

n est, despite the reported Mormon a rr a ngemen ts,

'

str a nge

if true . The usual number of eggs was two,proving that the

first lay had been plundered ; three was n ot, four was, rare . Atthis time (Jun e 1 2) a few h ardl y-fledged ducklings appeared, a ndsome cou l d just follow the mother’s fli ght. The old ones teach


their young the art a nd mystery of swimming,by leading them

to the shore,bearing them on their backs a few yards out, a nd

slipping from under them— a process wh ich the tutor of mychildhood un con sciously imitated. The n ests

,wh i ch are always

n ear water,for facility of feeding

,are built in hollows

,like dwarf

a rm-chairs,or the old fur-cap of Istria : in the cen tre is a thin

saucer-shaped l in ing of brown,grey

,or mouse-coloured fluff

,

exceptionally un clean . About mid-July all these matron s will

become frisky,gadding about the FjOrh s a nd river mouths .

An other pleasan t excursion is to Vi h ey (wood-holm), thelargest a nd easternmost of the three great breakwaters . In some

thirty-five minutes we r a n before the stiff breeze to the littlelanding-place

,a hole in the Palagon ite rock. As we approached

the islet,it appeared double

,con n ected

,like the defun ct Siamese

twin s,by a ban d which was bright green with grass

,a nd which

carried a few wild-looking sheep . We had seen M . Ga ima rd’

s

atlas,a nd we had read of the beautiful pillars of basaltic lava

,

but we did n ot find them . The formation gen erally is that of

Arthur’ s Seat : in places th e ston e is sub-column ar ; here a nd

there it is quaquaversally disposed,the effect of lateral pressure

,

a nd in most parts it c a n hardl y be distinguished from the amor

phon s . The basa lts on the south of the island,a nd adjoin ing the

remn an ts of a crater to the west,are best worth seeing

,but again

— bad is the best.

A rough path leads to the tall wooden -barred gate a nd weathercock whi ch defen d the property ofgood Magnus Stephen sen

,Chief

Justice of Icelan d,the frien d of Baron Banks

,

”

a nd far-famed

for his hospitalities in the olden day. Though travell ers say

that he ren ted it from the Crown,he was the own er of the islet

which still remain s to his family ; a nd about 1 820 he died

at the satisfactory age of eighty-two . The house is a large

a nd substan tial building of ston e a nd lime,with ten windows

facing the south,a coun terpart of the smallpox h ospital at Lau

garn es . The characteristic remn an t of the monastery,which

was founded in A .D . 1 226 , is the chapel to the west of the ma nsion

,a solid box of rough basalt, squared on ly at the corn ers ,

with rude arches over doorway a nd windows ; the dwarf c am

pa u ile,” a shed perched upon the roof, shelters three bells . In


the massive red door was a huge iron key, which may date‘

from

the days of the ghostly own ers . The roof is supported by heavysolid rafters

,a nd the furn iture is older a n d more ornamen tal

than usual ; t h e ben ches are carved, a nd the colours are the

tricolor,blue

,red

,a nd green .

As in many coun try churches, t h e tal l pulpit stands behin dthe humble al tar which Lutheran ism in Icelan d has n ot reduced

to a table,but converted in to a safe for priests

’

vestmen ts . Thecon fession al still lingers in the shape of a tall-roofed chair, likethat of a hall porter ; it is n ow u sed by the PrOfa stu r (archdeacon) when he makes his visits, but the people n o longerconfide their sin s to the ecclesiastical ear. Metcalfe (p. 31 7)seems to think that Icelan ders are shrieved before they c om

mu n i c a te. The onl y “ Reformed ” remnan t of the old Catholiccustom is the practice of seating the expectan ts roun d th e

chan cel,when the parson exhorts them in set phrase to repen t

their sin s,a nd to amen d their lives . They do so

,or are officially

supposed so to do,a nd absolution duly follows .

We looked in to the western room of the old mon astery wherethe prin ting—press was won t to work ; the rubbish lay in a d

mired con fusion,almost as bad as the sacred hill-town of Safet

c a n Show,after parting with its typographic reli ques to the

curious a nd the collectors of Europe. The own er,lounging

about,hands in pockets

,prospected us more careful ly than

courteously. Here the n eighbourhood of Reykjavi k is n ot theonly cause of inhospitality : the son of the old Chi ef-Justice wasn otoriously unhappy in his family ; a nd the heir to the an tiquadomus ” is locally famed as a n a n ima l

,in the Fren ch a nd

Span ish sen ses of the term. So we wandered over the“

island,

much to the confusion of the tern s a nd sheep, a nd enjoyeda charming bath in the sea to the n orth : the walking was foulas usual

,the swamplets have not been drain ed, nor have the

grass tussocks been levelled during a n occupation of a thousan dyears . Of course

,in Wood-isle n o wood exists, but n ear a

farm - shed upon the western half there is a n eru ption of

turf-stacks, which Show what has become Of the n ame-giving

The tract behind a nd about Reykjavik is a n epitome of I c e


land,which we c a n see in a day

’ s work ; it admirably combin es

th equaking bogs of Irelan d with the Pa n ta n a es of the Brazil ,the rock-sli des of the Ka sr awa

’

ma nd the metal domes a nd boilers

of the Hauran .

God made the coun trya nd ma n made the town is a poor

poet’s sen timen tal say, which has passed in to a truism,whilst

every traveller kn ows its falsehood. The coun try wan ts the

hand of ma n almost as much as the town does . Hereabouts,where the surface lies comparatively unbroken , the absolu te

absen ce of trees gives the dreariest impression . We do not feel

the same wan t amongst the labyr in ths of serrated ridges, where

the vapours break like seas in the morni ng,a nd which are tran s

figu red by the even ing mists in to glimpses of purple a nd golden

glory ; n or amongst cataracts,“ tumbling in a shower of water

rockets ” over the perpendicular strata of basaltic rock ; n or

when fron ting the inverted arches of the Fj'

Orh -mouths,where

the sweeping lin es of mist a nd cloud are worthy the in spired

pen cil of Gu stave Doré . A nd,though throughout the islan d

there is n ot on e spot which smiles with corn,

” the stretches of

bright green pasturage,with spangled flowers

,relieving the

blackn ess of the trap,serve passing well in the artistic eye to

take the place of cultivation . I n these places we escape from

the eternal black a nd white,white a nd black

,which sadden the

eye in the interior.

The lakelet south of the capital drain s large bogs a nd peat

mosses at its upper or in land end. It is poor stuff,wh i ch

,h ow

ever,like that of the Brazil

,burn s without ch emical treatmen t

,

a nd it con tain s, as in the Faeroe Islands, large quan tities of birch

trunks a nd bark,proving

,if proof were wan ted

,that the lan d

was n ot always bare of trees . Al thou gh the first colon ists foun d

the coun try wooded from the sea to the hills,here

,as else

where,first colon ists regarded a tree as a person al a nd n atural

en emy, to be anni hil ated with fire a nd steel. Con sequen tly the

lan d became bog,the cen turies deepen ed a nd added to it

,a nd

n ow it is absolutely irreclaimable . Under the blessing of StBla z iu s

,however

,it supplies the people with fu el . The turf

digger uses a rough in strumen t, a straight bar of wood, with

a side projection for the foot,a nd shod with a crescen t-shaped

VOL . II . D


iron : it is the toysker familiar to the Shetlanders .1 The

material is stacked in early Jun e, a nd by September it is readyfor u se ; almost every family has its own turbary, where afortnight’s hard work would collect a n ample supply for thewhole year. Yet the absen ce of fire is on e of the characteristics

of the Icelandi c farm-house,in which the people prefer to “ pig

together for an imal heat,like the lower creation

,rather than

take the trouble of cutting, stacking, a nd carrying in their peat .Bu t here probably inveterate custom perpetuates what arosefrom simple indolen ce .The L a ndnamabOk (De Or igin ibu s I sla ndi aeLiber) , correspon d

i ng with ou r Domesday Book a nd the Book of Joshua amongstthe Hebrews

,tells us that i n A D . 1 231 the plou gh was drawn

by oxen a nd slaves . The Aryan implemen t,n ever inven ted by

the African nor by the red ma n”of the Western Hemisphere

,

is n ow simply impossible . The surface is either quaking bog,

wh ere ma n is easily mired a nd “ laired or covered with run sa nd bou lders of basalts a nd lavas

,porous a nd compact

,grey

,

brown , red, a nd black ; the grey being of course the oldest .This has n ever been cultivated

,and probably n ever will be .

The grass land reminds you of a deserted coun try churchyard .

Many of the warts which garn ish it are origin ally formed like“ glacier tables,

” those pillars of ice bearing tabu l ar rock,which

protects their bases whilst the su n melts the surroundingmatter . The scattered boulders keep the lump firm

,whilst the

grou nd about it is washed away : mostly, however, the tussockywarts are formed, as on the Irish bog, the Scotch moor, a nd theflanks of Ben Nevis

,by the melting of Spring-sn ows a nd the

heavy rain s which carry off the humus fromthe sides ; a nd theyshow us on a small scale the effects of weathering upon hills a ndmoun tain s . The water

,here a nd in the bogs a nd peat-mosses,

is a “ gilded puddle,

” rich i n diatomaceous sili ca a nd iron : as inparts of Ireland

,it readi ly converts adipose a nd muscular tissue

in to a saponaceous matter like spermaceti,a nd it forms the

“ precious medicin e Mumiya (human fa t) on ce so highlyvalued for fractures a nd pulmonary complain ts .

1 D r Cowie (Sh etla nd, l st edit ,ch ap. ix . ,

pp . 1 65-1 67) gives a n excellenta ccou nt of pea t-ca sting.



right,you leave the Skolava rh a ,1 or school mark, so call ed because

it was buil t for the College . This observatory,” as foreign ers

call it,is a two-storied bu ilding

,ascended by two sets of double

ladders : the view from the green -pain ted hatchway whichdefends the open in g above lays the lan d before you like a n

embossed map . The lower story is foul in the extreme, a nd

there are scandals con cerni ng the uses to which it is n ormallyput. The wooden bu i lding of old charts has clean disappeared .

No place cou l d be worse adapted than this for a n observatory,

at least,if magn etic in strumen ts are to be used. The Fren ch

expedition fou n d that the surroun ding volcan ic r ocks gave the

most discordan t results, for in stan ce, 2°

32' to n orth

,a nd 1 1

°

1 5’

to south,upon the same rhumb . M . L otti er (p . 35) offers the

following comparison of magn etic declination s

1 . A t Reykjavik, 43°2 . T h i ngvel li r , 40

°

3 . Geysir s , 45°

4 . S elsu nd, 40°

He remarks that the first is probably correct on accoun t of thecare with which the site had been prepared

,two gran ite blocks

having been laid down upon the hard groun d below the turf.The secon d was Vitiated by a hu ge c ou le

’

e of lava ; the third bythe loosen ess a nd Pluton ic n ature of the soil, whilst at S elsu ndtheHekla ma ssif, distan t on ly a mile to the n orth-east

,must

have exercised a disturbing effect.Striking to the left

,we pass the detached farm-houses

,a nd

h i t the shingly a nd rocky margin of the shore,which here a nd

there ‘ shows heaps a nd scatters of sub-columnar basalt. Presen tly, after treading the pebbly bank a nd stony tracts

,well

garn ished with mu d,we reach the mouth of the little stream

, or

rather the place where it should mouth . Here,as on many parts

of the coast,where n ot protected by islands to windward

,or where

the rock does n ot come down to the water’s edge,a high bank of

1 Va rh a , in th e plu r a l Vorh u r , i s a bea con,more gener a lly a n

“ h omme depierr e,

”a pile of ston es to a c t a s la ndma rk or way S ign ; it i s der ived fr om a t?

va rh a, to wa rd, to gu a rd, mon er e (qu od h i c vicu s est) . Ou r tr aveller s gen er a lly

wr ite t h e word in th e Da n ish form “ Va rde .

” Th ese piles, like th e f

a’

ur

(Kakur) of Syr ia a nd Pa lestin e, a re Often pu t u p by th e sh eph erd la ds, a ppa ren tlyfor wa nt Of someth ing else to do .


sand a nd Shingle is thrown up, a nd retain s the water in pools

of various exten t. Mostly, these basin s are briny, being affectedby the percolating tide which ebbs a nd flows regularly in side :they explain the presen ce of the upper bog ; the matted rootsof the vegetation preven t free drain age ; a nd the wan t of slope

would probably render even deep-di tch i ng in effectual .We cross the streamlet higher up

, a nd ascen d the right bank,where walking is better than on the left

,wondering the while

that during so many cen turies of use the feet of the washer

women have n ot worn a way. Here at length is some S ign of

life . “ The lady-h en sings to the riv,” as the Shetlanders say

of the lark,but her carol is at the gate of a milk-a nd-water

heaven . The curlew a nd the whimbrel scream their wild layi n the lower air ; the sn ipe rises with a peculiar twitter ; the

sni ppet bathes where the water is warm ; the water-rail (va llu s)courses before us ; the true sandpiper (tr i nga ) , accompan ied by apurple congen er (T . ma r i tima ) , with brown back, white waistcoat,black colours exten ding over the eyes a nd crest

,with long red

beak a nd legs,forages busily for food ; whilst waterfowl, in clud

ing the ubiquitous eiders, male a nd female, float lazily off shore .I n many places the sandpiper behaves likes the Brazilian J0 50

de Barros,al ighting before the traveller

,a nd apparen tly enjoy

ing the fu n of n arrow escapes .A number of pon ies

,awaiting tran sportation to the min es of

Great Britain,were grazing about, a nd bolted as we drew n ear.

The few cows,almost all hornl ess

,had small straight bodies

,a nd

large udders,which are said sometimes to give from ten to twelve

quarts of milk per diem,a nd 3000 per annum ; the proportion

of butter being Wretched bull ocks,not weighing more

than a Syrian donkey, were fatten ed for foreign markets : surely

the roast beef of Old Englan d n ever appeared in mean er form .

Presen tly they will be lashed to pon ies ’ tail s,a nd afford much

amusemen t to the gamin s of Reykjavik by springing over the

little drain s with such action as the Toro at Ronda attempts the

barricades . The ewes,dull-yellow

,straight-eared

, a nd thintailed

,some with coats

,others sheared

, or rather plucked,in

Shetlan d parlan ce roo’d,

” were at a di stan ce to be mistaken for

goats ; in Jun e most of them are accompani ed by lambs, singlets


or twin s,looking extra inn ocen t . They yield a couple of quarts

Of milk per diem,or about fifty per annum ,

a nd their fat is saidto con tain a n unusual proportion of stearin e . Merin os havebeen tried

,a n d to them many people attribute the dreadful

scabies which has raged sin ce 1 855 . The goat, on ce so common ,

is extin ct i n this part of the island,at least I n ever saw a speci

men in Iceland : this destructive an imal cou ld n ot have been

much at home where there is so little wooded lan d ; a nd it wasproscribed for climbing upon the tu rf roofs , a nd doing other

damage . The happy mean has been hit by Istria,which

issued laws in early ages ole c ap r i s n on tenen oli s,a nd which

n ow allows goats on ly in the wildest a nd ston iest parts . Itwill be a fortu n ate day for the L iba n u s a nd Syria gen erallywhen the graveolen t there falls in to like disfavour.The comparatively fertile banks

,clothed with the L eei clea

L i ndlega n a grass, shows us, for the first time,the pretty

Icelandic flora in full bloom ; a nd the gen eral effect is yellow,

as that of Palestin e is red : this arises from the large pro

portion of buttercups (Icel. Soley) a nd dandelion s . The pro

per t ies of L eon toolon ta va eei eum in hepatic di sease,eith er as

coffee or as salad,are here quite unknown ; the Icelanders call

it Unda-fill,a nd the Faeroese H eea sol i a . Its flowers are used in

the southern islands for yellow dye,a nd the leaves are eaten

in spring : after that time they become bitter. There is a n

abundan ce of golden liverwort (Pa r n a ssea p a lu str i s) a nd crossworts (ga li ums) of many kinds, locally call ed Mah ra a nd Krossmahra ; of Al pin e saxifrages (S . h i r eu la a nd opposi tifoli a ) , of

azaleas (A . p r ocumbens) , pretty red flowers,loved by sheep ; of

lilac-tin ted butter-worts ; a nd of the yell ow ranun culus, commonin the Pyr en ees a nd Alps . Thewild thyme (T . serpyllum), whichpreserves a strong perfume

,whilst the four Violets have lost it

,is

termed Blé h lyng by the people, a nd, mixed with other leaves,is exten sively used i n pt i sa n es to

“ thin the blood.

”A n

orchis, a n equisetum with small stiff leaves,a nd a fox grass

,

as the fern is locally n amed,fain tly remin d us of the tropics

fern s always have this effect. Very famili ar to the eye are thedaisy (in the Faeroes, S ummu da a r), the white chickweeds (S tella r i u m a nd C er a sti um vu lga tum,

locally called Musar-eyra,

A SUMMER IN ICELAN D . 55

(mouse’s ear) the forget-me-n ot (Ka tta f

r -a u ga ) , which flourishes

everywhere ; the white cardamin e (G. p r a lensi s) ; the commonbitter cress

,which Icelan ders call H r a fn a (pron . H va bn a )

klu kka,or raven ’ s bell the other pretty little crucifers

,a nd the

rhododendron (lapon i eum,Icel . Ka lma n stunga ) , with a delicate

red flower. The Iceland heath (E r i c a vu lga r i s) here becomes avaluable plan t : the people say that sheep cann ot die where it

abounds,a nd they use it with peat a nd brushwood to smoke

their meat. The geran ium (G. si lva ti eum) is common , espec i

ally the malva,kn own as Ljon s-klo or -lOpp (lion

’ s paw) ,a n ame eviden tly given by those who had n ever been pre

sen ted to King L eo. The Fi fa, or cotton -grass (E pi lobi um or

E r i oph or um p olysta ch i on), with bright white pods, which extendsfrom Icelan d to South Germany

,a nd which fatten s sheep in

Dumfriesshire,will haun t us in every swamp : it is a much

malign ed growth,a nd. it serves to make the bog far more solid

a nd less like a rollin g carpet than the Serbon ian ” feature other

wise would be . The less familiar plan ts are the crowberry (Emp etr um n igr um) , eaten by Corvus in Scotland before the grain is ripe ;th e red cowberry (Va c c i n i um vi ti s which mostly affects

the hills,a nd is preserved for pan cakes ; the grass of Parn assus

(Icel . Myra-SOI-ey) a nd a moonwort , rare in the British Islands .The deep

,n arrow ditch winds through the plain

,with bulges

here a nd there,which make good bathing-places : what little

steam there is,gen erally courses before the win d down the

Valley. The old cen tre of ebu ll ition is den oted by a small greenmamelon or tumulus on the right bank, supposed to be the site ofa large spring on ce boili n g : hereabouts poor, brown ,

a nd fibrous

peat is stacked,a nd on week-days it is the meeting-place of a

dozen Ba hkonu r (washerwomen ),1 of all ages

,from grandmother

to small girl. A baylet in the right bank shows the presen t

focus of ebullition ,though a little below,

on the left side,the

1 Kon a , of old Kwin a a nd Ku n a , i s eviden tly th e English Qu ea n (bu t not Qu een ).It i s a congener of yvmi (Sa nsk . Ja n i ), wh ich th e R ev.Wm. Ridley (p . 390, A n th r op .

J ou r n a l, J u ly a nd Oc t . 1 872) tr a ces th rou gh Gu n i, Gu n , Gyn , a nd Gin , to th eAu str a lia n “ J in wh y n ot take it a t on ce from t h e Ar a b . Jinn (Gen ie), a

ma n n er of devil ? For ma ny yea r s, Konu ngr (A . S . ,C yn ig, ou r King) wa s c om

posed of Kon r , ma n of gen tle birth , a nd Ungr, you ng ; bu t th e Diction a ry pron ou n c es th is to be a mere poetica l fa n cy.

56 ULTIMA THULE OR,

water above a dwarf rapid is scalding hot : at the former, thethermometer (F. ) readily rises to a nd soon cools down

stream . Higher up again the little ditch, coloured with bogiron

,a nd with strongly chalybeate taste

,is icy cold : as at the

celebrated S norr i ’s Bath,all degrees of temperature c a n here be

combin ed,a nd whilst one hand is parboiled, the other is ch i lled .

The water after traversing heated substan ces,eviden tly pyritic,

effervesces from a bottom of dark-grey mu d ; a nd when the ston eis exposed

,we find heat-altered ba z a lt covered with a wh i tish

in crustation,silica

,the ch i ef ingredi en t, being deposited in a

gelatin ous state . There is a strong smell of su lphuretted hydrogen ,

so common ly remarked in dorman t springs,a nd the offen sive

presen ce shoul d recommend it to skin diseases,especially where

the S a r cop tes sc a bi ei is presen t . From the muds a nd deposits of

these waters n on e of the rarer earths,li ke yttria

,glucin a

,a nd

,

oxide of cereum,have been found , though traces of cobalt occur :

lime a nd magn esia a bound ; mangan ese, iron a nd sili ca, soda a ndsulphuric acid, also exist in con siderable proportion s . Dr Murray

Thomson has carefully analysed the produce of the Laug.

1 Eels

are men tion ed by travellers, but we n ever saw them : in the

lower course there are shell-less snails a nd a variety of worms

(pupaeBroken bottles a nd fragmen ts of the Con stitution n el show

the favourite place for bathing : formerly here,as at T h i ngvelli r ,

a wooden shed was set up ; n ow every in ch of it has di sappea red. It is no j oke to dress a nd undress in the raw high east‘

winds a nd the bursts of storm,but the exceptionally healthy

n ature of the climate asserts itself under these unpleasan t c irc umst a n c es . As there are tradition s of a Fren ch sailor having

1 T h e pintc>

wa s fou n d to con ta in 3 5 1 gra in s of solid ma tter . T h e specificgravi ty (a t 60 F . ) wa s 1000 2 1 , a nd th e compon en ts were

S i lica, gr a in s .

Protoxide of ir on , nLime, a tra ceMagn esia

,

Soda ,Su lph u r ic a cid

,

Ch lor ine, 0

‘40Orga n ic ma tter,

Tota l, 3

'

60 gra in s .


died of pleurisy after a bath, common pruden ce would suggest a

Sunny aftern oon . The amoun t of refreshmen t derived from

the Hammam is immen se. Strangers in Iceland often a ttr i

bute to other a nd less clean ly causes the sudden eruption of

Lichen (misnamed T r op i eu s) or prickly heat, the n ettle rash

which the Dan es call “Red Hound it seems to be as commonabout the poles as throughout the tropics

, a nd many of my

English acquain tan ces suffered severely from it i n Icelan d with

ou t recogn isin g it.From the bath we walked over the stony bog to the n earest

Baer,which is gen erally deserted it is occupied by the caretakers

of the L a u ga r nes Hospital . The two-storied whitewashed house

is built of irregul ar a nd un squared basaltic blocks the fron tage

is south of west. Each of the two floors has three windows,a nd

the wings two on the east a nd west,but n on e to the n orth .

Formerly the episcopal palace,it was last occupied by Bishop

Steingrimur JOn sen : the presen t dign itary has always preferred

the town . It has n ow been converted in to a smallpox hospital

two patien ts died there this year (1 872) sin ce then ,as no cases

have come in,the doors are locked

,a nd the attendan ts are engag

ing themselves elsewhere . In olden times it was conn ected with

the town by a ch a u se’

e,a causeway somewhat like the remain s

of the Saracen,miscall ed Roman

,roads wh i ch cross the flat

coun try south of Damascus: Bad as it is,the fragmen t teaches

a usefu l lesson— n ever,if possible

,to quit a n Iceland road.

“Follow the highway tho’ it win ds,

” say the Tartars .A Scotch gen tleman

,well-kn own In Iceland as a firm a nd

hospitable frien d to Icelanders,proposed to buy L a u ga rn es for a

summer residen ce,to pay $3000, a nd, moreover, to con duct the

water in tubes to Reykjavik, where it might lead to a habit ofRussian baths . Unhappily, it belongs to a company, or rather

to half-a -dozen proprietors, who have added Klepp, the adjoin ing

property : they showed their unwisdom by asking $4000 for the

original estate,a nd n ow their terms fluctuate

,according to

chan ces,between $8000 a nd

From the Hospital we follow the shore to the Laxa’

. River East.On the way there is a deposit of very light blue-grey hydrate ofiron

,cellul ar a nd globular, a nd rich in water, a nd phosphorus

58 ULTIMA THULE OR,

it is supposed to result from the decomposition of titan iferousiron

,con tain ed in the underlying dolerite . Close to the sea, a nd

con spicuous to those who sail by,is a classical spot, the H a u gr ,

howe or cairn of H a llgerh a , the fair-haired with the thief’s eyes .

That lady,so famous in Iceland legen ds, vir tually murdered

three husbands ; the last was the peerless Gunn ar, who, someyears before

,had slapped her face . She lived upon th i s

'

fa rm,

wli

i c h she inherited from Glum,her secon d victim ; she died in

A D . 996 , a nd she was buried with all the hon ours of her rank .

The tumulus always remain s green,doubtless a token of Heaven ’s

approval bestowed upon one of the strongest-minded of hersex . Should Mary Stuart succeed . in being san ctified, theabominable H a llgerh a surely has a chan ce : at presen t she iskn own to local fame chiefly from t h e beauty of her locks

,which

hung down to her waist. She is on e of those women i n historywhom on e would like to in terview.

An other tract of ston e a nd bog led us to the Laxa River,which discharges in to the usual broad FjOr5, fron ting Vi5ey, a nd

bounded on the east by the low,chapelled poin t of Gufun es

(screw n aze) . The n ame, often written Dan ice Lax1(salmon )

Elbe or Elve (river) , is common in the island, which may con taina dozen Laxas : there are four n ear Reykjavik

,each distin

gu i sh ed by some local affix . Henderson erron eously calls itH elli ra

, river of cavern s, from the many holes i n its lava bed ;others prefer H ellu ra, river of slabs : so Newfoundland wasfirst called Hellu-land . T h e classical term

,however

,is E ll ih aa

,

from the ship Enic i,which Keti lbe n Gaml i (the 0 1d)

caused to be dragged through river a nd lake . It rises i n theElli5a-vatn (E llwi c h -water) , a circular lake with tuff wall s,showing a n extin ct volcan o : this place

,about one hour’s ride

south-east of Reykjavik,is a famed place for picn ics, a nd is

much affected by men who go a -fi sh ing. The stream,or rather

torren t, rushes fiercely between tall a nd rocky banks, flares outat the mouth

,a nd finds rest in the broad bosom ofReykjavik Bay.

1 We h a ve L ax r iver s in Engla nd . Some books tra n sla te L ax trou t a s

well a s sa lmon . Th is i s a mistake, t h e former i s a lwa ys kn own a s S i lu ngr or

Forelle (D a n ) a s may be expected, th ere a re n umerou s terms for th e fish a t

differen t a ges a nd In sever a l condition s .



C H A P T E R I X .

FURTHER AFIELD— AS CENT OF T HE E S J A AN D T H E SKARBSHE IBI

T H E HOF OR HEATHEN TEMPLE OF KJ AL LARN E S .

RIGHT Opposite Reykjavik rises a n in teresting block of moun

tain s . Bearing du e n orth is Akr a fja ll , bluff to the sea a nd

sloping with a long dorsum in land ; it is the western steepleof the long H va li rh

,on e of the many digitation s, carved by

wind a nd water i n the western coast. The eastern is the E sja ,which mean s a kin d of clay ;

” some travell ers mi scall it theEsian or E ssi a n

,with the defin ite pron oun su ffixed

,

1a nd sound

i ng much like the Alcoran to a n Arabist. The southern

flank of this precipitous buttress, gashed with deep ravin es a nd

still spotted a nd streaked with sn ow wh i ch will n ot di sappearbefore mid-August

,lies n orth-east a nd across the baylet of Rey

kja vik : in fin e weather it looks as though you could see a ma n

upon the summit . Between the two pilasters of the invertedarch

,forming the apparen t bound of th e far vista, is a third,

a smaller a nd a more precipitou s block, Ska rh sh eih i— heath of the

c ol 2—with five buttresses,waxing whi ter a nd whiter as they

leave th e warm western aspect . The view is fine albeit somewhat sin ister

,a nd you miss it like removing from the C h i aja to

the interior of Naples . A ll this,we mu st remember, is only

a corn er of the great south -western FjOr5, whose n orthern

1 Th is su ffixed a rticle, wh ich h a s died ou t of soma ny n or th ern tongu es , a ppea rsto be compa r a tively modern , on ly on ce sh owi ng in t h e Volu spa Goh in , v.

It i s fou nd in Coptic,e. g . , M a u -t , t h e moth er , for Ti-ma u a nd i n Wa lla ch

(D a co-Roma n ) t h e la tter , for in sta n ce, s ays Fr a te-le (in Ita lia n , 11 fr a tello), a ndD in te-le for I I Den te (den s) .2 Ska rh

, common i n loca l n ames,i s th e English Sh a rd, a n otch

, C h ink, a n openpla ce in a ba nk, a mou n ta in -pa ss

,th e Cumbr ia n Sca r f-gap (Clea sby). Hen derson

gi vedampe a s th e popu la r name of a col h e proba bly mea n s Kambi, a . comb

or n ge.

A SUMMER IN ICELAN D. 6 1

limit is the Sn aefellsj'

Oku ll a nd whose southern is the Skagi

(poin t) of S u h rn es : it is called Fa xa i rh,from Fax

,

1 theScot

,who believed it to be the estuary of a mighty stream ;

the same kind of mistake gave a n ame to glorious R io deJa nei ro.

The eastern or in land View from Reykjavik on a fin e day isn ot less picturesque . The clear c u t basaltic lin e of moun tain s

,

here a nd there broken a nd jagged, stretches from n orth-east t‘

o

south-west. I n the former direction it appears a mural range,

in the latter the blue wall breaks up in to detached features,the

regular con e of Helgafell,or holy hill

,the pyramid of Kei li r

,

th e wedge,

” so well kn own to sailors,a nd the four hillocks

call ed the T rolla dyngju r ,2or gian tesses’ bower. Again this fea

ture remin ds me of the Jebel Hauran , a nd we shall find it

beautifully displayed from the several moun tain -tops .On Jun e 1 2 I set ou t with Major B . a nd Mr S . to My ou r

pren tice-hand upon the E sja . The vehicle was a two-c ared

boat redolen t as usual of fat,fin

,a nd feather ; the hour was

A .M .,a nd the n orth-c aster was

“biting cold— a t this seasontravellers should prefer post-meridion al excursion s

,as the after

n oon wind,during fine weather

,invariably shifts to the gen ial

west. The tern s a nd the large Icelan d gulls were hurrying

home to the several islands, each showing the econ omical value

of early birding.

After adding prospects of Geldinga Ness, T h ern ey, a nd Lun d

ey to ou r repertory, a nd covering in two hours th e six miles’

sail,we lan ded at the usual place on the n orthern bank of the

dwarf Kolla Firth. It showed farm-houses scattered around

a nd a few fishing craft carefully drawn up ; a very n ecessary

precaution when the tide is going ou t . On the left wa s E sjuberg

,where Orlygr H reppson , converted by Patrick, Bishop of the

Hebrides,built the first Christian chapel, a nd dedicated it to St

C olumbkill e, Apostle a nd Thaumaturgus of the Picts . Farther

off lay another farm upon the site of the celebrated pagan temple

1 Mea n ing a ma n e, h a ir , a nd still preserved in su ch n ames a s Fa irfa x .

2 T h e word Often occu rs in Icela nd ; it i s a pplied to a la dy ’s bower or a du ngeon ,both being seclu ded ch amber s, to a h ea p of refu se (Clea sby), a nd to conspicu ou swa r ts a nd peaks of r ock .

62 ULTIMA THULE OR,

kn own as the Hof of Kja lla rnes—we shall visit Keel-n ess bya nd by.

It is perfectly true in Iceland that

T h e sea i s wet a s wet c a n be,

but we cann ot say that

T h e la nd i s dry a s dry.

Throughout the lowlands Nature, organ ic as well as in organi c,seems n ever to be free from moisture : like tropical ma n italways sits I n a damp skin .

Having hauled up ou r boat we crossed the moss towards the

great gash in the h ill-fla nk,the C a lder a , so con spicuous from

Reykjavik ; as usual the groun d was shaky bog, a nd in placeslike a n exaggerated Turkey carpet . The cause is that the shore

,

formed either of shingle or of vegetation decayed to humus is,

‘

as we have seen,higher than the in terior

,a nd the people con ten t

themselves with dykes for roads,a nd with tren ches n ever deep

en ough for thorough drainage .‘

We passed two small farms

composed of the n ormal dwelling - places,stables

,byr es

,a nd

outhouses plan s a nd elevation s of these abodes have beengiven by every Icelandic traveller who has used pen cil as wellas pen . Su ffice it to observe, that throughout Icelan d the dwelli ng

-place,like the ski p

,

” has seen better days, a nd that bothare n ow hopelessly degen erate

.

At the second farm li ved the gu ide, who was absen t in thefields

,a nd we vain ly attempted persuading the sailor lad

,

a regular “ lazy,

” to accompany us with the prova u n t -basket .A n Engli sh youth wou l d have been deli ghted with the chan ceof a climb

,but these fa ine

’

a n ts about the capital,timid a nd

apathetic,will do n othing for sport or adven ture, a nd move on ly

when n eed drives .After forty-five minutes’ walk we en tered the great gorge,which discharges a shallow stream

,winding i n many vein s over

its broad a nd rocky wady : it must be a furious torren t duringthe thaws of spring. We should have crossed it a nd ascendeda sharp, rocky, zigzag on the right -hand jaw

,but we had n o

reason to regret the error,as the deep section gave us a n excel


len t Vi ew of the E sja’

s in tern als . The formation of the moun

tain is still a di sputed poin t ; some hold its base to be basaltic

pierced by more modern trachyte,wh il st others believe in the

greater an tiquity of the trachyte . As will be seen,when travel

ling to Mosfell,or south-east

,we found trachyte on a level with

the E sja’

s foundation a nd,when coasting along the western

flank,we saw Palagon ite san dston e

,dyked with trap

,a nd under

lying as well as overlying the later ign eous formation . The

sequen ce,therefore

,appeared to be Palagoni te

,trachyte

,a nd

trap . On the Kolla i r5 also there is a lin e of carbon ate of

lime runn ing from n orth-east to south-west,a nd strongly affect

i ng the water : hen ce it is judged that Icelan d spar may befoun d there .After a few minutes we came to a place where the gorge wassplit by a tall chin e of rock

,a nd where overfalls a nd deep

in cli n es rendered the two beds impassable . We climbed up this

hogsback,remarking

,as others have don e before a nd sin ce

,h ow

dangerou sly brittle is the rubbishy ston e which comes away inlarge fragmen ts under the foot . The same observation con stan tly

occurs i n travels through Green lan d a nd Spitzbergen,a nd the

cause is doubtless that which strews the upper heights of theL iba nu s a nd An ti-L iba n u s with n atural Macadam— fracture by

alternate expan sion a nd con traction . I n Iceland,moreover

,the

debr i s lies in dry heaps,loosely attached to the surface a nd n ot

based upon or secured by vegetation or ten acious humus,while

the sharp angles of the material produces many a rocking-ston e .

Hen ce large masses giving way readily ben eath the tread,some

what surprise the in experien ced . We then fell in to a long stiff

slope of rock a nd yellow humus,puffed up under the su n ; there

was a n abundan ce of water stagnating even on the sharpest

declivities,a nd doubtless percolating from the sn ow strips above .

Where the surface was tolerably level, rough grasses upon which

a few sheep were grazing were sprinkled with mosses a nd withraised patches of bright green studded with pink flowerets (D i a

p ensi a ) , fain tly resembling the huge Tabban pin -cushionsof theHermon . An imal life appeared to be exceedingly scarce .Presen tly the guide, who had followed us, was seen crossing

the left hand or western ravin e, a nd only h i s Iceland shoes


enabled h im to do so . Of course,he wore gloves

,for what reason

we could n ot di vine,except to keep his unwashed hands white ;

a nd his alpen stock was a n iron stick,some three feet long, with

a ring at one end a nd a half barb at the other. He waddledlike a n a n t-eater when showing his vigour by spurts of runni ngup a nd down

, a nd h i s ben t a nd afi a i sse’ form was a con siderable

con trast to that of the moun tain eer gen erally. He was like hisbrethren

,the very rudimen t of a guide

,utterly disregardfu l of the

guided ; a nd in case of difficulty or acciden t, we expected h im

at on ce to skedaddle . When he whooped “ h o I” it was the

screech of a sea-fowl .Arriving at the stiffer part of the ascen t, about 2400 feet abovesea-level

,we shou l d have ben t to the west towards the largest

patch of sn ow,where the angle is exception ally easy. But ou r

guide foll owed us with African docili ty,as we ben t

'

eastwardunder the tall scarps of submarin e trap

,wh i ch from Reykjavik

appear to stan d up like a wall. There were several cou loi r s tocross

,mostly sli des of icy sn ow : in August they will appear

like broad yellow gutters polished by frost. Here we picked upspecimen s of red jasper

,crystals of lime

,a nd ston es whose drusie

cavities were charged with c a lc a i r e.

Then began the climb up the crest. The stairs,about eight or

ten feet high,r u n with tolerable regularity

,whilst breaks here

a nd there allow easy ascen t : at the base ‘ is kittle debr i s, wherefalli ng blocks may be expected. However hopeless may appearthese trap walls

,whose Copings

,straight a nd regular as if built

byma n , form the characteristic feature of maritime Iceland, they

are gen erally climbable by creeping along the ledges below theseveral grades till gaps Offer a n opportun ity of swarming up tothe higher tier. If, however, a profil e view shows that thesetraps dip in stead of tilting seawards

,the n ormal disposition

,

attempts will be in vain . Cryptogams were thin ly scatteredover the blocks ; lichen s appeared to be rare, a nd the mosses hadn ot revived from the win ter burn ing— as regards mu serlogi a

there is still much to be don e in Iceland.

After a walk of three hours,we stood upon th e level summit

,

1

1 A t sea -level t h e compen sa ted a n eroid (Ca sella , 1 1 82) sh owed 30 0 5, th e th ermometer (F. ) Here it wa s 27 ‘

1 0 in th e Open a i r, with th e th ermometer a t 40°

(F .


about 3000 feet above sea-level, a nd the ascen t was a ccording tothe rule of the Alpin e Club

,a thousand feet per hour. Here

rose a number of Va rh a s or old men . We crossed a dazzli ngn e

’

ve’

,following the guide

,who probed as he wen t on

,for here as

elsewhere,

T h e sn ow o’

erla ys

T h e h idden pits a nd da nger ou s h ollow wa ys .

I narrowly observed its behaviour. The ground about it was sosoft a nd slushy that even ston es would not support ou r weight,a nd the shall ow edges were icy-hard

,the effect of In creased

evaporation . On S loping surfaces the same effect is caused by

pressure,like squeezing a sn ow-ball

,a nd gelu fic a t ion is preven ted

by the little runn els which the su n sets free to trickle down the

gorges . The material was glacious rather than flaky or n iveous,

a nd promised firm foothold . We have read of travellers sinking

to the shoulders,especially in the sn ow of August

,but it is

doubtful if this ever takes place above a certain altitude,especially in dry weather

,when Iceland sn ow wastes away in

the wind like camphor.The raking view ” from the summit was a fair physiogn omical

study of treeless Thule . To the n orth the moun tain is a mere

section,a shell with perpendicular falls a nd steep steps of loose

ston e,which deman d rope ladders . Before it the lowlands fall

to the H va li rh,beyond which the Akr a fj a ll dorsum slopes

in land,or to n orth-east

,till sudden ly arr ested on the other side

of the smooth green sea-a rm by the five buttresses Of the sister

formation,Ska rh sh eih i . The latter looks as though a few hours

,

in stead of two days,would reach it ; a nd ou r frien ds at Reykjavik

showed their belief in the wondrous tran sparen cy of the atmo

sphere by trying to detect,with their Opera glasses

,ou r small bodies

creeping up the slope at the di stan ce of at least six direct geogr a

ph i c a l miles . At Quito, under the equator, a horseman’s white

pon cho may, according to Humboldt, be distinguished with the

n aked eye at a horizon tal distan ce of feet, a nd therefore

under a n angle of thirteen secon ds .”

Turni ng southwards,we found the E sja summit flanked to th e

a nd i n th e pocket 26 90, with th e th ermometer a t 80°

(F ) . T h e in strument,despite compen sa ti on

, mu st a lways be cooled In th e sh a de before u se.

VOL . II.

66 U LTIMA THULE ; OR,

east by three regular buttresses,like artificial earthworks, with

stepped projection s a nd horizon tal lin es of the whitest n e’

vé .

Farther down were cou loi r s filled with a brown sn ow,in li n es

too steep for crossing. The highland before us reminded me of

the Paramos or deserts of the Cordillera, a nd th e View gen erallywas a wondrous con trast with European ideas of spring beauty.

The lowlands at our feet were sprinkled with lakelets a nd

ta rn s, the Vaud a nd Soe of Norway, the largest being theH a fr ava tn a nd the E ll ih ava tn . The formation of the Fj

'

Or5s

lay in pan orama,a n etwork of fibres a nd threads converging

to form a main embouchure ; whilst the several bays hadthose hooks a nd sickles ” of san d

,which the Rob Roy can oe

places in the Sea of Galilee,but which my lamen ted frien d

Tyrwhitt-Drake a nd I1

were n ot lucky en ough to find. Wehave already remarked this wealth of “

oyc e in the Scotchfi rth s

,a nd Elia s C orvin u s declares the same to be the case i n

Dalmatian streams

Da n u bio et Nilo non vi lior Ombla fu i ssi t

S i modo progressu s possi t bebere su os .

”

From south-east to south the prospect is bounded by the sn owdotted Hraun or lava - ru n

,which in places appears as two

parallel ranges . It completely hides the Th ingvelli r Lake, buti n far distan ce, peeping over the summit

'

to the east,rises the

bold a nd rocky head of the arch-humbug Hekla . The range

termi nates to the south-west in L a u ga rfell , a buttressed crest likethe E sja , beyond which the Vestmann aeyjar archipelago floatsin little lumps below the c u p

-shaped horizon . The eye restswith pleasure upon the Helgafell con e a nd the pyr amid of

Kei lir, perfect as the pigmi es of Egypt : thi s shape is common

in Iceland,a nd forms the best of land and surveying marks .

Beyond the long,thin poin t of Reykjavik (S eltja rn a rn es) a nd its

scatter of volcan ic islets,the dwarfed projection s of Ska gi a nd

R eykja n es fin e away in to mere streaks of black upon the paleblue sea . Presen tly a cloud came over the su n ,

a nd the cold airwarn ed us to keep moving. Ugh ! h ow r aw it was ; the wind

seemed to pierce every join t in ou r harn ess . We descended bythe pickn icker’s path

,showing the unn ecessary trouble we had



perturbable good temper a nd sa ng fvoid, made h im a n excellen tcompani on . We again secured as guide Pa

'

ll Eyu'

nl fsson,of whom

more presen tly. Each had a remoun t,a nd a single baggage

animal was judged sufficien t.We set ou t merr ily by the eastern road, through a coun try

now familiar to the reader,a nd soon covered the four miles

between the town a nd the ford of the Laxa (E lli h aa) . On theway were many sign s of glacial action , grooving as well a s

sli cken sides,caused by the friction of two rock surfaces : the

ice-dressings which I had last seen on Ar thur’

s Seat are everywhere aroun d Reykjavik. At H r Thomsen ’s farm, Artun (rivertoon we left the in land or Geysir road a nd turn ed towardsthe sea . About L ei ru vogr (mu d bay) a nd the mouth of the L ei ruvogsa the floor was of trachyte, which appeared even in the streambeds : the material was heat-altered a nd discoloured by oxides .The little black church ofM ossfell (moss-hill ) , a common name inthe islan d

,was the half-way house ; a nd then ce we rode up the

Svin a da lr (swin e-vale) , to the white pass of M o-Ska rh a h njukr ,also call ed H é -h njukr . Here

,after travelling three hours a nd

forty-five minutes,we dismoun ted a nd prepared for the ascen t.

On our left han d was a rough tooth,or a igu i lle, a con spicuous

Object rising perpendicularly from the rapid slope : the lower

ground was the usual mix ture of bog, moss, a nd water. Thiswas soon exchanged for a n angle too steep for vegetation ; yeteven on the summit

,we picked scattered flowers

, a nd the pec uli a r i ty of Iceland in the eyes of a n African travell er again

repeated itself. Here we find not on ly gen era abn ormall ynumerous compared with species

,but also no change of growth

from the tropical to the temperate a nd the polar, as, for in stan ce,on Camaron es Moun tain . The same flora everywhere appears

,

the paucity of vegetable corr esponding with the poverty Ofa n imal forms onl y in the upper region s it is Of course dwarfedby height a nd by the comparative thinn ess of the aqueousvapours which screen the lowlands a nd for the same reason itgrows a nd dies later in the year.The surface of the moun tain was purely trachytic, but the one

material was Protean in shape a nd colour. The prevail ing tin ts

were red a nd golden yellow. We recogn ised the slate of Hekl a


a nd the heat-altered material n ear the great Geysir . As w e

n eared the summi t the metal became flaky, like the limeston e

of the Syr ian moun tain s . After forty minutes of rough climbing

over slopes of rubbish— the smaller it was the firmer it provedto the tread— we reached the apex, about 2000 feet above

sea-level : like the western E sja , it had the sharpest face to then orth

,a nd the crest was a saw,

a Spiked a véle, pali saded a nd

bristling with teeth a nd jags like the many-bladed kn ife of the

cutler’s shop.

1

Retur n ing to our horses,we descended on e of those staircases of

earth a nd ston e n ow so familiar, a nd fell in to the valley of an orthern Laxa

,called for distin ction

,of Reyn ivellir (the sorb

apple plain s) . The surface, so fair to sight, is swampy, despite itsmain -drain

,a nd must be traversed by earthen dykes . The lower

part is protected to the n orth by the R eyn iva ll a h als (n eck of

Reyn ivellir) , a nd to the south by the M i5fell (mid-moun t) a ndother outliers of the E sja . Here many houses are scattered

about ; we recogn ise the sweet scen t ofhay ; a nd the dock-fri nged

plots of potatoes a nd cabbages look exception ally flourishing.

I n win ter all freezes,but as the grass n ever protrudes from the

ice,however shallow

,the n eighbouring farmers Visit one an other

on skates,which are those of Europe gen erally.

At eleven P.M . we reached the parsonage,which showed three

gables poin ting southwards,a nd a fourth to the east. A cart

a nd a wheel-j ack gave sign s that improvemen ts were not u n

kn own . The hour was unusual for calli ng, but Icelan d kn ows

n othing of these fine distin ction s : the house dogs bayed the

alarm ; the host awoke the household ; a nd, before tur n ing in ,we

supped comfortably at the parson age.

On the n ext day Sira T h orva ldr could not accompany us,

having service to read. The onl y son of a widow,he en tered

1 “ T h e wh ole forma tion of th e mou n ta in (Bu dos) a nd th e su rrou nding cones , th esh a rp-edged blocks a nd ma sses of r ock, h ea ped u p one on th e oth er , of wh ichth ese con sist, t h e a ppa ren tly molten su rfa ce of th e tr a ch yte— a l l seems pla in ly topr ove th a t itwa s on ly a fter th e forma ti on of th ese ma sses, a nd wh en th ey were in a.

r igid sta te, th a t a gr a n d u ph eava l took pla ce h ere du r ing wh i ch , t h e powerfu lga ses from below

,r a ising, a nd stra in ing, a nd tea r ing th e ma sses, pi led th em u p

i n migh ty domes a nd mou n ta in -tops, tossing th em a bou t till,h ere a nd th ere,

th ey h a d fou nd perma n en t ca n a ls lea ding to th e su rfa ce of th e earth(Freder ic Fron iu s , qu oted by M r Bona r).


the Church at her desire,but his heart is book-hun ting at Copen

hagen,a nd

,as his San skrit volumes show

,his delight would be

Orien talism. But what c a n be don e so far from the haun ts oflearn ing ? a nd at thirty-four he sees life gradually slippingaway from h im. Meanwhile he takes pupils, he farms, he fli rts

with botany,a nd he refreshes h imself by a n occasion al vi sit to

Reykjavik. He kindly gave me a copy of the R eykh oltski rkjumaldagi , the Authen tic Inven tory of Reykholt Kirk, facsimile

’d

by the Icelandic Literary Society 1 the th r ee specimen s bearno date

,but the Sagas fix the time between A D . 1 143 a nd

A D . 1 222 .

About ten A M . we were en r ou te a nd,worried by swarms of

flies, in forty minute s we walked up the great ugly prism,

R eyn iva lla h als, whose winding way was hardly visible from

below. The summit is dotted with VOrh u r,to guide travellers

a nd church-goers through the sn ow. The descen t turn ed east

ward, a nd showed us in fron t the familiar forms of the horn eda nd sn ow-streaked Sulur

,

” the massive umbo of Skja ldbreih , a ndthe white dome of the 0 k JOku ll : to the left (n orth) was Ska rh sheit i, veiled in clouds . The lower gulli es

,where the heavy

cold air settles,conden se their column s of warmer air in to

clouds,which simulate water-spouts : at times these vapours,

wonderfully resembling smoke pillars,have been mistaken

for a rain of erupted ashes . At ou r feet lay the head of

the H va lfjOrh , looking unusually picturesque in the still,

blue air. Great double buttresses pushed peremptorily from

behin d . The M ula fja ll (mull -hill s)2a nd S i lda rma nn a fjall (sil

lock-fi sh er or herring-catcher’s hill ) are separated from Beyn iva lla h als a nd from each other by Botn sda lr (bottom-head dale) ,a nd by two green vales

,Brynju da lr , where the brindl ed c ow

was on ce lost. The river-like surface of the firth was exc eption a lly tranquil, a nd a dwarf islet, shaped like a Strasburg

1 It i s n oticed in th e M émoires de l a S . R. des An tiqu a ires du N ord (p. 9,

vol . of 1 845 T h e wr iter a ssigns it to A . D . 1 1 43, in th e days of A re Fr ode(A r i h inn E réh i ) .2 Muli (pron . mu le) i s th e Germ. M a u l

,a mu zzle, a nd th e Scotch Mu ll of

Ga ll owa y), th e Sh etla nd a nd Orkn ey Mu le.

” It mea n s a bu ttress , with blu ffh ea d, a tongu e of h igh la nd, bou nded on th ree sides by slopes or precipices , a ndt h e word sh ou ld be a dopted in to gen er a l geogr a ph y. T h e Ar a bs wou ld ca ll th isfavou r ite site for old town s, Za h r et Ta u r —th e bu ll ’s ba ck .



pie,rose from its own reflection . There were other islets

,a nd

boats, a nd c ider-ducks temporarily separated a mensd et th or o

,

screaming crees,

” peewits,plovers

,a nd the usual acciden ts of a

fir th -view in Iceland .

At the foot of the descen t we struck the Fossa farm,a nd rode

along the n orthern coun terslope of the R eyn iva ll a h als . The

path r a n over swamp a nd rock it was the ma lu s p a ssu s of the

whole lin e,but by n o mean s dangerou s as described by Geir

Zoega . Fortunately the tide was ou t , a nd we easily forded th emouths of the Brynju da lr a nd Botn sda lr on ou r return we

exchanged the bad lin e for two long detours rounding the forked

head of the firth . We then ascen ded to a farm situated under

the T h yr i ll , or egg-kipper, the stick for whipping eggs, milk, or

porridge . This r emarkable feature forms the westernmost headof the Sflda rma nn a fja ll , a nd resembles n othing so much as two

towers flanking the gateway of a gian t’ s castle,built after the

fash i on of Normandy ; the superstructure is basalt, a nd time

seems to have tilted it a little awry,as if the proprietor had

long been a n absen tee. Thi s T h yr i ll takes i ts n ame from themoun tain gusts which hurl men from their horses

,threaten

caravan s with destruction by frightfu l whirlwinds,a nd raise

sheets of sea-water high in the air,tearing them to pieces like

sn ow. To look at the peaceful inn ocen t scen e we could hardl y

imagin e that it ever lets angry passion s rise, or that it had beenled to the excesses a nd atrocities described b y Ola fsson a nd

Von Waltershausen .

1

The farm-people lean ed again st the wall s,sunn ing themselves

like Slavs un der similar circumstan ces ; there was n o wan t ofchurch-goers riding to a nd fro

,a nd gen erally the travellers were

more civil than upon the beaten paths . Iceland mostly reverses

the rule Of the world, the coun try folk being less amiable to the

stranger than the town folk. From the T h yr i ll to the Fer stiklafarm

,a distan ce of a n hour a nd a half

,there a re two paths . The

1 T h e la te M r Piddington tells u s th a t th e H va lfj orh district i s ca lled byth e n eigh bou r ing in h a bita n ts Veh r a -Ki sta , th a t i s , box or ch est of win ds, wh ichimplies th a t th i s in let i s , a s it were, th e a bode of vi olen t storms .

”H e gives

c yclones to Icela nd, wh ere th ere a re n one, a nd h e corr ects U n o Von T roi l (p . 41 )wh o r igh tly makes th e n ame Storm-coa st (Veh r a -kista ) to be given to somepla ces in Icela nd .

”


short c u t lies along the shore of heavy dark sand a nd rockypoin ts of black basalt studded with white Shells ; the porousmaterial is in parts full Of almonds of lime, hen ce the wh i te

coating wh i ch we h ere observe,as in the Wadys of the Hauran

'

.

The inn er lin e is the usual mixture of warty surface, swamp,ston e, a nd shaking bog. At Fer st ikl a

,where a path strikes

n orth for Reykholt,we foun d some grass a nd rested the pon ies .

A couple of hours fin ished the ride . We tu r n ed left, over

a shall ow divide,the Fer st iklu h als

,whose n orthern coun terslope

is’

wooded with birches fully two feet tall,yet hardly equal to

the task of pull ing us from ou r saddles . We then fell in to

an other Svi n a da lr (swin e-dale), with three lakes disposed n ortheast to south-west

,along the southern base of Ska rh sh ei h i

,a nd

drain ed by an other Laxa’ . There was n o lack of farm-houses,

a sight which cheered the n ags whilst floundering through thedeep mu d-bog . A guide whom we had engaged p r o tem ,

poin tedto the con e of the Blakoll

,a comparatively low formation to the

right ; but the vaun ted mountain with its stepped bluffs iseverywhere easy

,a nd climbing for climb always suggests to

me the African ’s drinkee for drunk .

” After a pleasan t but

very slow ride of seven hours,we made

,at P.M . , the Ska rh

fa rmlet . After the muggy morn ing with a rain -su n ,followed

by a chilly even ing which threaten ed a down pour, we weren ot sorry to be lodged in the c ow-h ou se

'

of a Sel 1a nd to

sleep upon sweet-smelli ng hay,far preferable to the an imal heat

of the foul cubicula;Thi s day we have passed over the Iceland terminus proposed

by the Dan ish telegr aph lin e. Despite the fearful whirlwin ds,described as capable of breaking tegulas imbr i c esqu e,

”a nd the

rocky bottom of the Whale Firth,it is perhaps the best ; it is

absolutely free from icebergs (Fjall jakar), floes, a nd field-ice

(Hellu-i s) Arctic i c e appears in the Faxa FjCris a nd about Rey

1 T h e S el , wh i c h‘

often occu r s in Icela ndic n ames,i s th e Germa n Senn -h u tt e, a

sh ed, or little fa rm-h ou se,i n a mou n ta in -pa stu r e. T h e A . S . Sele pr oba bly re

a ppea rs in ou r n or th -cou n try Sh iel, ” a sma ll sh ooting fa rm. In Norwa y su chh u ts a r e ca lled Sefr , or S aet r , t h e A . S . S aet a r : h en ce Sumu r Saeta s (dwell ers i nsummer h u ts) became ou r Somerset. Icela nd wa n ts th e cold a rbou r (C ea ld h ereberga Ka ltern h erberg of old Germa ny), th e ba re-wa lled lodge, or Traveller ’sbu nga low .

”


kj avik on ly about on ce a cen tury, the last time being 1 763 .

Here the bay-i c e is reduced to a little brash-ice a nd shore-ice,which are of scan ty importan ce . It is a lee-lan d defen ded by

the south-western projection a nd by the n orth-western digitation s

from the berg-bearing curren ts a nd the bottom,un til the Hval

fj6r5 is reach ed, appears to be sand a nd mu d. As Forbes re

marks,there is n o eligible spot ” for a station between Portlan d

(D yrhOla ey) a nd R eykja nes ; whilst the su bmarin e volcan ic lin eof rocks

,the passage of steamers

,a nd the shall ows of Reykjavik,

render that port impossible . The Vestmann aeyjar again are too

far from the capital,a nd the east coast is S imply n ot to be

thought of.The project is part of the “

n orth about lin e of Atlan tic

telegraph,as Opposed to the “ south - abou t

,via the Cap de

Verds,St Paul’ s Rock

,a nd Brazilian Cape St Roque . Many of

us remember hearing it ably advocated some dozen years ago byColon el T . P. Shaffn er of Louisvi ll e

,

1 Ken tucky,who took it up

in 1 853 ; travelled to Labrador, Green land, a nd Iceland ; a dver

t i sed, expen ded time a nd capital,canvassed

,obtain ed con ces

sion s from Denmark,Sweden

,a nd Norway

,a nd published a nd

lectured before the Royal Geographical Society,in order to raise

a fun d of The. time was propitious . The first

attempt of 1 857-58 had broken down after sending some 400

messages : in 1 860 the longest sub—aqueous circuit was 750 miles .No . 2 cable carried by the Great Eastern

,

” had also

failed ; a nd Mr Faraday objected his retardation”a nd return

curren ts,

” even to a n air-lin e of a 'thousand miles . The bankr u pt cy of Tran satlan tic telegraphy was therefore confiden tly

predicted ; nor was it believed that a ny section of 2000 miles

could possibly be made to last. Presen tly,by way of a practical

jest upon scientific hobbies a nd croakings,the third cable (1 866)

succeeded : then came the Valen tia-Newfoundlan d in the same

year ; a nd lastly, i n 1 868,the Brest a nd New York

,or Fren ch

lin e. Now (1 872) a fourth is talked of, a nd the n ext half

a -dozen years may see an other half-dozen .

Colon el Shaffn er, who is well remembered in eastern Iceland,

1 T h e North Atla n tic Telegr a ph via th e Faeroe Islands, Icela nd, a nd Greenla nd . London : Stan ford, 1 86 1 .


proposed to cross the Atlan tic by four station s, n on e exceeding

700 mil es —n amely, Scotland to Faeroes (225 to Icelan dto Green lan d (600 a nd to the coast of Labrador (51 0)

a maximum total of 1 700, afterwards reduced to 1 645 mil es .The project

,however

,con tain ed

’

two elemen ts of un success .Firstly

,it proposed a n air-lin e from D jupivogr (east coast) to

the capital : I do not kn ow what my friend Dr Rae, who wassen t to in spect the route

,reported ; but the un iversal opini on of

Icelanders is that n o telegraphic commun ication of the kin dcould resist a single win ter-storm

,n ot to speak of earthquakes

a nd eruption s . H ow repair the damage ? ” they ask : h ow

even carry the posts ? ” The secon d objection , the state of theice about the Green land coast

,was perhaps even more fatal.

Thus the scheme gradually fell in to oblivion,n ot

,however

,before

it had don e right good service in exploring Newfou ndland— a

very paradise for anglers,where trout weigh 6 lbs . a nd where

salmon sells at 4 cen ts . The persevering Dan es still cleave toa conn ection with Iceland

,a nd that is why we saw the gu n -boat

Fyll a on her surveying cruise .

On the n ext morn ing,as the peasan try rose at three A M . to

ted their hay,we began preparation s for ascending Ska rh sh eih i

(scarf-gap-heath) by observing the an eroids .1 Rain eviden tly

threaten ed,as at A .M . we attacked the slope of debr i s

,green

only where two trickling streamlets played h i de-a nd-seek undermoss a nd ston es . After a n hour’s walk we reached the first ridge

,

a nd found in fron t of us a broken plateau about 2000 feet high,

with five lakes a nd ponds distributed at differen t altitudes : the

waters are all sweet,percolation taking the place of drainage .

On ou r right rose a tall precipitous wall of receding steps,

which at a distan ce resemble string courses a nd stories . Theprecipice is streaked with cou loi r s

,very well disposed for

falls a nd cann on ades of rocks : high up there are two broadPalagon ite

,

bands I n the trap,which may sometimes be seen

from Reykjavik. Our gu i de the farmer did the hon ours of theecho .

1 A t th e fa rm-h ou se th e mean of th r ee observa tion s taken before setting ou t ,a n d a fter r etu rn , ga ve t h . (F. ) summit of first r idge, th .

top ofmou n ta in, 26

'

60, th .


We now circled to the n orth , winding round the grim wall,up a nd down ridge after ridge of morain e-like debr i s

,a nd over

moss-clad boulders,among which we occasion ally sank up to

the kn ees . Here the most con spicuous growths were reindeermoss a nd Fjall-grOs (

“moun tain grass the I /i ch en I sla ndi cu s,of which Fell igr a th sings :

Old, even in boyh ood, fa in t a nd ill,A nd sleepless on my cou ch ofwoeI sip th is bever age, wh ich I oweTo Gu per

’s dea th a nd Hecla ’s h ill .

I n Icelan d I n ever heard —as old travellers relate— of its being

dried,put in bags

,beaten

,a nd worked in to flour by stamping.

Usually it is boiled,a nd eaten with barley like bu rgh oo, or it is

in fused in milk,as cacao a nd maté sometimes are : it gives a

light tinge of green,a nd a very pron oun ced mucilagin ous flavour.

The simple old days used it as coffee, but it could n ot stand its

groun d again st the in truder which arrests the waste of tissue,as well as warms the blood. Icelan d grass

,

” however,is still

valued at home as a jelly for poi tr i n a i r es ; a nd the last time

I saw it was on the Campo-grosso or Dolomite moun tain s of

Italian Recoaro (Vi c en z a ) .After a secon d hour we reached the n orth of the bluff. On

ou r left han d was a red a n d cindery mound , the S tell i r ,1 justly

famed as a landmark for sailors : ahead,a nd to east

,rose the

detached Skessu h orn,which seemed to presen t no difficulties : it

was n ot till ou r return that we heard it described as a local

Matterhorn,often attacked

,but attacked in vain

,a nd still await

ing its vanquisher. Turn ing to the right, we worked up the

quoin by a passage between ston e walls of Nature’s make,a nd

in an other half-hour we climbed up the stiff slope of decayed

trap. Our gu ide required some little man agemen t : he poin tedin alarm to the mists rolling up from the n orth

,with a cruel

rush of cold air,a nd thou gh the lin e was marked with ston e

men,he ejaculated “ Thoka l” (fog) . Lost in the mi sts ” is often

a con clusion to a tale of Iceland’ s Isle.”

1 From a t! stilla , to fix a position .


The summit of Ska rh sh ei t i , about 3000 feet above . sea-level,resembled that of the E sja , a nd afforded a View quite asexten sive

,though not now so n ovel . To the n orth, under

ou r feet,r a n the winding H vi ta a nd its outlying .waters,

drain ing to the Borga rfj'

Orh,here a grisly spiegel,

”

dotted withblack reefs . North-eastwards lay the bare sulphurous grounds

of Reykholt (reeky hill), while far to the n orth-west, boundingthe n orth Of the Faxa FjOrh , the kn u ckles of S n aefell a nd thecaldron s popularly known

,as Katlar

,the kettles, formed the

land horizon . Southward the view ranged clean over Reykjavik,a nd showed the easiest route to Ska rh sh eih i : this would be byboat to Saurbaer

,n orth-east of Akr a fja ll , when ce a walk of five

miles places the traveller at the Ska rh farm .

The ascen t a nd descen t had occupied four hours : we then

moun ted ou r horses,a nd return ed before n ight to Reyn ivellir.

A delightful morn ing (July when the air was SO fine, so

clear,so bright that

It seemed a s in to b rea th e it,

a morni ng when on e really would have been sorry to die, sent

us to bathe at the Reyni vellir brook,regardless of slugs a nd

sn ails,moths a nd flies . The Reveren d left

,after a copious

breakfast of mashed salmon ,with a promise to meet us on the

road. He had just lost a parishion er. Sin ce July 1 1 th therehas not been a shower

, a nd the sky was that of Italy for a wholefortn ight. This abn ormally fine weather is equally fatal tothe very young a nd the

'

very old : seven or eight deathshad just taken place at Reykjavik

,a large proportion ou t of

a n,

, a nnu a l a verage of sixty ; a nd three successive days sawthree fun erals : the Causes are pitu ita

,

” malign an t catarrh, a ndinfluen za.We were threaten ed with a ma l p a s, a nd again found it re

ma rkably good. From Reyn ivelli r the path r a n down the Laxavalley ; and where we crossed the stream,

it was c lea r as crystal,a nd abundan t in trout . Here

,again

,turf has invaded lands on ce

forested ; a nd n ow we look in vain for a specimen of the sorbtree, which n amed the parson age . C h emi n fa i sa n t, the Reveren d

lectured us upon the botany of h i s native vale . The Dutch Or



cen tre assimilates it to the solar orb— i t is too bad to cal l it“ stinking camomile .” The common sorrel (R umecc a cetosa ,

locally kn own as Valla, or Korn -sura) is a social plan t that prefersthe n eighbourhood offarms, a nd flourishes in n ewly-manured tun s :

the other species are the kidn ey-shaped moun tain sorrel (Oeegr i a

r en iformi s) a nd the sheep’ s sorrel (R . a cetosella ) . I n the moresouthern islands, where the root gives a red dye, the leaf is said

to grow a foot a nd a half long ; it is used to flavour bird soup,a nd is eaten with meat. A n an ti-scorbutic, pleasan t withal, itshou l d here be used every day, as tomatoes are in the southern

Un ited States ; but if you advi se the Icelander to correct hisblood with sorrel

,he will probably reply that it is food for

cows .After a n hour

’s ride,in cluding the in evitable short cut of

wrong path a nd turn ing back, we reached the M ih fell farm,

which faces cosily west,a nd is backed by its little range of trap

so degraded that it seems to be forming humus . Fron ting it isthe M ih fell sva tn lakelet, which drain s the n orth-eastern E sja

it swarms with the S i lu ngu r trout, but there was no boat forthe conven ien ce of fishermen . Whilst the Reveren d wen t to hisfun eral

,we sat upon the grassy warts

, a nd enjoyed the view of

Sn aefell , bluish-white i n the flickering air. The thermometer

stood at 86°

(F.) in the su n ; a nd the ghost, of a mi st tempered,like the glazing of a master-hand

,the raw colours a nd rough

forms of the scen e . The prospect suggested Tempe,n ot the

grisly defile of reality,but the picture pain ted by poets —Greek

Greece a nd Syrian Syria con trast wonderfully with the featu reswh i ch n aturally form themselves i n the n orthern mind. Weargued that a couple of pleasan t summer mon ths might be

spen t at M ihfell , but that such aestivation would involve buildi ng a fish i ng-box a nd stocking it with friends .Not the least picturesque part of the prospect was the cavalcade of some thirty men a nd women return ing in Indian filefrom the fun eral. At last

,wearied with waiting

,we rode up the

ugly rough ravin e of E i li fsda lr,a nd turn ed to the right between

the E sja a nd its n orthern outlier, E yra rfja ll . The latter showed

sub-column ar a nd fa n -shaped basalt in the foundation s, withPalagon ite, here yellow,

there dark,overlying a nd underlying


trap,whilst striated rocks everywhere appeared . On the left

hand,or under E sja , were mounds mi ghtily resemblingmorain e

1

they were probably formed by the streams of frozen mud which

carried with them boulder fragmen ts, a nd either strewed them

upon the plain or swept them ou t to sea . The most con spicuous

of the n atural tumul i, a nd crown ed with a ston e,is called,

’

R é stu h éll,

2 battle holt,

”or

,as Hooker has it

,

“duel hill here

Bui A ndr i h sson,for whom see the Kja ln esinga Saga, kept his

foes at bay,a nd slew half-a—dozen with a sli ng.

We then forded the streams, a nd crossed the n asty swamps

a nd the stony patches of the brook which flows to the H va li rh .

Farms were scattered everywhere about the sheltered valley.

After two hours a nd a half of slow progress,we were join ed by

the Reveren d,who

,gall an tly moun ted

,rode straight as a fox

hun ting parson of the last gen eration,a nd we soon reached the

ladder of red a nd green lavas which overlooks the firth .

The immediate banks Show the feature locally called Melar

bakki,

3 horizon tal lin es bare of earth,regular as if heaped up by

ma n,a nd gen erally with in clin es too stiff to retain vegetation .

We shall see the feature well displayed at Borh eyr i a ndGr a fa rOs .

I n Can ada,a nd N ew Englan d also

,where the sn ow covering

,

which preven ts radiation of heat,is blown away by winds

,a nd

the groun d is frozen for a depth of two feet or more,the surface

remain s brown a nd barren throughout Spring a nd summer .Here we di smoun ted to coll ect the Ya spi s, for which

‘the

place is famous,a nd which we had foun d scattered over the E sja

range . The colours are bright red, blue, a nd blue-green ,often

prettily striped a nd bran ched ; the sharp edges ou t like obsidian ,

a nd the whole appears as impure opaque masses of quartz .According to Dr H ja lta lin , it remarkably resembles that of

Hungary,a nd the dark spots upon the surface are oxide of

1 T h e word wa s taken from C h amou n ix by D e Sa u ssu re. It i s n ot,a s Peter

ma nn sa ys, th e detr i tu s or ru bbish h ea ps fr om th e bottom a nd s ides of th e gla cieror i c e-fa ll, bu t th e debr i s of th e r ock a bove it .

2 Th is i s t h e popu la r form of Or-u sta , ba ttle.

3 M elr,a sa n dy h ill, a nd especia lly a ba re ba nk Of s a n d a nd ston e, familia r to

Icela n d tr aveller s , h a s been expla ined in t h e In trodu ction (Sect . Ba r ingGou ld (p . 284) wou ld der ive it from a r oot sign ifying to gr in d ; H olmboe fr omM yldj a , to dig, or from Mold, loose ea rth . Ba kki is a ba nk or r idge, Opposed toBrekka (br ink), a slope, a h ill.


Copper,copper glan ce

, or argen tiferous Copper. Zeolites wereabundan t

,so were almonds of lime in basalt ; chalcedoni es,

mi lk-white,red

,yellow

,green

,a nd dark-brown , passing in to

c a c h a long a nd grades of chalcedony a nd quartz, cloisonn é s ”

with crystals of carbon ate of lime, a nd superficially clad withcapill ary mesotype . We often heard in Iceland of the n obleopal

,which might be expected in a volcan ic land— as at Aden ,

there are whole sheets of it,but n on e is n oble. The Faeroese

con sider it to be a tran sition between zeoli te a nd cha lcedony : Iwas told of fine specimens fou n d there, but fail ed to see them.

1

We then trotted merrily past Saurbaer (sour mud or dirtfarm ; perhaps farm of Saur), a nd were shown the T fh a Ska rh

(tide or hour col), so called because the congregation ridingto mass could be seen when a n hour distan t. The path along

th e shore was tolerable, a nd we had to dismoun t on ly at a single .

swamp. After a total of four hours’ slow progress from M i hfell

,

we reached the main object of ou r j ourn ey,the celebrated Hof of

Kja la rn es (Keel-n ess), in the KjOsa r or choice Sysla . It wa sthe great place of assembly in the south-west

,a nd the chief of

the twelve provin cial “ Thi ngs ” before A D . 928,when the Alth i ng

was removed to the confiscated estate of T h ingvellir . We ex

pec ted in teresting ruin s after reading of Ki a la rn ess,remarkable

for the remain s of a Hof or idolatrous temple erected towardsthe close of the n in th cen tury ” (Henderson ,

ii. The C rymogaea

of“Arngrim Jonas speaks with admiration of two Hofs in the

n orth a nd south of the island . Each had a n inn er sacellum,

or holy of holies, where the victims were ranged in semicircleabout the idol-altar (Stall i) : the latter was plated with iron ,for protection again st the pure

,flin t-kindled fire

,which

,as i n a

Parsee temple,perpetually burn ed there : it supported a brass

bowl (blot boll i) to con tain the blood, sprinkled with theblood-twig (blOt grein) or asperges upon the bystan ders . Therehung up

,likewise

,a great silver ring

,which they stain ed with

blood, a nd which whoever took a n oath on these occasion s was

1 Th is ston e, like th e diamond, th r ea ten s to losemore th a n h a lf i ts va lu e, if it betru e th a t th e Sta te of Qu ereta r o in Mexico h a s la tely (1 874) yielded Opa ls of th efir st qu a lity, a nd of a l l va rieties ; t h e milk-opa ls , fire-opa ls, giras ols or h a rlequ ins,

’

a nd th e r ich est Hu nga r ian or preciou s opa ls . ”


required to hold in his h and . The Ba u gr , we are told, weighedtwo oun ces

,a nd was at times worn by the priest : it possibly

symbolised Odin ’s magic “ D r a u pn i r , made by Brokku r , most

skilfu l of the dwarfs . Till late years a specimen was to be seenat the R eykja hl i h churchl et . The oath on the ring was takenby dipping it in blood

,often human , a nd by saying, after the

solemn adju r ation of heathen old Scandin avia,So help me

Freyr a nd NjOrdr,a nd that almighty Ass (ok hinu a lmat tki Ass

,

i . a . ,Thor) ;

1a nd Norsemen of rank were bu ried with the Armilla

sacred to Odi n . I n on e of these temples there was also,n ear

the chapel,a deep pit or well in to which they cast the Victims .”

Mallet,a nd other trustworthy authors of his day, assimilated

the an cien t Scandinavian places of worship to those of the

Persian Guebres a nd the old Teuton s,who would n ot offen d

the gods by immuring them,or by roofing them in

,which is not

correct. The Hof was a n en closed building,whilst the H Org, in

whose cen tre stood the huge sacrificial ston e,was open above .

The Scandin avian temple,even that gold-plated wonder of the

North,the fan e of Thor at old Upsala

,was n othing but a long

wooden hall to con tain the worshippers , with a san ctuary at oneend

,the true Aryan E st ika

,

2 where the BlOt,

” 3or pagan sacri

fi c e,wa s performed by the priest or pon tiff (hof-goh i) . The same

was the case with the Kja la rn es temple, a rough timber building, burn t by BI

’

I i A ndr i h sson ,the slinger.

The situation is right well chosen for effect. This Hof stood

1 T h eword Ass, p l . Asa r a nd [ Esin i s expla in ed by Jorn a ndes , “ Goth i pr oceressu os qu a si qu i fortu na vin c eba n t non pa r es h omin es sed semideos , i . e. A nses (A n s inM aeso-Goth ic) voc avere .

” Su eton iu s ma kes [Esa r a n Etru sca n word wh ich mea n tGod (proba bly a plu r a l of Kelt . E s) . We find forms of it i n th e M ongolia n dia lects,a nd in th e Arya n ,

Sa nskr it (Asu r a ), Keltic, Teu ton ic (B s ir) , Germa n (An sh elm,

p . a nd even i n th e English Osborn a nd O swa ld . A s a ppea rs to cor respon dwith t h e Semitic A l, bu t t h e word i s still involved in mystery .

2 T h e Hebrew E sh a nd th e Ch a ldee E sh a (fire) a r e syn onymou s with th e

Arya n I s, wh en ce Isti, a n offer ing on th e h ea rth , a nd E st ika th e pla ce of offer ing .

Hen ce th e Greek Hestia , fi re, h ea rth , stove,’

a nd, with digamma , th e La tin Vestawh en worsh i pped a s Gen iu s or L a r familia r is .

3 Blé t (or Forn ), a sa cr ifice of men a n d bea sts, h orses a nd oxen , swme a nd

sh eep, mu st n ot be con fou nded with BlOC , blood . T h e Blot-steinn or sa cr ificia lstone, wh ich a cted a s ou r ga llows, i s descr ibed a s of ova l form a nd a littlepointed a t th e top,

” wh ich su ggests th e Moa b-god Ch emosh , it stood i n everyTh ing-field, a pla ce a djoin ing t h e Hof. I did n ot r ema rk th a t th e s ite of th etemples a lways fa ced sou th , a s M a llet sa ys . T h e Ondvegi , or h igh -sea t of t h eh a ll, wa s on t h e side of th e su n ,” i . e. , sou th .

VOL . 11.


at the base of a stony land-tongue separated by swampy groundfrom the iron shore

,lin ed a nd faced with di a boli tos, or cruel

little black rocks . Opposite sleeps the tran quil bay of R eykjavik

,backed by its picturesque blue hill s— a veritable Sierra

,the

backbon e of th i s part of Iceland,all con es a nd pyramids

,n otches

a nd saw-like teeth,resembling the sky-lin es of El Safa. To th e

right is a rou gh rise of lava pushing out jagged poin ts, a nd to theleft towers the E sja pile, with its n etwork of dykes a nd slides,a n extin ct Vesuvius faced by white cliffs . Farms a nd hay-fieldsare scattered about

,probably occupying the same position s wh i ch

looked upon the an ci en t heathen gods,with whose departure

prosperity left the land . There is n ot a trace of the building,

but the pasty-faced peasan ts showed us,below the rise

,a bit of

deep swamp covered with marsh-marigold,a nd th i s they called

the BlOt-Kelda, or victim well—possibly where men a nd beastswere sa c r ifi c i a lly drown ed .

After in specting this humble marvel,we shook han ds with

the Reverend,a nd took boat for Reykjavik

,where we arrived at

P M .

I afterwards was shown the tradition al site Of the Thor Hofn ear S tykki sh é lm a nd the utter absen ce of S ign made men eglect to visit that of Vopn a fj

'

Orh,whose door was tran slated

to the church, the H Org, at Krossh Ola r ; a nd the fan e of Goh aborg,with its sacrificial ston e where David of the wil dern essdwelt. In 1 770, U n o Von T roi l (Letter XVI .) offered a temptinglist of n orthern an tiqu i ties

,some of them possibly pre-historic

or proto-historic.1 But except in cairn s,tumu l i

,a nd the kitchen

midden s men tion ed in various places,especially that n ear

1 H e specifies th e ru ined ca stle n ea r Videda l (Vi5ida lr), some 200 perch es incir cumferen ce a nd 20 fa th oms h igh on th e n orth side a n oth er ca stle n ea r th epa r son age Skaggesta d a t L a u ga rn a es r ema in s of h ea th en temples a t M idi rO

,

Goda le,Vi5vik, et c . ; th e a n cien t pla ce of execu tion a t H egra n a es paga n bu r ia l

pla ces, like th a t of T h or leif J a rla skald’s in th e Oxera isla n d, wh ich yielded oldswords a nd h elmets two Ba u ta -steinn ,

gr ea t sta nding stones (Men h irs on th e

h ea th s of T h ingma n’

s a nd T h rekyll i s, wh ich proba bly, a ccording to Odin’

s r e

gu l a t i on s , were mon umen ts to th e memory of decea sed persons ; t h e gr a ss-gr ownmou n d of Reykh olt

,

“sa id to be r a ised fr om t h e ru in s of S tu rlu son ’

s h ou se ;”

th e S t u r lu nga R ei tr , or bu r ia l-pla ce of h i s family, a nd forty sma ll figu res of br a ssre

pr esenting a n ima ls a nd oth er objects fou nd n ea r Fla tey u n fortu n a tely th ey

fe into th e h a nds of people wh o did not kn ow th eir va lu e, consequ ently th eyh ave a ll been lost ” (p .


S norr i’

s bath at Reykholt,I should expect little yield even from

the spade .T h e older Edda (S igrdr ifumal, st. 34) speaks of cairn s

L et a mou nd be r a isedFor th ose depa rted

a nd we shall pass not a few during ou r j ourn eys . It would beinteresting to kn ow if a ny of them have the long adit, the vestibul e

,a nd the separate chambers for the dead

,which are charac

ter i st i c of the Mongolian tomb-temples,a nd of which a Splendid

specimen is found at Maes Howe .

84 ULTIMA THULE ; OR .

C H A P T E R X .

NORTHWARDS Ho ! TO S TYKKI SHOLM AN D GRAFAROS .

PART I .-S TYKKISHOLM .

WE are very anxious to leave this

Tivoli del ma l c onfOrte,

O piove, o tir a vento, o su on a a morte.

The JOn S igu rh sson ,Captain Mull er, r a n in to Reykjavik

on Jun e 26,a nd n ext day we set ou t to prospect H a fn a i rh

, theHaven Firth

,distan t two bays south of the capital. Threading

the n ow familiar islets,we doubled the beacon ed poin t of S u h rn es,

a nd passed Bessa sta h ir,Besse or Bear-stead, a place not undi s

t ingu i sh ed in island story. It was built by the turbulen t a nd

traitorous Herodotus of the North,Sn orr i S tu rlu son , gran d

son of S aemu nd the Wise,born at H vamm

,in A D 1 1 78, a nd

author of the “ prose Edda ; he di ed“ in h i s shoes —murdered

as was the custom of the day. Long years afterwards the placeof Meister Petz 1 became the Latin School

,a nd n ow it belongs

to a congen ial soul,Hr Gr imr Thomsen . Followed Garh ar, also

on the A lpta -n es (swan -n ess) pen in sula, where a fringe of farms

1 Th is popu la r Germa n ex ression i s eviden tly th e Sca ndin avia n Besse, forBerr or Bersi Bar

,a bea r . esse

,aga in

,h a s a su spiciou s likeness to th e Ya ku t

E se,”th e most r espectfu l term i n th e la ngu age, gr a ndfa th er or monseigneu r ,

a pplied by th ose Siberia n Mongols to th e grea t wh ite bea r , th eir most formida blefoe. Bru in i n Goth la nd being th e king of th e bea sts, to do a th ing withBesse’s leave i s equ iva len t to doing it with ou t leave. T h e qu a in t qu adr u ped i smu ch n oticed in folk -lore M ish ka i s h i s pet name i n Ru ssia ; Berenga riu s i s der ived from th e Fren ch D a n Ber inger a nd Eph r a im a nd Ole Cu ffeya re well known in th e U . S . Persia a bou nds in ta les a bou t h is wea r ing a tu rba nda nd r idi ng a sses .



a nd houses,each with seven gables or more

,ranged in lin e, not

massed together,fron ts the fain t-green lan d

,a nd prospects the

glaucous n orthern seas . After a couple of hours, which covered

two Dan ish miles, we steamed down a deep a nd sheltered sinus,facing the n orth-west

,with double en tran ce : here a red buoy

made us independen t of pilot ; the tides inflow by the south a nd

race round a nd ou t to the n orth .

The scen ery of H a fn a i rh,which Scotchmen compare with

that of Scalloway, is pec u l i a r'

a nd somewhat grotesque. Like all

the south-western parts of Thu l e, the formation is a hopeless

lava-field,bristling with shrublets a nd patched with green : the

outlin e of fron tage con sists of poin ts divided by bays of dark

grey sand,a nd the habitation s are perched between the kn obs

a nd turrets of the several H r a u n s,old a nd n ew. The lan d is

compara tively level,backed by a veritable Sierra— the dorsal

Spin e of th i s part of Iceland— jagged, n otched, a nd vertebral, ex

tending from n orth-east to south-west. Four brigan tin es a nd

a lugger were an chored in the clear water,off the five pierlets ,

the usual planks a nd caisson s,that den ote the corresponding

comptoirs,one patch of building to the n orth

,an other to the

south,a nd a th i rd at the bottom of the bay

,whilst a n exten sive

farm-house rose from a dorsum of green,the Hval-eyri or whale

stran d.

Whilst the steamer di scharged her salt a nd iron pan s,we

hailed a n old,blun t-sn outed pun t

,a nd paid for the service two

marks : the latter process evoked a stare of surprise a nd a vigor

ou s shake of the hand . I n ote this proceeding because it is notunusual on the coast of Icelan d ; it certa in ly distinguishes the

boatman from his hateful brotherhood in more gen ial lands ;especially on the Hesperian strand.

” We landed at Flen sburg,

a bout the bottom of the bay,the establishmen t of Hr Joh n sen

,

a nd walked roun d to the buildings on the n orth. All are timber,coloured grey or black

,with white windows a nd slate roofs ;

each fli es its flag,Dan ish or Norwegian . The latter belongs to

the Bergen Company,which has lately taken the place of the

Scotch house at Reykjavik, with bran ch agen cies here a nd at

S tykki sh Olm a nd S ey5i sfj5r5 . At a little bridged stream womena nd boys were busy with the corpses of cods

,cutting gills

,tear


Ing ou t gullets,Spli tting bell ies to their ven tral fin s, extracting

livers a nd sounds,a nd tossing the trimmed carcases in to heaps

— they were jolly as Italian pea san ts at the Vendemmia. . Someof the lads were fishing with sinkers of ston e

,floats of driftwood,

a nd bait of c od. Beyond the stream a n ew road to Reykjavikwas being made

,by blasting the lava— as will be seen , it is much

’Wan ted. On the n orth of the bay we in spected the r ema In s of

Hr S ivertsen ’

s dry dock,which looks like a lineof groin s to keep

the shore i n si tu . A couple of eaglets were shown for sale ; theyhad lately been taken from a crag in the lava-ru n to the southeast : the ch icken s

,hardly six weeks old

,were about the size of

Cochin fowls ; their skin s Sh owed bare through the growingplume of grey a nd dark-grey

,con trasting with the bright yell ow

cere, a nd they Open ed threaten ing gapes at the stranger. Theprice had lately risen to £3

,whilst ten shilli ngs a head were

asked for the fierce little graveolen t foxes .As usual we had time for a walk in land to the Var5a

,or land

mark, bearing magn etic east of the ship, a nd distan t about thirtyminutes : I was anxious to see the behaviour of the lava .

Travellers in Iceland everywhere speak of vast outpours which,in stead of showing a ny decided poin t of origin ,

appear to have

sweated from the soil . They especially quote the lan ds aboutM y-vatn a nd Kr a fla

,where the con trary is the case : the same

has been observed in other volcani c coun tries,c .g.

,by Mr Porter

in Syria ; by Messrs Tyrwh i tt-Drake a nd Palmer in Moab a nd

by those who have studied the Quito platform. Here, however,we distin ctly traced three craters

,a nd it became eviden t that the

mouth wh i ch discharged the oldest torren ts may have beenobliterated by subsequen t eruption s . The prin cipal lava-bed 1

.

1 It su pplied th e H a fn a fiordi te of For c h h ammer , leek-green , ligh t, porou s , a n dfr i able pumi ce-tu ff, conta in ing th e following proportion s

Silica,

Alumina , 27°

36

Protoxide of ir on ,Lime,

Pota sh,

Su lph u ric a cid,

D r W. La u der Lindsa y r ema rks, “ Th e Sp. gr . i s u su a lly it a ppea rs tobe a h me-oh goc la se, belonging, th erefor e, to th e Felspa th ic family ofminer a ls .



showed in section a shallow dome between two lateral fissures,where con traction of the edges, a nd perhaps a less solid fou nda

tion,had caused the sides of the ston e-river to fall away a nd

form dwarf Gjas,” or longitudin al rifts— we shall see the same

action on a grander scale at A lma nn agja. The dorsum was broken

by sharp edges,the tall crests of split a nd splin tered blisters,

the bubbles of the earth where lava overflowed wet ground ; coilslike tobacco-rolls a nd ropy corrugation s, ripple-marks a nd plica

tion s,showed where the harden ing clinkers had been compacted

together,a nd everywhere yawn ed t imn els a nd cavern s . Yet the

field was crossed by a horse-path .

The n ormal high shingle-bank of the shore formed a n in land

bog, a nd th e result was a subtending lagoon ,as usual without

outlet. Farml ets were scattered about,all apparen tly on made

ground . There was a tolerable turbary haun ted by whimbrelsa nd loud-voiced tern s ; the lava-fields belonged to the Snjot i t

lin gue,sn ow-flake or sn ow- tit (Ember i za or Plec toph r a nes

n iva li s) ; to the Stein -depil l or wheat-ear (M ota c i lla oen a n th e) ;a nd to the M ar iatla or Mary-bird

,the white wag-tail (M ota c i lla

a lba ) . The three latter were exception ally tame, a nd li ke Joa ode Barros in the Brazil

,amused themselves by fli rting with the

un feathered biped .

I have described H a fn a i r5 at a greater length than it perhaps

deserves . Here n ot a few travellers have declared that thecapital of Icelan d should be

,a nd undoubtedly it will become the

sole place of export for the Kri su vik su l phur-fields . The har

bour is exception ally safe,sheltered from all win ds : the climate

is better than that of Reykjavik ; a nd the sky is often clear whenheavy clouds invest the n orthern heaven s . But unless gr oun d

is made,there is little or n o building room . On the other han d

,

for a n exporting port, H a fn a fjb’

rtS is perfect. In the early six

teen th cen tury the British corsairs, numbering some 360 souls,had formed a regu lar colony at Haven Fi r th - let us hope that

the complain ts of Christian II. wil l n ot call for ren ewal,when

the English mi n er shall spread himself over the lan d .

As the su n fell towards the horizon the a ir became cool ; the

thermometer on deck showed 58° a nd the day graduallyassumed a worn a nd faded look

,like a maiden when the su n

90 ULTIMA THU LE ; OR,

breaks upon a ball. Before midn ight we were on ce more at

Reykjavik to start n orth on the n ext morn ing.

The “J on S igu rh sson (det I sl a ndske H a ndelssamlag

’

s Damp

skib) belongs to a Norwegian company, who bought her at thehigh price of A n iron hull , her draught is 9 feet, her

tonn age 4 60,a nd her horse-power 80 , which c a n be raised to

upwards of 1 00 : she must burn 1 2 ton s of coal during thetwen ty—four hours to average less than 8 kn ots, a nd this c om

bined with cheap passages preven ts her paying.

1 Her good

poin t is the possession of two donkey-engin es, the simple Cor

n ish,with 6 -in ch stroke, which -do all the work. Her aecom

moda t ion s are n ot complete ; we occupy the seven sofas in theaft saloon

,a nd of the four cabin s three are taken by the officers,

in cludi ng the agen t. Broad, tubby, a nd h i gh ou t of the water,

she catches the wind with her gawky telescope funn el, a surviva l from the days of Watt ; she has little saili ng power, a nd

she is hardly safe off a lee-shore ; i n Augu st she was beaten back

when attempting to make the Faeroes .The wan t of pun ctuality again is a serious disadvan tage toJOn .

” The departurewill be fixed for a ny hour between six A M .

a nd two PM ; you will be hastily summon ed on board at n in e A .M . ,

a nd yet n ot start till n oon . There are stated hours of feeding,but they are n ot regular en ough for passenger ships ; a nd provision s

,as well as liquor

,often ru n short

,because the restaur

ation ” is n ot obligatory. The delays are ever recurring ; coveredlighters being unkn own

,a nd rye

,with other perishable goods

, c a n

n ot be landed during rain . Again “JOn ” is over-offic ered. Besidescaptain a nd two lieutenan ts

,we carry double engin eers who

speak English ; a n agen t a nd commissaire ; steward, stewardess,

1 Pa ssengers to H a fn a fj orh pa id on ly 2 ma rks T h e n in e da ys to t h en orth a nd ba ck were th e ch ea pest kn own to me ea ch way, a nd forliving £4, a tota l of 1 3s . per diem ,

in clu ding stewa rd’s fees, a nd excellen t Norwegi a n a le and Gen eva a d l i b. Breakfa st of fish a nd mea t a t eigh t to ten A . M .

dinn er of ditto a nd coffee a t two to fou r P . M . a nd su pper , a re et i t ion of th e two,a t eigh t to n ine P . M . Por t

,sh erry

,a nd Ch atea u Yqu em 1 specie (4s .

ch ampagn e, $2 ; porter , a nd Norwegia n beer , 1 2sk. (35d ) per bottle.

T h e cooking wa s excellen t,a nd pla te a nd lin en e u a lly spotless ; t h e ta ble wa s

la id a la R u sse with plea san t little h er s d ’

ce'wvr es o sa rdines a nd smoked sa lmon ,

s a lt mea t, h am, a nd sa u sage, i n fa ct wh a t Ita lia n s fa cetiou sly ca ll Porch er ia .

”

We men ta lly re-ech o M r Th a cker a y ’s h ope th a t Grea t Br ita in , wh o i s su pposed toru le th e waves, will some day devote a little more a ttention to h er einsi ne.


92 ULTIMA THULE OR,

ice-deserts a nd volcan oes was ranged in long dorsa, dish-covers, or

an tediluvian Twelfth-cakes, flatten ed at the summit, backed by

pearlymists of their own growing, with crests rose-tinged by the

su n, a nd feet streaked with tran sparen t blue shadows . I n vain we

strain ed ou r eyes to catch a sight of Bau l a, the c ow, pron oun cedsomewhat like (the lan d of) Beu l ah ; its pale-grey trachyticcolumn s

,though 3000 to 3500 feet high, were hidden by in ter

ven ing buttresses : even Eld-borg, the Tower of Fire, though

qu i te n ear the coast,refused to Show its gran d circular crater

a nd flanks too steep for sn ow. Here begin s the n orthern Ska rh s

hei5i,which

,passing through the H n appa da ls (button -dale)

Sysla,an astomoses with the broken con es called Katlar (the c a l

dron s) , a nd with the great Sn aefells ku ll , the Sn ebels H okell of

Pon tanus,a nd the Western J Oku ll ”of ou r maps . The long thin

tongue of land,mostly trachytic

,has been mightily exercised by

the fire below. Here, upon a n aked Ten erife, rises a tall grey con e,fron ted by a little extin ct volcan o

,flu shing angry red ; there a

wall of brown lava is bu ilt upon a base of ruddy Cinders a ndscoriae

,which have assumed the n atural angle. It is a land of

chimn eys a nd spiracles rising from Cinders a nd other r ej ec tamen ta ;ofOl-keldr or “ ale” (min eral)

“waters ;”of cascades, silver fibres

dashing in to kieves of sn ow ; of jagged sugar-loaves a nd saddl ebacks ; of craters either whole or half torn away ; a nd of Kletta ror precipices stripped of the sn ows which en compass them.

Our atten tion was di rected to the Buh a-kletta r,or cli ffs of

Bu h ir, the celebrated cen tre of eruption wh i ch sen t forth the

Buh a rh r a u n ; a nd at their base, ending the J'

Oku llh als,the long

ochraceous slope that falls from the eastern ridge-fla nk of Snaefellto the settlemen t of But ir (the booths) , far-famed for chalybeatesprings . Huts for invali ds have been ru n up at this well-kn ownKur-or t

,but the accommodation is described as rough in the

extreme . A l ittle westward again,showing its basaltic pill ars

,

lies Stapi,

” the steeple-formed rock,a local Staffa, suggesting

memories of Fin M ‘C ou l .

A ll eyes now fix themselves upon Sn aefells ku ll : as thebreak of the sea upon the shore told us

,it rises within three

miles, a nd the acciden ts of weather, though apparen tly determined to conceal the calotte of sn ow

,combin e to form a n a dmi r



water’s edge,where they form a wall of con torted a nd cavern ed

layers . Above the cli ff a gen tler S lope has a fain t tinge of rain

bow-green ; a nd the steeper accli vities are bare, red a nd yellow,

brown a nd black. As we hugged the shore, I carefu lly lookedfor the sn ow-drain age

,a nd saw n on e : had there been a ny, the

sea-scaur must have shown it. Henderson rightly reports thegen eral belief that the water set free by the su n passes byundergroun d tunn els to the sea ; a nd, a ll along th i s p en in sula,the people hold to subterran ean conn ection s . But the explan ation somewhat savours of the Congo Yell a la (rapids) , where themighty mass of the upper stream, above the ghauts

,

” is supposed to pass through a n invisible chann el. H erh u breih afterwards tau ght me that Palagon ite allows no surface drain age inthe dry season ; a nd this I hold to be the true explanation of aremarkable phen omen on often seen in Iceland .

So striking a feature as Sn aefell , whose shadow ma y be traced

i n the air, could n ot fail to engender a variety of tales a nd legen ds .Some declare

,with the old Sagas

,that it is within sight of H vi t

serk in Eastern Greenl and . Certes its height (4577 Dan ish feet)is very far from affording a vision ranging over 200 direct geographical mi les ; but here we are little more than a degree fromthe Arctic circle

,a nd it is hard to limit the magic powers of re

fraction .

1 When the bishop declared that it was un assailable

by reason of “ Dominus Ba rdu s Sn aefellsas,cu jus sin e a u spi c i i s

mon s Sn aefell vi x,ac n e vix quidem

,su per a r i potest,

” he alluded

to a superstition still preserved . I n H i tarda lr,

2 farther east,is

shown a huge femin in e face carved in ston e,a nd said to repre

sen t Hit,the As or guardian goddess of the dale : a Pluton ic

affection ” exists between her a nd Bart! or Sn aefell’

s As,whom

Macken zie calls a tutelar sain t,a ndwhom Charles Forbes un civilly

converts from Dominus to demon . He represen ts right well theSpirit of the Glacier. Curious to say

,the same tale con cern ing

the Lo’

ves of the Moun tain s is told in far New Zealand,where

1 Ca pta in Gra a h (loc. cit . ) looks u pon th is a s a mere fable I do not2 H i t i s a scr ip ma de of skin

,a nd, meta ph or ica lly

,a big belly. WI th a sh ort

vowel, B itar -da lr mea n s th eVa le of th e H ot (i . e. , volca n ic) River , opposed to Ka ldaor Cold S tream. According to Clea sby

, th e der iva tion from th e Gia n tess H it i sa modern fiction n ot Older th a n th e BarfSa r Saga : h e a lso, con tra ry to oth era u th ori ties, makes Domi nu s Bart! a gia n tess .


Messrs Tongariro a nd Taran aki (Moun t Egmont) are j ealous asthey are amorous of Mrs or Miss Taupo .

The earliest climbers seem to have a ttempted the ascen t fromthe east a nd south-east, where the sn ow-lin e extends much lower.Such were Eggert

.Ola fsson Mr,afterwards Sir

,John

Stanley a nd the three Britishers who “ wrote theirmistresses’ n ames in the sn ow— the emblem of their purity.

”

Sir George Macken zie (181 0) remain ed below,a nd Drs Bright

a nd Holl an d wen t stoutly up : the latter tells us (p . 55,R ec ol

lection s of a Fast Life) that a sn ow bridge gave way during thedescen t

,a nd on e leg sank through the arch : he was saved by the

poles of the two Iceland guides,but ever after he sought to shun

the remembran ce . They were foll owed by Henderson

by Ga ima rd a nd by Forbes

Of course,n on e reached the very summit. The Fren chman

sen sibly attempted it from the n orth,a nd found the slope easy :

we shall presen tly see his lin e of march . Remain s on ly to try

the west where the sn ow lies much higher up,a nd where the

angle does n ot apparen tly exceed here also the distan ce

to the cusps or peaks is n otably shorter. The Ber u vik farm

appears to be a good starting-place . But Al pin es who loveclimbing for climb ”

must remember that without ropes a ndladders

,perhaps kites also

,a nd very likely with them

,it will

be impossible to do more than has been don e by their pre

dec essor s .

The acciden ts of the~

shore-li n e preserve their in terest : the

lon e rock G'

Oltr (the deer)1a nd the twin LOn -drangar (sea-in let

drongs) , donjon s of lava 240 feet tall, the n orth-western appearing as if standing inl and, where a red rock acts castle . Beyond

it,amongst the con ical a nd degraded craters

,we remark the

T rOll akyrkja , Kirk of the Troll s,or Gian ts

,wh o here have a

diocesan as well as a govern or. They have been busy on a nd off

this coast,as shown by the T rOlla -botn

,Gian t Bay

,the Polar Sea

between Norway a nd Green lan d ; the T rOll a -bOrn (chimn eys) , orvolcan ic horn itos the Tr

'

oll a-blah,the Gian t’ s Causeway

, or

colonn ade of basalt a nd the T rOll a -dyngju r , or Gian tesses’ bowers

,

1 T h e Diction a ry gives Goltr , a h og, and Kolla , a deer with ou t h orn s, a h umbledeer , a h ind .

VOL . 11 .

ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

the mamelon s n ear R eykja nes, which erupted in A D . 1 000 .

A nd that the dwarfs have n ot been idle we see by the D vergaKamarr

,their hollowed chambers in the basalt. We r u n by

D r i tvi k (guan o bay), along the cavern ed cliff, built in variouslayers

,here frosted like silver

,there dotted with white poin ts,

which prove to be birds . At Ondverh a rn es (fron ting n aze ),after a n hour Of thorough enj oymen t, thanks to Domi nus Ba rh r ,we turn the corn er

,the n orth-westernmost projection of Sn aefells

jOku ll , which the pilot call s Svarta-lot, from the steps protrudedby the swart sea-wall ; we open the Breih i FjOrh , a nd again wefind waters smooth as a silver plate .

Not that Broad Firth is always so well behaved : at times herages with fran tic violen ce

,mixing sea a nd sky till the gen eral

view is like a well-shaken basin of soup,a nd con fusing all the

elemen ts in a chaotic matter, which justifies the much-malign ed.

Pytheas . Many have been drown ed when crossing the dangerous sea

,amongst them Ola fsson ,

the Icelandic traveller,in 1 767

shortly a fter he had addicted himself to the study of revealedreligion .

” During the wint er of 1 873-74 , it was completely in

vested by the Green land ice ; congelation extended as far as theeye cou ld reach from the highest hill-tops a nd drifted bearswere slaughtered by the peasan try. There are tradi tion s of

skating across the broad bay,of seals being killed

,a nd of ships ’

an chors being blown away by the furious wind . At least, so

says Mr Clausen,who has n ow taken us in charge . The grand

son Of a Dan ish merchan t men tion ed by Henderson,he has

married a wife from Bonn ie Dundee,a nd he has spen t some

four years at Melbourn e,which have Open ed his eyes to a u r i fer

ou s quartz-reefs,to large deposits of iron

, a nd to other min eralsin his n ative island.

We delay for a wh i le at the mouth of the big bay to swingthe ship a nd prove her compasses

,a precaution n ever to be

n eglected . The JOn then run s at a respectful distan ce alongthe n orthern Shore of the Sn aefell sj

'

Oku l l tongue, which is not lessin teresting than its southern coast. Our Ciceron e poin ts ou t

Enn i or E nn i sfja ll,“ forehead mountain

,

”la mon ta gne dc fr on t}

1 Both tra n sla tions a re somewh a t too litera l : Enn i , a foreh ead, seconda r ily

means th e br ow of a h ill,

”a steep cr ag, a fronting precipice.



An adjoini ng h eadland to the east Showed us the quain tfeatures called the Coffin (L ikki sta , the lich or corpse ki st) a ndS u kkertoppr (the sugar-loaf) , both rising from a tran spa ren t sea,a nd backed by slate-coloured walls a nd sn ow-dottedp eaks . Theformer is a n elongated dorsum

,with a shallow dome above

,steps

around its n eck,a nd lower slopes of a brownish-red. The Pao

de Assucar,thinly green ed

,a nd laterally barred with grey rock,

seen from the n orth-east,is a regular con e

,like the Sugar

loaf of Sutherland a nd over a ll hangs, like a halo, the gloriouspresen ce of Barh r

’

s home, whose sn ow roof stretches fa r lowerthan on the south ern side . As the su n slan ts towards the westabout P.M . ,

his last fires light it like a n oble Opal i n a

Shin ing bezel of sleety blue, the glow waxing brighter a nd

brighter till the sn ow,all aflame, dims every other object of

earth,sea

, a nd sky. At last the fire burn s slowly ou t,a tall

white spectre, the ghost of the morn ing’ s scen e

,towers in the

upper air,a nd the world becomes on ce more cold

,du l l

, a nd pale—by con trast colder, du ll er, a nd paler than ever . It had beena “ thing of bea II ty,

” even though the in comparable scen ery ofMagellan ’ s Straits

,rendering me n ot a little fastidious

,was still

fresh within my brain .

As we steam eastward we are shown the red Hraun of the

Ber serkir} two light-coloured kn obs thrown ou t by the red a nd

broken forms of the D rapu h lih a rfja ll . It has been asserted thatDr Ba ckma nn dug in to the Bersekja -dis, a nd found two skeleton s,but men on the spot kn ow n oth i n g about these fou i lles . Thestory of their acting Macadam is too well kn own to repeat

,sin ce

1 A s th e Berserki r i s becoming a power in n ovelistic liter a tu re, it may be

a dvisable to give th e correct form. T h e singu la r n omin a tive i s Ber -serkr , th eplu r a l Ber-serkir , a nd th e obliqu e form Berserkj a , e. g. , Berserkja -di s, ca irn Of th e

Berserki r . Clea sby (su b voce) sh ows th a t th e common der iva tion , taken fr omS norr i , berr ” (ba re) a nd S erkr

”

(sa rk or sh irt) i s in a dmissible, a nd grea tlyrefers Berr (a bea r ), wh ose skin s were worn by a th letes a nd ch ampion s ; peraps a lso h erewe find tr a ces of th a t ph ysica l metamorph osis i n wh ich a l l th e olderworld believed. T h e Ber serksga ngr

”

(fu r or ber ser c i cu s seu a th leti c u s), wh enth ese ch ampion s h owled like wild bea sts, gn awed th eir iron sh ields

,a nd were

proof aga in st fire a nd steel, may be compa r ed with th e“ru nn ing amok ” of th e

Ma lays, a nd th e bh a nging u p of th e Hin du h ero— inva r iably th e effect ofstimu lan ts . Th is fa ct con sidera bly a ba tes ou r in terest i n Ea stern ta les ofderr ing-do

, for insta n ce,in th e a ccou n t of th e two sen tinels a t Delh i, wh ose

ca lm ga lla n try, pr obably produ ced by opium or h emp, is n oticed in pitying termsby S ir Hope Gr a n t.


it appeared in the E yrbyg gia Saga ; we may observe, however,that it has every characteristic Of the n ormal Icelandic legend .

There is the unavoidable woman in the case, A sdi sa , a young,h aughty

,fiery

,a nd robust damsel.

” The chief actors in the

tragedy,Halli

,L eikni r , a nd their destroyer Arngrim,

su rn amed

Viga Styr (the stirrer or restless on e) , are all poets ; a nd thelatter characteristically boasts of a foul a nd cowardly assassina

tion , as i f it were a deed worthy of a Bayard. The highly h onou rable n ature of murder pure a nd simple

,un accompani ed by

aught of risk or gallan try,belongs to a certain stage Of society,

a nd the E astern reader finds many in stan ces in the career of

Arab,Persian

,a nd Hindu heroes .

A nd n ow,i n the cold

,fierce win d

,we ru n past a scatter of

islets,especially n oting E lli h a ey (E llwi c h Isle) , the private pro

perty of the bishop,whose fair daughter is on board. The light

green surface,effect of summer growth

,supports a few wrack

eating sheep ; a nd the dark masses of subcolumn ar basalt, bluffto the n orth

,a nd pierced with black caves

,are silvered over by

troops of birds . About eleven P.M . we turn sharp to starboard,a nd sight ou r destin ation , S tykki sh é lm,

n ot Stockholm,not a r éne

dc mer cea u ce, but holm of sticks,

” that is,bits of pill ared ston e

the settlemen t’s n ame is taken from on e of the three rock-islets

to the n orth, S tykkisey. Leaving tall Suga ndisey (wind-gush

isle) to the east, a nd the larger Landey to the west,“

we pre

sen tly find ourselves in a well-defended, dock-like inl et, with a

landing-place above h i gh tide . The comptoir was of more importan ce than usual

, S tykki shOlm being then the capital of the

Western Quadran t : a schoon er,two brigan tin es

,a nd a smack lay

at an chor ; seven flags were flying ; of the eight houses two were

double-storied,a nd the parsonage boasted of a white belvedere .

Crosses on the rock-dyke,one looking from afar like the an cien t .

Irish,suggested a non -existing Calvary. The oldest ten emen t

was that occupied by the Amtma h r,or h i gh sheriff.

My first care at S tykki sh Olm was to see the Hr Admin istrator

A. O. T h or la c i u s, agen t of the steamer : he came on board withhis son ,

but,unfortun ately

,we were barbarian s to one an other.

The father has taken meteorological observation s on ce per di em,

at noon , since November 1 845 : in 1 866 he was provided with


in strumen ts by the Board of Trade,a nd his labours have appeared

in the journ al of the Scottish Meteorological Society.

1

Early n ext morn ing we set ou t,moun ted on rat-pon ies

,a nd

guided by Mr Sysluma h r Ski'

i li Magnusson,to see the curiosities

of T hOrsnes, the li ttle pen in sula which was on ce a hot-bed of

heathen ism. Some can tonni ers were workin g at th e path, whichcombin ed the Brazilian pleasures of slippery plank-bridges, foulcauseways

,a nd corduroys of slush ; we were compelled to

round the long in let Vé svagr or Vé-vagr (holy bay) , becauseit cann ot afford a ferry here broken bottles showed a habit of

pi c ni c ing. Turn ing to the south-east we sighted Helgafell (holy

bill ), a common n ame,as we have seen about Reykjavik . This

lump of subcolumnar basalt, perpendicu l ar to th e n orth a nd east,a nd fall ing with a n easy grassy slope to the south-west

,after

being hon oured as hill ock n ever yet was,was chosen for one of

the earliest Christian churches ; a nd people still pray at thedwarf chapel on the Moun t of Immortality

,

” because the habitis 800 years old. It still

'preserves in tact the memory of Snorr iGoh i (the priest of Thor), who was good to his friends a nd grimto his foes the E yrbyggi a Saga tell s the tale of his in trigues,cruelties

,a nd murders, A rnkell, whose tumulus is hereabouts,

being the Charles or good boy of the Story. We were shownthe M u nkr ska rh r

,where the holy men ' bade farewell to their

belovedmon astery,a kind of Arctic Last Sigh of the Moor — a n

illiberal English sacerdos adds,their heart

,doubtless

,was with

their treasure, buried in a hill-side .” Monks

,you see

,are n ot

like other men ; they must always be either almost superhuman ,

or , that failing, subhuman .

Then ce we turn ed to the east,where T hOrsn es lies, a nd when ce

the old Thunderer looked ou t upon H ofsv‘

agr or Temple Bay.

2

Here, in A D . 883,Th Orolfr M ostr a r skegg (of the big beard), fol

lowing the pillars of his high seat roun d the head of Sn aefells

jOku ll, took possession Of the groun d with burn ing firebrand,as

was the sign ifican t custom of the day. The good guide, beingutterly guiltless of all local kn owledge, led us up to a substan tialfarm-house, at whose door stood a blear-eyed old franklin . Our

1 For th e observa tion s a t S tykki sh é lm, see In tr odu ction ,Sect . II .

2 Henderson (ii. 67) pla ces Hofsta d on th e western side of th e pen in su la .



min erals a nd altern ate strata of trap a nd ropy lava . The on lyremain s of the Virki work where the local Thing met , werevallum-like lin es of green sod ; a nd the D om-h r i ngr , doom

’s ringor judgmen t circle, was a triangular shape, with the base facingthe shore. Not a S ign of the Hof was to be seen ; the BlOt

steinn , or sacrificial ston e, wa s asked for, but beyond legends of

buried treasure,n othi ng was kn own to the in curious peasan ts .

On ou r return to S tykki shOlm,we called upon the Amtma h r

(high sheriff), Hr Bergr Thorberg, who, fortun ately for us,spoke good Fren ch .

' H e assured me that Hr Skuli Magnusson

had found the Bldtsteinn ,a nd we again accompani ed h im to

sketch it . After thirty mi nutes, a boat placed us on the easternside of the little pen in sula, a nd we landed upon the broken

basalt,weedy a nd slippery as ice . Thi s shore is still kn own as

T hOr sn es, a nd the place as Th ingvelli r . After vain ly seekingin formation at a cottage, in scribed T. (T ei tu r) G. S . Gu hmu nds

son ,1 869, we found a shepherd lad, who steered us through the

swamps to a rise on the west, a Site marked by a Var5a of rock .

The Ston e of Fear was a bit of basalt, six feet long by six feettwo in ches broad, a nd half buried in the ground : at least, suchwas the article shown to us . South of it lay the Doom-ring

,a

circle of rough rocks, twen ty-five feet in diameter . Between thetwo were buried the criminals whose backs had been brokenupon the ston e . 1

In these foren sic a nd sa c r ifi c i a l c ir c les the judge, stil l calledDeemster in the Isle of M a n

,faced eastwards

,with his back

to Holy Hill,at which ma n might '

not look without ablu tion .

On his right, the direction of M i’

i spellh eim,the place of hon our

,

from the profound popu l ar reveren ce for the su n,stood the

fromh

t h e same cr a ter su ccessively, a nd oth ers,simu lta neou sly, from differen t

mou t s .

1 Hen derson (i i . 68) pla ces th e ston e in th e swamp, n ot on th e h i ll-side Forbes(21 9 ) a dds th a t it wa s in th e cen tre of th e Doom-r ing. If so

,we did not see it :

moreover , M r R . M . Smith h ea rd fr om H r T h or la c i u s th a t we were misled. Ica nn ot h elp believing i n th e sh eph erd-boy ; a nd th ere wa s no mistaking th eDoom-r ing . For th e most pa rt, th e instrumen ts of dea th stood i n th e fen s wh erecerta in cla sses of cr imin a ls were drown ed. On th e oth er h a nd, t h e L a ndnama bOk(ch a p . th a t a fter th e pr ofa n a tion of Helga fell (Mon ticu lu s Sa cer ), T h 6r5rGell i r “ forum (Th ing) in su per i or a li ngu lec loea u bi n u n c est , t ra n sport avere

ibiqu e a dh u c c on spi c iendu s est la pis T h or in u s (Th orsteinn ), su pr a qu emh omi nes sa c r ific io destin a ti, fr a ngeba n tu r ibi etiam circul u s ju dicia lis exist i t i nqu o h omines a d vi c t ima s c ondemn aba n t . ”


accuser. The accused was ou his left, in the lin e of N ifl

heim,the n ebulous n orth, a scen e of horror a nd guilt

,which

the Old German s called midn ight. The twelve doomsmen

occupied the space within the D om-Steinar, where ben ches,here probably of turf, were provided for them. The sen ten ces

delivered from the Circle of Br umo” were almost poetical in

their ferocity. The old pagan Scandin avian was the in carn ation

of destructiven ess . His was n ot the fickle pugn acity of the

Kelt,who would fight a nd shake hands within the hour ; nor

the feeble pride of the classic, who on ly battled to debellaresu perbos : he was a Shiva, satisfied with n othing less than

absolute ann ihi lation . The blood-men were warn ed lest “weak

pity step in between crime a nd its fitting pun ishmen t . The

following was the form of outlawry sen ten ce : “ For this wejudge a nd doom thee

,a nd take thee ou t of all rights

,a nd place

thee in a ll wrongs ; a nd we pron oun ce thy lawful wife a lawfulwidow

, a nd thy children lawful orphan s ; a nd we award thyfiefs to the lord from whom they came

,thy patrimony a nd

acquired property to thy children,a nd thy body a nd flesh to

the beasts of the forest,the birds of the air

,the fish i n the

water. We give thee over to all men upon all ways ; a nd

where every ma n has peace a nd safe-conduct,thou shalt have

n on e ; a nd we turn thee forth upon the four ways of the world,a nd n o ma n Shall sin again st thee .”

A nd this doom was to exten d “ wherever Christian men go to

church a nd heathen men sacrifice in their temples ; wherever

fire burn s a nd earth green s ; wherever mother bears child, a nd

child cries for mother ; ship floats,shield glitters

,su n melts

sn ow,fir grows

,hawk flies the long spring day a nd the wind

stands under his wings ; wherever the heaven s vault themselves,the earth is cultivated, the gale storms, water seeks sea, a nd men

sow corn . Here shall the offender be refused the Church a nd

God’s house,a nd good menshall deny him a ny home but hell.

” 1

1 Compa re th is North ern effort with th e poetica l Greek cu rse a t th e Akropolisof Ath en s : “ I en tr u st th e gu a rdia n sh ip of th is temple to t h e in fern a l gods

,to

Plu to,a nd to Cer es, a nd to Pr oserpin e, a nd to a ll th e Fu r ies, a nd to a ll t h e gods

below If a ny one sh a ll defa ce th is temple, or mu tila te it, or r emove a nyth ingfrom i t , eith er of h imself, or by mea n s of a n oth er , to h im may n ot th e la nd bepa ssable

,nor th e sea n avigable, bu t may h e be u tterly u prooted M ay h e exper i


A nd the old Scandinavian pun ishmen ts were sangu in ary a ndatroc ious as those of the Thulites

,of whom Procopius spoke .

C rimin als were cast to wild beasts, burn ed a nd boiled alive,

flayed a nd impaled,to say n othing of mutil ation a nd such a

trifle as tarring a nd feathering.

1 Cowards were drown ed or

smothered in mu d. Forest burn ers were exposed to the fire tilltheir soles were roasted. Barkers of trees had their in tern alsn ailed to the injured bole

,a nd were driven round it till their

bowels took the place of the despoiled coat. Removers of

boundary-ston es were buried to the n eck a nd plou ghed to deathwith a n ew plough

,drawn by four u nbroken horses, a nd driven

by a carle wh o had n ever before turn ed a furrow. A nd so,forth .

The aspect of the D om-h r ingr vividly reminded me of theold theory held by Sir Walter Scott

,to men tion n o others

,that

Ston ehenge a nd similar buildings were Scandin avian courts ofju di c a tu re

,in which crimin als were doomed a nd put to death .

On e of these fora was fitly described by OlausWormi u s as U n

dique c a u t ibu s septum — hemmed in on all sides with ston esequal to rocks

,a nd usually disposed at a bowshot from the

cen tre . S O Camden says of Ston ehenge it is a huge a nd mon

strous piece of work such as Cicero termeth ‘in sa n am su bstru c

t ion em his sketches make it like a dan ce of gian ts (choirgaur or chorus magnus) , justi fying Walter Charleton

’s ChoreaGiga n tum,

vulgarly called Ston e-heng ” (London ,which

he also restored to the Dan es . Mr Fergu sson’

s an ti-Druidicalprotest was an ticipated as far back as 1 805 in

“

the Historyof the Orkn ey Islands (L ongma n s, London ) , by the Rev.

George Barry,D .D . ,

who justly Observes,These extraordinary

monumen ts have,like almost all others of the same nature

,been

supposed Druidical but with very little reason,sin ce there is

not the least shadow of eviden ce th at that order of men wasever within these islands while Coxe justly call s the Druids

en ce al l evil s,fever , a nd a gu e, a nd qu a r ta n ,

a nd leprosy ! And a s ma ny ills a s

ma n i s lia ble to, may th ey befa ll th a t ma n wh o da res to move a nyth ing fr om th istemple Perh a ps t h emost pictu resqu e composition of t h e kind i s th e in scr iptionu pon th e sa rcoph a gu s of E sh mu n a z a r , king of Sidon— a t lea st i n th e tr a n sla tionof th e la te D u e de Lu ynes .

0

1 Th is form of “ lyn ch ing i s popu la r ly a nd erron eou sly su pposed to h ave beeni nven ted u pon th e A tla n tic sea boa rd of t h e Un ited Sta tes . T h e Br a zilia nIn di a n s ” pra ctised it by way of cer emon ia l toilette.


1 08 UL TIMA THULE ; OR,

hillocks of Va tnda lshOla r,a nd the islands of the Brei5i FjOrh .

Similarly it is said no Laplander has li ved long en ough to visitall the islands in Lake Enara

,a nd n o Swede has touched at the

fourteen hundred of the Malar Lake . The holms l ie mostly at thebottom a nd on both sides of the Broad Firth

,a nd

,being girt by

broad reefs,they deman d no little pruden ce . Some are private

property, but the greatest part belongs to the parson age of Helgafell

,whose in cumben t lives a t S tykki sh é lm. These quain t forms,

the birth of upheaval a nd the toys of earthquakes, all show tracesof column ar a nd subcolumnar basalt : the colou r is chiefly black,whi ten ed by gulls a nd sea-fowl some are dimly green with ahouse-leek bearing a pale flower ; a nd here a nd there a H us

h Olmr supports a homestead. We remark the wash” dry at

ebb-tide ; the shoal, the dot, the kn ob, the drong, the c ow a nd

calf,the dome

,the pinnacle

,the gizzard

,

” like the Moela of

Brazili an San tos : the n u b,the skerry

,the shield

,the lin e, the

ridge,a nd the back : castellation s are common ,

a nd on e at the

mouth of the H vammsfj5r5 (comb-fir th ) bears two dwarf con espassably resemblingbroken turrets .Our sign als failed to attract the pilot

,who lives at Bja rn eyja r ,

a nd thus we were forced to rely upon ourselves : the grey weather

a nd spitting rain were,however

,far less risky than sleet a nd

sn ow. To starboard lay the Dala Sysla, a fat lingula of land,bounded south by the H vammsfj

'

Orh,a nd n orth by the Gi lsi rh .

I n the latter direction a n eck of about five miles broken by alake

,leads to the H i

’

i n aflOi (bear-c u b floe)} open ing upon'

the

Polar Sea,a nd a canal like that of Corin th would save rounding

the great three-fingered palmation ,the work of west winds 2 a nd

Greenl and ice,which forms the n orth-west of Iceland. On ce

upon a time a Troll,we are told

,attempted to an ticipate the

spec i a li te’

ofM. de Lesseps,but he was caught by the su n before

his task was don e,a nd

,after the fashion of those days, he was

in con tin en tly turn ed to ston e : so travellers are still obliged to

1 We h ave reta ined th e word Floi ” in i c e-flee. It properly mea n s th e deepwa ter of a bay

”

opposed to th e Sh a llow wa ter a long sh or e .

2 We see in Irela nd, Scotla nd, a nd th e English coa st abou t Bristol, th e effect ofth ese ga les : th ey preva il a long th e coa st of Br itta ny, become less violen t in th eBay

.

of Biscay a nd a long Portu ga l, a nd fin a lly t h e M editer r a n ea n , a s th e r egu larou tli nes of th e Ba lea r ics, Sicily, and M a lta prove

,ignores th em.


ride across the n eck. Hvammfj orh (comb-firth ) is a fair specimen

,says Mun ch

,of how trivially local n ames arose ; the La nd

namabOk (ii . 1 6) tells us that here (Kambsn es) Aud Ket ilsdott ir

p ec ti nem su am ami si t. But H vammr also mean s C onva lli s, aplace where several dales meet, or simply ou r combe .” TheDale-Coun ty pen in sula ends westward in the FellstrOnd h i gh

lands,whose chief height is called Klofi or Kl ofn ingr (the cloven ) ,

because it separates the two in lets ; from the n orth its profile, pro

jec ting the lowlands of D aegverh a rn es (daywa rds n aze) remindedme of bottle-n osed S era fend (Sarepta) as seen from the Sidonroad . Off this headl and we sighted a couple of small whales : inthe early part of the century we read of a school numbering some

1 600,but n ow-a -days the long-fibred Medusae seem to be a waste

of cetaceous prova u n t .At length the south-easter brought up heavy rain ,

veiling the

shore,a nd compelled us to turn for occupation to the study of

ou r fellow-passengers . At S tykki sh é lm we had shi pped a DrH jOr tr JOn sson ,

a n Icelander who spoke a little Latin a nd

English,a nd who was very civil a nd sea-sick. He had studied

under Dr H ja lta lin at Reykjavik, a nd had fin ished h imself by a

year at Copenhagen . The femin in e part of the old lot” has aton ce thrown off the civili sed h a t a nd adopted the ridiculous

H Ufa : the black or the grey shawl is sometimes worn over

the head with something of the gr ace that belongs to the orn a

men tal ma n ti lla a nd the usefu l r eboso. All are in leathernbotti nes whi ch Show the toes carefully turn ed in when walking orsitting. Fir st-class a nd second-class of the ruder sex are distin

gu i sh ed by boots a nd Icelan d shoes so the railway clerk inthe Argen tin e Republic ranks you by your spurs

,the larger they

are the lower you go . We distinguish the Dan ish-speaking by a

perpetual recurren ce of — h va d beh ager , s’il vous plait ?

—from the Icelandi c-speaking by a n ejaculated “ H a,

” explosive,

aspir ate,a nd n asal en ough for Vikings a nd Ber serki r . There

are half-a -dozen studen ts with bowie-kn ives a nd long can es, li ke

officers of the Un ited States n avy. The sign s of Bu rsc h dom aren oise

,inqu i sitiven ess, republican ism, hard drinking, a nd c on se

quen t hot Coppers,” especially in those who are un co h eavy

on the pipe .” They gather together, singing Luther’s hymn s a nd

1 1 0 ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

n ation al Norwegian airs, whilst n ot un frequently they inton e inchorus

Doolee r eedentem L a lagen (pronou n ce L a la -gh en ) amaboD oolc e loqu en tem.

”

They gather round us,forgetting the ven erable axiom, Mann ers

makyth ma n they pester us,a nd ask in roaring voices about

the English “ h esta r,for they n aturally hold us to be horse

dealers,a nd

,as the un iversal bow—legs Show

,all are horsey”

from babyhood . Their luggage con sists mainly of old saddles a nd

bridles,a nd of n ests of sealskin riding-bags . They talk politics,

they regret the old Icelan d repu blic,a nd they hope to see it on ce

more— this must be expected from studen ts,a nd we find it even

i n the law-abiding Brazil . Two of them are n ever sober, a n d hugehorn s of spirits acting bottles supply the dc gu oi : a ll drink hard

at each landing-place,which leads to the stool of repen tan ce

n ext morn ing. Their heartin ess,n ot to say their roughn ess

,is

dashed with a curious ceremon iousn ess : they n ever omit pullingOff their hats

,a n un comfortable practice perhaps less common

in Englan d than elsewhere ; they shake hands whose warts causea shudder ; a nd, when they exchange the parting kiss, it is withdeliberation—_ first prospecting the place, then plan ting a

“ rouser ”

upon each cheek,a nd fin ishing off full upon the mouth .

The Coryphaeus of the band is a little rather reverend,freshly

ordain ed a nd station ed at some hole in the Ska ga i’

rh,wh i ch

elicits n ot a few mild witticisms conn ectin g his domi cile with

purgatory. Sir Gu ttormr,wh o Violen tly objects to h i s n ame

being tran slated D ei vermi cu lu s,”makes the serious mistake of

disputing on Old Testamen t su bjects with Mr Levi, a NorwegianJ ew

, whom I had at on ce di agn osti c i sed a nd drawn out by a

Shalom lach : Apella is n ow going to try the n orth,last year

he a nd h i s partn er “ did ” the south . Their busin ess con sistedin women ’ s hair

,especially the tin ts which comman d such large

prices in the southern marriage-marts ; a nd, un less report greatlybelie them

,they collected their booty by screwing ” husbands

a nd broth ers up to th e cutting poin t with spirits .

Two hours ’ steaming through the maze of rocks placed us atFlatey. It occupies n early the cen tre of the Eyja -H repp (island



n orth-east over the wet grass a nd warty ground, a nd then turn edsouth-west towards a S loping a nd time-wrecked cross, crown edwith a n old bill y-cock a nd a fragmen tary stocking. This is n otin tended for irreveren ce, but to show that the place is to berespected by hawks

,raven s

,a nd strangers ; the utilitarian idea

comes from Norway, where, indeed, we must go for explan ation

ofmany Icelandic peculiarities . The eiders, here a nd in S tykki sh Olm,

float about the harbour tame as horse-pond geese ; at

times a Skua causes the duck to bolt with prodigious cackling,followed by its young

,piping their plain ts . The turf is

.

shavena nd hollowed to make the n ests

,which affect the wrinkles a nd

pock-marks of the surface,a nd the pla ces are marked by pegs

as at E ngey, some show eggs, others ducklings, whilst othersare aban don ed with the down carelessly left to decay.

We return ed on board in a greasy boat, with hu ge hooks fasten ed to wooden bars, a nd baited with flesh of the sharp-biting

pu ffin . The sea -parrot n ests in the sand,making holes two to

three feet deep,a nd clinging to on e an other when dragged out . The

head a nd feet,wings a nd en trails

,are often mixed with c ow-chips

for fuel,whil st the breast is sal ted . On this occasion ,

a nd manyothers

,I remarked that the sailors prefer turn ing sunways or to

the right (dea si l or dessi l), the left or widdershin s being heldun canny . The superstition is rather Aryan than Semitic, theformer affecting Pr a dakh sh ina

,whilst the T awaf of the latter

presen ts the sini ster shou l der. So in the marriage ceremony of

the Russian Church,bride a nd bridegroom thrice c i r c umambu

late the temporary altar.

J u n e 30 .

During the n ight we had steamed along the bold bluffs of Barh astrOn

'

d in the Sysla of that n ame : n ow we prepare to double the

great n orth-western projection of Iceland, which somewhat resembles south-western Irelan d. The coun try people exten d theright han d horizon tally : the thumb forms the length

,whose n ail

is Sn aefells ku ll ; the hollow between pollex a nd index represen tsthe Breih i Fj6r5 , a nd the other fingers are the digitation s of thea nn exe

, North Cape being the ring of the little finger.The day broke frosty but kindly

,like a fine November in

A SUMMER IN ICELAND . 1 1 3

England,with a sharp n orth wind, a nd a n oily sea under lee of the

lan d : stationary cirri stood high in air, a nd westward gleamed a

clear stretch ofgreen -blue sky. After Pa tr iksfj'

Orh,an other remn an t

of the Irar or E rin ers,a nd T alkn a fj

'

OrS (whal ebon e firth), bothof small importan ce

,we open A rn a rfjOr5 (Ern e firth), the most im

portan t in the n orth-west after the Isa i rh . Each gr eater ma ssif isjagged in to a saw-blade ofmi n or pen in sulas, forming shallow arcs,probably the work of an cien t glaciers meeting the Greenl an d ice

bergs, a nd every valley is n ow bisected by its own drain , set free

from the upper sn ow-fields . There is similarity but no samen ess in the wild view. The cliffs give th e idea of having been

shot up their presen t height perfect a nd complete ; the table

land,some 2000 feet high

,a nd

,of course

,sn ow-covered

,appears

evenl y upraised,yet laterally split in all di rection s by jagged

rifts . Seen i n profil e,the cliffs form a long perspective of

headl ands,quoin s

,a nd bluffs

,ranging between 500 a nd 1 500

feet in h eight ; a nd the strata appear to be horizon tal, or

little in clin ed. The bluffs,when faced

,represen t trap-ladders

alternating with layers of reddi sh tuff when distin ctly stepped,they often fall steep a nd sheer to the un fathomed sea ; in other

places they are footed by a talus of dc’

br i s . The former shape appears most commonl y in the southern projection s ; in the n orthern

tongues the Pluton ic spin es occupy far less area than the ver

dan t lowlands whi ch depend upon them,a nd theseshallow slopes

a nd pl a inl ets are the sites of homesteads . The bleak table-lands

above the bluffs are barely grown with hardy shrubs a nd gramen s ;the sn ow gradually in creases as we go n orthwards ; the patchesa nd powdering become

, long streaks, a nd at last they touch the

water’s edge,where eveiy wave besprinkles them . Thule is here

fairly Sn owland .

Al l these projection s culmi nate southwards in the great Glama

(clatter) system, a nd n orthwards i n the Dranga JOku ll,these

two being the on ly importan t masses in the n orth-western corn erof the islan d . They are said by those who have ascended them 1

1 In Ju n e 1 862 M r Sh eph erd a nd h i s pa r ty su cceeded in ma stering th e DrangaJoku l l . Upon th e summit t h e ba r ometer ma rked (a t sea -level 29 in ch es, notdegrees), a nd th e th ermometer 32° Glamu (Dict . , Glam, Glamr , Gla umr ,glamou r) i s tr a n sla ted

“n oisy JOku l l ,

” from th e h lj65 (Germ. La u t), or th eclamou r , th e cr a sh ing a nd cla sh ing of i c e-slips a nd tor ren ts .

VOL . II. H


to be becomi ng one great glacier,but as yet there are no exact

data whereby to calculate either the measure or the periodicityof abn ormal glacier action . The Glama throughout ou r cruisewas capped by clouds

,wh i ch occasion ally burst, a nd showed

the slope a nd shoulders of the great hun chback.

We then Open ed the long a nd winding sea-river kn own asD yr a fj

'

Or5 (wild-beast fir th ) ,1 at whose n orthern ben d rose the

ridge of Gn i’

i pr (Ga c u men ma n ti s), foreshortened to a regu l ar con e .A few farms were scattered about ; a nd behind Gnupr layMyrar,the n orthern station of the Fren ch frigate . The sea was by n o

mean s desert,we saw at the same time a schoon er a nd half-a

dozen lu ggers,Gauls a nd Dan es, the latter mostly confin ing

themselves to the A rn a rfj'

Or5 a nd the Isa fj'

Orh . This must be agood lin e to attack the western horn of the Glama

,upon wh ich

Gu nn l a u gsson places a trigon ometric mark, with farm -houses

a nd Skog ” (forest) extending eastward to its very base.The n ext feature was the On u nda rfj6r5 (On u ndr

’

s firth), whosetenan ts are famed for wearing the longest beards on the island .

The S i’

i ga nda i r5 is distinguished by its deposits of Surtarbran d

or lign ite,which the people throughout this part of Icelan d

declare to be foun d on the headl ands,n ot where we might

expect it,in the bays . Fin e specimen s were sen t to Englan d

last year a nd it is believed that a foreign.

company willtake the semi-min eral in hand .

We were now approach in g ou r third station,a nd shortly after

mid-day we turn ed “JOn ’

s” head east. I sa fja rha rdj i

’

ip,2 the deep

of the ice-fir th,a nd the largest of the n orth-western in lets is so

called because when first sighted by E loki it was filled with polaricebergs

,

3 merits the termi n al,as no bottom c a n be found at 300

1 D yr i s C gp, th eir , deer , a nd deer , in Icela nd especia lly a pplied to th e fox,

being th e on ly in su la r bea st of prey (Clea sby) .2 According to some loca l a u th or ities, I sa i rh i s th e mou th of th e Isa fja rh

‘

a rdj u p .

M r Sh eph erd (p . 92) lays down th a t th e bay-h ea d a nd th e town a r e ca ll ed Isa fj5r5 ,wh ilst Isa fj a rh a rdjup i s th e n ame of t h e wh ole.

3i sa being th e gen itive plu r a l of I ss, i c e. S ee page 5, T h e Th ou sa ndth

Ann iversa ry of th e Norwegia n Settlemen t of Icela nd, ” by JOn A . H j al ta l in ,R ey

kj a vik, 1 874 t h e S ta nda r d (Au gu st 25, 1 874) con fou nds th is a u th or with D rH j a lt al in ,

“ by fa r th e grea test a nd,most lea rned Icela nder of th e day . Some h ave

er ron eou sly derived it from Isa or Ysa , a coa l-fish or h a ddock,wh i c h i s h ere plen tifu l :th is Ga du s c a r bon a r i u s i s kn own to western Scotla nd by ma ny n ames . Th ey a recu ddies” wh en six to eigh t in ch es long, excellent ea ting in October ; wh en h err ing



other parts it lies upon the sands,a nd here the traveller pricks

as fast as he c a n .

Presen tly we turn ed south in to the Sku t i lsi rO shuttle,i .e. ,harpoon

,firth) , where the scen ery became even more im

pressive . The bottom of the bay was split,a nd the two forks ,

separated by a cen tral buttress,formed amphitheatres hoar with

sn ow above a nd each traversed by its own runn el . The breadth

of the mouth may be ten miles, a nd the twin cliffs of trap roseat least 1 200 feet. Many streamlets dashed a nd coursed down

the slopes ; here and there they started from the ground, these

features are always poin ted ou t as curiosities,but they S imply

result from the drain age of the cou loi r s a nd sn ow wreaths disappearing under the rocky groun d a nd reappearing

,perhaps ,

hundreds of feet'

below. We hugged the eastern side of thepictu resque firth

,A rn a n es

,a flat tongue grown over with farms

,

in order to avoid a fron ting spit or shallow. The con tinuity ofthe wall was broken by a deep corrie

,or curved scarp

,at whose

mouth stood homesteads with scattered Sheep ,apparen tly wa‘ited

upon by raven s . We then rounded a shall ow th at con tinues thesandspit of Eyri, a nd the clear way was hardly the length of ou r

steamer. There is a pilot for this bay,but HrWydh olm is “very

stiff a nd proud,

” demanding,for half-a n -hour’s work

,the u n

con scion able sum of ten r ixdolla rs specie. So we did very wellwithout h im ; likewise di d a plucky little Norwegi an cutterwhich followed JOn into the inn er harbour. Fortun ately the

weather was fin e : in last May Captain M ii ll er had been delayedtwo days by the sn ow.

Eyri, in the maps, is popularly kn own as Isa fj'

Orh . Theformer term} throughou t the island, mean s a sandspit, in placesequivalen t? to the Greek Za nkle : it is applied to the sicklelike banks of san d a nd shingle

,which we first n oticed from the

E sja summit ; the effect of confluen ce, influ en t meeting effluen t .

H ere the lin e sets off from the western shore a nd bends first tothe south-west

,a nd then to the south-east

,i n the shape of a n

1 It mu st n ot be con fou n ded, a s some tr a veller s h a ve don e, with Eyr a ," a n ea r .

Eyr i is th e modern form of E yrr , th e Sh etla nd U r ie, a nd th e Swedish Or : e. g .,

Helsing-Or , ou r E lsin ore. E yr-byggj a r a re men wh o bu ild i n Eyr i s a nd, h en ce,

t h e E yrbyggj a S aga .

”T h e fea tu re

,like t h e H olmr

,wa s u sed for ba ttle-pla in s

th u s Ga nga fi t a eyr i, i s to figh t a du el (Clea sby) .

A SUMMER i N ICELAND . 1 1 7

inverted letter S,forming a close dock, seven fathoms deep ,

along shore : as we glided in ,a perfect calm succeeded the cold

a nd violen t r afa les outside . This Eyri may be 600 feet broad

at the base ; here are a few scattered hovels, a n eglected graveyard a nd a wooden Church a nd steeple, with the gen eral look of

a card-house . About the middle it thicken s to a quarter of

a mil e,formi ng the body of the settlemen t, a bit of en closed

meadow-land a nd a rough square, the houses being i ndepend

en tly oriented,but mostly facing n orth. The top fin es off in to a

Spit S ixty feet across,a nd prolonged under water : it carries a single

establishmen t of five sheds , a n in cipien t windmill, a nd tarpaulin

covered heaps of dried c od—we shall take in a small cargo of

heads for Gra fa rOs . The streets are made simply by removing

the ston es ; we coun t five flags, all Dan ish ; the old houses are

faded black a nd white,the n ew pink, grey, a nd yellow,

a nd there

are three roofs of very bright pigs-blood,such as delight the

Brazilian eye . A single landing -place a nd several abortiveattempts at piers Show private n ot public spirit. The settlemen thas been sketched by Mr Shepherd

,whose fron tispiece makes

the Eyri far too n arrow ; also ou r View of the same was by no

mean s so roman tic a nd startling in colour as his .After feeding we ascended the eastern preci p i ce

,which shows

two distin ct steps a nd a broken OOping. The n ew comer wouldexpect a dry walk over the grass growing below the shun t of

rubbish we now kn ow it to be a quaking bog, the effect of re

ten t ive fibrous roots,even upon the rapid slope. Murmuring

runn els,which from the shore appear mere threads

,become

deep gulli es,garn ished on either side with roc ks a nd boulders

,

shot down from the perpendicular cliffs. The weather was that

of August in England,fostering a pretty little vegetation

,yet

we soon reached a deep patch of sn ow. The drainage flows in to

the FjOrh , a nd the sea-water tasted almost sweet.After a bird

’

s-eye View of the settlemen t we return ed on

board. I n all these places flaps of whale a nd porpoise meathung ou t to dry, a nd huge vats a nd tun s

,reeking with high

shark-liver,diffuse a n odour distin ctly the reverse of spicy a nd

Sabaean . The deck-was crowded with open -mouthed sight-seers,

who walked round us as if we had been lately floated over from


Green land, a nd who,between cigar-puffs

,loudly asked on e

an other, What c a n they be ? ” I n the even ing they .will befou ”

a nd fond . On ou r return we were fortun ate en ough tomeet Hr T h orwa ldr JOn sson

,son of our friend Hr Gu hmu ndsson

of Reykjavik : he Speaks Fren ch,as M e

’

dec i n d’

I sagi r h on h i s

card shows, a nd he kindly gave me a n amu let of Surtarbrand,engraved with “ run es —the form is not found in Baring-Gould

’

scollection .

T H E AM ULE T .

But n either he,

n or a ny . other ma n,could enlighten my

curiosity as to the islan d which Pon tanus,or rather his mapper

,

Giorgiu s Carolus Fla ndru s, places Off the n orth-west coast. Allbeing mere drongs a nd skerries, I was forced to the con clusionthat In sula Gou berma n ” is only the Gu n nbjOrn Skerries of

Ivar Ba rdsen forced h undreds of mi les'

to the east .It was n early ten P.M . when we steamed ou t of the Isa i rh .

We passed a number of shallow-bran ched fir th s , combin ing to formthe JOku lfirh i r

,which well merits its n ame ; at the bottom to the

south-east rise the roots a nd outliers of the Dranga sn ow-dome .After some two hours ’ steami ng we turn ed to the east a nd en teredthe C ron ian Sea

,

” where old Saturn ,plan ter of the vin e

,lies

sleeping in his pumice cave . There was a solemn charm in thisend of the world of men . A n arch of golden gleam in the westthrew a slan ting light upon the n oble bluff ofKOgr (thea nd the gian t range of trap bluffs which faces the Pole

,forms



sta h a nesh ofh i , head of the n aze of Balka sta h i r or Balk (bul khead) stead.

1 On the western of the two dwarf holms, H ri’

i tey,

appeared a cross,warn ing us to respect the eider-duck both

belong to the Sysluma h r , whose Baer is on the left bank Opposite .

From a li ttle holl ow in the right bank curled the thin bluevapour of the Reykir (hot springs) , a nd south of it stood T hO

roddsta h ir,a house with five gables a nd large tun .

After eighteen hours’ r u n we an chored i n rapidly shoali ngwater

,over a bottom of deep mu d outlying black sand, at Bor5

eyri,the table-spit

,so called because that article of furn iture

was foun d there : a min iature copy of ou r last Eyri, based upon

the western side,projects a few yards to the south-east. Three

plank-pierlets without caisson s a nd removed, as usual, in win ter,outlie two establishmen ts ; in Messrs Shepherd

’s (1 862) a nd

Baring-Gould’s day (1 863) there was on ly a single shed, desertedwhen the season ends . One is salmon -coloured

,the other yellow

white ; on e fli es a flag ; both are double-storied, a nd both aresurrounded by peat-houses . The scen e is wonderfully an imated ;this is the Open ing of the H a ndelst id,

”

or annual fair,attended

by all the coun try-side ; on e long day’s ride brings men from

S tykki sh élm,a nd in forty-eight hours they c a n make Gr a fa rOs .

Strings of poni es, somewhat better grown than usual, are descending the hills, a nd groups of farmers a nd peasan ts flock in to the

two comptoirs,buying a nd sell ing for the year. They exchange

rough gr eetings, stand on the shore staring with in ten se in quisit iven ess

,a nd scramble

,like climbing bears

,over the laddered

sides of the two Dan ish brigan tin es,wh i ch have affected the

place during the last n in e years . Thi s,with a con siderable

amoun t of hard drinking a nd loud hymn -singing at n ight,form

the on ly visible humours of the foi r e in the far n orth. Thestation s of the Speku la n ts or shop-ships, a nd their length of stay,

1 Sta5 r (plu r . Sta 5ir), ou r stea d,

seconda r ily mea n s a ch u rch esta blishmen t,

see, conven t, ch apel, a nd so forth . T h e ch u rch con test,

”or stru ggle

,between

t h e clergy a nd la ity a bou t th e ownersh ip a nd a dmin istra tion of ch u r ch es a ndglebes,Wh ich bega n a t th e end of th e th irteen th cen tu ry, a ndwa s pa rtia lly settled byt h e a greemen t of A . D . 1 296

, h a s diffu sed th is word fa r a nd wide th rou gh Icela nd .

Th u s t h e h ea th en Fell, Hr a u n , HO11, a nd M elr became S t aOa r -fell, S ta h a r -h r a u n ,

S ta h a r-h Oll,a nd Mell-S ta h a r . On th e oth er h a nd, th e plu ra l S ta h i r i s frequ en t in

loca l n ames of th e paga n time, a s H OSku lds-S ta h ir , Alreks-S ta h i r , etc . (Clea sby) .


are fixed by law,a nd all are Dan es, the Icelan ders have too

li ttle spirit for this work : the primitive system reminded me of

the banyan s at Berberah a nd of the trade-boats on the Amazon as .

The holds are fitted up like shops, with desk a nd coun ter ; the

stores supply all the wan ts of a primitive people— dry-goods,clothes a nd caps

,saddlery

,wool-carders, quern s of basalt, a nd

spinn ing-wheels ; sugar, grain ,tobacco

,a nd, especially, the rye

spi rits,with wh i ch all purchasers, male a nd female, are copiously

dren ched . These,a nd a mu l titude of n otion s, are exchanged

for wool a nd c ider -down ,dried -meat

,salt -fi sh , a nd a few

fox-skin s .We landed

,for n earer in spection ,

in a dingy propelled by

a single S cull aft ; a common style called Rempe But ir, whichthe li ttle Reverend

,who has a queer mann er of “wut

,

” tran slates

progressio podi c i a n a .

”On shore the violen t flaws a nd gr a i ns

:

were stilled,a nd the su n shon e with a gen ial warmth . The

Sysluma h r,in gold-laced c ap a nd un iform button s, made a c te dc

p r esen c e, to keep order. The peasan t women wore white head

kerchiefs over the usual black fez,a nd in stead of shawls short

fi c h u s, which reached only to the waist ; they man aged their

baggy petticoats with some art as they swarmed over the gu n

wale of the store ships ; a nd their side-saddl es had unusually

elaborate foot-boards,with backs of worked brass . Dry meat

hung in plen ty,but it was very like donkey, or the roast-beef of

Sierra Leon e . Heaps of wool lay upon the groun d for sale ; it isa very poor article

,half-rotten before it is plucked off :

'

after

gathering,

” it is scalded,or rather boiled, in caldron s, placed

in frames,rin sed with cold water

,a nd dried on ston es or turf.

The own ers asked on e shilli ng per pound, a nd con sulted us about

the chan ce of making mon ey at Hull : '

a more likely spec. here

would be to import wool .We then strolled up coun try, begin n ing with the bare Mel

bakki,so common along the shores of these n orthern Fj6r5s

,a low

dorsum of earth a nd ston e, from which the sn ow has on ly justmelted ; too steep for turf, a nd kept bare by the furiou s winds .Often

,as in this case, it is the bank of a n Old torren t-bed . T o

t h e n orth-west the land again seemed to offer a fair walk : OldExperien ce had taught us that we shall have to bog-trot from


tussock to tussock, to paddle through ankl e-deep waters, a nd tocross turf-fen s

,which look solid a nd yet admit you to the calf.

The drainage of these hill s would supply a little ri ver,but

,

as usual,it S inks, or rather lies . The turbaries

,so deadly to

the growth of trees,were judged by the Fren ch expedition the

on ly safe station s for observation s of magn etism ; elsewhere thecellular dolerite

,con tain ing oxydu la ted titan iferous iron ,

deflected

the n eedle 1 ° to 1 ° Upon the slope we found what appearedto be a LOgberg (law-moun t), artificially raised above the swamp ;partly revetted on the top with turf

,which had been stripped

Off for use,a nd en circled by a remnant of similar vallum . Ice

appeared at the foot of the basaltic rises .The summit

,den oted by the usual Va rh a s

,commanded the

n earer Hei5i,a desolate lan d

,a scatter of moor-ponds a nd bogs ,

everywhere altern ating with heaps a nd swathes of ston e,a nd

with dark moun ds wearing cravats of n e've’ . To the south-south

east was a gran d view of amphi theatral sn ow moun tain s ; thewestern flank rose in a shallow dome of pu rest white : we judgedit to be the E yr iks ku ll , whose roman tic a nd, of course, murderous tale has often been told ; whil e to the east Ba llj

’

Oku ll (hardJO

'

ku ll a lower elevation,Showed dark-blue rocks

,which had

worn their win ter garb to strips . These outliers were backed bya radian t semicircle of peaks

,which

,in the slan ting su n ,

assumed

splendi d rainbow hues.

J u ly 2 .

The JOn made a long halt at Borh eyr i ; she found on ly twoshore-boats for discharging goods, a nd these were dingies towed

by a rope : it was past two P .M . befor e we steamed ou t in to thegreat H i

’

i n aflOi . Skyey influen ces appear to be peculiarly

capricious on the shores of the Cron ian Sea . Morni ng ; cloudy,with southerly wind

,a nd clear with n orth-easter, suggesting

a “ lady’s passage .” Noon ; thermometer in su n 81°

(F ), inshade although sn ow is upon the shi ne ; with the sea, as atGran ton ,

i n altern ate stripes of deep -blue a nd silvery azure .Aftern oon ; a Mediterran ean ,

plus the n ormal long roll,a nd

a biting breath from the n orth ; a nd, later still , the seal

-fog a nda return of warmth under the protection of Skaga i rh . At five



We failed to sight inhospitable little Grimsey, wh i ch employs itsspare hours i n adorn ing porr idge-pots with the Run ic kn ot or

snake .When abreast of long

,h igh

,a nd broken M almey (Malm or

san d isle) , bluff at both ends, we had fairly en tered the Skagafj

'

Or5 , which my classical frien d tran slates S i n u s gu i ami n et

he is less happy with Gr a fa rOs,osti um sep u ltu r oe ; Gro

’

f, as in

Grafar-laekr,here mean s the deeply-en cased bed of a stream .

A little farther we left to starboard a triad of islands classical inIceland story. The n orthern rock-n eedl e bears the common

n ame Karl (old ma n ), whose hip, the Kerling (carlin e) , to thesouth, suggests a ship under sail. The middle, a nd by far the

largest, feature is D rangey, a n area of 800 square yards, risingsteep -to some 600 feet high

,a nd in accessible except on the

south, where the cliff breaks, a nd where adven turous cragsmen

swarm up to rob birds’ n ests . It is on e of the richest of its kind,a nd it is kn own far a nd wide as the last refuge ofGrett ir Asmu ndarson , popularly Grett ir the Strong.

” The mill enn ial lithographsimply says of this strong ma n

,outlaw for twen ty years, a nd

died in this capacity.

” While telling the tale of his well-meriteddeath, the Icelandic speaker

’s eyes,to my wonder a nd con fusion ,

filled with tears : I could n ot but think ofmy poor frien d James

Hun t, who died of a broken heart because An thropology” was

n ot welcomed by the British Ass .” The Oxon ian abridgesthe prodigious long yarn spun by the Gretla , a nd Shows theWilliam Wallace of Iceland

,

” as the outlaw is called by theadmirers of muscu l ar u n -Christian ity

,to have been , p a ce Mr

Morris, even for Iceland, a superior ru ffia n . With few exc ep

tion s, we may say the same of the Saga heroes gen erally, a nd

it is ethn ologically in teresting to con trast their excessive Scandin avian destructiven ess with the Ishmaelitic turn of the Bedawin— the reader has on ly to glan ce at the pages of An tar, tran slated by Terry Hamilton . But the Arab, though essen tially athief a nd a murderer

,boasting that blood is man ’s on ly dye, a nd

that ba ttle’ i s to h im like mann a a nd quails, has a soft corn er in

his heart wh i ch the Iceland poet lacked ; he was chivalrous asa kn ight-erran t i n his treatmen t of women ; h e was great upon

the subject of platon ic love,whose place in the hyperborean


n orth is poorly occupied by friendship,however tender a nd true ;

h i s poetry was in spired by the su n ,n ot by etern al ice a nd sn ow ;

a nd,like all the peoples of the glowing south

,his fiery savagery

is gloomed by a peculiar a nd classic shade of sadn ess . Witn ess

this address of the dying Bedawi to his fellow-clan smen

O bea r away my bon es wh en th e camel bea r s h i s loa d,And bu ry me beside you , if bu r ied I mu st be ;

And bu ry not my bon es’

n ea th th e bu rden of th e vine,Bu t h igh u pon th e h ill, to be sigh ted a nd to see ;

An d ca ll a lou d you r n ames a s you pa ss a long my gr ave,For h a ply sh a ll th e voice of you r evive th e bon es ofme.

I h ave fa sted with my fr iends du r ing life a nd i n my dea th ;I will fea st with you th e day wh en th e meeting sh a ll be free.

We may compare the sen timen t with that of the Roman epitaph,

Hic pr opter viam posi tu sU t di c a n t pr aeter eu n tes

Lolli, va le 1

”

A nd on e might quote by the score such in scription s as

Have, a n ima du l cis

which breathe onl y the most tender melan choly . This sen ti

men t,apparen tly unkn own to the rugged a nd realistic soul of

the n orth,is felt deepest in the brightest climates

,for in stan ce

,

amongst the Hin dus,a nd gen erally the races which inhabit the

Lan ds of the S u n .

” Nor amongst the Arabs do we find the

abomin able heroin es of Scandinavia ; the grimmest a nd hardest

hearted of all women,

” adulteresses all a nd murderesses,justify

ing the Norsk proverb, Woman’ s coun sel is ever cold

The eastern shore of the Naze Firth then showed T hOrtSa rh t i,

a majestic headlan d of black lava,coi led a nd writhed

,whose

cen tral hollows are striped with yellow clay washed from above ;whose upper crags lodge the eagle a nd his brood

,a nd whose base

is cavern ed by the ceaseless on slaughts of the waves . At first

it seems a n island, backed by its lakelet, the H t a rva tn,but

it is conn ected with its mainl and by strips of n atural causeway

to the nOr th a nd south, n ot unl ike Etruscan Orbetello . Wildstrawberries are said to flourish in the well-sheltered h ollows .


From about Gra fa rOs it wears the aspect of a couchan t lion,

a nd doubtless it was of old,like Helgafell

,a Holy Hill. T h e

T h Orh r who gave it a n ame was a n illuster a nd va ilzea nd c om

piou n of Irish blood a nd fifth in descen t from Ragn ar L OObrok

(hairy-breeks)} on e of the most unpleasan tly truculen t person s

in Scandin avian myth. His epicedium or death-song, of coursecomposed for a nd n ot by h im

,the only refrain of whose twen ty

n in e stan zas is

We h ewed wi th th e h anger (H i uggom ver meh h i a u rvi—Pu gna vimu s ens ibu s),

very adequately represen ts his sen timen ts a nd his career : itreads as if it had been in spired by the Destroying Angel . Thesoon er this style of literature

,which deals in every mann er of

cide from parricide to vulpecide,becomes obsolete in Ice

land the better. Imagin e a decen t,respectable Protestan t pater

familias,by way of whiling away the long win ter even ings

,

reading out these revolting a nd remorseless horrors to his wife “

a nd daughters : I should feel as if treated to the Curse of

E rn u lph u s .

The n ext feature was Hos s, a scatt ered settlemen t, with itschapel

,first a pagan temple a nd then a Catholic church ; it is

marked by a hill rising bluff above th e U n a da lr Won e” or

dwell vale) , a little stream which accoun ts for the term oyec .”

A mile or so farther south lies Gr a fa rOs,a nd here we an chored

,

after a pleasan t cruise of fourteen hours from Bor5eyr i . Th i scomptoir

,chosen by Mr Henderson of Glasgow

,is very badly

placed : the n orther raises a surf which c a n make landing impossible for a fortn ight

,a nd

,as we could see

,the south wind at

on ce breaks the Skaga i r‘

h in to dangerous waves . Surely safe

ground cOu ld be found under the lee of the grand Th Orh a r -head .

1 T h e L odbroka r Kvi’

Oa (L odbrog’

s Qu oth ) or Krakumal, so ca lled from th emyth ica l la dy” Kr aka , wa s tr a n sla ted (1 782) by th e R ev. J ames J oh n stone, A . M .

ch a pla in to th e Br itish Emba ssy a t Copenh agen . It i s given by Hender son (ii .345 wh o believes— Qsa n c ta simp li c i ta s l—th a t t h e ru fli a n ,wh o proba bly n everexisted, h imself composed th e “ wa r like a nd fer ociou s song .

”T h e word Kvi5a

,

or lay, der ives from Kvehj a , cogn a te with th e English qu ote a nd qu oth .

”



Now a glin t of sun shin e settled upon sn owy top a nd glaucousslope, then a white mist robed a nd capped the shadowy mountain s

,catching the reflection of Bifrost, the bridge

‘

of the gods,

a fragmen t of gaudy rainbow. An on a Span of pale-blue firmamen t con trasted with the mackerels’ backs a nd mares ’ tales towindward ; whil st to leeward the dark curtain of purple cloud,hanging in rugged edges over the red a nd black hil ls

,made the

distan ces dim,dimmer

,a nd dimmest. The in evitable

_

a c c om

pa n imen ts of this feature were the ghostly forms of pale birdsfighting with the wind ; the times p erdu es whi ch attract the

voyager’s eye on the beautiful Bosphorus .We landed to in spect the one—horse settlemen t of Gra fa ré s ,

which con sists of a small temporary landing-place, a tarred store ,su ndry ston e-a nd-peat huts

, a nd a double-storied red house flying a flag ; a few farms are scattered about in lan d, as well as onth e shore . A single schoon er lay at an chor. North of the comptoi r

,a nd forming a bay in the bare raised bank

,is the ostium'

of the D ei lda rda lr (dole-dale)1 river

,a ten th-class Icelandic

stream,which

,despite its low degree, c an look first-rate in vio

len ce . There is a ford n ear the settlemen t,but elsewhere the

water courses over a succession of steps a nd ledges, which wou l d

deter anyth i ng but that wild horse who is kn own to swim thewilder flood . By th i s time we had seen en ough of Hofs,

”a nd

we con ten ted ourselves with strolling up the warm a nd gen ialvalley, a bed of violets .Gra fa rOs was formerly

,a nd is still at times

,frequen ted by

English smacks in search of whale a nd seal Oi l . These cockl eshells

,mann ed by four a nd five men ,

the little fr iggi ts of ou r

an cestors,n ot larger than the Icelandic sharker

,

” work theircourse by dead reckon ing a nd often come to grief. It is theterminu s of ou r voyage, a nd we could only regret that the JOn

”

had n ot orders to make a circuit of the island— regrets tempered,

however,by the thought th at we had seen by far the fierc er a nd

the more in teresting half. N0 better or easier way than this toform a gen eral idea of the formation ; it requires on ly supplemen ting by a few cross-cuts through the in terior.

1 Th is common term i s expla ined in Ch a p. XIII .

A SUMME R IN ICELAND . 1 29

Th e studen ts had a ll left us, a nd here ou r now pleasan t partybroke up . The bishop’s daughter a nd her two friends had the

choice of riding some twen ty miles round the Skaga fj5r5 head,or of crossing it by boat

,a n easy process which

,however

,did n ot

seem to have charms for them. We bade affection ate farewell

to S i’

ra Gu ttormr,whose beat is from R ipr (the crag) in Helga

n es to Keta n ear the n orth-eastern extremity of the H fin ava tn

pen in sula— h e seems to look upon it as a mean place. The

reverend has no pay,properly so called

,a nd h i s “ livi ng is ex

pressed by the con tribution s of his parishion ers : truly a ma n

must have a vocation for such a life !

Late in the aftern oon the JOn turn ed h i s head n orthwards,

a nd on July 6 steamed in to Reykjavik harbour. We shook

hands with ou r excellen t captain,a nd heartily wished h im every

success, a nd bade a n adieu wh i ch was destin ed to be a n a u

r evoi r .

VOL . II .


C H A P T E R X I .

To HEKLA AND THE GEYS IR IN HAUKAD ALR .

1

THIS is indeed a Cockn ey trip, but a visit to Iceland withoutit wou l d be much like Dan te’s Commedia with the In fern o

omitted.

SECTION I .

—To KR ISUVIK,THE WESTERN SULPHUR-FIELD .

Mr Chapman a nd I determin ed to secure comparative n ovelty

by a hysteron proteron,

” beginn ing with the Cope a nd

ending with the Gusher a nd the T h i ngpla in La ke .We hastily collected the small quan tity of h a r nogs dc

gu eu le absolutely required— ma n eats less when travelling,a nd more when voyaging. Our stores represen ted a h am

,one

serving for on e mouth per mon th ; a couple of sausages,to be

avoided when thi rst is threaten ed ; four loaves of rye -bread

(each 6 lbs . on e ma n per week) sn u fl’

,cigars

,a nd pigtail for

friendsh ip ; small change for £5 ; a nd, lastly, two mighty kegsof schn apps

,the load of on e-twelfth ou r carriage . The Fylgju

ma‘

5r (leader) was Pa u dl (Pall ) Eyi’

i lfsson ,before men tion ed as

the “Fren ch guide our L estama h r (“ last” driver) was

“ Smalls,

”

1 I kn ow n o rea son wh y we sh ou ld con serve su ch vetera n blu n ders a s Heclaa nd Geyser .

”T h e la tter h a s a lrea dy been expla ined . T h e former

,wh ose fu ll

form i s H eklu -fja ll, der ives from Hekla (akin to H Oku l l , a pr iest ’s cope), mea n inga cowled or h ooded frock, kn itted of va r iou s colou r s , a nd a pplied to th e “ Vesu viu sof th e North ,” from i ts c ap a nd body vest of sn ow . Icela nders u su a lly tra n sla teit a ch as u ble, beca u se i t s r ou nded bla ck sh ou lders bea r stripes of wh ite, su pposedto resemble th e cross ca rr ied to Ca lva ry.



T h ingva llava tn ,a nd ou r morrow’s ride will subtend its southern

flank . Immedi ately below the western l pes, which are regular,lies the Kl eifava tn (cliff water) ,

1 a lake of in ten sely gloomyshore . The dark waters

,ending south in a swamp, were lashed

by the win d in to mimic waves,a n d the shores were grislymasses,

stan ding a nd fall en,of dark Palagoni te

,a conglomerate of small

a nd large breccia,easily washed in to gaps a nd clefts, arches a nd

cavern s . I could n ot but remember the Lake of Hums so simi

lar,a nd yet so differen t

,under the glowing Syrian sky ; the pic

tu resqu e con trasts of cultivation a nd desert con trasting with thelava-boun d water

,a nd the memory-haun ted stream which on ce

found a mouth at Rome

In T iber im deflu xi t Oron tes .

Cutting across a h i ll-brow we sighted a tall,white plume

whose fibrils,causing many a cough

,suggested the end of this

day’ s march . The Icelandic traveller who has n ot read T he

Great Sulphur C u re of Dr Robert Pa i rma n,often lands with

the idea that inhaling sulphur-vapour is unwholesome,as the

sulphuric acid a nd the sulphuretted hydrogen are decidedly u n

pleasan t : he soon corrects the impression ,finding the people Of

the two great brimston e cen tres exceptionally healthy. The

Kr i su vik di ggings are upon a lin e of volcan ic hills,runn ing from

n orth-n orth-east to south-south-west,a nd their irregular a nd tor

men ted flanks con trast sharply with the mon oton ous Langa h l i’

h

wall,rising opposite them. The Ket ill

”

(caldron ) Of Krfsu vfk,

a huge corrie,

” when ce the puffs come,lies high up the four

Brenn i stein s Namur are low upon the eastern flank,with the

little blu e pond, Gr aen ava tn ,farther to the south . The scen e is

that of solfataras gen erally,a distempered land of disordered

cuticle,bright red

,brass -yellow

,slate-grey

,pink

,purple

,pale

green,brown -

'black,a nd leprous white ; the water is milky a nd

slimy,a nd even the dwarf will ow a nd jun iper cease to gr ow.

“ Exhalation s of sulphurous acid,sulphuretted hydrogen, steam,

a nd sulphur, burst in wild di sorder from the hot ground.

” 2

1 Klei fa r i s a loca l n ame i n West Icela nd, from Kleif, a r idge of cliffs orsh elves in a mou n ta in -side (C lea sby) .2 Professor Tynda ll (loc. cit . ) tell s u s th a t th e “ two first ga ses ca nnot exist


M a rtednn looked at R i’

ka rh u r,a nd vi ce ver sd ; both had

expected n ot a single block, a mere patch, but a sulphur region

to be measured by many square miles .We passed two huts

,one of iron , the other of wood, with

ore-heaps lying around them,a nd

,scrambling through a bog, we

rode up to the Krfsu vik chapel a nd the three-gabled farm-house

of a little widow,Mrs I ngveldr H a n n es tt ir . The district is

tolerably popu l ous ; on the flanks of the various rises we coun tedfive farms

,fringed with haystacks, under sticks a nd turf, a nd

white poni es dotted the long, swampy expan se, between th e

Kri su vfkfell , a lump n orth of the chapel,the A rn a rfja ll to the

south-east,capped by a spitz or bec

,a nd the long slope leading

to the Krfsu vfku rberg, the precipice some 200 feet tall which

boldly faces the D eu c a ledon i a n main . Unhappily Henderson ’ s

fi ne port is utterly absen t ; on the other hand, it is said that a n

easy lin e of tramway has been traced from the head of the Klei favatn to H a fn a i rh .

The day’ s work surprised us,we had n ot yet realised the

shortn ess of the distan ces travelled over. This mild march also

has been called a “ man iac ride on e of the wildest in the

world .

” It is,however

,on ly fair to own that we took the lake

road,which is not laid down in the map, a nd that a few yards

on either side of the way would ofler as many difficulties as thehorseman ,

however ambitious,could desire .

The steepleless chapel,wh i ch was n ot worse than that of

Bl i’

i dan,had lost its key

,a nd when the latter was found

,the

cabin proved a store a nd a lumber-room : clothes hung to theseats

,milk stood to cream

, a nd salt barrels cumbered the floor.A coffin

,un furn ished

,also stood on a beam : the idea under

lyin g this premature precaution is that i t prolongs the own er’ s

life . Here the chapel is the moun tain -stove of Norway,the

Indian traveller’ s bungalow,a nd the Sin d mosque in which

Ka firs ate pork a nd drank win e . We pitched the ten t n ear the

byres,where broken bottles showed the habits of civili sation

,

amicably togeth er . In Icela nd th ey wage in cessa n t wa r , mu tu a lly decomposeea ch oth er , a n d sca tter th eir su lph u r over th e steaming fields . In th is wa y th etr u e solfa ta r a s of t h e isla n d a re formed .

”H e der ives t h e va pou r of su lph u r i n

n a tu re from th e a ction of h ea t u pon certa in su lph u r compou nds .


a nd slept despite the n ormal evil,cold feet caused by riding in

a hard head-wind. The frequen t weary halts to adjust packsaddl es should be utilised for restoring circulation . L es p i cote

men ts son t p lu s i n commodes qu e le fr oi d lu i justlyremarks M. Ga ima rd

’

s expedition ; a nd the Fren ch doctor advises

the feet to be gradually warmed, or they will swell a nd cause

dema ngea i sons, which preven t rest. Above all things avoid theBrazilian wrinkle

,so valuable again st damp i n tropical climates

— a glassful of spirits poured in to the riding -boots . Wemust n ot leave the sulphur-field without some n otice of thesupply.

From Captain,n ow Commodore

, C ommerell’

s Reports, datedLeith

,Ju l y 9

,1 857, we learn that the min es of Kr i su vik

were worked from 1 723 to 1 730, with con siderable'

profit duringthat year

,a ll the sulphur con sumed in Denmark a nd Norway

a nd the Duch i es was obtain ed from there,but on e of the own ers

,

who had also been the director in Iceland,dying

,the min es were

abandon ed in con sequen ce .”

In 1 833,a merchan t of Copenhagen

,a Mr Ken i dzen ,

obtain ed

on e large cargo of sulphur from Kr i su vik ; the affair was man aged

through a n agen t or factor,whose misman agemen t was the prin

c ipa l cause of failure,sin ce then on ly a few ten s having been

taken by the peasan ts for home use .”

The actual exten t of the sulphur beds it is quite impossibleto calculate ; but from Kr i su vik to H engi ll (the moun tain masssouth-west of the

'

Th ingva ll ava tn ) forty-seven have been discovered, the distan ce of the latter (former ?) place to H avn efiord

(H a fn a fj'

Orh ) is from fourteen to fifteen miles,but the road is

much more hilly. The deposit of sulphur I person ally saw atKr i su vik must amoun t to many thousan d ton s ; hitherto thesulphur taken away has been reproduced in two or three years

,

all the mi n es,or n early a ll

,being in a living state . Sulphur in

a pure state,I have little doubt

,could be supplied at H avn efiord

for £1 per ton .

We are also told that Dr Hja lta li’

n,a n Icelander a nd mi n er

a logi st , who was ordered by the Dan ish Governmen t to reporton the sulphur beds, in formed Captain C ommer c ll that thoseat Kr isu vik could be worked very easily

,producing a large



In the last century it was the n orthern end of the volcan ic

diagonal,n ear about M yva tn ,

where,accordi ng to the Icelandic

records,the kind of pseudo-volcan ic action was most vigorous ,

by which the boili ng springs are set in Operation a nd the

sulphur deposits are formed ; but a violen t eruption of the mu d

volcan o Krabla,to a great exten t buried the then active strata

ben eath en ormous masses of volcan ic mud a nd ashes, so thatthe en ergy has been probably tran sferred along the lin esouthwards . 1

The Kr i su vik springs are in a valley ben eath some h i ghmoun tain s . They are reached by a track

,so n arrow that there

is n o more than room to enable horses to pass along i t—acrossthe brink a nd along the side of a vast hollow

,termed the kettle .

’

Following this rude track,the Ket i l st ip,

’ the summit of therange of hill s

,is reached whi ch overlooks Kr i su vik. I n the

midst of a green a nd exten sive morass,in terspersed with a few

lakes,are caldron s of boiling mu d

,some of them fifteen feet in

diameter, n umberless jets of steam,a nd boiling mu d issuing from

the ground,in many in stan ces to the height of six or eight feet .

Sir George Macken zie (wh o was accompani ed by Sir Hen ry,then Doctor

,Holl and

,n ow the Presiden t of the Royal In sti

tu tion ) , in his justly - celebrated Travels in Iceland,i n

gives a vivid word-picture of the scen e . It is impos

sible,’ he writes

,to convey adequate ideas of the wonders of

its terrors . The sen sation of a person ,even of

’

firm n erves,standing on a support wh i ch feebly sustain s h im,

where literally fire a nd brimston e are in in cessan t action ,

h avmg beforehis eyes tremendous proofs of what is going on ben eathh im

, enveloped in thick vapours,h i s ears stunn ed with

thundering n oises— these c a n hardly be expressed in words,a nd c a n only be con ceived by those who have experien cedthem .

’ 2

On the other side of the moun tain s subterran ean heat is alsoman ifested, a nd hot springs, ac compani ed by sulphur beds, a re

also found ; but they have n ot been as thorough ly examin ed

1 T h e Jou rn a l sh ows h ow grea t th is mistake i s .—R . F . B .

3 T h e descr iption i s prodigiou sly exaggera ted. -R . F . B .


ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

being broken , the sulphu r would be quietly floated to the ground,in stead of being carried up the sides of the hill s

,~and thus more

widely distributed.

With little variation the gen eral appearan ce of the‘ solfataras ’ over the space of twen ty-five miles along the volcan icdiagonal is much alike : a n elevation about two feet high a nd

three feet in diameter,which is composed of a dark-bluish-black

viscid clay,forms a complete circle round the mouth of a medium

S ized spring. The water is sometimes qu i escen t,a nd sunk about

two feet within the aperture ; at other times it is ejected, with

great hissing a nd roaring n oise,to the height of from five to

eight feet. At all times clouds of steam,strongly impregn ated

T H E SULPH UR SPR IN G.

with sulphuretted hydrogen a nd sulphurous acid gas, issue fromthe orifice

,both of which

,during a n eruption of the water, are

greatly augmen ted in quan tity. From the dark coloured a nd

elevated margin of the foun tain the yellow crust of crystallisedsulphur extends a great distan ce in every direction . Column sof steam ascen d from numberless poin ts in the whole district,wh ich are thus impregnated ; a nd thus it is that, apparen tlyfor ages past

,sulphur has been gradually heaped up in this

locality till there are actually hills,which

,as far as they have

yet been pierced,show sulphur earth to be their main c on


sti tu en ts . Hen ce they have acquired the n ame of the Sulphur

Moun tain s .The soil is of differen t colours, but most gen erally white .

It is,in the vicin ity of the springs, a viscid earth, less plastic

than clay,a nd more readi ly broken .

When excavation s are made in to this earth, it is foun d to be

composed of multitudin ous layers, of differen t colours or shades

of colour,each layer being quite distin ctly divisible from those

above a nd below it,though frequen tly n o more than a n in ch or

two in thickn ess .It is much to be regretted that the good example set by

Olafsen a nd Povelsen of investigating the n ature of the earth’ s

crust round about the solfataras, by piercing the soil, has n ot

been more frequen tly carried out . In the summer of last yearon e of the suggestion s which I made for the in struction of a n

expedition to this place,was that boring implemen ts should be

taken ou t and exten sively used ; but acciden t preven ted then ecessary applian ces being forthcomi ng at the right time . I

believe,however

,that on e Of the chief features in the expedition

which is to set ou t in March, will be the thorough examination ,

to as great a depth as practicable,of the‘ strata in various parts

of the Sulphur Valley.

The spring chosen by Olafsen a nd Povelsen as the subject

of their first experimen t,was on e which had made its appear

an ce sin ce the precedi ng win ter,a nd which was just begin n ing

to be su r rounded by other mu d springs a nd j ets of steam. The

gr ound was still covered with lovely verdure, a nd charming

flowers were abundan t,even at the very verge of the caldron

of hideous hue a nd odour. A short distan ce from this open ing

they establi shed their boring apparatus . The sequen ce of the

layers was as follows

1 . Three feet of reddish-brown earth, of a fatty con sisten ce— of the ordin ary temperature ; at the bottom heat was percept

ible to the touch .

“ 2 . Two feet of a firmer ki n d of earth,n early th e same in

colour as the first layer,un ctuous to the touch .

3 . On e foot of a lighter kin d of soil .4 . Five feet of a very fine earth of differen t colours

,th e first

142 ULTIM A THULE ; OR,

two feet being vein ed red a nd yellow,with streaks of blue

,green

,

red, a nd white in termingled. The lower portion of t his earthwas somewhat firmer than that which covered it. The heat of

this thick bed was so great that the soil extracted by the augercould n ot be handled un til it had been for some time exposedto the a i r .

5 . On e foot of a compact greyish-blue earth .

6 . In tapping this bed,which was four feet n in e in ches in

thi ckn ess,a nd con sequen tly at a depth of about twelve feet,

water was first met with. It was foun d by comparison that thelevel of the water in the boilin g mu d spring coin cided at this

time with that of the water thus discovered . The heat was nowvery great

,a nd a con stan t hissing a nd bubbli ng could be heard

as proceeding from the bottom of the hole which had beenmade .

7 . Nin e in ches of greyish-blue earth .

8 . One foot six in ches of a simi l ar un ctuous earth,con tain

ing many small white ston es . This was the hottest layer of a nyyet pierced ; the buzzing, humming n oise was now much louderthan before .

9 . Three feet of the same kind of clay, but much harder a ndmore compact ; th i s layer was also full of small, round, whi te

ston es .1 0 . Six in ches of a violet tinged earth, very gr easy to the

touch . I n th i s bed the heat sen sibly dimin ished .

1 1 . One foot six in ches of red a nd blue clay in termingled .

The heat con tinued to dimini sh very fast.1 2 . One foot of reddi sh-looking clay, the temperature remain

ing about the same .1 3 . Six in ches of yellow a nd red clay.

14 . One foot of a green ish coloured earth, much less coheren tthan the previous layers . Here the heat again began toin crease.

1 5 . One foot six in ches of blue clay, fil led with small piecesofwhite tufa. This bed was much hotter than either that aboveor that below it.

1 6 . On e foot three in ches of soft blue clay.

1 7 . Nin e in ches of a n earth,easily pulverised when dry,



than a thick black fluid was ejected from the orifice to the height

of several feet. A short time afterwards the j et ceased, the subterran ean fire appeared to have expended its fury, but it soon

recommen ced with redoubled activity to dart forth fresh jetsOf steam a nd black, muddy water, con tin u i ng to boil a nd

dan ce with but slight in termission . It appeared, therefore,eviden t that the result of this experimen t was the prematureformation of a fresh hot spring, which would otherwise havebeen

,perhaps

,a con siderable time in forcing its way to the

surface .It is somewhat to be regretted that no one amongst the

numerous emin en t men ,men accustomed to experimen tal inves

t iga t ion s a nd acute observers, who have sin ce traversed thisregion

,should have investigated the qu estion of the origin of

these h ot springs a nd sulphur deposits from the poin t of viewwhich was thus displayed by these careful a nd pain staking

philosophers .The phlogistic theory being gen erally accepted in their

day,a nd the chemistry of the earths a nd metals being i n a

very undeveloped state, we cann ot n ow accept to its fullexten t the explan ati on they put forth of these phen omena ;but th e facts they disclose appear to me to be

’

Oi the highestvalue

,a nd to afford a clue which, if carefully followed, may lead

to discoveries Of much importan ce in the domain of volcan ic

en ergy.

The con clusion th ey drew from their investigation is,that

the hidden fires of Iceland dwell in the crust of the earth,a nd

n ot in its in terior ; that the boiling springs a nd the mu d c a l

dron s certainly do n ot derive their heat from the depths of ou rglobe

,but that the fire which n ourishes them is to be found

frequen tly at onl y a few feet below the surface,i n fermen ting

matters,which are d eposited in certain strata.

By their theory the gases from the more cen tral parts of theearth pen etrate these beds by subterr an ean chann els

,a nd so set

up thef

c h emi c a l action ,producing fermen tation a nd heat

,these

chann els also forming the mean s of in tercommun ication betweenthe separate sites of activity

, a nd equalising a nd tran sferringpressure.

A SUMMER i N ICELAND . 145

To return to their facts . They further observed that the

heat is invariably foun d to be greatest in the blue a nd bluishgrey earth ; that these earths almost always con tain sulphuricacid ; that they con tain also sulphur, iron ,

alum,a nd gypsum ;

a nd lastly,that fin ely-divided particles of brass-coloured pyrites

are visible throughout the whole of the beds when heat exists .

Sul phuric acid is found in the h ot beds above a nd below

that wh i ch is the hottest,but this latter man ifests n o acidity

that is sen sible to the taste.Sulphuretted hydrogen is con tinually evolved from the clays

con tain ing the brass-coloured pyrites . Silver coin s dropped in toa hole made in these strata become rapidly redden ed

,a nd brass

becomes quite black if held over it for a short time .

Lastly,n ot only does the heat in crease a nd dimi n ish in

various successive layers of the earth,in the n eighbourhood of

the active springs,but the locality of th e heat

,as mi ght be ex

pec ted from their previous Observation s, travels very con siderably in differen t years .The solfatara of Kr i su vik

,with the moun tain s about it

,is

shown in the accompanying sketch by M . E u gén e Roberts . I t

appears from afar to occupy the place of a n an cien t crater,but

,

as we have already seen,it is not n ear the crater

,about the

cen tre of the drawing, but at a con siderable distan ce from theold volcan ic cen tre

,that the thermal springs a nd sulphurous

exhalation s have their presen t origin .

Wherever they may have been previously,the springs are

now situated between two moun tain s,the on e Ba dstofer

,on the

right,originally composed of lava

,the other

,Vestu rh a l s

,on the

left,of basaltic formation . Both, by the action of the thermal

springs,are undergoing a process of disin tegration a nd recon

struction .

The kin d of hills which form the solfataras,properly so

call ed, in crease in exten t day by day ; by the addi tion to thedisin tegrated rock of sulphur a nd of su lphurous a nd sulphuric

acids .“ The yellow su lphur earth con tain s about four per cen t . offree sul phuric acids ; sometimes a little free hydrochl oric a cid,a nd a variety of sulphates, as might be supposed. Treated with

VOL . 11 . K

ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

distill ed water, the fil tered solution redden s litmus strongly ; onaddi tion of acetate of lead a floc c u len t precipitate is produced,which, when heated with carbon ,

di sengages su l phurous acid .

The sulphu r is found in many di fferen t con dition s, but for

the most part in the same fin ely-divided, whitish-yellow form in

which it is precipitated from sulphuretted hydrogen solution s.

Where it assumes other states,crystallised i n tears on the sur

SOLFATAR A OF KR I S UVIK . From a Sketc h by M . E u géne R ober ts .

face of the rocks, or coagulated in vein s, it is on accoun t of itsundergon e subsequen t heating. Of its primary origin

by the decomposition of sulphuretted hydrogen , there is in myOpin ion no doubt .Professor Bunsen Visited Kr i su vik in 1 845 ; his Opin i on i s

that sulphurous acid is evolved from the earth’

s in terior, which,oxidised either at the surface by the atmosphere, or at su bter

ra n ea n depths by atmospheric oxygen dissolved in cold water,



Hayden,of the Yell owston e Lake a nd its vicin ity, in every re

spect coin cides with those of the geysers, mu d -caldrons,a nd

hot-springs of Iceland .

In all cases there was foun d to be free access of water ; freesulphur was widely di spersed

,a nd the steam-jets were invariably

accompan ied by large quan tities of sulphuretted hydrogen . T h e

subterran ean action in this coun try does n ot appear to have c on

tinn ed long en ough to produ ce beds of sulphur a nd sulphur

earths,but has

,n evertheless

,been of sufficien tly long standing

to build u p geyser tubes of so great a length that the in tern alpressure has formed other ven ts

,rather than lift the immen se

column Of water above it.The water of the springs con tain s su l phuretted hydrogen ,

lime,soda

,alumin a

,a nd a slight amoun t of magn esia ; some of

these are on ly occasionally at the boiling poin t,a nd these

,when

the temperature is reduced below 1 50° Fahr . , deposit great

quan tities of the sesquioxide of iron,which lin es the in sides of

the fun n els, a nd covers the surface of the ground wherever thewater flows . If the reaction con sists in the decomposition of

iron pyrites,a nd the sulphur is carried sufficien tly far off to

preven t its re-combin ation with the iron to form iron sulphate,the formation of the iron sesquioxide is fully accoun ted for.

As a rule,the groups of hot springs are

,as in Iceland

,in the

lower valleys,a nd either along the margin s of streams

,or n early

on a level with them . The gran d area where they occur iswithin the drainage of the Yellowstone

,where a space of forty

miles in length, with a n average width of fifteen mil es,is either

at the presen t time,or has been in the past

,occupied by hot

springs .

That the quan tity of sulphuric acid here produced is verylarge, is proved by the immen se quan tity of alum which isfound

,for the streams

,the mu d

,the earth are thoroughly im

pregn a ted with it. The funn el-shaped craters from which the

boiling mu d is ejected,are so similar to those of the Kr i su vik

that the figure on page 140 will an swer for both places . Thecircular r im varies from a few in ches to several feet in diameter.Sometimes these are clustered close together

,yet each on e being

separate a nd distin ct from the others .


The foregoing are the most promin en t facts conn ected with

the developmen t of sulphur from the earth in the elemen tarystate . The full explanation of all the phen omena accompanying

it appears to me to be the key by which the great secret Of vol

c a n i c en ergy may be ultimately un locked . At presen t it appearsto be doubtful whether the sulphur results from the decomposi

tion of metallic sulphides,by heat a nd water combin ed

,or by

sulphuric acid formed by the oxidation of sulphurous acid . I n

the one case,the whole action is so far within ou r reach

,that it

Shou l d n ot be a n in surmoun table difficulty to establish the poin t

as to whether the whole action does n ot depend on the percola

tion of water in to beds of pyrites surrounded by other beds

which are n on -conductors of heat.The other view

,vi z .

,that the su l phur proceeds as sulphurous

acid from a lower depth,is on accoun t of the more complicated

action required,far from being a s satisfactory to my mind as the

more simple supposition above .Un til boring experimen ts have been made

,condu cted with

great care,a nd to con siderable depths

,n o positive con clusion

c a n be arrived at. It is also a n elemen t in the question of

much importan ce, to discover whether the beds pen etrated by the

water are already heated,whether the water is heated before it

reaches the sulphur-bearing strat‘

a (the clays con tain ing pyrites) ,or whether both are n ot ali ke cold till they have been for some

time in con ta ct.

Le ss than a quarter of a mile from the hot springs is a lake,

Geslrava tn ,formed by the fill ing up of a n extin ct crater. This

the inhabitan ts describe as bein g fathomless (Mr Seymour, lastyear

,found n o bottom at five a nd twen ty fathoms) . The depth

is,at a ny rate, very con siderable . Al though so close to a spot

where th e ground is, even at the surface, scorching to the feet,the water in this lake is i c e-cold . Sir George Macken zie also

remarked a somewhat similar fact. On the side of the Su lphur

Moun tain,amidst th e seething

,steaming hi lls of almost bi irn ing

earth,a spring of c lear cold water was met with. To my min d

these fac ts are most in acc orda n ce with th e View that the ac tioni s local a nd self-dependen t.

‘f The Kr i su vik sulphur mines have been worked at various


times, but wan t of proper roads, a nd ign oran ce of the proper .

method of extracting a nd refini ng the sulphur, have preven tedtheir proper developmen t . The Sicilian min es c a n be worked ata con siderable prOfit, where, more than 390 feet below the su r

face, beds are met with con tain ing on ly 1 5 per cen t . of sulphu r.

At Kr i su vik,absolutely on the surface, clays are met with wh i ch

con tain from 1 5 to 90 per cen t . of sulphur. Under proper a nd

carefu l supervision,their future should be prosperous .

Two German gen tlemen,under the auspices of the Dan ish

Governmen t,worked these min es in the early part of the last

cen tury,a nd so much was exported to Copenhagen during the

time the excavation s were carried on,that a sufficien tly large

stock was laid up to serve the con sumption of Denmark a nd

Norway from 1 729 to 1 753 .

Horrebow describes the sulphur mi n es as being activelyworked from 1 722 to 1 728 , to the great advan tage of the

’

in

habitan ts,who reaped much profit from its extraction .

By his accoun t of their mode of prosecuting this en terpri se,the sulphur does n ot a ppea r to have been refin ed in the island,but exported in its crude state . The less active min es werechosen for cutting in to . ' H e says : There is always a layer ofbarren earth upon the su lphur

,which is of several colours

,white

,

yellow,green , red, a nd blue . When this is removed, the sulphur

earth is discovered,a nd may be taken up with shovels . By

digging three feet down,the sulphur is found in proper order.

They seldom dig deeper,because the place is gen erally too h ot

,

a nd requires too much labour,also because sulphur may be had

at a n easier rate,a nd in greater plen ty

,in the proper places .

Fourscore horses may be loaded in a n hour’s time, each horsecarrying 250 lbs . weight . The best vein s of sulphur are kn ownby a kin d of bank or rising in the ground

,which is cracked i n

the middle . From hen ce a thi ck vapour issues, a nd a greaterheat is felt than in a ny other part . These are the places theychoose for digging

, a nd after removing a layer or two of earth,

they come to the sulphur,which they find best just under the

rising of the ground,when it (the sulphur) looks just like sugar

candy. The farther from the middle of the bank,the more it

crumbles, at last appearing as mere dust. But the middle of


1 52 ULTIMA THULE on,

Kr i su vik mi ght be much shorten ed,a nd a tr amway might also

be laid down . Dur ing the past year a survey has been made,a nd plan s drawn for a railway or tramway to H avn a fiord.

The actual exten t of the sulphur beds it is quite impossibleto calculate ; forty-seven have been already discovered. Thedeposit of sulphur Commander C ommerell person ally saw hedescribes a s amoun ting to many thousan ds of ton s

,a nd

,all the

min es bemg in what is called a‘ livin g state

,the sulphur taken

away is reproduced in two or three years . He con siders thatsulphur in a pure state could be shipped at H avn a fiord for £1per ton .

The su l phur at M yva tn ,though great in quan tity

,is

,he c on

siders,at too great a distan ce from a port of embarkation to

permi t its extraction being carried on with a ny chan ce of c om

peting with that from the Kr i su vik min es .No further steps were taken in the matter by the British

Governmen t, the political compli cation s which led to the ex

pedi t ion having been removed ; but the atten tion of Englishmerchan ts having been drawn to these rich deposits by thehighl y favourable character of Commander C ommerell ’s remarks,ren ewed attempts are being made to render commercially available the immen se sulphur-producing power which the Kr i su viksolfataras undoubtedly possess . To some of these gen tlemen Iam greatly in debted for much valuable in formation

,put at my

disposal for the purposes of this paper,a nd amongst them I have

specially to ten der my thanks to Mr Ramsdale a nd MessrsThorn e, of Gracechurch Street

, a nd particularly for the use of

numerous a nd carefu lly-selected samples of the sulphur earths

which were freely placed at my disposal . These samples I hopeto make the subject of a future paper.Sin ce writing the foregomg paper, I men tion ed, in the course

of conversation with Sir Hen ry Holland,the con clusion s which

are derived from the . examin ation of all the trustworthy factsrelating ” to the sulphur deposits . This led h im to examin een tries in his unpublished diary

,made at Kr i su vik in 1 81 0 .

The theory wh i ch he then con ceived so thoroughly agrees with allthat has been learn t respecting the phen omen a i n question

,that

I, with his kind permission ,prin t an extract from his n ote-book :


The theory of these sulphureous springs (if springs theymay be termed) at Kr i su vik i s a n in teresting object of in quiry.

They are situated in a coun try decidedly of volcan ic origin .

The h i gh ground on which they appear is composed prin cipallyof the conglomerate or volcan ic tufa, which has before been

n oticed . The source of the heat which c a n gen erate perman en tlyso en ormous a quan tity of steam must, doubtless, reside below

this rock ; whether it be the same which produces the volcan ic

phen omen a may be dou bted, at least if the Wern erian theory of

volcan oes be admi tted . It certain ly seems most probable that

the appearan ces depend upon the action of water on vast bedsof pyrites . The heat produced by this action is sufficien t to

raise a n addi tion al quan tity of water in the form of steam,

which makes its way to the surface,a nd is there emitted

through the differen t clefts in the rocks . The su lphates of lime

a nd alumin a,appearing upon the surface

,are doubtless produced

,

i n process of time,by these operation s . I n corroboration of this

view,it may be observed that the quan tity of steam issuing

from the springs at Kr i su vik is always greater after a long c ont in u a n c e of wet weather

,a nd that when ever earthquakes occur

on this spot, it is during the prevalen ce of weather of thiskind .

’

“ The learn ed a nd n ow aged author expressed the highest

gratification that the views which he formed at twen ty-twoyears of age shou l d possess so much value so many years after.”

The visit of the two engin eers,Messrs Shields Gale

,h a s

also been elsewhere alluded to. Fin ally, Mr B. M . Smith i hforms me that the prospects of the Kr i su vflz di ggings n ow look

brighter. The project of tramways,or locomotives

,seems to

have been aban don ed in favour of carts a nd pon ies plying ona good road

,about sixteen mi les long

,between the Sulphur

Moun tain a nd H a fn a fj'

orfi .


SECTION II .

—To HEKLA, AN D UP I T .

The n ext morn ing’s work began with a path which in troducedus to the mu d-bog

,as opposed to the turf-bog. Thi s pleasan t

feature led to lava,whose three main torren ts a nd many second

ary streamlets could be seen spil ling over the trap wall of Langah l i

’

C . There were the two n ormal kinds, the soft a nd cindery,cavern ed a nd friable

,wh i ch makes good paths : it degrades to the

dark red a nd yellow-red humus which is here,as in the Hauran ,

the gen eral colour of the ground. This variety is clad with twoli chen s the grey with black scutella (L . a nd thepure white (L . T a r ta r eu s ?) which makes the ejection s of theSafa n ear Damascus simulate limeston e. The other is in ten selyhard

,ruddy black or brown -grey

,a nd in places solid as if poured

ou t yesterday ; the reason gen erally given is the presen ce ofolivin e in thi s trachytic or silicious form . M . Durocher’s theoryis, that being lighter than the doleritic a nd augitic (basic) , ittherefore floats separately

,a nd thus he would explain h ow lava

floods of differen t composition may proceed from the samelocality.

1 The plication s of thi s hard lava,looking as if hogs

heads of hon ey had been poured upon ston e,the domes a nd the

drops,not to speak of the sharp-toothed mouths a nd crevasses

,

make the traveller suffer for the sufferings of h i s n ag.

At the end of the fir st great lava-stream was the farm of

H erdfsa rvfk ; n ow n ot a “vik bu t a vatn -we looked around

for sulphur,but in vain . Hard by ou r right the fierce seas burst

a nd roared upon a coast cruel a n d harbourless as that of Ka fir

land ; whilst i n the smooth di stan ce a few catspaws suggestedshoaly islets . The H lI’Ca rva tn (li the or slope water) is not likeits n eighbour a mi sn omer

,but the supply is brackish

,ebbing a nd

flowing with the tide,like well s in the valley of the Thames .

The onl y birds seen were wild geese,crees

,gulls

,curlews

,young

sn ipes, a nd raven s Which especially affect this warm part of the

1 M r Ju dd, examin ing Western Scotla nd,opines th a t th e felspa th ic (a cid) rocks

h ave been eru pted fr om th e Eocene volca n oes , a nd th e a u gitic (ba sic) from th oseof th e Miocene age. In Icela nd, h owever , both seem to h ave been disch a rged byth e Post-tertia ry, a s well a s by th e Tertia ry epoch s .


ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

the host of islets which lin e the shore,is the only port till Beru

fi rms on the eastern coast, a nd it was wholly occupied by twoships . Mr Willi am Hogarth of Aberdeen ,

who own ed the establ i shmen t

,has n ot been here

,we were told, for years ; lately, how

ever,some English visitors had excellen t fishing in the river,

a nd were h ospi tably ‘en ter ta in ed by Hr T h orgr imsson ,

agen t toM . L efoli i

,a Dan ish merchan t. All this green ery was set

,off by

the barrenn ess of the buttressed Langa h lfC hard on ou r left . The

regu l ar horizon of trap-wall had been succeeded by a sharp slope

of Palagoni te conglomerate, which eviden tly underlies the whole

T H E R UR AL SC E N E .

block . On the summit is a desert where no ma n dwells, broken

by pyramids which are eviden tly lava-con es,Skala fell (scald or

bald hill ?) being the'

ch ief feature ; upon the lips of the plateauare gushes of modern lava

, a nd on the low levels appears a n

an cien t sea-beach,scattered with rounded blocks like gian t rocs

’

Hjalli, which we reached about n oon ,was somewhat peculiar


— in stead of being a single farm,four establishments clustered

roun d the black chapel . It had its rivulet where the girls combtheir yellow hair 0

’

morn ings ; the L avapés (wash-feet) of the

Brazilian coun try town ; it had al so its Paradi s, a poetical n ame

for the grassy combe,where men bask i’ the su n . The males

were clad in pastoral attire, the old n ative dress deemed somewhat too ma rqu e for town a nd comptoir. The chief items are

a shirt,a waistcoat

,a nd a tight

,very tight

,flan n el culotte

,braccae

gartered below the kn ee a nd ending in stockings a nd Icelan d

shoes . The stranger’s first impression is that harlequin ,without

his Spangles,has forgotten his overalls . This primitive toilette

of the non -Roman races,

1 which gave birth to ou r civilised attire,

still lingers in parts of Europe, n otably in the C i c er i a of Istria,where the charcoal-burn ers (Cici) wil l adopt n o other costume.A nd what c a n be more ridiculous than the Hungarian foot

soldier wearing h i s drawers,when we kn ow the wide Turkish

Shalwar to be his n ation al termin ation s ?Reykir 1” 2 ejaculated Pall, poin ting triumphan tly to a little

yellow splotch on the far side of the broad vall ey. As we pro

gr essed towards the Beeks, we foun d the forage improving,a nd the soil becomi ng damper ; this is common ly the case, because the western fron tage enjoys the most su n . Of five springsclustered upon either bank of the little Varma, the largest lies

on the left,where Palagon ite breccia forms the base of a ruddy

Spin e,projected by the n orthern outliers of the I ngolfsfja ll ma ssif.

The usual motley colours of a solfatara are set off by a more

brilli an t green than usual,a nd by a silver-tin ted moss (T r i

ch ostomum c a nescens) , which makes the turf-carpet feel soft asvelvet.Reykir is kn own as the L i tlé Geysir

,or

“ the Geysir in Olfu s .

In 1 770 U no Von T roil declared that it used to rise S ixty to

seven ty perpendicular feet,in fact

,as high as the Great Geysir

of 1 872 , but that a n earthquake, after cutting off a few feet

(fifty—four to sixty) , made it spout S ideways . Nothing c a n be

1 T h e Roma n s were n aked below th e kn ee : th e pilla rs of Tr a ja n a nd An ton inesh ow Teu ton ic captives wea r ing a dress mu ch r esembling th a t of ou r pea sa n ts a ndsa ilors .

2 Often wr itten R eyki um (for R eykjum), da tive plu r a l of second declension . A sh a s been seen , th e word enters in to a mu ltitu de of Icela ndic proper names .

1 58 ULTIMA THULE ; C R ,

mean er than the modern display,a nd my compan ion compared

it disadvan tageously with that fu rious foun tain of the guidebooks

,the Sprudel of Carlsbad . The chief well to th e n orth has

built for itself a party-coloured mound like a n est of Africantermi tes

,a nd puffs only vapour with the sumph of a donkey

engin e . A hundred yards or so to the south is a younger springwith double boilers

,in which the water may rise at times a foot

a nd a half high : the hell broth sli thers through a soft a nd

soppy circle,down a foul ch ann el of burn t pyrites a nd silica

clothed trap to the bubbling Varma. This stream shows from aheight

,three bran ches drain ing from the n orth-west

,where are

other sulphur springs .A whole gen eration of travell ers has complain ed of the farmer

of R eykir,who is said to have Charged on e ma n $52 per diem .

We c a n only speak of h im as we foun d h im ; his deman d for

forage was extremely moderate, a nd we attributed the fact to

having a n hon est a nd thrifty guide .A swampy ride in the aftern oon led to the ferry of the Olfu sa

or lower H vi ta . The groun d was Spangled with FI'

fa or cotton

grass (E r i oph omm) , a weed with a bad n ame . It is more c om

mon here than in the southern islands,Scotland

,a nd Germany

,

a nd it is supposed to haun t the worst a nd most dangerous bogs,where water sinks in stead of flowing. Avoid cotton grassgr oun d is the advice of every traveller : un fortun ately you

cann ot,a nd you must make the best of it. But why call it the

treacherous cotton grass,when it at on ce tells you the worst ?

On the other hand,buck-bean (Hor-blaka, or M enya n th es tr i

folc'

a ta ) is praised because it Shows th e surface to be safe .After three hours we reached the ferry

,a busy scen e for Ice

land. Caravan s charged with imported boards a nd fish to beexported, lay un loaded on either bank. Amongst the travellerswas the Bishop of Icelan d with a party of six ; he had ridden

from Reykjavik to Reykir in n in e hours,a nd as he sat water

proof’

d in the su n,he complain ed sadl y of fatigue . A cou ple of

two-c ared boats,big a nd small

,with a third high a nd dry, did

n ot tend to expedite tran sit— n othing would be easier than toestablish a wire rope a nd a ferry with lee-boards

,thus making

the curren t do all the work.



broad a nd 7 high : dated 1 848, it was a n omn i um ga th er/um

of the family goods,a nd it boasted of on e four-pan ed win dow

,

which has n ever open ed,a nd which n ever will . . The features

den oting wealth were huge wooden lockers, like seamen’

s chests,

of bright colours,pain ted with flowers a nd arabesques of still

brighter tin ts : I could n ot but remember the pea-green a nd

gamboge box which carried to M ec c a h the drugs of a certainHaji Abdull ah . The soiree ended with a distressing ban ality.

Fair vision s of girls who kiss the stranger on the mouth, whorelieve h im of his terminal garmen ts, a nd who place a bran dybottle under his pillow

,a nd a bowl ofmi lk or cream by his side

,

where are ye ? Icelanders have allowed their pleasan t primitive fashion s to be laughed away by the j eering stranger

,who

little thought how much th e custom told in favour of the hosts .The n a tivemodesty of an tiquity, when Nestor

’s youngest dau ghter

laved,an oin ted

,a nd dressed Telemachus

,a nd when the maids

of Pen elope had a less pleasan t task with the elderly Ulysses,has departed with the public bathings

,in angeli c a ttire

,of Ice

land,of Sind

, a nd of Japan,a nd the kiss given to the guest by

the young wife or the eldest daughter of the Morlacchi house .This su blime imp u deu r was possible only amongst a pure racethe sn eers of a S ingle civil ised savage suffice to demoli sh thish eu r eu se a bsen ce da sch oki ng .

’

Next morn ing,whi le the horses were grazing, we ascertain ed

that the farm had its therma : a jet of steam issuing from theground n ear the river had been turfed over

,with room to stand ;

a nd thus a Turkish,or rather a Russian , bath was possible on

bath-day. We then walked down to the T h jorsa, a n especiallygrisly spectacle. Its breadth, 250 yards, was occupied by whi teglacier water

,with a sulphury tinge

,ren dered more ghastly by

the black sand,rocks

,a nd islets studding the bed above a nd

below the ferry. The right bank showed a wall of conglomerate,

a nd on both S ides cachoeiras ” dashing over the ston es gavepleasan t remin iscen ces of S a n Fran cisco . The left bank is ofHekla lava

,either compact or very porous con tain ing crystals of

lime . We found a natural hatchet a nd quan tities of pumi ce,

many-c olou red,bu t mostly yellow : i t

,

floa ts in water, a nd it is usefulfor holyston ing the skin . The velocity was th r ee kn ots

,a nd the

A SUMMER IN ICELAND . 1 6 1

temperatu re 52° The ferry creeps up from the ston e-head

acting pier on the right bank, swings across below the break,a nd lands you in water on the far S ide .

The conduct of pon ies at the ferry is always amusing. They

are driven i n by the shouts of lads a nd lasses, by tossings a nd

wavings of the arms,by sticks a nd ston es, a nd by the barkin g

a nd biting of ou rs . They sidle, jostle, step in dain tily, smell the

water, a nd, after trembling on the brink for a time, some plucky

little n ag takes the lead. He is followed by the ruck, but there

are often cowards ready to hark back : these must be forced on

with ren ewal of stick a nd ston e , a nd by driving those that have

crossed up a nd down the bank . I n dangerous n arrow beds, it

is often n ecessary to tow over shirkers on e by on e with a rope .

The swimmers gallan tly breast the flood,which breaks upon

their crests ; a nd they paddle with heads always up stream,

dil ated eyes a nd n ostrils sn orting like young hippopotami the

best always carry the back high . As they reach the far end,they wade S lowly to shore

,a nd fall at on ce to grazin g . They

took four minutes thirty seconds to cross the T t rsa,a nd as

usual they were drifted far down .

We then pricked fast over the li ttle pampa which lies

between the T t rsa a nd the Hekla-foot,making

,I kn ow n ot

why,for S tOr u velli r . Here we were received by Si ra Gu Omu ndr

JOn sson,a gen tleman ly ma n

,who has accompan ied several

travellers,n otably the Oxon ian

,

” up the volcan o ; he Showed

the Icelan d peculiarity of walking the quarter-deck ; a nd his

handsome blue-eyed daughter wore the stern est of looks,appar

en tly engendered by semi-solitude . He indulged in wild archeryabout the dangers of the climb

,which

,over biscuits a nd coffee

,

soun ded truly awful . After leaving the parson age, we enj oyedou r first fair View of Hekla : during the earlier ride it had been

buried in clouds,a nd hidden by the chapel block

,Skari all.

The Hekla of ou r ingenuous childhood,when we believed in

the Seven Wonders of the World,

” was a mighty con e,a pillar

of heaven,

” upon whose dreadful summit white,black

,and sa n

guin e red lay i n streaks a nd patches,with volumes of sooty

smoke a nd lurid flames,a nd a pitchy sky. The whole was some

what like the impossible illustration s of Vesuvian eruption s,in

VOL . II . L

1 62 ULTIMA THULE ; OR ,

body-colours,plus the ice proper to Iceland . The Hekla of

reality,NO . 5 in the island scale

,

1 is a commonplace heap,half

the height of Hermon,a nd a mere pigmy compared with the

Andin e peaks,rising detached from the plain s ; about three a nd

a half miles in circumferen ce,backed by the sn ows of T inda fja ll

a nd T orfajOku ll , a nd supporting a Sky-lin e that varies greatly

with the angle u nder which it is seen . Travellers usually make ita three-horn ed Parn assus

,with the cen tral kn ob highest— which

is not really the case . From the south-west, it shows n ow four,

then five,distin ct poin ts ; the n orth-western lip of the n orthern

crater,which hides the true apex ; the south-western lip of the

same ; the n orth-eastern lip of the southern crater, which appearsthe culmin ating poin t

,a nd the two eastern edges of the southern

bowls . A pair of white patches represen ts the eternal sn ows .”

On the right of the picture is the steep, but utterly unimportan t,T h r i h yrn ingr , crown ed with its ben ch-mark ; to the left, theSka rOsfja ll , variegated green a n d black ; a nd in the cen tre, theBjOlfell , a western buttress of the main building, which becomesaltern ately a saddleback, a dorsum,

a nd a n elephan t’s head,

trunk,a nd shoulders .

We came upon the valley of the Western Ranga 2 at a roughpoin t

,a gash in the hard yellow turf-clad clay

,dotted with

rough lava blocks,a nd with masses of conglomerate

,hollowed

,

turn ed,a nd polished by water : the shape was a succession Of

S,a nd the left side was the more tormen ted. Above the ford

a dwarf cascade had been formed by the lava Of ’

45,whi ch

caused the waters to boil,a nd below the ford jumped a second

,

where the stream forks . We then en tered a n Icelan d forest,

”

at least four feet high ; the“ chapparal ” was composed of red

willow (S a lim pu rpu r ea ) , of Gra -vi 5i r,woolly-leaved will ow

1 T h e fou r h igh er a re Or aefaj oku ll (642 6 English feet) ; (W. ) S n aefellEyja fj a llajOku l l (5593) to sou th , a nd H erOu breiO (5447) to n orth -ea st .

S ta n ley (r epea ted by Dillon ) a ss igned to H ekla 4300 ; S i r J . Ba nks , with a R amsden ’

s Ba rometer , 5000 . Gu n n la u gsson gives 51 08, bu t h ere h e i s very defective,wa n ting a sepa r a te a nd

'

en la rged pla n . T h e dir ect dista n ce from th e summi t tot h e sea i s u su a lly la id down a t th irty miles mea su red u pon th e map, t h e bee

line wou ld be twen ty-seven geogr a ph ica l miles .

2 Ranga wrong ”or crooked stream) i s a n ame th a t frequ ently occu rs, a nd

gen era lly den otes eith er th a t th e tren d i s Opposed to th e gen era l wa ter-sh ed, orth a t a n a ngle h a s been formed in th e bed by ea rth qu akes or eru ptions .



North,sparing the reader

,however

,the mor tifi c a tion of a

regula r history. It was apparen tly harml ess, possibly dorman t,till A .D . 1 1 04

,when S aemu nd

,the Paris clerk, then forty-eight

years Old,threw in a casket

,a nd awoke the sleeping lion . Sin ce

that time fourteen regular eru ption s,without in cludin g partial

outbreaks,are recorded

,giving a n average of about two per

cen tury. The last was i n 1 845 . The air at Reykjavik wasflavoured

,it is said

,like a gu n that wan ts washing ; a nd the

sounds of a distan t battle were conducted by the lava a nd

basaltic ground. The ashes extended to Scotland. When somewriters tell us that on this occasion Hekla lost 500 feet in heigh t,so much of the summit having been blown away by the : explosion s

,

” they forget or ign ore the fact that the n ew crateropen ed laterally

,a nd low down .

Like Etna,Vesuvius, a nd especially Stromboli, Hekla became

myth i cal in Middl e-Age Europe, a nd gain ed wide repute as On e ofthe gates of Hel-viti. Witches’ Sabbaths were held there . T h e

Spirits of the wicked, driven by those grotesque demon s of Father

Pin amon t i which would make the fortun e of a Zoological Society,

were seen trooping in to the in fernal crater ; a nd such facts asthese do n ot readily slip off the min d of ma n . The Dan es stillsay

,Begon e to H eckenfjaeld !

” the North German s, Go to

H a ckelberg a nd the Scotch Con sign you to John Hackle

bir ni e’

s house .” Even Goldsmi th (An imated Natu re, i. 48) hadheard of the local creed

,The inhabitan ts of Iceland believe the

bell owings of Hecla are n othing else but the cries Of the damn ed,a nd that its eruption s are con trived to in crease their tortu res .”

U no Von T roi l (Letter who in 1 770, together with thosein c lyt i Br i tta ni c i ,

”Ba r on Bank a nd Dr Solan der

,gain ed the

pleasure of being the first who ever reached the summit of thiscelebrated volcan o

,

” attributes the moun tain ’s virgin ity to the

superstition s of the people . He writes soberly about its marvels ;a nd he explain s its high fame by its position

,ski rt ing the watery

way to a nd from Greenl and a nd North America. His c om

pan ion s S how less modesty of imagination . We may con cedethat a n unkn own ascen t requir ed great circumspection ;

”a nd

that in a high wind ascen sion ists were obliged to lie down . Buth ow explain the dread of being blown in to the most dreadfu l


precipices,when the latter do not exi st ? Moreover, we learn

that to accomplish this undertaking they had to travel from

300 to 360 miles over un in terrupted bursts of lava, which ismore than the maximum length of the island, from n orth—east to

south-west. As will be seen,modern travellers have followed

su i t passing well .The n ext morn ing (J uly 1 3) broke fair a nd calm, remindi ngme

D el bel pa ese l a dove i l si su on a .

The Miss Hopes were pun ctual to a minute— a n excellen t

thing in travelling womanhood. We rode up half-way some

what surprised to find so few parasitic craters the on ly sign s of

independen t eruption on the western flank were the R a u Oh Ola r

(red bi lls) , as the people call their lava horn itos a nd spir acles,which are little bigger than the bottle-house con es of Leith .

At a n impassable divide we left our poor n ags to pass the

dreary time,without water or forage, a nd we foll owed the im

provi sed guide, who caused n ot a li ttle amusemen t. His gen eral

port was that of a bear that has lost its ragged staff— I took away

his alpen stock for on e of the girls— a nd he was plan tigrade rather

than c remnoba t i c : he had stripped to hi s u nder a ll s, which were

very short,whil st hi s stockings were very long

,a nd the heraldic

gloves converted his hands to paws . The two little sn ow fonds

steep glassy slopes of hard sn ow were the easiest of walking. We had n erved ou rselves to

Break n eck or limbs, be ma imed or boiled a live,

but we looked in vain for the con cealed abysses,for the cre

va sses to be crossed,”a nd for places where a slip would be to

roll to destruction .

” We did not sight the “ lava wall,a capita l

protection again st giddin ess .” The sn ow was anyth i ng but

slippery ; the surface was scattered with dust, a nd it bristled

with a forest of dwarf earth-pillars, where blown volcan ic san d

preserved the ice . After a slow h our a nd a half we reached

the crater of ’

45,which Open ed at ni n e AM . on September

’

2,a nd

discharged lava till the end of November. It might be passed

un observed by a n un experien ced ma n . The on ly remnan t is the

upper lip prolonged to the right ; the dimen sion s may have been


1 20 by 1 50 yards,a nd the cleft shows a projecting ice-ledge

ready to fall . The feature is well marked by the n ew lava-field

of which it is the sou rce : the bristly ston e-river ” is alreadydegrading to superficial dust. A little beyond this bowl thegroun d smokes

,discharging sn ow-steam made visible by the cold

air. Hen ce doubtless those sen ten tious Old travellers exper i

en c ed, at on e a nd the same time,a high degree of heat a nd cold .

”

Fifteen minutes more led us to the First or Southern Crater,whose C l-bogi (elbow or r im) is one of the horn s con spicuousfrom below. It is a regular formation about 1 00 yards at the

bottom each way,with the right (east) side red a nd cin dery, a nd

the left yell ow a nd sulphury ; mosses a nd a few flower ets growon the li ps ; in the sole rise jets of steam,

a nd a rock-rib bisectsit diagon ally from n orth-east

‘

to south-west . We thought the

former the h i ghest poin t of the volcan o,but the an eroid cor

rec ted ou r mistake .From Fir st Crater we walked over the left or western dorsum ,

over which on e could drive a coach,a nd we congratulated one

an other upon the exploit. Former travellers,balan cing them

selves like rope dan cers,succeeded in passing along the ridge of

slags which was so n arrow that there was scarcely room for their

feet,

” the breadth being n ot more than two feet,having a preci

pice on each side several hundred feet of depth .

” Charity suggeststhat the feature has altered

,but there was no eruption between

1 766 a nd 1 845 ; moreover, the lip would have dimin ished, n otin creased. A nd on e of the most modern visitors repeats thevery n arrow ridge

,

” with the classical but in correct adjun cts of

Scylla here, Charybdis there .” Scylla (say the crater Slope) is

disposed at a n angle of a ndMr Chapman coolly walked downthis vast little hollow. I descended Charybdis (the outercoun terscarp) far en ough to make sure that it is equally easy.

Passing the carriage road (our own n ame) , we crosseda n c

'

ve’ without a ny n ecessity for digging foot-holes . It lies

where sulphur is n otably absen t. The hot patches whichaccoun t for the freedom from sn ow

,even so h i gh above the c on

gelation -lin e, are scattered about the summit in other parts thethermometer, placed in a n 1 8-in ch hole

,made earth colder than

a i r . After a short climb we reached the apex ; the ruddy-walled



R u n the eye along the southern shore,a nd again the scen e shifts .

Below the red horn itos of the slope rises the classical Threehorn ed

,n ot lofty

,but remarkable for its triden t top ; T indfj a ll

(tooth-fell) with its two horn s, or pyramids of ice, casting blueshadows upon the un trodden sn ow a nd the whole mi ghty masskn own as the Eastern JOku ll

,E yja fja ll (islan d-fell ) , so cal led

from the black button of rock wh i ch crown s the long whitedorsum ; Katla

'

. (KOtlu -

gja) , M erkrjOku ll, a nd Go5a la nds,a ll

conn ected by ridges, a nd apparen tly n either lofty n or impra c ti c

able . 1 I ven ture to predict that they will succumb to’

the firstwell organ ised attack.

The descen t,in three hours, was as fast as the ascen t had

been slow. We soon saw the last of ou r fair compan ion s who,

mou n ted a nd attended by their train ,rode gallan tly back to

S tOr uvelli r . Amongst.the party was Sira Gu Omu n dr

’

s son,a

sharp youth of eighteen,a nd if there was n ot something un der

his waistcoat button s which was beating at a n accelerated pace,I am much mistaken . We felt demoralised by this unusual

d issipation ; we cooled our blood with Skyr ; we bathed in the

L ava pé s, a nd we tri ed throwing a lin e, but came back with

a hook behind,as the people say.

The reader wi ll probably determin e that this accoun t of Heklais a trifle hypercritical. But after a single day spen t upon the

volcan o,which has so Often been ascen ded

,what c a n ma n find

to explore except the labours of h is predecessors ? Nor wou ldit be fair to leave unn oticed this excellen t specimen of exagger

ated writing upon the subject of Thule,which perhaps cu lminates

on Hekla.

SECTION III.— T O GEYS IR, AND AT I T .

I would willingly have spent an other day on Hekla,but the

seething hot morn ing F. ,at n in e A .M . ) had an imated the

flies with a more than n ormal cussedn ess . The scen e was

1 T h e h igh est a ppa r en t poin t sh own to u s on t h e sou th -ea stwa s Gr aen a fj a ll .Upon t h e ma p it i s a n in sign ifica n t n orth -ea ster n “ mu ll ” of th e T i nda fj a llaj oku l l, bu t refra ction h a d a dded ma ny a cu bit to i t s low sta tu re.


unusually “Arcadian . Betimes the dogs folded the ewes with

loud barkin gs,re-echoed by the backing ridge ; a nd mother a nd

daughters wen t to milk them, the“ help carrying a pair of

pails fended by a square hoop . Meanwhile the lads drove thecows towards the womankind

,a nd accompan ied the horses to

pasture . Even the hyaena-striped cats, bastard tortoise-shells,crept towards the fields

,as if in ten t on grasshopper-hun ting.

About the house hung on ly the mankind,too dign ified for

labou r ; a nd the grandmother here is, like the gran dfather, a n

in stitution ; the bearded, mustachioed old soldier,

” with huge

fez a nd hair cut boy-fashion,wan ted to Swop with us for

Spirits : all the males,middle-aged or old— the latter p la idt i

'i ei lli s

qu e vi eu x— appeared c u t in the same pattern . Their n ecks were

swathed as if lately recovering from diphtheria ; their coarse

heavy limbs were displayed by the flann el tights ;” their

un shaven faces with loose lips,open mouths

,a nd n oses em

brown ed by preeing the sn eesh ingjmu ll , looked stolid en ough

when blear-eyed when n ot so the hard optics had a cunn in g

rat - like expression,Showing that abundan t selbstgefl i h l a nd a

strong brain lie behind that unpromising mask . Such in some

poin ts was,in days we have read of

,the rude Carin thian boor

,

n ow most polished of peasan ts .

This day’s march,between Hekla a nd the Geysir

,is on e of

the most unpleasan t in civilised Iceland. Travellers going east

ward complain of it, a nd we found it worse for horse a nd rider,

as the progress wa s from good to bad. A clerical frien d su bse

qu en tly divided the i ter in to three : between N eefrh olt a nd the

T t r sa it was bonum,

”mediocre from the river to Hruni

,

a nd then ce to the end “ malum ” As it is S u nday

,the ferry lacks ferryman ,

a nd delays us for some time . The

peasan ts are all endima n ch e’

s,a nd they stare at the Stranger

,

expecting h im to bow first . Th e Brazili an Caipira bends to the

best mule,the Styrian to the black coat, but these men have n o

standard,a nd a rough n od is the exten t of their recogn ition .

They remin d me much of what was said about the Sieben ~

burgers of Tran sylvan ia : The people are shrewd a nd in tell i

gen t,a nd, thanks to the n ation al custom, they possess a fair

amoun t of kn owledge. But the peasan t’s demean our imposes at


first, a nd a ll would be a delig . After this it rather tells again st h im

than otherwise,for when you come to measure h im, you involu n

t a r i ly do S O by a higher scale than you would apply to an otherin his position of life . Then

,if you find discrepan cies, you are

apt to judge h im over severely,but this is partly his own fault,

for it was solely hi s air a n d mann er which caused you to apply

the stan dard you have chosen .

”On the other han d, the u npro

mi sing figure that rides by with a glare in Iceland may be -a ma n

of substan ce,possibly even a vestryman .

We saw Hekla more than on ce on both S ides of the T t r sa,

a nd n ow,aided by experien ce

,we could explain the varying of

the apices . About mid-aftern oon we came upon the Laxa, forwhich Pall condescended to make certain preparation s . A n old

ma n mumbled some direction s about the ford,but they were

utterly un in telligible . A mark persuaded a barefooted woman to

leave the house : after Spitting,as did the gen tlemen of Beaux

before they dr ank,she led the way

,kn itting a nd talking at least

a quarter of a n hour,to impress upon us the n ecessity ofmaking

for th a t rock. Crossing the broad bed was quite easy, a nd theview was unusually picturesque. T h e goodly stream was girt

on both sides by spoil banks of red a nd whi te earth, suggestinghot springs ; there were green side-gorges ready for homesteads,a nd the upper part was a rugged brown ravin e, somewhat like

what may be seen on the higher Arn o .After fording we rode up to the SOlh eima r farm; a large a nd

comfortable establishmen t ; its approach was the usual avenuewhich wan ts ditches a nd drain s in stead of turf walls . Thechurlish own er detain ed us till the horses were strung together

a nd sen t,under the charge of his son

,outside the t i

'

i n .

” Hegave us some skimmed milk

,a nd we paid h im half-a -mark.

The idea of a gen tleman farmer,or even humble Giles

,taking

twopen ce for a glass of small beer !We sat

,after reaching Hruni

,amongst the graves, which had

just been utilised by mowing. Seeing our forlorn plight, thePrOfa str

,

’

Sira Johann Brim or Br iem,came ou t of his house

,

kindl y greeted us in Latin,a nd did the hon ours of h i s little

church . On the right of the en tran ce was the small li brary,con tain ing the oldest Icelandic tran slation of the New Testa



th e earl’s hats— a nd we wearily wondered who the ba tter mighthave been . A tower a nd a rampart

,jagged in to a saw, form

a castellated wall defending the south-eastern glacis of Langj

'

Oku ll . About ten P.M . .we fell in to a long descen t, clothed withbirch forest

,a nd we idly discussed how long it would take a

rhin oceros to graze it down . Mr Bryson could n ot trace a ny birchor bush n earer than thirty miles from the Geysir : he might havefoun d them within five miles to the west a nd seven to the east .A big column of white vapour on our right, a nd others scatteredover the distan ce

,again a nd again deluded us, a nd we n eglected

the real thi ng,two humble puffs

,to the left or west .

A short coll oquy at a farm-house made Pall sure Of his direction

,a nd he hurried us on to the goal through villain ous bog

a nd splash i ng streams . D i sappoin tmen t at on ce awaited us .A large party of travellers had, we heard, pitched ten ts at thewater-works

,stubborn ly resolved to wait a n explosion . T h e

hay, the firewood,the broken bottles

,the scraps of n ewspaper

,

a nd the n ames fresh-graved upon the sin tery saucer told theirown tale the Gusher had gushed

,we afterwards learn ed

,on the

1 3th,a nd might not gush again for a fortn ight. I n melan choly

mood we pitched the pal,

” open towards the basin,a nd under

the shadow as it were of the steam,which we could hear

,see

,

feel, touch, a nd smell. The,

guide wen t off to Sleep at Haukada lr (hawk dale) , a farm dimly looming to the n orth ; but thetraveller is, to speak figuratively

,tied by the leg

,chain ed to the

Geysir. Un less Fate favour h im with a display,he c a n n either

visit the home of Ari FroOi n or St Martin ’ s baths,whose mi r

a c u lou s cures of the lame a nd the leper have ceased with thechild-like

,trusting faith that caused them.

On ce or twice during the remn an t of the ni ght we hearda growl

,when

Fell Geyser roa r ed a nd stru ggling sh ook th e gr ou nd .

Each time the rumble a nd the crepitus caused a rush from theten t, but

/

beyon d the pleasing mobility of the vapour-cloudsthere was n othing to see . The cold morn ing air Showed thepu ffs a nd sheets of steam rising from the Geysir-ground to greatadvan tage .


St Swithin ’s Day in the morrn in began with a visit from

Pall, who brought a n Old woman to make coffee at the boil ing

spring,a nd H a u ka da lr cream which savoured strongly of civilis

ing influen ces— H r S i gu rti r Pallsson’

s family has eviden tly learn t

a thing or two. Came also the spade de r igea r , which a gen eration has used for worrying the S trokkr it lets for $1 per diem,

a nd by this time it must have proved itself a small silver min e .

The day broke cold a nd cloudy,with a wind from n orth a nd

n orth-west,a nd the air was n ot swept clean till the aftern oon ,

when a strong n orth-wester set in . We foun d to the west of

the Geysir a bath,lately made with turf a nd ston e ; its u n c on

s c ion able heat drove us farther south .

’ Ah excellen t thermamight easily be cut in the silex ; a nd as for warm a nd cold

water,they c a n be turn ed on a d li bi tum . The elemen t has a

slimy feel,the effect of sili ca which remin ded me of Cen tral

African frog-pools ; it has n o appreciable taste n or sedimen t, yet

clothes washed in it are tain ted with sulphur ; a nd we c a n swear

that it tinges Schn apps with a rich horsepon d hue.After the holyston ing required for comfort

,we proceeded to

the serious study of the emplacemen t . It has been perfun ctorily

described by all travellers,even by Baring -Gou ld, . a nd worse

by the ven erable Lyell . The latter makes the Geysers rise

through lava which may have been erupted by Hekla, distan tonl y thirty miles

,which is impossible .

The site has been compared with the Vale of Siddim (thegushers where a certain sad catastrophe took place

, a nd

where gen eral volcan ic action exists on ly in the brain of M . de

Saulcy. Noth i ng c a n be more unl ike . These pocket CampiPhl egr aei cover a few square yards, a patch probably overlyin g

pyrites,upon the left or western plain

,whi ch gen tly S lOpes

towards the T I’I ngu fljOt . The“Tongue” 1 or Mesopotamian “flood”

winds sn ake-like through the moorlan d of du ll-yellow clay,rhu

barb-coloured humus,a nd bog

,altern atin g with green vegetation

here it is bi d by high banks ; there it shows its vertebrae instreaks a nd dots of silvery stream

,flashi ng in the su n . Houses

a nd farms unkn own to the map vary the surface . The readi ly

1 Tu nga i s a pplied to th e Doa b of two r ivers Ta ngi i s a la nd-spit, a point projec t ing in to th e sea or r iver .


flooded ri ver-vall ey,of Old a sea-a rm,

trends with almost imperc ept ible fall from n orth-n orth-east to south-south-west ; a nd

a t this poin t it may be ni n e miles wide : in the former directionit drain s the H a u ka da lsh eiOi

,a nd ultimately the L angjOku ll .

Up stream the eye ranges from the azure saddleback of Blafell,

a n extin ct volcan o,they say

,to the lumpy con es a nd den ti c u

lated crests,rocky a nd sn owy

,kn own as the H rfita fell

,the

H refn u bfibir,the Brekkja , a nd the H reppfja ll . Down stream

the glan ce rests U pon a number of little mounds dotting thevarious alluvial Doabs of the an cien t FjOrO, especially the

H estfja ll , backed by the taller OrOu fell , lying sou th-east of

Skalholt. The eastern bank is a regular lin e of rollin g hill,

separating the main artery from the Hvi ta,the sn ow-streaked

peaks Of Gelldinga fell : the Bergh yllsfja ll , a nd the c offin -shaped

M i5fell are the prin cipal emi n en ces . The western flank isformed by the major range of the L a u ga rfja ll , which is n ot

n amed in the map ; this lin e is backed by the Bja rn a rfell , theSandfell

,a nd the lava-stream kn own as U th liOSh r a u n .

But the in tricacy of the site, a valley within a vall ey, is notyet ended . On the west of the

"

T I’

I ngu fljOt there are stil l two

influ en ts, badly shown in the map,which form a watershed of

their own,flowing down troughs which often obscure them from

S ight, parallel with a nd even tually feeding their main stream.

This secon dary feature is bounded eastward by a dwarf divide,

a shallow arch of groun d,a nd westward by the L a u ga rfjall, a n

in sulated n ode of degraded phon olite a nd heat-altered trachyte,

which has been driven through the Palagon ite . 1 Thi s rock islet,

a few hundred feet high,with its two green kn obs, is divided

by a stony precipice,a nd by a low, marshy, stream-c u t valley

from the western range (L a u ga rfja ll) , of wh i ch it is a n outlier ;a nd it curves with its con cavity open to the rising su n .

On the eastern S lope of the trachytic pile a nd extending roundthe n orth of the rock-wall are the H ver s a nd Geysirs . Nothingc a n be

r

mea n er than their appearan ce, especially to the touristwho travels as usual from Reykjavik ; n oth i ng more ridicu lousthan the con trast of this pin ’s poin t

,this atom of pyritic forma

1 Th is i s th e “ low tra p h ill of former travellers, su pposed to be one of th eveins th a t pierced th e eleva ted diagon a l.



Geysir, but a few words may be found useful . The silen ce of

A r i FrOOi (A .D . a nd of the L a n dnamabOk,so copious In

its details, suggests that it did n ot exist in the eleven th century ;a nd the n otice of Saxo Gr amma t i c u s in the preface to his Historyof Denmark proves that it had become kn own before the end of

the thirteen th . Hen ce it is gen erally assumed that the volcan icmovemen ts of A .D . 1 294

,which caused the disappearan ce Of

many hot Springs,produced those n ow existing.

1 Forbes cleverly

proved the growth of the tube by deposition Of sil ex on the lips,

2

a process which will end by sealing the spring : he placed its

birth about 1 060 years ago,which seems to be thoroughly

.

reason able ; a nd thus for its manhood we have a period of aboutsix cen turies .I n 1 770 the Geysir spouted eleven times a day ; in 1 814 iterupted

’

every six hours ; a n d in 1 872 on ce between two a nd aweek . Shepherd vain ly waited S ix days a Fren ch party seven ;a nd there are legends of a wasted fortn ight. The heights arethus given by travell ers

Ola fsson a nd Pallsson (1770Von T roi l

Sta n ley mea su red with a qu a dr a n t,Lieu ten a n t Oh lsen men tion ed byHenderson ,

a lso with a qu a dr a n t,Hooker u pwa rds of aM a ckenzie

Hender sonBa rr owPliny M ilesForbesSymingtonBa r ing-Goul dBrysonRober t Ma ckay Smith

1 Clea sby tells u s th a t th e end of Arn a Sa ga (th e bish op), th e sole h istor ica lwork of th a t time, i s lost . H e opines th a t a certa in pr etty legend,

”r efer r ing to

t h e moving of fou n ts wh en defiled with inn ocen t blood, cou ld n ot h a ve a r isenu n less a ch a nge in t h e pla ce of h ot spr ings h a d been observed .

2 Everywh ere we fou n d leaves lamin a ted with s iliciou s deposit, bu t n o tr a ce ofsh ells, even th ou gh we sou gh t th em u n der th e tu rf. T h e composition of Geysirwa ter will illu str a te Forbes. In 1 000 pa r ts of wa ter th ere a re 0 5 097 of silica ,wh erea s th e rest, ca rbon a tes of soda a nd ammon ia , su lph a tes of soda , pota sh , a n dma gn es ia , ch lor ide a nd su lph ide of sodium,

a nd ca rbon ic a cid, amou n t on ly to0 4775 . Ou t of th e la tter , aga in , soda r epr esen ts 0 3 009, a nd sodium silicaa nd soda a re th erefore th e constitu en ts . T h e specific gr avity i s 1 000 8 (Fa ra day) .

21 2

1 00

90

60-80

80

70-72

60-1 00

200

90-1 00

a s h igh a s th e Scott M onument .1 00 mea su red feet .


Thus the mean of the best authorities would be 80 feet, exactly

equal to the Gr a ndes E a a a: of Versailles . The artificial maxi

mum is popularly laid down at 90 feet. Bu t torpedo exper i

men ts with 1 00 lbs . of picric powder have lifted a 2000-ton

column 53 yards h igh ; a nd we hear of pillars 50 feet thi ck

r eaching 1 23 yards . The Gian t Geysir, a silicious Spring n ear

the head of the Fi reh ole River, according to Dr F. V. Hayden ,

propels a n 8-feet shaft by steady impulses from 1 50 to 200 feet

from the orifice .The shooting action of the Geysir, a n affair of 700 horse-power,

h a s been explain ed in four distin ct a nd several ways : by a re

servoir , by a straight tube, by a ben t tube, a nd by n o tube atall . Furthermore, on e experimen ter applies fire to the cen tre of

the tube,an other cold

,whilst a th i rd heats the angle . M a c

ken zie su ggested the “ hypothetical subterran ean cave ” which

was adopted by all the writers of his day ; by Scrope, Dufferin ,

the Napoleon Book,a nd many others . They a ll forget that the

reservoir a nd the syphon would produce regular a nd n ot in ter

mitten t action .

The epoch-marking visit of Professor Bun sen proved,by

soun dings, the Geysir to be a regular tube, 60 to 74 feet deep,with a diameter of 1 0 feet 4 in ches : he found the temperatures

by termometr es a dever semen t varying to a maximum of 270°

or 58° above boili ng poin t ; a nd Mr Bryson (1 864) verified these

observation s,making the bottom of the pipe a nd the cen tre

27 Superheated water loses the cohesion of its particles with

the expulsion of air, a nd, if pressure be removed,“ flashes in to

steam this well -kn own fact at on ce suggested the Chemist’sexplan ation . Thus M . M i i ll er was able to make a n artificial

Geysir M . Douay of Ghen t corked a straight brass tube,a nd

caused explosion by heating it at the bottom a nd at half length ;a nd Professor Tyndall foll owed with his pipe of galvan ised iron

,

6 feet long, surmoun ted by a basin ,a nd girt about the cen tre

with burn ing gas . Even the det‘

on ation s were imitated ; those

of the model were explain ed by steam b'eing conden sed i n the

saucer, whose diameter is 52 to 60 feet, a nd whose con ten ts are

cooled by abundan t evaporation— the same phen omen on on a

small scale will be Observed if water be h eated in a bottle .VOL . II. M


Whilst the far-famed Wern er held that volcan oes were causedby the burn ing of coal-beds

,George Stephen son ,

a~

great a ndorigin al mechan ical gen ius

,more Wern erian in this poin t than

the master himself,was so impressed by the rhythm a nd regu

la r i ty of movemen ts as he first sighted a volcan o that he at on cereferred them to steam a nd superheated water.But presen tly Observers raised the valid objection that if airwere liberated in large quan tities

,the Geysir surface would be

ever boiling like that of the S trokkr . Hen ce Baring-Goul d

suggested that a n angle in the pipe is suffi cien t to produce allthe phen omen a

,a nd he call s the following experimen t merely

a n adaptation of Sir George Macken zie’s theory.

” Bend a n

iron tube to making on e a rm half the length of theother ; fill with water, a nd place in the fire . For a minute theliquid will remain quiet ; presen tly it begin s to quiver ; steamgen erated in the shorter section cau ses a slight overflow

,without

sign s of ebu l lition,till the bubble turn s the angle : th e column

of the longer a rm is then sudden ly forced high in the air,a nd

a jet of eighteen feet c a n be produced with a tube,whose long

a rm measures two feet,a nd whose bore is three-eighths of a n

in ch . The bending pipe is given by Forbes (p . but he hasdrawn n o con clusion s from it.Fin ally

,Dr Hochstetter (Revue Hebdomadaire de Chimie) ,

whose h i gh ly in teresting experimen ts throw much light u ponvolcan ic action

, c an almost dispen se with a pipe . When sulphuris melted under water

,with a pressure of forty-five pounds

,

to

the square in ch,the min eral absorbs part of the fluid, a nd as the

former cools,the latter is driven ou t as steam accompan ied by

explosion s . When the quan tity of sulphur is excessive, upheavalstake place

,craters are formed

, ,a nd melted brimston e is ejected .

Eviden tly the several theories require recon ci ling. A friendwrote tome : “Your suggestion of emptying the Geysir c a n be doneon ly by a force pump . The long a rm of a syphon wou l d requ i reto measure upwards of a hundred yards to find a lower levelthan th e bottom of the tube

,which lies eighty-six feet below

the upper basin -r im . A nd even if you succeed, we Shall learnvery little more than what we al ready kn ow

,or we have reason

to assume .” I rejoin that the position of the spring whic h fills


1 80 U LTIMA THULE ; OR,

brown , scum-streaked,bubbling mud

,foul -looking as a drain .

The beautiful quiescen t Spring measures forty feet by fifteen ,

1

a nd is of reni form or in sect shape,the waist being represen ted

by a n atural arch of ston e spanni ng the hot blue depths

below the stony ledges which edge them with scallops a nd

corru gation s . Hen ce th e n ame ; th i s bridge is the blaze

streaking a pony’s face. Blesi was not sealed by deposition of

silex ; it su ddenly ceased to erupt in A .D . 1 784, the year afterthe Skaptar convulsion ,

a fact which suggests the origin of theGeysirs . It is Macken zie ’s cave Of blue water a nd travell erswho have not enjoyed the lap i s la zu li of the Capri grotto, indulgei n raptures about its colouration . North-west of the Blesi

,a nd

distan t 300 feet,is an other ruin

,situated on a much higher plan e

a nd showing the remain s of a large silicious moun d : it steams,

but the breath of life comes feebly a nd irregul arly. Thi s is probably the Roaring Geyser or the Old Geyser

,which maps

a nd plan s place eighty yards from the Great Geysir.The Great Geysir was unpropitious to us

,yet we worked hard

to see one of its expiring efforts . A n Englishman had set up

a pyramid at the edge of the saucer,a nd we threw in several

hun dredweights,h Oping that the silex, acted upon by the exec s

sive heat,might take the effect of turf the onl y effects were

a borborygmus which sounded somewhat li ke a nd

a shiver as if the Foul Fiend had stirred the depths . The last

eruption was described to u s as on ly a large segmen t of the

tube,n ot exceeding six feet in diameter. About midn ight the

veteran suffered slightly from S ingultus . On Monday the

experts mi spredi c ted that he would exh i bit between eight a ndn i n e A .M .

,a nd at on e AM on Tuesday there was a trace of second

childhood li fe . After the usual eructation,a gen eral bubble

,

half veiled in white vapour,rose like a gigan tic glass-shade from

the still surface,a nd the troubled water trickled down the basin

S ides in mini at u re boiling cascades . Then ce it flowed eastwardsby a S ingle waste-chann el whi ch presen tly forms a delta of twoarms

,the base being the cold

,rapid

,a nd brawling rivulet : the

1 M or e exa ctly th e two division s a re ea ch a bou t twen ty feet long th e sma lleri s twelve a nd th e grea ter i s eigh teen feet broa d th e extreme depth is th ir ty feet.


n orthern fork has a dwarf force, used as a dou ch e, a nd thesouthern exceeds it in length, measuring some 350 paces .

We were more fortunate with the irascible S trokkr , wh ose

n ame has been gen erally misin terpreted. Dill on calls it thepiston

, or churn ing-staff ; a nd Barrow the Shaker it is simply

the han d-churn whose upright shaft is worked up a nd down

the churn -like column of water suggested the resemblan ce .

This feature,perhaps the “ N ew Geyser ”

.

of Sir Joh n Stanl ey

a nd Henderson,formerly erupted n aturally

,a nd had all th e

amiable eccen tricity of youth now it must be teased or

coaxed . Stanley gave it 1 30 feet of j et, or 36 higher than th e

Great Geysir Henderson,50 to 80 ; Symi ngton ,

1 00 to 1 50

feet ; Bryson ,

“ upwards of a hun dred ; a nd Baring-Gould,“ rather h i gher than the Geysir.” We foun d it lying 275 feet

(Macken zie, 1 3 1 yards) south of the big brother, of wh i ch it is amean replica. The outer di ameter of the saucer i s on ly 7 feet,the inn er about 1 8 ; a nd it is too well drain ed by its silexfloored chann el ever to remain full . A funn el or inverted con e,whereas the Great Geysir is a mound a nd a cylin der

,it gives th e

popular idea of a crater : the upper bore is 8 feet 4 in ches to9 feet

,the depth 44 to 49

,a nd about half-way down i t n arrows

to 1 1 in ches . The . surface is a n ugly area of spluttering a nd

even boili ng water. A fu lminating dose ” of twen ty-four turfsa nd ston es, with three by way of bakhshi sh,

” brought on th e

usual tame di splay of “ bouquets d’eau i'

n sheaves, gerbes, la n c eola tion s

,a nd volutes,

” the highest rising at most 40 feet : travellers

give'

twelve minutes for the operation,others see it almost

in stan tan eously we had to wait more than a n hour. Bryson

explain s (pp . 44,45) the action of turf by its organi c ma tter caus

ing violen t ebu l li tion ,li ke the mucus or albumen of eggs

,wh ich

make the pot boi l over, or like the vesicles in foam or custard

c onfin ing atmospheric oxygen . But a second experimen t with

ston es on ly,a nd the wan t of suddenn ess in the outburst

,made

us fall back upon the homely old th eory, namely, that stopping

the n arrow tube en ables the water to overcome the pressure ofthe upper column . Th e Fren ch expedition ,

after duly a c tivis

ing i t,” fired a Shotted gu n at the surface of th e S trokkr

,wh i ch

i s said at on ce to h ave ceased boi lin g.


The most in teresting part to us was the fourth or southerntract. It is kn own a s T h ikku -h ver a r , thick caldron s (h otspri ngs) , perhaps in the sen se opposed to thin or clear water.Amongst its eru ptiones fla tu um

,

” the traveller feels that heis walking

‘

Per ignes,S u pposi tos cineri doloso .

There are at least fifty items in operation over th i s big.

limekiln ; some without drain s, others shedding either by sin tercrusted chann els eastward or westward through turf a nd humus

to the swampy stream . It Shows a n immen se variety, from theinfan tin e puff to the cold turf-puddle ; from Jack-in -the-box tothe cave of blue-green water, surrounded by ledges of silexa nd opa ll in e sin ter (hydrate of sili ca), more or less broad : thein fern al con cert of flip flopping

,spluttering

,welling

,fiz z ing,

grun ting, rumbling, a nd growling n ever ceases . The prevalen ttin ts are green a nd white

,but livelier hues are not wan ting.

On e gu sh erling” discharges red water ; a nd there is a spring

wh i ch spouts,like a n escape pipe

,brown

,high a nd strong. The

Little Geysir,which Macken zie places 1 06 yards south of the

S trokkr,a nd which has been very churlish of late years, was

on ce seen to throw up 1 0 to 1 2 feet of clean water,like the jet

of a fire-plug. The Little S trokkr of older,

travellers} awonderfully amusing formation

,which darts its waters in

numerous diagon al column s every quarter of a n hour,

” is a stufaor steam-j et in the cen tre of the group

,but it has long ceased its

funn ing.

”

Here we tried our fin al experimen t . The small springfarthest to the south-west

,a nd about 31 0 feet from the S trokkr ;

raised upon a little platform of silicious lamin ae,a nd draini ng

southwards,has two distin ct issues

,on e n early circular (1 foot

by 1 0 in ches) , a nd the other long-oval (1 foot by 6 in ches), dista n t 2 feet 2 in ches,but apparen tly. commun icating ; the depthis 1 1 feet

,after which soundings are preven ted by irregularities .

We blocked up both apertures with well-tamped turf. The

1 S ee Ba rr ow ’

s grou nd-pla n of th e Geysirs (p .



World,

” it is on ly fair to the reader that he shoul d be suppliedwith a description of it by a more en thusiastic pen .

I was particu l arly fortunate,

” writes a friend from Edi n

burgh,in witn essing two grand eruption s of this magn ificen t

foun tain : the first from its commen cemen t til l its close .

By the favour of the Dan ish Governmen t, the 1 8-gu n shipThor received six travellers on board in Leith Roads on the

1 8th Of Jun e 1 855 . My frien d the late Dr Robert Chambers, in

his Tracings of Icelan d a nd the Faroe Islands,’ gives a n in ter

esting accoun t of our voyage, of a boat trip with h im a nd a friendthrough the Faroe group

,a nd of ou r ride to the Geysers .

We arri ved at Reykjavik on the 27th , having di fficulty in

getting a pil ot to come on board the mon ster that cou l d sailagain st wind a nd tide

,the Thor ’ bein g the first steamer that

had appeared in Icelan d waters .

After a ball at the Govern or’ s on the even ing of the 28th , we .started in the morn ing for T h ingvell ir , accompani ed by CaptainR a ffenberg, three officers of the Thor,

’ our kind host a nd en ter

t a in er s, a nd by young Coun t Carl Trampe, son of the Govern or,with forty-on e horses, a nd arrived on the field of the Geysers in

the even ing of the 30th . Shortly before, as we were descen dingto the ford of the river, a column

'

like smoke was observed inthe distan ce before us ; this, as we afterwards learn t, was fromGeyser— on e of his great displays .A little ten t pitched n ear the great Geyserwa s not proof

again st the pelting rain ,bu t I was glad to get a friend to Share

it,th e rest of the party taking refuge at th e n eighbouring farm

house .

The n ight was dark, with heavy rain . Geyser (as he is emphatically ‘called by the Icelanders) gave n o S ign .

The first of July was warm a nd bright.There were several eruption s during the day, making me

famili ar with his Operation s,but there were n on e of them to a ny

great height, lasting only for two or three min utes : the basinnot quite emptied .

Several eruption s of S trokkr were witn essed,two of them

by giving h im a dose of turf : the prescription discovered by

Henderson . These were a series of violen t explosion s,without


a ny warn ing ; the first burst wen t up like a rocket fifty or sixty

feet,followed in such quick succession lower a nd higher that

frequen tly the ascending mass passed through the descendingwaters

,falli ng outwards on a ll sides . During the ten minutes

they lasted,a stream of boiling water was given off on ly in ferior

to that of th e Great Geyser.The last shoot in to the air was gen erally the highest.It is n ot quite safe to be n ear this fell ow in his spasmodic

pranks,but they cann ot be looked upon without amazemen t.

The action is altogether differen t from that of the orderlymajestic movemen ts of the great King of all the Geysers, with

whom he has eviden tly n o conn ection .

In his n ormal state,eight feet down from his n ot very pretty

mouth, t h e water in S trokkr is always in violen t ebull ition .

The estimate we formed of the extreme height of the sheavesof water was above 1 00 feet . In order to assist in the computation

,we h a d measured that dista n ce to the ground where we

stood . The more practised eyes of the n aval officers agreed inthis estimate .It was now eleven P.M . ; the sky as clear as day.

With the exception ofmy ten t frien d a nd a compan ion ,wh o

had gon e to visit the Little Geyser, the rest of the party had left

for the n ight .Standing on the edge of the basin to windward, assisted by

the Hoffmeister in measurin g the lin e I had stretched across it

at differen t poin ts, several heavy thumps were felt u nder ou rfeet

,followed by earthquake movemen t

,a nd the rollin g sound

,

so often described, coming from a distan ce to the south . Myassistan t had thrown down the lin es a nd 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 cen tre of the basin over the well or pipe (1 0 feet 4 in ches indiameter

,as afterwards measured) the water rose, through the

water in the basin , to the full cir cumferen ce of the pipe (31 feet) ,to the height of about 3 feet.

The column appeared for a n in stan t as if a solid body,im

mediately falling in to th e basin , a nd ru ffling its surface with a

s eries of waves .

ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

Lord Dufferin,in his charming Letters from High Latitudes

in happy illustration of this phen omen on adds in a foot-n ote :

‘A s if a n a ngel trou bled th e wa ters .

’

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

a li ttle storm in the basin,a nd rushing ou t at the two Open ings

in the r im,the on e on the n orth-east, the other on the east. By

the th i rd a nd fourth rise of these column s,following each other

with in creasing rapidity,the boiling water came tumbling like a.

cataract over the basin a nd down the moun d on all sides .’

C om

pell ed to retire a li ttle distan ce, c olumn s of water were now

dimly seen following each other with loud n oise,as they rushed

through the tube in to the air,each succeedi ng column higher

than the on e before it. These were now a series of explosion s,giving ofl

’

en ormous clouds of steam,black from their den sity.

‘2My two friends then join ed me a nd witn essed th is rare sighti n all its grandeur. The display lasted for about seven mi nutes

from the commen cemen t.Immediately after the last a nd highest explosion , the flow

down the sides of the mound sudden ly ceased,a nd runn ing up

a nd in to the basin,we foun d it empty

, a nd the water standingsome ten feet down

,the tube gradually filling again .

The Hoffmeister of the ‘Thor had return ed,a nd throwing

some ston es in to the well,myriads of steam bubbles were dis

engaged,a nd rose to the surface

,making him ru n

’

again for hislife from the wrath of the demon he had thus provoked .

2d of J u ly— Fast asleep in the ten t at six in the morni ng.

I was roused by the un dergroun d thundering to the south : myfriend

,wh o was up

,had looked ou t a nd thought it was on ly

a n abortive attempt ; the n oise con tinued,accompan ied by the

sound of rush i ng waters n ear us . Following my friend, I losth im for a minute or two in the den se mass of steam,

which smeltof sulphur

,but he speedily join ed me in my,

former position ; and

before the explosion s had attain ed their highest elevation , thewhole party were n ear us . Their Opin ion was, that the heightthe explosion s had attain ed was quite as great as that of S trokkron the previous day. I was much too n ear to form a ny adequate opinion . Rising above the den se clouds of vapour, the



to the su n,a nd looking into the basin ,

the spectator saw his facea nd head clear as in a mirror

,surrou nded by a halo of bright

prismatic colours . The coloured rays extended round the headto the distan ce of 2 or 3 feet

,forming two-thirds to three-fourths

of a circle,the lower portion wan ting. The observer could on ly

see his own liken ess,not that of h i s n eighbour.

The temperature of Geyser at rest varied from 1 80°

to

but no perceptible di fl’

eren c e was n oticed before or after theexplosion s .The heat of the water may be ascertained very n early by

observing the amoun t of steam given off.

During eruption s the water was expell ed at a temperaturefar above the boili ng poin t

,as the den se masses of steam clearly

showed.

There was n o steam from Geyser, which was not given ou t

from the water itself,during the explosion s .

On examin ing the basin,little ripple markings were found

all over its surface,similar to what are left on the sands of th e

sea by the retiring tide.It was unbroken by sacrilegious chisel a nd hammer, then

busily employed by all three in collecting specimen s .On my visit three years after, i n 1 858

,some of these re

jec ted specimen s were found so firmly cemen ted in the placethey were left that my hammer could n ot di sengage them

without tearing up a portion of the rock to which theyadhered.

I n the little pools on the sides of the mound films of puresili ca were discovered a nd on the edge of the little falls of th estream towards the river I got some good spec imen s of ca lcedonyin process of formation

,but they were too brittle to ca rry safely

On my second visit to the Geysers I wa s congratulated byCaptain Verr on of the Artemise of being sure to wi tn ess a

grand eruption,seeing he had been two days there without one ;

but, storm-stayed for four days, a nd n ever ou t of sight of myten t, I was disappoin ted. The in cessan t ra in had so subdued th emotive powers of action that the Great Geyser seldom rose n ear

h alf his former height. S trokkr growled, making some pra i se


worthy efforts,a nd the smaller Geysers did th eir best u nder

such a dverse circumstan ces.Among the preparation s made I had for ascerta ini ng th e

temperature of the well of the Geyser

1 . A cord repeatedly shrunk in h ot water, then stret ch ed,a nd marked every ten feet.

2 . An other to span the basin with a r ing in th e cen tr e,

th rough which NO 1 was passed.

The thermometer being attached to No. 1 , was let down in tothe tube every 1 0 feet successively, a nd with the help of two

a ssistan ts on opposite sides of the basin , bringi ng it home ton ote the temperature.

Un fortun ately, a Negr etti by Steven son ,though in a case

,

a nd well protected, got injured during the operation ; on e of the

screws wh i ch fasten ed the glas s tube to its case was ou t,a nd

a bit at the upper end broken ofl°. The injury I foun d

,after

a ll , would n ot have amoun ted to more than a differen ce of

5°

to 6°

Fahrenheit in temperature,but I had lost confiden ce

in it.

S O far as observed, the temperature rose very n early in proportion to the depth of the well

,from about 1 88° at the top to

about 260° at the bottom .

”

The following are the temperature measuremen ts at the

Great Geyser, taken on August 6 a nd 7, 1 874 , a nd given on

April 29,1 875, at the Royal Society of Edi nburgh by Robert

Walker,E sq ,

a Fell ow of the Society

D epth in feet fr om su rfa ce.

0

1 8

27

36

39

45

54

58 5“

67 5“

Observed tempera tu re1 87

°

1 90°

1 97°

21 1°

243°

247°

250rs

254°

254°

(o2592 5

257°


As a n example of change in these springs : on the first visit;a pool was foun d n ear the Little Geyser

,from which a stream

r a n eastwards, the temperature on the surface was a d

hering to the sides thick fleshy leaves of Al gae of a green ishbrown colour were floating. The spot was marked, a nd threeyears after the Algae were gon e

,a ll but a little on the sides, the

temperature reduced to the water had sunk down,a nd the

streamhad ceased,leaving its former course quite di scerni ble by

the grass which covered it being of a lighter green tin t than thaton each side of its course . T o the west, steam issued ou t of aminute hole : a stroke of the hammer disclosed a little pool in

ebullition,but the temperatu re was on ly Is thi s little

fell ow destin ed at some future day to rival his compan ion s ?Between the Geyser a nd the beautiful cavern s often de

scribed there is a n ugly hole about 8 feet di ameter,most danger

ou s,a nd horr ible to look at ; unli ke all the rest, con tain ing th e

pu r est water,it is filled to within 4 or 5 feet of its mouth with

a sili cious paste of a dark-brown colour,of the con sisten cy of

porridge,altern ately popling a nd boili ng furiously.

Visiting Reykir in 1 858,we were in formed by the pastor

that the period of i ts Geyser was just S ix hours, so we had buta n hou r to wait . True to time

,the water gradually rose with a

con tinuous flow,rising h i gher a nd h i gher du r ing a space of

twen tyminutes,un til it had reached a height of 38 feet. A little

in strumen t,design ed by the Astron omer Royal for Scotland

,with

the aid of a frien d from Bo’n ess,was su fli c ien t to give this close

approximation .

The charm of the Geyser at Reykir could n ot be exceeded ;the Shafts

,as they rose

,curved outwards all roun d in perfect

symmetry,a tree of live water

,throwing off steam,

but not suffi c ien t to obscure its marvellous beauty

,as the su n played a nd

sparkled among its bran ches .It is di fficult to account for these various phen omena.Place a glass tube h alf filled with water over a lamp or gas

light. After the water is‘

boiled,it will be ejected by successive

spurts ; a nd looking at the bottom of'

the tube,a n air space will

be seen , expan ding as the water is ej ected. This is the explosive material so often referred to

,a nd . it is upon th i s Operation



SECTION IV.

—To TH INGVELLIR AND BACK To REYKJ AVIK.

The n ext morn ing (Ju ly 1 6) saw ou r departure. Th e breezehad chopped round to the n orth

,a nd, perhaps, this change ofwin d

produced the gen eral excitemen t which we noticed in the springs .Both yesterday a nd to-day several parties of Icelanders came to

see the S ights, the women shawled to the ears, despite the h otsu n , a nd with bodi ces unpleasan tly tight-laced by lin es of eyelet

holes across the breast. Formerly the people n ever passed theGeysir without spitting in to it ; Or , as they say, a ti fiya nda ns mi ma— in to the Devil ’ s mouth .

” We set off at eleven A .M .,pass

ing south-south-west to the Laug farm,where some travellers

have slept a nd “ lost the eruption ,

”an d crossing the filthy swamp,

where sheep graze a nd curlews scream, we forded the little Streamwhich drain s between the L a u ga rfjall a nd its trachytic outlier.The approach to the thermae from the south is even mean er thanthe eastern

,a dwarf slope Of bright-coloured groun d trending

from the con cave lump to the T ri ngu fljOt .Most of this march is on ly fit for the itin erary. 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 An ti-L iba n u s, Shows more root , than bole,the tree hugging

earth,as it were

,to save itself from being blown away. The

first chapel farm gives a n exten sive View of the c oast features

a nd of the highly picturesque formation s,the Ja rlh ettu r rampart

,

the twin bluffs a nd spin es of H aga fell , a nd the grim,black

isolated castellation of H l Ou fell, outlying the Langj'

Oku ll . At

about hal f-past on e P.M ., warn ed by a rustling which was mi s

taken for that of the forest, we came li cki ty,l i cki ty, switch,

”

upon the planks of the Brfi a ra or Bridgewater : in Perthshirethere is also a Bru a r , so called from its natural arch. Ga ima rd

,

carefully copied by later writers,shows a plank forty feet long,

utterly un defen ded by ga rdefou ,

”a nd Spann ing the depths Of

a n arrowcleft in a precipice,” where men rush for their lives

,

”

a nd where the danger is at least a hundred feet.” Symington was reminded of the Mosi-wa-tunya (Victoria) Falls, theNiagara of South Africa ! The river

,classical in Iceland story


for the lyn ching ofJOn Ger ikson ,the Swedish bishop

,here washes

over a rocky chann el about 1 60 feet broad . There is a ferrybelow ; higher up a gash, n early 1 00 yards long, forms a wedgeshaped crevasse

,openi ng down stream

,a nd a drop of half-a

dozen feet in the bed combin es to make a min iature horse-shoe,over which the blue water pours

,foaming a nd mi ldly roaring .

Over the gash is thrown a br idge’

of twelve planks} some twelve

feet broad, a nd well guarded by iron -cramped rail s . M an must

lately have suffered from Dil. Tre .” to feel n ervous in such

a place,a nd we wen t ou r ways laughing .

Shortly after six P.M . we sighted T h ingva llava tn ,the mon arch

of Iceland lakes,

”a n expan se of placid blue

,ruffled by the

pleasan t south . Its two crater-islets . are Nesja ey, small a nd

green,n ear the western shore, a nd larger Sandey, a two-pronged

lump of black ston e a nd green turf,rising a little south of a

Lisan,

” a dark foreland projected by the eastern shore . Shortly

afterwards we came sudden ly upon the H r a fn agja, or Raven’ s

Geo,

2 whose “ startling depths ” extend from the sn ow-patchedH r a fn abj

'

Org, or Raven’ s C rag, about four miles long to the Vel

l a nka tla,Bay of the Lake . This longitudin al crevasse is the

facsimi le of a Ka’

a h in H a u ran i c Leja or the Refu ge ; the

long parall el lin es Show corresponding angles,a nd there is little

di fferen ce of level between the upper a nd lower lips of thebarran co ; in fact, it is the lateral ren t to be foun d, in a smaller

scale,upon every lava-field. The arched form is common to

such streams,a nd where the sides find a soft a nd yieldi ng fou nda

tion,a nd cold con tracts the heated mass

,it splits on both sides

of the major axis, a nd thus forms chasms,often on e or more

,

upon each flank . Here, at least, n o“ collapse theory” is wan ted .

A fair causeway across the Raven ’ s Rift is made by the fall

ing of many rocks . Upon the lower slopes we foun d forest,

”

1 Ba r ing-Gou ld makes th e br idge seven to eigh t ya rds long ; fa r too long forsingle pla nks .

2 Wr itten R avn egi a , a nd oth er ba rba rou s forms. Gj a a lso h a s been corru ptedto Ga ia

, et c . T h e word i s fou nd in th e Hebrew m , th e Greek y am,a nd th e Ger

ma n and Swiss C a n , a distr ict, a can ton ; it i s preserved in th e Scottish Geo or

Geow : it i s th e Corn ish H or , a nd th e Ska a r e of th e Faeroes, su pposed to extendu nder th e sea . It “ often den otes a r ift, with a ta rn or pool a t bottom,

wh en ce Gili s a r ift with r u nn ing wa ter a nd it i s akin to Gin a (xa ww, A . S . Gin a n ) Gah nen

,

to yawn (Clea sby) . In Iceland th ese fosses a re split by th e h ammer of Th or .VOL . II.


wh ich.

does not exist on the sister formation . We then crossedthe eastern or , as it is kn own in history, the upper plain th e

surface on both sides of the path is streaked with Geos,

”

mostly runnin g para ll el ; we remarked one di sposed obliquelyto the lay

,a nd the various n ames given to us were H aflagja,

H Olagja, a nd Bre5ni gja. At half-past n in e PM . we en tered th e

T h ingvell i r church : the altar-piece, a Last Supper, is old ; thepulpit dates from A .D . 1 683 ; a nd the loft is n ot , as usual , a storeroom for the farm,

but a Sleeping apartmen t for travell ers, pro

vi ded with pillows a nd mattresses, decen tly clean . PrOfa str

Bech was happily absen t : h i s wife sen t us forelles a nd Kaka}thin rye cakes

,but Icelandi c modesty did not admit of ou r seeing

the lady.

The n ext morn ing was spen t in prospecting the humblewonders of T h ingvellir ; the T ingvold of Norway ; the D yngsted

of' Oldenburg ; 2 the Dingwall of Ross—shire the Tingwall of

H ja l tla nd a nd Tynwald of Dumfries a nd the Isle of M a n .

Thi s assembly plain owes all its fame to hi story ; its civili sing

influen ce upon the race remin ds us of the annual reun ion s ofthe Greeks at Delphi

,a nd the Hebrews at Jerusalem. Sen ti

mentalists wou l d restore the obsolete practice,a nd tran sfer the

legislators from their comfortable hall at Reykjavik to thi s wilda nd savage Spot—why not propose that the baron s of Englan dmeet in parliamen t at Runnymede ?

The lake is computed at thirty mil es in circumferen ce, a ndthe depth in places to exceed a hun dred fathoms . T h e aspecton a cloudless morn ing is that of the humble Scotch wat ers

,

wan ting on ly gen tlemen ’s seats a nd a small steamer : here,h ow

ever,we a re in Sn owland, a nd we see it. The depressed plain

begin s with th e rugged delta of the Oxa ra,3 Or Axewa ter , a ndrun s to the n orth-east about four miles each way : the limitsn orth a nd south are moun tain s a nd h i ll s

,east a nd west ru n the

1 Th is i s evi den tly th e Germ. Ku ch en a nd th e E ng. Ca ke we c an tra ce itba ck to th e Pers . Ka h k .

”

2 According to Bla ckwa ll, th e Th ingstea d in Oldenbu r g still sh ows th e Doomr ing of u pr igh t stones, a nd t h e BlOt-steinn in t h e cen tre.

3 T h e Axewa ter , so ca lled beca u s e KettlebjOrn , th e Old, wh en prospectingfor a residen ce h ere, lost h is axe. Ba rr ow gives Oxera , wh ich wou ld mea n Oxwa ter . Th ere h a s been no ch a nge in th e T hingvellir sin ce th e days of th e Norwegi a n coloni sts.



exposed a section of the ren t rocks on either S ide. It reposessolely on the eviden ce of the two parallel Geos

,a nd I do not see

that they bear it ou t . Both of the inn er sides have sunk,n ot

from subterran eous crevassing,but because the strips of groun d

which subtended them could n ot bear the weight. Mr Scropewou l d accoun t for the fosses

,not by vertical settlemen t of

superficial lava in to a ny cavity ben eath, but by the S imple

a nd usual process,the bulk of the semi-flu id lava-stream

,upon

the cessation of supply from above, having ru n out in to the

depths of the Th ing va lla Lake .” The n ormal operation of th i s

movemen t,however

,is to form a tun n el

,not a n open trough

,a nd

this objection is On e of the least.The con trast of moun tain a nd water

,as usual

,gives a certain

picturesquen ess to the site . South-east of the lake rises theBurfell

,here a goodly presen ce

,a nd n o longer the little con e

seen from about Reykir ; south li es famili ar I ngOlfsfja ll, a nd

sou th-west towers the tall hanging hill,”H engi l sh Ofbi , famed for

sulphur springs ; sn ow-streaked,blue-tin ted

,a nd shaped some

what like a n elephan t’s head. Wheeling round to face north

west,we see the pinn acles of Sula rfell

,bristled as with trees ;

th e fretted peaks about Gagnh ei t i the dull black heap of

Arma nn sfell , so called,

from Orman the Irish gian t,who there

li es in h isgrave a nd the ridgelet of Jornkl i ff,crouching below it.

There to n orth-east stands Skja ldbreiO, shield-shaped as its n amesays

,ending in a sn ow-flaked umbo which suggests a crater.

The peaks of T inda ska gi at its foot apparen tly conn ect with thegreat H r a fn abjOrg ; a nd far behind them

,but brought n ear

by the surpassing atmospheric clearn ess,Sparkle the sn ows of

L angjO'

ku ll . The eastern vi ew ends with the quain t serration s ofD i’mon

,which may be either lava blisters, or the lips of a true

crater,with the long buttress-like promon tory of A rn a rfell

,a nd

with the backgroun d heights of M iOfell .D a sen t

’

s“ Topogr aphy of the T hi ngfield,

” 1 will confin e our

n otices of details to a n arrow range . We in spected the E 11ston e or Fathom-ston e

,a block of vesicul ar lava

,4 feet 9 in ches

high,opposite the church door

,a nd plan ted upon a rubble foun

1 A la rge pla n , bu t not very correct, i s given by Du ffer in (p.


dation . The S ix lin es upon the east face measure 1 foot 9in ches, 1 1 8

, 7, 5, a nd 4 in ches they may be

standards,but they look like the work of n atur e . We then

walked up to the grassy site of the Althing,a nd that local Sinai,

the LOgberg or M ooth i ll, the latter a n atural ston e-moun d to th en orth. Parliamen t was formerly held on a n island ; it was for

the best of reason s tran sferred here, where the pu bli c was rail edoff by deep chasms

,a nd where h on . members cou l d be attacked

onl y by a single gateway. So the Shetland Tingwall (T h i nn llr )was held on a holm} accessible on ly by stepping-ston es, a nd the

Thing-booths were on the lake-plain . East is the H rossagja, a nd20 yards west

,the N ikolasa gja,

2 with the smaller Brenn ru gjabelow the latter. Thesemini atures of the two great rifts

,distan t

about a mile a nd a half from the lake,are of crumbling sub

column ar black rock,varying from 1 6 to 40 feet in breadth

,a nd

falling Sheer some 30 feet to clear blue-green water,whose depths

Show detached blocks of lava . The two former un ite to then orth , the secon d a nd th i rd to the south

,en closing a long oval

with a n atural bridge,a few feet wide

,to the south-east. We

admi red the leap, worthy of Morton a nd the Black Linn,by

whi ch Flosi escaped the “ blood-ston e ;” this article was shown

to us on the western bank of the H rossagja, a detached slicesome 1 2 feet long

,when ce the victim wou l d fall in to the Geo .

”

Below to the west lay the lower Gxara, which has probably

changed all its features sin ce N jal’

s day. Yet the gu i des still

poin t ou t the islet, where holm-gangs were fought in presen ce ofthe multitude ;

3a nd amongst the sand-banks formed by ankle

1 I believe it h a s been tr a n sferred by la ter a n tiqu a r ies from th e h olm to th ema in la n d ; bu t Cowie (p. 1 78) still keeps it in th e islet .

2 Th is Gja i s ama zingly exa gger a ted by Ba r ing-Gou ld (p . 69) a ssuming th eh uma n fig ures a t on ly 5 feet, th e depth of th e ch a sm wou ld be 75 .

3 For t h e code of h on ou r i n paga n Icela nd, D a sen t r efers to Kormak’

s Saga , ch a p .

x. ,wh ere th e law of th e du ello wa s most pu n ctiliou sly la id down a s th e “ Br itish

Code of Du el ” (London ,1 824) by a ph ila n th ropic a nd en terpr ising Ir ish gen tlema n .

T h e weapon s ch iefly u sed were broa dsword a nd ba ttle-axe ; th e comba ta n ts migh tn ot step ba ck beyon d a given spa ce, a nd th e la tter pecu lia r ity i s still pr eservedin th e h ostile meetings of stu den ts th rou gh ou t North ern Germa ny, wh er e th efloor or gr ou n d i s ma rked with ch a lk . In some ca ses th ey stood u pon a h ide a ndwere not a llowed to ga in or to break grou nd. T h e Holm-ga nga wa s a ju diciumD ei ,

” differ in g from th e E invigi , or s imple du el, by th e r ites a nd ru les wh icha ccompa n ied it . T h e Norwegia n du el wa s worth y of th e S c r i th ofinn i ; th e c omba t an t s were fa stened togeth er by th e belt, a nd u sed th eir kn ives till one wa skilled . H ow pu gn a ciou s th e old paga n Sca ndinavia ns were, may be ju dged from

ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

deep rivu l ets,the T h orleifShOlmr , upon which crimi nals were

beheaded.

I passed the greater part of the morni ng examin ing th eAlma nn agja, whose total length is about two miles} a nd the average breadth 1 00 feet. Ascending the outer or eastern edge by aslope of I found the upper strata to be ropy, treacly, a nd

scoriaceous lava,whilst below a nd in side the couches are hard

a nd crystalli ne . There is a sli p l

in the Topography of the T hingfield (p. where it says

,about a mi l e a nd a half from

where the great rift touches the lake,its inn er lip ceases

,a nd

the En larged Plan ” makes it break Off where it is very dis

t in c tly marked. The,

sole was a mass of debr i s fallen from thesides

, a nd good pasture streaked with many a path. Up thechasm there are rude dry walls of mortarless ston e, the M akfl

of the Syrian goat-herd,a nd serving a s Saeters for sheep— the

gu i des declare them to be the Birt h of the Old T h i ngmen,but

their booths did not extend n orth of the river. The upper orwestern wall

,whose crest is weathered in to pinnacles, varies

from 80 to a maximum of 1 00 feet, wh il st the lower ranges from

30 to 50 ; both are perpendicular a nd show str a tifi c a tion s wh i ch

seem to proceed from a succession of di scharges .The Axewa ter

,above the Geo

,

” is a stream like a n Englishrivulet

,flowing th r ough awild a nd desolate B eisi. It tumbles

over the western lip by a gap about 50 feet high ; here the layersof lava are well defin ed on both sides

,a nd it is easyto climb up

either flank of the toy cascade . This fall was sighted du r ingthe last march, a nd suggested great expectation s as the foot washidden . M . Ga ima rd

mt akes the liberty of removing the screen ,

a nd showing the whole height prodi giously exaggerated. It doesnot

“ explode in a cataract,but fall s decen tly in to a fon t-like

kieve,a nd threads the san d a nd boulders of the Geo. After a

few yards it finds a gap in the inn er lip,a nd here it dashes

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

lower basin,sack-packed wretched females —the author must

th e’wi fe’

s pra ctice of ca rrying th e h u sban d’s sh rou d to weddings a nd merrymakings .

”

1 Pa ijku ll gives th e length , one geogra ph ica l mile, a nd th ema ximum depth ,1 40 feet too sh ort a nd too deep.


ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

n umber of these birds,besides sandpipers

,purple oyster-breakers

,

whimbrels,whose soft flu id jug

,

” according to the “ Oxon ian,

”

“ is n ot un like the n ightingale’s song,

”a nd a fair scatter of raven s .

I proposed a tu rkey-buzzard on a blasted tree, proper, as thearms of Dahome

,a ndGrip on a lava pinnacle would suit Iceland

passing well .The on ly in terest of this day’ s ride is

,that it crosses the

great trachytic band ” Opposed to the lesser trachytic ban d of

Sn aefells ku ll ; the former made by old writers to stretch clean

across Iceland from n ear R eykja n es (south-west) to Langan es

(n orth-east) . We examin ed a few vein s of that rock, but thesurface was mainlylava above a nd Palagon ite below. The latteris said to be remarkably well developed in the S elja la nd gorge}a nd we dismoun ted to secure red specimen s

,a nd to find

,if pos

sible,a n Irish rose . This feature, I suppose, is on e writer

’svast precipice

,where there is on ly about sixteen in ches to tread

on,

”a nd the deep ravin e

,wild

,horrid

,a nd frightful

,of an other

pen ,whose pen cil supplies it with a herd of deer.As we drew n ear Reykjavik the su n

,after shimmering hori

zon ta lly along the ground, obliged us by occasion ally settin gbehind the hill s

,a nd when it

Bu rnedT h e old fa rm-ga ble, we th ou gh t it tu rnedT h e milk th a t fell in a ba bbling floodIn to th e milk-pa il, red a s blood .

Th e moon arose with a judi cious repressi on of details : the silverlight

,the dark purple brooding at the hill-feet

,a nd the gleam of

the golden west gave more colour than usual to the view. Thepon ies

,under boxes n ow empty

,seemed to fly as they scen ted

home . The on ly differen ce in the familiar scen e was a vasteruption of peat-stacks, made, like h ay, whilst the su n shin es .Shortly before midn ight we were again at home : in Iceland thereare n o hours

,a nd kind-hea rted Frfi Jon a ssen did not keep u s

waiting either for supper or for bed .

1 It is a n a lysed by Bu n sen (Art . II . , 10 0 .


ITINERARY EROM REYKJAVIK To HEKLA AN D

TH E GEYSIR VIA KR ISUVIK .

REYKJAVIK To KR ISUVIK.

M onda y, J u ly 8, 1 872 .

Left Reykjavik at A .M . Rounded heads of two dwarfFjOrOs (1 R M ), Fosvogr a nd KOpavogr (seal-c u b voe) ; turf atvalley-heads .

P.M .

—H a fn a fj6r5 2 hours 1 5 min . riding ; path toler

able up torren t bed ; crossed first divide of rugged ropy lava ;path bad .

P.M . 3 hours 50 —Changed horses in grassy cupshaped hollow

,under broken wall of lava .

P.M .

—Started again ; at 4 R M . forded Kalda (cold water)River.

P.M .

—Short halt on gr assy bottom at foot of L anga h li O.

PM . 7 hours) .—Kleifa rva tn (cliff-water) ; path alongwestern shore of lake .

P.M .

— Left lake ; over bog a nd up hill.

(9 I . P.M .

—Reached Kr i su vik (Bay of Kri sa, proper n ameofwoman ) , 5 hours 3 50 8 hours 50 min . Frequen t halts a nddelays with pack-saddles . At most 3 mi les per hour by 9 z 27

indirect statute mi l es . People call the di stan ce 1 0 to 1 5 miles .Road upon map, 1 6 direct geogr aphical miles from Reykjavik to

Kr i sq Gen eral direction,n orth to south with a little westing.

Good,grey, travellin g day ; no su n a nd n o rain till n ight.

Paid at Kri su vik, $1 , 3m. 0sk . (the cheapest) .

KR ISUVIK TO L ITLALAND .

Left Kri su vfk AM ; flou ndered over bog. Great aridplateau of Iceland to left.

— Crossed rocky divi de . Short c u t over livid plain of

lava ; sea to right ; r oad along slopes.


—Entered great lava-field, which lasted with intermi ssion s throughout day.

P.M .

— Sweet-water lakelet (not shown on map) of Herdi sa rvik (Her-di s, proper n ame) ; first gr eat lava-stream ends .

P.M .—Rode across H l a rva tn ,

at foot of Langa h li t , nownot open to sea as in map ; water brackish . Halted 1 hour n earVogSOsa r (voe

’s mouths) farm ; gnats a nd flies. Rode 4 hours30 min .

= 1 34 indirect statute miles .P.M .

— Left VogsOsa r . Basaltic sands a nd shells ; thi n

grass . Then loose san d a nd Old flow of lava ; domes, caves, a ndcircu l ar blow-holes

,like those of the Hauran . Deep san d, black

a nd red. Rocky divide ; wen t gen tly over the ston es .

P.M .

—Passed H liOa rendi (not th e Lithe-end, or Ridge-end)to the left (n orth) farm un der green slope.Forded streaml et in swampy river-vall ey ; rough causeway ;

Shoul d have crossed at the ston e-ma n farther down .

6) II. 8 P.M .

—Reached L i tla la nd ; five-gabled farm ofMagnusMagnusson . Rode 3 hours 30 min . 1 1 indirect statute miles .Total

,8 hours 24% indirect statute miles ; on map, 1 9 direct

geograph i cal miles . Gen eral direction,west to east.

Misty morn . Day like yesterday,but more su n . Wind

ranged from south-east to n orth . At ni ght cirri ; Show clear

day to-morrow.

Paid $2, Om. 0sk.

L ITLALAN D To REYKIR AND LAUGARDZELIR FARM.

Set ou t AM Up rise over cindery lava.—Road forks

,right bran ch leading to big farm. Took

path to left ; reached old beach, water-worn galettes lying in long

lin es . Skala fell above to left (n orth-west) .—Right bank of Olfu sa

’

. (proper name) valley, higher upcall ed the Sog. Olfu sva tn is the old name for T h ingva llava tn .

1 1 .45 .

f-H jaHi (a hillock, much the same as HOll ; Cleasby

says, a shelf or ledge i n a moun tain -Side chapel farn i .’

Skirted tall Palagoni te precipice on left.



hogsback elsewhere) , S tOr aborg, a nd H estfja ll , resembli ng dots .

Bog on old lava : ston e outcrops at places ; wettest part often

most soli d base .P.M .

— H r a u nger51 (lava garth) chapel ; two farms 8 milesfrom ferry ; horses a nd n eat cattle .2 P.M .

—Hill dividing Olfu sa a nd T t rsa . Rough work

Showed lake-coun try below,a nd Tt rsa

’

. lin e raised by refraction .

Al ong n atural lava-dyke to dismal,dreary moor, all kn obs a nd

hummocks . Even raven s avoid it in this weather.

P M . (3 hours 30 mi n . 1 8 indirect statute mil es) .Halted thirty minutes a nd changed horses at Langamyr i ; largefarm-house

,on e of many ; wire fen ce, two strands, a nd stripped

bran ches for hedge .5 P.M .

—Remoun ted . Bad riding .

— Came upon Tt rsa. Olafsvelli r to left ; ferry saves distan ce

,but dangerous in fierce wind. Path along stream excellen t

,

black basaltic sand, at times c u t off corn ers, clay covering sand .

Turn ed from n orth-east to east . Farms a nd cattle . Passed Sandlaekr a nd tall riverin e islet, A rn esth ing. Bri stir

,or ruin s

,on

right. Pon ies tired ; when leaving river Often lost way.

7 P.M .

— Coun try more thickly peopled.

(9 IV. 8 .30 P.M .

—A t Tt rsarh olt ferry-house'

(3 hours 30 min .

_ 20 mil es) . Total 8 hours, varying pace : 46 indirect statute

mil es ; map, 26 direct geographical miles . Gen eral di rection ,

west south-west to east-n orth east.Weather vile

,un like the fin est mon th

,July

,as possible ; fore

n oon cold ; driving rain . At n oon stopped. Furious in aftern oon . At times drizzle

,like hoar-frost on grass by decomposition

of li ght. Rain again violen t till end of march .

Paid $3 for n ight’s lodging a nd ferry. Tariff, 1 1 sk. per ma n

or pack ; on return paid $1 .

T H JORSARHOLT To N E FRHOLT FARM.

J u ne 1 2 .

Left T t r Sarh olt 1 0 A .M . ; up stream to ferry. Spent 1 hour30 mi n . crossing Tt rsa.

PA SUMMER IN ICELAND . 200

A .M .

-Over turf of left (east) valley, like a dwarf prairie ;50 min . Many farms ; good lan d, grassy sward, two to three feet

deep . Threads of lava,with dangerous holes a nd sinks, some

times covered with grass-tu rf. I n places lava bare a nd broken .

Crossed rivu l et.P.M .

— S tOru vellir parson age, 1 hour 30 min . 6 miles ;map

, 4 direct geographical miles . Direction , south with a little

c a sting. Place affli cted by winds from Sprengi sa ndu r , distan ttwo to three days ’ ride .

P.M .

— Left S tOru velli r wi th guide . Pastoral scen e at foot

of Hekla,a pampa. Sheep everywhere ; ditto stinging flies

throughout the inhabited part,few at Geysir.

P.M .

-L ei ru bakki farm . Changed guides . After a fewmin utes reachedVestri (west) Ranga wrong” or crooked stream),at the mouth call ed Ytri (outer or uttermost) Ranga. Forded

two prelimin ary brooks , a nd tethered horses together for thirdor main chann el

,girth deep. Dwarf forest, birch a nd willows .

Then two streams,on e a ditch, the other a l avapé s,

” flowing,

like lava,n orth—east to south-west .

(9 V. 5 P.M .

— N aefrh olt (birch-bark Copse), last cottage at foot ofBjOlfell , western outlier of Hekla . Formerly travellers slept at

S elsu nd farm,south-south-west of N aefrh olt .

Aftern oon march,2 hours 30 min . 1 2 indirect statute miles .

Total of day’s ride,4 hours 1 8 indi rect statute mil es ; map,

1 0 di rect geographical mi les .

Grey day,like the start ; clouds had expended ammun ition .

Win d south-east. I n even ing weather doubtful,win d west.

Hekla misted over, good S ign ; travellers often stopped by fogs,a nd even by sn ow,

in July. Flies suddenly disappeared,wings

wetted ; n ot the case with th e gnats a nd midges acting

mosquitoes .In strumen ts in even ing.

An eroid,

thermometer, 58

°

Hygrometer, 4°

(exceptionally dry) .


AT N.E ER II OLT .

Ascended Hekla.Left N aefrh olt AM .

Rode down the turf lan e ; crossed the dwarf stream (lavapés) ,up right grassy bank

,a nd crossed again . En tered basin of

Unkn own Lake — thin strip of flat lan d with holes oftenmarked by grass a nd wil lows . All sinks (sin k-holes) a ndpun chbowls

,as if limeston e coun try. Last thick vegetation

1 500 feet high . Then in to dreary region,sand a nd cinder ;

powdery red con e of fine cinder on left. Slabs Of heat-altered

tra chyt e . Obsidi an of two kinds— (L ) Huge blocks of pitchston e found from top to bottom of con e

,hard

‘

a nd fli nty

(H r a fnt inn u proper) ; a nd Small pieces Of S amidin,

”or

obsidian with'

crystals Of white jasper like that of Ten erife a nd

other places . Bombs showed furious cannonade. Palagoni teeverywhere i n si tu a nd i n scatters : some con tain ed obsidi an .

Made for big,rough lava-stream, rusty a nd in heaps ; in places

rapidly degrading,a nd leaving only core. Pon ies sank to fetlock.

Hugged left of Steina (ston e stream) . After two hours’ ride

,at

1 0 .30 A M . crossed hill , reached ba rren divide too steep forhorses .An eroid in air

,28 1 8 (differen ce, 2 06) thermometer, 92° (in

pocket) ; hygrometer,Walked up slope of divi de ; descended very sh ort pitch of

ston e a nd debr i s, steepest bit of whole march. Crossed veinOf lava (Sept. 2, 1 845) like pu ll ed bread, all slag a nd clinker ;pulverising above . Reached a kind of cou loi r

,a rim on left

of lava-stream. Black sand a nd two large tongues of icebased sn ow

,wh i te a nd brown

,ridged with dirty earth, a nd

dotted with dwarf ice-tables,sable above a nd ermi ne below.

More ice as we ascended, keeping on the earthy parts . Manyhalts .

—Reached crater of 1 845. Observed in strumen ts .

An eroid in air, (difference, thermometer, 83

°

(inpocket) .



P.M .

—Hrun i chapel ; 4 hours 35 min . from T t rsa, fastriding. This third of road moderate .

P.M .

—Left Hrun i ;’

road to Geysir now very bad ; fivefast or seven slow hours ; took gu i de or it would have beenworse . Wen t n orth ; road n ot on map. Crossed ugly wetswamp to Minni Laxa (lesser salmon -river) ford not bad.

Up divide of Palagon ite running n orth-east to south-west.Rounded a nd crossed easiest part of an other swamp . Cau seway.

Up an other divi de Showed us valley of v ta. West of ussmokes of Reykholt

,Langs everywhere . Avoided causeway

,

because it run s through mmof large farm, GrOf (the pit) .8 P.M .

— Changed pack-horses . Ugly swamp a nd causeway to

E vi ta River.P.M .

—Forded H VI’ta stream ; the heaviest, but n ot bad .

Up right bank,a wild gorge ; guide left us . Through swamps .

En tered ugly system of broken ground,rock-walls

,earth a nd

ston e,faults a nd dykes .

1 0 P.M .

—Fell in to long descen t of birch “ forest. Long trot.Forded T i

’

Ingu fljOt (Tongue, i .e., Mesopotamia or Doab) River.

P.M .—Reached Geir-h Oll farm

,then vill ain ous swamp

for tired n ags . Crossed eastern three bran ches of the Ar bra ndsa’

.

(upper T fingu fljé t) , a ll troublesome a nd two other fou l,flowing

fast influ en ts of the right or western bank.

6 VI. At 1 2 P M . reached Geysir.Total of this day’s ride

,1 2 hours 20 min . ,

at least 50 indirectstatute miles ; map, 31 direct geographical miles . Gen eral

di rection ,south-south-east to n orth-n orth-west.

Dew very heavy,yet plague of fli es . Sweltering morn . At

9 A .M .,thermometer 82

°

A .M .,good sea-breeze from

south. Fin e day. I n even ing cold clouds from east gathering,

9 R M . thick at n ight, thr eaten ed rain .

GEYSIR TO TH INGVELLIR .

Left Geysir 1 1 AM Passed Laug farm to south-west, a nd

crossed spongy bog a nd swamp in rivu l et-influ en t of Tfingu fljot,


passing between L a u ga rfja ll a nd the outlier . Rou nded southend of L a u ga rfja ll .1 2 (n oon ) . —M Uli (muzzle, mau l , mu l l) farm, one of the best ;

skirted southern Bja rn a rfell , , between ugly, black, bare hil ls a nd

swamp over triangle (Bi sku pstfingu r) , formed by TUngu fljOt

a nd Br i’

i a ra.

P.M .—Chapel farm

, U ptirh li ts exten sive View ; sunk

road. Two rivul ets, second small a nd bou l der-paved . Forest

(birch a nd will ow) begin s a nd lasts with in terruption s all day .

See more wood in one hour than on all south coast.

1 P.M .

— Passed to left chapel farm, U th lft , at foot of Hraun

of same name .P.M .— Crossed bridge ofBrua ra

’

t (bridgewater), a nd en teredlands of L a u ga rda lr . Forded a fourth stream. On right,E fsti da lr (uppermost dale), at foot of black plateau, ugly, bare,a nd gashed with many drain s . H ognh Of5 pyr amid to n orth,rhin oceros head a nd horn . Left M iOda lr chapel on right, a nd

rounded upper swamp of Apava tn (ape or fool water,from a

settler in the n in th cen tury) .P.M .

— Crossed streamlet fed by many drain s a nd trickles ;first down

,then up bed

,sand-bars a nd islets ; mu st be u nford

able below. Rounded Laugarvatn (lake), large farm a nd hotspri ng.

4 P.M .

— Halted L a u ga rva tn svelli r ; fine pastures . Five h ours

tolerably fast 20 in direct statute miles . Good view of Hekla .

Saw two sn ow-fonds,up which we had walked.

P.M .

— Left Laugarvatn by made road on ba rmr (edge)of low rolling groun d a nd humus

,confini ng big swamp on n orth

Bja rn a rfell hill to right, then three peaks ofKalfst inda r . Travell er s a nd caravan s.

6 P.M .

-En tered Old lava . Path rose to 600 feet,a nd showed

T h ingvelli r Lake . Grim hill, R eyti a rba rmr (red, i .e.,salmon

trout edge), to right. Road rutty. Dimon or T indh ru n i (Bryson ’ s T in tron) , a n extin ct crater in shield form,

rising at base of

high hill on right.P.M .

— Gjabakki farm,close toVella nka tla (boiling kettle),

north-eastern bay of lake (proper n ame ofboili ng well Cleasbysupposes i t sank below water-level) , along lake .

VOL . 11 .


P.M .

— H ra fn agja ; eastern crevasse.PM .—Middle crevasse

,called H afiagj a , HOlagj a , or

Bret n i gja

6) VII . P.M .

— Chapel of T h i ngvell ir .

Second march,4 hours 1 0 mi n . 20 miles . Total, 40 indir ect

statute miles map, 265 direct geographical miles .Gen eral di rection

,n orth-east a nd by n orth to south-west an d

south .

Gloriousmorni ng ; cloudless gen tle breeze from n orth . At 1 1A .M .

,chopped round to south-west. At n oon west, b lowing dust

in face everywhere except on lava . Clouds . 1 Few drops of rain .

Presen tly weather recovered itself. Very fine even ing a nd

n ight .

T H INGVELLIR TO REYKJAVIK.

P.M .

— Left T h ingvellir (paid $2, 3m. 0sk ) .Forded Oxa ra ; up ru de basaltic causeway, some ten yards long,a little south Of where Oxa ra escapes in to plain— site of But ir.A few yards down grassy surface of Alm a nn agja. Up spli t in

western wall . Dreary scen e on summit ; Old lava, grassy a nd

moss grown .

P.M .

— Last sigh t of T h ingvell ir Lake, a nd first view of

black buttressed E sja , with gleam of sea. En tered M osfell sh eiOi ;

soil damp,sour

,a nd barren ; sign s Of road—making, a nd Var5as

everywhere . Left to right two ponds, L ei ru vogsva tn a nd Geldinga t rn

,latter un drain ed ; skirted east a nd south base of

Gr imm a n sfell (uglyman’ s fell) to right, steamin g spring (Beyk

j a la u g) .7 P.M .

—Descen t to the far—famed S elja da lr (sallow will owdale) .

P.M .

—Dwarf ravin e on left . Its stream finds the H r a fn a

vatn reservoir of R eykjavik Laxa. Rode down grassy basin ;forded stream twen ty-five times

,fetlock to kn ee-deep .

8 P.M .

—Halted to graze pon ies . First march, 4 hours 25 min .

20 indirect statute miles .P.M .

—Remounted. Con tinued S elja la nd valley ponds


212 ULTIMA THULE ; OR.

C H A P T E R X I I .

ON HUMAN AN D OTHER REMAINS FROM ICELAND .

SHORTLY after my return to Englan d the foll owmg letter wassen t to th e An thropological In stituteI have the pleasure to forward a small collection of human

remain s a nd other arti cles from Iceland.

“ The site of the find’ will readily be found upon the four

sheet map of Gu nnl a u gsson a nd Olsen . Cast the eye eastward

of the great southern stream M a rka rfljOt,’

mark or forest flood,whose eastern delta-a rm debouches n early Opposite to Vestma n

n a eyja r , Islan ds of the Irishmen . You will see on the left

(east) of the stream the little vall ey of T hOr smork, the grove of

Thor,a good sturdy Old god, whose n ame still lives a nd thrives

in Iceland. He was even preferred to Odin,

‘H in Alma ttki

Ass that Almighty Ass,

’ by the people Of Sn owland,a nd in

more modern days he was invoked when a doughty deed wasabout to be don e ; the deities of Christian ity being preferredon ly when th e more femin in e qualities of mildn ess a nd mercywere to be displayed.

The valley in question is described by the Oxon i an I n

Iceland ’ as a beautiful green -wooded spot,

’

n ear which flowsthe M a rka rfljOt . About eight miles long

,with precipitous sides

,

its S ite is bisected by a n arrow but tolerably deep boulderriver

,

’ a bugbear,by

-the-by, of Icelandic travel, a nd th i s mustbe repeatedly forded . The map Shows a green patch ; the shrubsmay average six feet, whilst on e mon ster, a rowan or moun tain

ash,attain s the abn ormal altitude of thirty to thirty-S ix feet .

It is on e of the tallest,if n ot the tallest

,in the island ; the two

gian t trees OfAkureyri,which every traveller is in duty bound

to admire,do n ot exceed twen ty-five feet.


Reaching,on July 1 6 , T h ingvelli r (Dingwall or Thing

wall) , after a Cockn ey tour to Hekla a nd the Geysir, I met a

young Englishman wh o was return ing from a sketching expedi

tion round the now rarely visited south coast. From Hekla Imight easi ly have made T hOrsm

'

Ork in a day, but the dep6t of

bon es was then unkn own to me. Mr W had travell edfrom the E yvinda rh olt farm,

west-south-west of the site of thefind

,in some six hours of fast work, a nd complain ed much of

the road . There are on ly two guides, a nd the half-dozen influ en ts of the M a rka rfljOt were judged dangerous . It is on ly

fair, however, to state that he had read the Oxoni an in Icelan d,’

a nd he was prepared to ford the terrible torren ts,n early three

feet deep ! in boots a nd buff. ’ After passing the sites Of manyfin e farms

,n ow destroyed by the ever-in creasing ice, he en tered

the valley from E yvi nda rh olt by a rugged en tran ce, leaving the

bon e-heap about half-way,a nd to the right of his track . The

remain s li e un der a cliff,where much rocky matter has fallen ;

above it is the ice-sn out projected by the great glaciers a nd u e’

ve’

s,

Merk-J Oku ll a nd Goda la nd’

s JOku ll , which rise to the n orth

east a nd south-west,whi lst the rest of the vall ey

,where etern al

win ter has n ot overwhelmed the woods,is the usual Icelandic

green ,Vivid a nd metallic .

The heaps eviden tly con sist of

T h e bones ofmen

In some forgotten ba ttle sla in,

Blea ch ed by th e dr ifting wind a nd ra in .

’

Social tradition s assign them to the troublous times of Burn t

Njal .’ This must be expected in these parts of Icelan d ; several

of the remain s,however

,are described as those of in fan ts .

From Bja rn i Fin nboga son ,who

,as a youth of extreme

usefuln ess,

’

h a d~

a c c ompa ni ed Mr Shepherd, a nd who, developed

to a prodigious rascal,had undertaken Mr W I took the

cran ial fragmen ts marked A a nd B . Arrived at Reykjavik,he

agreed for 27 r ixdolla rs (say £3) to ride back a nd bring me as

many skulls as could be found or dug up . After attempting invain— h e had taken earn est mon ey— to throw me over in favour

of an other party of travellers, h e set ou t on Saturday, July 2oth .


He was not to return till the n ext Friday even ing, but, wishing

to secure other victims,he came back on Thursday

,too soon for

a ny good results . Moreover,he charged me for doing n othing

32 in stead of 27 r ixdolla r s,which extortion ate deman d was

satisfied rather than r u n the risk ofmen saying that a n Englishma n had shirked paymen t. I have the pleasure

,despite sundry

certificates Obtain ed from various in nocen ts,his dupes

,to give

h im the very worst of characters,a nd strongly to warn future

travellers in Iceland again st h im. He was familiar as the lower

order of Hebrew ; he would li sten to every conversation ; hehaun ted his master like a Syrian dragoman he in trigued a nd

abused all other guides ; a nd as for his English, he understooda whip with a thong ten feet long to mean a pony ten years

old.

’ The guides at Reykjavik are n ot worse than the gen erality

of their craft, p a ce Baring-Gould ; some are better ; but Mister

Bja rn i— h e is gen erally called by his English employers Blarneya nd Barn ey— is a bad lot, who kn ows well how to p ela r e l a

qu agli a senza fa r la gr ida r e.

The following are the prin cipa l items herewith forwarded

3 fragmen ts of thighbon es ;1 large hon e

,3 smaller ;

1 parcel of sun dries ;1 broken spindl e steatite

The hon es,of which there is a n in teresting collection in the

young museum of Reykjavik,are in teresting. The old world

Icelan ders,as U n o Von T roi l , as may be seen in the R igsth u l u ,

in forms us, ever held it a n oble art to un derstan d well h ow tosharpen the in strumen ts of death.

’

RICHARD F. BURTON.

The following paper was read by the author

NOTES ' on HUMAN REMAINS br ou gh t fr om I cela nd by C ap ta i n

Bu r ton . By C . CARTER BLAKE,D oc t . S c i , Lecturer on

ComparativeAn atomy a nd Zoology atWestmin ster Hospital.

The remain s which Captain Burton has brought from Icelanda re composed of fragmen tary eviden ces ofma n

,hog

,ox, a nd horse .



maux,a nd in the Turan ian ’

Skulls described by Dr Prun erBey. The superorbital foramina are converted in to n otches on

both sides . A small piece of the alisphen oid bon e exists, attachedto the right fron tal

,indi cating that there was a n ormal sphen o

parietal suture . The den tition s a nd seriation s in the coronalsuture have been deep . The parietal bon e of large S ize accordswith the fron tal in all essen tial characters of these sutures .The occipital bon e is i n a very fragmen tary condi tion

“

. It isnot marked with a ny promi n en t ridges for the attachmen t of

muscles,a fact which

,coupled with the small developmen t of

the mastoid processes, leads the Observer to con sider that thepresen t Sku l l has belonged to a female .Three petrous bon es

,with fragmen tary mastoid processes

attached,exist in

’

the collection . The smaller size a nd parialrelation ship of two of these render it probable that they belongedto on e individual , a nd that the same whose cran ial vau l t has justbeen described. On e large, light, petrous bon e appertain s to a n

individual of much larger size, possibly masculin e, but I regret

that no other specimen s are found of this in teresting person .

A fractured palate,with two teeth i n si tu (the first a nd second

molars) , leaves eviden ce h i gh ly con clusive as to the food of theinhabitan ts of T h Or smOrk The crown s of the molars are much

attrited by the consumption of hard substan ces, a nd are in thesame condition as is presen ted by the teeth of th e n eigh bou ringbut differen t ra ce of Skr aellings. The first a nd second molar sare both implan ted by three fangs .The right clavicle (pl . xi x) , wh i ch is found with both ex

tremi t ies broken away, in dicates a n individual smaller in si ze,

a nd wi th lighter a nd more slender clavicles, than the Australiandrawn by Owen in Tran s . Zool . vol . v.

,plate ii .

,figure 4

,

a nd of course more so than i n the European drawn in figur e 2 of

the same plate . Three long a nd slender femora,a right fir st rib

,

a large axis vertebra,a fragmen t of shattered humerus

, a nd a

cun eiform ca rpal bon e are foun d in the collection .

II. HOG.

The remain s con sist en tirely of fra gmen tary limb bones, a ndof a few teeth. These n eed not be noticed in detail.

SUMMER IN ICELAND .

H UM AN C LAVIC LE .

2 1 7


III. HORS E.

The equin e remain s from T hOr smork are in teresting. Thefirst molar a nd the fourth premolar tooth of the lower jaw,

aswell as the third deciduous molar of an other individual, indicatethe existen ce of a horse of ordi n ary dimen sion s, as large as theordin ary European horse of the presen t day

,a nd larger than the

Shetlan d or Dartmoor poni es. There are few poin ts of resem

blan ce between these teeth a nd those of the E gu u s speloeu s

figured by Owen Phi losophical Tran saction s,

’

1 869,plate

IV. ox.

Teeth of the Bos ta u r u s are presen t,though in a n imperfect

condition .

From the above remarks it will be,I beli eve

,clear that the

Sku ll s n ow described belong to the Norwegian race,though

possibly there may be a n admixture of Celtic blood derived from

the descendan ts of the Irish prison ers brought in to Icelan d by

the Norsemen . But in n o sen se c a n these be termed a ny

Esquimaux or Boreal ’ afli ni ti es . That prior to the year A .D .

860, when the expedition of Na ddod to Sn aela nd’ brought

Iceland face to face with Norwegian civili sation,a more an cien t

race,allied to the Esquimaux

,may have existed in Iceland, is a

possible Speculation,but on e of which as yet we possess no

an thropological proofs . The domestic fauna which exists in

Icelan d appears to accord for the most part with that ofNorway,a nd the people do not appear to possess a ny in termixture of

Esqu imaux blood.

DIS CUSS ION.

Mr MAGNUS S ON said—As regards the possibili ty of a n admixture of Esquimauxblood in the Icelan dic n ation it cann ot bemain tain ed on h i storical grounds . There is n o record extan t tocoun tenan ce the supposition that at a ny time Iceland has beeninhabited

,wholly or partially

,by this polar race. The island

lies ou t of the belt of the Esquimaux,a nd he would find himself

there en tirely ou t of his elemen t,the condi tion s for the existen ce

of human life in Icelan d being en tirely difl’

eren t from those onwhich life in the polar region s depends . The parts of the coun try



short a nd stout ; but how far were they typical examples of therace ? The circulation of the queries by the Arctic ExplorationCommi ttee woul d ten d to elucidate these question s . With regardto the observation s which had fallen from Mr E i r ikr Magnusson ,

he was himself agreeably disappoin ted ’ that the In stitute wasnot to be converted in to a ‘h Olmga ng

’ wherein to criticise CaptainBurton ’s excellen tly n arrated facts . He failed to perceive whateviden ce a Fren ch or Irish monk could have possessed of Culdeesi n Icelan d in A .D . 795, as Icelan d was n ot discovered (accordingto Mr M a gn ri sson

’

s statement) till A .D . 874 , a nd according toordin ary chron ologists

,till A .D . 860 . In matters wherein the

veracity of a distinguished travell er had been attacked, it wasn ecessary that th e utmost care should be taken respecting facts

a nd dates . Captain Burton in n o part of h i s paper assign ed a

hi gh an tiquity to the bon es, which may either belong to the time

of Burn t Njal, or to a far more recen t period.

”

A SUMMER IN ICELAND.221

C H A P T E R XI II .

To EASTERN ICELAND—WE REACH M i -VATN.

SECTION I .—TIIE VOYAGE TO BERUFJ ORB.

TRAVELLING seawards from western to eastern Iceland is by nomean s S O easy as the converse . I

‘

held myself lucky,though

somewhat late,in finding the Postdampski bet

“ Dian a ” boun dfor Beru i rh . She left the capital betimes on a n ormal Ice

la ndi c summer day (July win dless or sea-breezy below,

while high in ether a tangled web of white threads a nd comet

like cirri showed the usual upper gale,the tivene t 860 of these

region s . The straw-yellow su n -gleams cast u pon the south

western shore en abled ou r learn ed glan ces to distinguish the

features of the scen ery,a n ow familiar scen e .

About n oon we r a n along the great lava-field of rough slag

a nd deep, loose volcan ic ashes, bearing here a nd there a tuft ofwild oats ; the surface was fissu red with Geos, a nd the sharp

broken a nd splin tery edges were redden ed by fire, a nd whi ten ed

by birds . This corn er was seldom visited by the older travellers ;Macken zie reached on ly Grindavik, a nd even Henderson n e

glec ted R eykja n es . It was carefully examin ed by Dr H ja lt a lfn ,

first in 1 827, after the submarin e eruption to the south-west,which floated a quan tity of pumice, a nd again in 1 866

,to ex

ami n e the silica diggings . He foun d several M akkalu ber s, or

mud -puffs,a nd H ver a r (hot springs) , the n orth -easternmost

called Gun n a. A little to the n orth, a solfatara, extending over

a n acre or SO of bald red bolus, was blowing Off steam fromcracks a nd holes

,whilst to the south-east rose a large extin ct

ven t which had discharged abun dan tly n orth-n orth-westward.

This was the “ New Geysir ,” con cern ing wh ich I h ad endured


plen tiful “ chaff ; for in stan ce,the lin es addressed to me by a

charmi ng person,a nd beginn ing with

So th ere i s a newGu y, si r , in Icela nd .

The sili ca mounds,wh i ch are n ow partly, if n ot wholly, English

property,lie n ear the largest of the mud-puffs, a common cal

dron,some fifty feet in breadth by half that depth, spluttering

th i ck blue gr ey mi re, a nd wasting sulphurous steam. Themin eral is remarkably pure ; its whi ten ess suggests that it has

been deposited by water,though how a nd when n o on e pretends

to say ; a nd its lami n ation s are easily reduced to fin e powderIt wou l d doubtless sell well In the home markets

,but at presen t

there are two objection s to it ; the quan tity does n ot appear suffi c ien t to justify heavy works, a nd without these

,tran sport is

simply impossible .To starboard

,we had a fin e Vi ew of the Fu gla sker (fowl or

'

gull Skerries), which the fog had hid from us in Jun e, a nd which,like the Can aries

,are seldom all visible at the same time . The

n earest,about eight miles from R eykja n es, i s E ldey (fire eyot),

also called the M j'

Ol-sekkr,from its liken ess to a mon strous

half-filled bag of flour Scotchmen compare it with Ai lsa Craig,

a nd Scoto-Scandin avian s with the Holm of Noss . Its shapeis that of a tree-stump 200 feet high

,cut with a slope dipping

n orth-west,a nd yell owish-white with rain -washed guan o . The

heavy surge swarming up the sides a nd swirling round its smallred appen dage

,the E ldeyj a rdrangr , suggested peculiar difficulties

of landing. The tumult of the waves is described to be even

greater about the rest of these Ka imen i s,” the Gei rfu gla sker ,

a nd the tall stack kn own as Gei rfu gla drangr , the Dani sh Grenadeer Huen

,or gren adier’s c ap. The two latter

,prolonging the

lin e to south-west a nd by west, a nd distan t twelve a nd fifteen

mil es ou t to sea,lie far from the course of steamers ; landing

must be impossible,save on exception al days, a nd the climbing

is said to [ be bad as‘

the landing. Lastly, there is the E ldeyja r

bot i,

“ boder,or warn ing-ston e

,a li a s Blindfu gla sker , a sunken

rock, where New Isle (NyOe) rose with the Skaptar1 eruption

1 Skapt i s a“sh aved stick, h a ft, sh a ft, or missile ; Skapt -é , t h e sh a ft-r iver

= Scot . a nd E ng . Sh a fto ; a nd h en ce, Skaptar-fell (sou nded S h ap ta -fell), i s th e



Moela,or Gizzard Island of Brazilian San tos . The eastern side

shows a low slip of lan d conn ecting two'

cu lmin ati on s ; to then orth, H eimaklettr

,upon whose tormen ted slopes

,91 6 feet high

,

sheep are grazing ; a nd southwards, Helgafell, a more shapelyvolcani c con e of cinders a nd grass— i t is the work of the Troll s

,

famed for truth. A white church a nd steeple, fron ted by blackhuts

,provides for some 400 souls

,excellen t cliff men

,full of

fight,a nd armed with gun s again st the marauding of foreign

fi sh ermen— Fren chmen especially.

After the visit of Mr Sysluma 5r , who came with the Dan ish

flag to fetch the Icelan d mails, we resumed ou r course, leaving a

n ameless shoal a nd Bja rn a r ey to starboard, a nd presen tly the tallbluffpeak of E rlendsey

1 to port. The su n settin g in cloud,mist

,

a nd rain at the respectable hour of we congregate below,

a nd en ter upon a critical con sideration of the Dian a . TheEnglish passengers agree that the Queen is more homelylike

,

” wh i ch must con sole her own ers for twen ty-three ton s offuel per twen ty-four hours ; th e Old Dan ish craft, much like agunboat on the West Coast of Africa

,with 1 50 horse-power to

drive 300 ton s, burn s on ly ten , but, en r coa n ch e,Sh e seldom

exceeds seven kn ots . Those who converted her to peaceful

pursuits built a n upper cabin ,c u t up the deck

,a nd forgot seats

on the quarter-deck ; this hurrican e deck acts like a pendulum,

a nd makes her roll in the mil dest sea, lively as her n amesake,till we almost expect her to turn turtle.” The man agemen t isessen tially in n aval style combin ed with extreme irregularity ofhours ; even beds are n ot allowed in the saloon ,

whilst there arevacan t berths in the dog-holes below, con sequen tly sleep issatisfactory as in the omn ibus ” of the P. a nd O. ,

when run n ingdown the Red Sea during midsummer. The clean lin ess of theNorwegian is n otably absen t ; two wash-hand basin s for sixteen

head of passengers, a nd suspended towels, heap difficu l ties uponwashing a nd make bathing impossible . The Hofmeister or

(T h e Pir a te, xxvi . ) says th e Fr aw-S ta ck, or Ma iden Rock,a n ina ccessible cliff,

di vided by a n a r row gu lf from th e isla nd Of Pa pa , h a s on t h e summit some ru in s,con cern ing wh ich th ere i s a legend simila r to th a t of Da n oe. Vigr (a spea r , int h e Orkn eys Veir ) descr ibes a sh a rp-poin ted r ock .

1 E rlendr i s h ere a proper n ame : u su a lly it i s a n a djective, mea n ing foreignth e Germ. E lendi .


restaurateur,who pays the company for leave to feed the taken

i n,is not a praiseworthy in stitution : I almost prefer the purser

plague . Nor are the Dan es famed for cooking ; they affect greasea nd

,gen erally

,a n amoun t of carbonaceous matter which would

horrify Mr Ban ting . At seven AM . there is c ofl°ee or tea, appro

pri a tely called tea-water we breakfast at n in e,din e after

Gen oa fashion at three,a nd sup at half-past seven— or there

abouts . All the meals begin with h or s d ’

aeu u res,pickled oysters,

preserved lobsters,a nd the bulbs which, according to D on

Quixote,are fit only for cullion s a nd scullion s ; there is a n abun

dan ce Of cold meat,salt a nd fresh

,a nd of sausages which, to the

British mind,suggest

.

n othing but tr i c h in es a nd hydatids . As

long as kindly Captain Holme ruled the Dian a,” we had not

much cause to complain ; on my return voyage his place was

taken by a man n er of n aval martin et,a nd it is hard to pay full

merchan tman ’s fare for ma n -Of-war’s disciplin e .

1

The n ext morn ing rose tolerably fair,a matter of n o small

importan ce to sight-seers,who are here exposed to con stan t dis

appoin tmen ts— a rainy summer’s day in Icelan d is common as a

shower i n England . About n oon we were abreast of the lowblack ridge

,the southern base of a bay-island

,whose n ame

,

IngOlfsh OfOi , still n otes where the fir st colon ist first landed.

Over this headland,a nd due n orth, rose the culmin ating poin t of

Iceland,Or aefa (pron oun ced Oer ioa jO

'

ku ll,

”

in the Skapta fellsSysla

,the haven less ice-moun tain , so called from the open

un sheltered coast of south-eastern Thule . 2 Here the climate,

affected by the huge refrigerator, becomes Ar ctic, a nd the lan dsomewhat justifies the exaggeration Of travell ers

,wh o compare

Icelan d with a bit of the moon the sober Pa ijku ll’

s exalted

scale of n ature n ow reads n ot inapplicable . As Mr Forr esterdescribes Norway a nd its Scen ery ” this region is a nexpan se of savage heights a nd un fathomable depths

,

” crown ed

by its shapely white apex, which rose like a n atmosphere of

clouds— we were n ever tired of gazing at it. In Jun e the whole

1 Also th e single da y’s pa ssage from Reykjavik to Ber u fj ortS i s $1 2 , or on e-th irdof th e fu ll pa ssa ge to Gr a nton , wh ich takes eigh t to n in e days . T h e oth er a ndfa r more importa n t compla in ts aga inst t h e Dia n a ”

h ave been n oticed before.

2 From Or , n ega tive, a nd H Ofn , a h aven : a s will be seen, th e plu ra l Oraefi i s

a lso applied to a wildern ess .

VOL . I I .

226 ULTIMA THULE OR

of the upper half, at least 3000 feet high, had been man tled withsn ow ; n ow the lin e had shrunk to 2000 a nd black poin ts

,lava

islands,a nd basalt nubs

,which warm exposure or too steep a n

angle had left un covered,ra n up almost to the summit. On

August 25 I n oticed no change . The Shape from the southappeared a flatten ed con e

,a headless sugar-loaf

,with white stripes

extending far down the folds ; about the waist a fast-moving

n imbus, brown a nd slate coloured, enhan ced the virgin ermin e

of the garb. Farther east we saw a long congealed wall built

on a meridian,crested about midway by the peaky H va n n a

da lshm’

i kr,a nd buttressed southwards by two parallel poin ts,

the h n appa r or kn obs . In land the KlofajOku ll was wholly c on

c ea led from view ; seawards the semicircle at its base showed

every variety of Icelandic eccen tricity, the coffin ,the sugar-loaf

,

th e horn ,the crescen t : the expan se of sn ow-falls a nd ice-ridges

,

streaked with cou loi r s a nd gullies,ends in glaciers a nd hanging

glaciers,the first we had seen on the island

,

Projecting h u ge a nd h orr id o ’

er th e su rge.

The Brei5amerkr , rolli ng down towards the ocean ,kept up by

pressure from behind,a nd showing the usual glorious tin ts of

sapphire-blue a nd emerald-green,was a model to its kind.

About sun set the scen e again Shifted. A false shore of lagoona nd sand-strips

,varying from a mile to a hundred yards in

breadth, is broken by a headland, the gian ts of Vestr a h orn

Whydah a nd J a n Mayen side by S ide. To the n orth li esPapos

,pope’ s or priest’s oyc e, the mouth of Papa i rtS which in

th e Brazil would be called a ma c°

p egu cno, fed by drain age fromth e highlands, meeting th e oc ea ri -tide . This un safe an chorage isthe onl y riding ground for ships al ong the southern a nd southeastern coast

,between Eyrarbakki a nd D j I

'

Ipivogr . Formerly the

peasan try had a week’s journ ey to the comptoir of Ber u i rtS,but

in 1 862-63 Hr J on ssen ,a Dan e

,established a trading station .

Beyond’

PapOs rises the five-crested top of the Eystra h orn ridge,a wild a nd savage spectacle which

,being gradu ally wrapped in

a winding-Sheet of vapour solid as a n ice-fog,ended the glories

of the day. Our fellow-passengers wished us Ber u fj'

OrtSi a n s bon

voyage—we were to reach ou r destination at dawn .



ab illi s den omi n a tu r . They then took courage to explore thecoast lyin g south-west

,en tered the Papa i r5 by the Papos

a nd, passing towards the warm Auster, founded the mon astery

of Kirkjubaer,on the SkaptarOs , n ot far from the poin t where, in

after-ages,H j

'

Orleif landed. We must therefore differ from amodern writer (E di nbu rgh R evi ew,

Viii .,n ote

,p . 243) who says,

It appears that some wrong-headed monks, either by stress of

weather,or by design (for the perfection of reli gion was sup

posed to con sist in rendering themselves useless by withdrawingfrom society) , had actually sailed to Icelan d where they settled,it being most probable impossible for them to find their way backagain .

” The Papar were n o castaways ; they kept up, as D i c u i l

has shown,con n ection with the mother coun try ; a nd the Land

namabOk,at the end of the Prologus

,men tion ing both Papey a nd

Pa pyli or Pappyli Pa pa rbyl i orp a gu s) , says, It is related inEnglish books that men fared often from on e lan d to the other.”

An other in teresting remark is that whatever way we approachIceland from Europe

,south-east

,south

,or South -west

,we find

some islet or n eedl e n amed Gei rfu gl , a nd this conn ected withthe Gare -fowl (A lc a imp enn i s, Linn ), a n an cien t a nd almostforgotten term for the great auk

,revived by Messrs Woll ey

a nd Newton .

1 This n orthern Roc,

” Dodo,or Moa (D inorn i s

giga n tea ) ,2 is sketched by Pa ijku ll in the shape of a three-foot

penguin ; a nd according to Professor S teen str i’

i p, supported byMr Newton

,it was confin ed to the Polar region s

,or , in deed, to

the far n orth . The Icelanders believe it to be blind (Bli nd-fu glasker) , a n Opinion not shared by the Norwegian s a nd the Faeroese .

Mr Newton advised me,in

“

case of success,not to follow the

usual system of skinning the birds,a nd blowing the eggs

,but to

treat the former with pyrolign eous acid,which mummifies the

1 M r Newt on ’

s va lu a ble paper in th e I bi s , con ta in ing a ll th a t i s r equ ired gu dIcela n d orn ith ology

,h a s been a llu ded to . H e qu otes t h e works of t h e la te H r

Petu r S tu r i tz , of Professor'

S teen strfi p (Viden skabelige M eddellser for A a ret

of th e ven era ble Rich a rd Owen (Pa leon tology, 2d edit. , 1 86 1 , a nd Tr a n s .

Zool. Soc . , J u n e 1 4 , a nd of ma ny oth er wr iter s . An in teresting n otea bou t th e on ly Wingless, or r a th er fligh t less , species of th e n orth ern h emisph ere, ” a nd two r ecorded in sta n ces of th e r am a oi s being kept i n confin emen t, a regiven by Ba r ing-Gou ld, A ppendix A . , pp . 406 , 407 .

2 M y compa n ion , M r Ch a pma n,a N ew Zea la nder

,wh o h a s r etu rned to N ew

Zea la nd, su ggested th a t, despite D r Hector , t h e M oa , a bird eigh t feet h igh , mays till be fou nd a live in some of t h e forest fa stnesses of h i s n a tive isla nd.


meat,a nd to preserve the latter in spirits after being coated with

paraffi n or stearin e thus they would be useful for embryologi

c a l a nd other investigation s .The unwieldy bird

,common till 1 834

,was killed off for its

meat a nd feathers,a nd the last eggs were taken from E ldey

(the meal-sack) a nd the Geirfu gla drangr in 1 844 . Mr Newton

suggested a visit to these n eedl es,a nd Mr R. Buist kindly

directed the Queen to touch at them but the weather madea visit impossible . He also advised a n exploration of the Geirfu gla sker , the south-westernmost Skerr ies of the Vestmann aeyjar

archi pelago,a nd others Spoke of

'

the Geirfu gla sker or H va lsbak,

east of Beru fj6r5 . But the old Icelan dic fiery spirit of a dven

ture,a ll but burn t ou t under n ormal circumstan ces, flames high

when the fuel of r ixdolla rs is liberally applied. Geir Zoega of

Reykjavik assured me that the E ldey a nd the Auk-Needle off

R eykj a n es had been repeatedly visited by fishermen sin ce 1 844,

the date of the last find ; 1 a nd,though Hr Gr i

'

mr Thomsen of

Bessa sta t ir begged to differ in opini on,

” the destruction of thebird during the last twen ty years proves that the people have

been in the habit of hun ting it. Of the H va lsbak I was toldthat though auks may have been seen there, the breach of the

sea woul d have preven ted their n esting a nd breeding . Remain s

on ly the Gare-fowl- skerry of the I r i shmen’

s Isles,a nd I am n ot

sanguin e that exploration will yield favourable results .The fog from the west a nd south-west

,which enwraps this

firth when the n orthern FjOr5s are quite clear, began to break

at eight A .M . ,a nd before eleven it had lifted sufficien tly to show

the beacon a nd the one big house perched upon the basaltic

kn ob of Papey. There is a report that thi s feature a nd the islets

around it are gradually r i sing, . a nd that a sen sible differen ce is

observed every thir ty years . Gradually to starboard the lower

folds Of S tr a nda i ll, stepped like the E sja a nd Ska r5sh ei5i,a nd

farther Off the black curtain of Bfila ndst indr , frayed at th e summit

,struggled in to sight. It was a most inhospitable-looking

region,

1. According to Ba rn a rd, th e la st Eu ropea n a uk wa s killed i n 1848

,a t Va rdo

,

a Norwegia n for tress on th e fron tier of Ru ssia .


a coa st of dr ea r iest con tinen t,In many a sh a peless promon tory r ent .

”

Shortly after n oon passing JOn ’

s H olmr a nd beyond it the Long

Tongue, formin g the eastern en tran ce, we an chored in th i rteenfathoms water off D j i

’

Ipivogr (deep voe) , a baylet in the southern

jaw of the great eastern firth,BerufjOr5 .

1

SECTION II .

—A T D J UPIVOGR .

I par ted regretfully with Mr Chapman,who had no longer

anything to detain h im in Iceland, a nd landed in company withfour Englishmen . Mr Askam

,with a fine persisten cy which

hails from Yorkshire,wou ld have probably tried to swim ashore

had Dian a ” shown th e white feather. Mr Alfred G. Lock,the con cession ist of the n orth-eastern sulphur min es

,his son

Charles,a nd a friend, Mr Pow, of Pen i c u i ck,

lately from the

Argen tin e Republic,were equally pleased with the unexpected

favours of the fog. The former easily persuaded me to join h imas far as the M y-Vatn ,

with the hopes of pushing southwards

over the Odat a Hraun to the un explored Va tn ajOku ll .A few preliminary words con cern ing the mysterious formationalong whose southern li n e we have coasted, a nd whose n orthernfron tier we shall presen tly Visit. The map shows a

'

buge white

blot,labelled Va tnajOku ll et a KlofajOku ll, a nd little distin ction

is made by the people . The former, S ign ifying water or lakeglacier, is so call ed because a oa la sses Of fluid are at times discharged—a phen omen on gen erally attributed to the bursting of

reservoirs through the frozen edges,which are higher than the

1 Beru fj orfS i s derived from Berr , of wh om more pr esen tly, or from Ber a , a sh e

bea r , t h e a n ima l being Often floa ted over u pon i c e-floes Ba re Firth , from ber r ,ba re, wh ich h a s been pr oposed (Longma n , p . i s a mer e err or . It i s th e longest,if not t h e la rgest

,fea tu re of th is coa st, except R eyffa rfjbr’ti , wh ich lies to t h e n orth ,

sepa r a ted by th ree min or in lets . T h e “ look-ou t sta nds, a ccording to n a u tica lch a rts, i n N . l a t . 64

°

39’

a nd W . long. (G. ) 1 4°

1 4’

1 5”

(in Olsen 1 4°

1 9’

t h e la tter su pposed to r equ ire correction . T h e differen ce of time from Reykjaviki s a bou t T h e va r ia tion (west) dimin ish es : it wa s la id down a t 39

°

or

bu t on M ay 1 8, 1 872 , Ca pta in Tvede ma de it 35° H ere loca l a ttr a ction s,

often ca u sing a differ en ce of h a lf-a -poin t with i n a few h u ndred ya rds,wou ld

pu zzle George Gra h am of London .

”



to the south-west of the Klofaj'

Oku ll . He advised me to travelin land from Hekla

,leaving the Skael i

'

nga r (scowling) peaks tothe left or n orth to rest at the fin e Bul an d farm to cross th e

Skapta, a nd to attack the glacier from the Bl aengr , where theapproach is easy

,a nd when ce he saw n either lakes nor crevasses .

I also heard of another attempt to pen etrate from the Skei5a ravalley

,which lies west of the Or aefajOku ll ; it failed, but n o

further details were procurable.I n the summer of 1 871 , a stout-hearted attempt to pen etrate

from th e south was made by a young law studen t, Mr Watts, of

the Middle Temple,

1 who,accompan ied by Mr Miln e

,reached

th e large patch of forest called i n the map Nfipst aOa r skOgr .

Hen ce he made for a crooked con e lying west of a black rock,

but he was compelled to beat a retreat. No Icelander would bepersuaded to risk life or limb . The travellers had n o sn ow shoesto preven t their sinking thigh-deep at every step

,a nd

,having

n eglected ladders, they were obliged to throw their packs across,a nd to leap the numerous little crevasses moreover

,the in ten se

cold robbed them of sleep . After his return ,he described the

Va tn ajOku ll as at on ce a volcan o a nd glacial region of immen seexten t

,within which there is reason to believe that many active

craters are in cluded. Vast streams of lava,of a magn itude

unparalleled elsewhere have issued from it,both in pre-historic

a nd in historic times . Surmises of the vaguest character havebeen formed respecting the in terior

,which may possibly in clude

fertile valleys,the resort Of the reindeer for win ter quarters

It is en compassed on all sides,as far as the traveller could judge

,

by a desert formed by the action of the sea,huge lava-streams

,

a nd fragmen tary ejectmen ts,a nd detr i tu s brou ght down by the

flooded rivers in ciden tal to volcani c eruption s . The south baseof th e moun tain is composed of repeated layers of basalt

,over

1 M r Wa tts , wh o i s nowpu blish ing a n a ccou n t of h i s ma r ch,a nd wh o h a s sta rted

a th ird time for th e Va tn ajoku ll, ga ve me th is list of sta tion s1 . Reykj avik to Reykir .

2 . To n ea r th e T inda fja ll a j oku ll , sou th of Hekla very r ou gh pa th .

3 . Over th e deep M ael ifellssa ndr to ea st,wh er e t h e va lleys a re gr a s sy.

4 . To th e Bula nd fa rm.

5 . To Ki rkj u baer cloister , on th e Skapta.

6 . To t h e Nfipst ab‘

r fa rm,a long day ’s ma rch . Here provisions a nd forage a re

procu r a ble.

A SUMMER IN ICELAND .233

lying the older tufas (Palagon ite over which many lava-streams

had flowed at various times, while beyon d this, apparen tly, liesa huge glacier

,through which many extin ct as well as active

volcan ic ven ts have pen etrated .

Mr Watts has twice ren ewed his attempt (1 874 a nd

a nd his ‘ stout heart deserves,if it cann ot command, success .

He strongly advised me to avoid the Ber u i r5 lin e , a nd there,I think , he was wrong. The Journ al will en ter in to details ;suffi ce it here to say that there are two roads perfectly pr a c ti

cable. On e which we di d n ot visit ascends the Fo'

ssarda lr a nd

strikes the A xava tn (axe -water) a nd L ikarva tn (lyke-waterlake tarn s which many Icelan ders have visited : then ce the

traveller wou l d ford or boat over the upper waters of the Fl ts

da lr a nd the little JOku lsa,which latter leads directly in to the

n orth-eastern Va tn ajOku ll . The other, r id the L a ga rfljOt , will be

described i n the foll owing pages . Both Offer the great a dva n

tages Of saving a week’s hard travel to ma n a nd beast, of sparing

suppli es, a nd of Offering a choice of places where dep6ts c a n be

established .

We foun d three dwarf landing-piers at D jfipivogr a nd that

to the east,with its double tramway

,was a queer con trast with

the popular an chor,four upright cask staves

,a nd two below,

con tain ing rough blocks of basalt. A hospitable reception

awaited us from Hr N. P. E. Weywadt, the prin cipal agen t for

the comptoir,a nd his brother Captain H . R . Tvede

,both Dan es

the latter has travell ed far a nd wide, he has served in th e Un itedStates n avy

,a nd his abundan t information is freely retailed . The

former occupies the block of building,tarred wood as usual

,to

the west of the baylet,con tain ing the dwelli ng-house a nd sundry

stores . The windmill,little bigger than a ma n

,a common labour

saver in these region s,is ruden ess person ified . The toy sails

of sacking work a perpendi cular c og acting upon a horizon tal

wheel,whose square iron spindle turn s the ston e : the rye is

placed in the hopper or upper case provided with a shoot the

damsel is a n ail worked by the Spindle, a nd, as there is n o ven tin the bucket

,the flou r must be baled ou t with the hand . The

ston es are taken from the quern,a nd in deed larger sizes are not

wan ted . These primitive articles make better meal than th e

ULTIMA THULE ; OR ,

mouldy imported flour. Finally,the win d-house crown s a n

adjoin ing n u b of basalt. Facing it is the boiling establishmen t,

a large wooden Shed like a n Iceland church, con taini ng th i rteenvats

,a n iron pa n ,

a nd a smithy in a detached hovel. On the h i llbeh in d is the look-ou t

,

” wh i ch becomes importan t when steamersare expected. South

,or at the bottom of the baylet

,lie two

double-storied black houses,with white windows

,Captain Tvede’s

stores : we were comfortably lodged in the upper floor. Theclimate here is exception ally gen ial

,less severe i n fact than that

of Scotland . The n orth wind is cold a nd clear,th e south wet

a nd warm,the east raw a nd clammy

,a nd the west mil d a nd

muggy. It is reported that a n Observatory will be establi shedat D j i

’

i pivogr . Little farms, provided with n ets again st sheep,

are scattered all around,a n d Hr Weywadt ren ts a large tra ct of

groun d which we Shall pass going up th e firth .

I spen t some days at the mouth of the coming a nd

going,a nd had a good opportuni ty of studying the whale fishery.

A company was established by Captain Hammar,a Dan ish

offi cer,who afterwards wen t to Russia with the object of teach

ing the use of strychn in e a nd curari— here the people opposedh im a s much as possible

,declaring that the flesh

,which is poison

ou s on ly about the wound,would kill men a nd dogs . 1 The chief

Objection is that the an imal sinks,a nd does n ot rise till some

two days after death,causing frequ en t loss. The first year

brought in the second, $5000 after which the con cern

was sold to three capitalists,under whom the shares fell 95 per

cen t , with a loss of to

1 M r T om Roys , a n Amer ica n , a ccompa n ied by h is fou r br oth ers , esta blish edh imself a t S eyfi i si rB, a nd u sed a r ocket h a rpoon pa ten ted by h imself, a nd so

mu ch “ impr oved th a t it will h a rdly lea ve t h e gu n : th e sh ell explodes in th ebody

,kills th e a n ima l in sta n tly, a n d, by gen er a ting ga s , ca u ses th e ca r ca ss to

floa t ; if not , t h e defu n ct i s bu oyed a n d la n ded a t discretion . H e first h u nted witha sma ll s a iling cr a ft, a nd i n 1 86 5, a fter bagging seven to eigh t a n ima ls, ea chworth $2000, h e br ou gh t from Engla n d a scr ew of 40 ton s bu rden to tow h i swh a ling boa ts . H e ca lc u la ted th a t 36 5 wh a les wou ld a llow 1 lb. of food tosou ls every da y i n th e yea r : h e a lso proposed pr essing th e mea t for feeding dogsa nd fa tten ing pigs In th a t yea r h is tota l ba g till Au gu st wa s twen ty-fivewh a les , of wh ich h e la n ded th irteen . I wa s told

,h owever , th a t t h e specu la tion

proved a fa ilu re,a nd th a t M r Roys wen t off to A la ska . A t S ei si rtS

, dista n ttwo da ys ’ ma r ch

,th ere wa s a Du tch steamer

,wh ich la st yea r h a d killed th irteen

wh a les . Wh en r edu ced to th e la st extreme, we th ou gh t of travelling h ome in h er ,bu t fu tu re explorers mu st n ot cou n t u pon s u ch oppor tu n ities .



the strand ; a nd the fatty matter, after being kept for s ome threeweeks

,when it supplies more oi l

,is boiled down . The belly,

which con tain s n o blubber, yields the favourite food, Bengi

when fresh this yellow—white layer between th e Spik (speck)a nd the T h er st i (flesh) is mistaken by the ign oran t for beef a nd

pork,wh ile conn oisseurs prefer it to a ny meat, especially after

it has been soaked i n vin egar or sour whey. The whalebon e issen t to England

,where

,according to Mr Con sul Crowe (loc .

c i t ), it appears to be used for making Prussian blue .” The oi l

is employed in tann ing : the first boiling, of course, is the clearer,a nd the secon d is brown er

,with more foot.”

Shark-hun ting is a popular pastime,here as in C olymbi a ,

beingmore profitable to the Icelander than the whale . It is chieflythe S cyrnn u s mi cr oceph a lu s, or Greenl ander, call ed by the peopleH é -karl 1 (pron oun ced H a u -ka dl) ; itmay average 1 8 feet in lengt h,a nd attain a maximum of 25 ; the back has two small fin s, a ndthe liver

,which extends n early through the wh ole body

,may

yield two barrels of Oil,each about 140 quarts . It is danger

ou sly voracious ; we n ever hear of acciden ts to men ,for the best

reason,they do n ot bathe ; but it tears steaks from the whale

’ ssides

,it devours dead rein deer porpoises

,seals

,a nd cods

,a nd

it does not despise a pair of boots . The S cyrnn u s much resembles

the sunfish or basking-shark (S cylli um ma ximu s), which is caughtoff western Irelan d between May a nd the end of Jun e ; thesouthern mon ster

,however

,ranges from 20 to 50 feet in length

,

a nd its dorsal fin stands like a gigan tic ploughshare about ayard above water. The ova of the H é -karl

,n early the size of

hen s’ eggs,are produced in July a nd August

,each shark yielding

about half a barrel full The skin is grey,coarse-grain ed

,a nd

in capable of being polished,but it is valued for shoes .

The sen se of smell is said to be highly developed in the H ai

karl ; on the other hand, it is dim of S ight as the elephan t, the

1 T h e Ork . H ockla i s th e dog-fish , Squ a lu s a c a n th i u s or a r ch i a r i u s . M r ViceCon su l Cr owe gives t h e n ames Néka r l a or h avkal u r

,

” proba bly mispr in ts ; h ea dds, h owever , th a t t h e Green la n d sh a rk r a rely a tta cks ma n u n less molested byh im . Th is a ssertion

,wh ich i s ma de i n a ll popu l a r books, ma y, I believe, be

modified by t h e r ea son given in th e text . H e a lso tells u s th a t th e h ide i sch eaper th a n eith er sea l or lamb skin , bu t i s n eith er strong n or du ra ble—th isa ga in I dou bt. T h e Green la nd sh a rk i s ca lled by some travellers Haskertiingr,a nd it c a n swa llow

,th ey say, a reindeer .


horny covering of the eye attracting the parasitical wh ale-louse

(L oermodip oda , Cyamu s, which often invest the whole organ .

Its Vitality is familiar to all who have seen a shark c u t up, a nd

tales are told of its swimming round the vessel after being

ripped up a nd losing its liver. This c a rn ivor is caught n ear the

eastern coasts,in 60 to 80 fathoms . On the n orth it always

hugs the land between November a nd March : i n summer it goes

out to sea,a nd it sometimes lies in a depth of 300 fathoms . The

usual sharkers were half-decked affairs,ranging from 20 to 25

ton s,with a crew of six to eight men they were preferred because

heavy gr apn els a nd hawsers are not required ; moorings couldreadily be shifted

,a nd

,being low in the water

,the prey could be

more easily hauled in .

Off late years the craft used on the n orth S ide of the island

are decked vessels of 35 to 54 ton s,provided with oars

,a nd so

lightly buil t that in calm weather they c a n easily move from place

to place,a nd get clear of the ice . They li e in preferen ce off the

rising edge of a bank, the an chor being gen erally a four-pronged

iron grapple,weighing about 1 80 lbs .

,with 1 5 to 20 fathoms

of fi -in ch . chain -cable,a nd a 350-fathom hawser. If n oth i ng

is caught,the position is shifted un til the shark is found ; a nd if

the latter is good,the vessel remain s at the spot

,a nd rides ou t

the storms . I n calm win try weather the fishermen ven ture

their small boats,a nd if fortun ate they may secure within a

couple of days fifteen barrels of liver per crew.

The li n es used are thick as ou r deep-sea log-li nes,fasten ed to

three fathoms of chain ,weighted i n the middle with leads of

1 0 to 1 3 lbs . Un der this is attached a strong 6 -in ch iron hook,

n otched in side to preven t the bait slipping : the latter is gen erally

horsemeat,which has been soaked in blood

,or seal-blubber

which fetches a mark a nd more per pound . When hauled up to

the surface,the captive is made fast with a rope attached to th e

craft,a nd kill ed with a lan ce ; the belly is ripped up, the liver

is stowed away,the gall is preserved for soap

,the head is c u t

off, a nd the carcass is slung alongside the vessel . The sten ch

of the dead shark is so in tolerable that it can n ot be taken on

board ; but the reason for keeping it is the fear that if the live

ones were allowed to glut themselves on their dead comrades,


they would no longer take the bait so readily ; for they are sovoracious that often on ly a portion of the shark caught on the

hook reaches the surface,the others having partly devoured the

woun ded mon ster on h i s passage upwards . S O firm are thefishermen on the west coast in this belief, that they have peti

t ion ed the legislature to en force by law the keeping of thecarcasses alongside as long as the fishing lasts . This opin ion ,

however,is n ot shared by all the Shark-fi sh er s, a nd is open to

doubt. ”

The value of a carcass on shore is about 7S . 6d. A moderatesized sha rk gives two-thirds of a barrel of oil, a n d three barrels

of liver yield on a n average two barrels ; the former each worthbetween 37s . a nd 50s ,

a nd the latter from 55s . to 1 25s . Thechief markets are Sweden a nd Germany

,where it is largely used

for tann eries . The high Odour of the comptoirs arises fromthe liver bein g kept for some three weeks

,under the idea that

the supply is in creased. The skin i s pegged out on the groundto dry

,a nd the flesh

,especially of a kind of dog-shark, is sold .

The latter is buried for some mon ths above high-water mark ;a year is better

,a nd two years make it a delicacy. This bonne

bou ch e has a clear, yell ow,red colour, with somewhat the ap

pea r a n c e of smoked salmon . Indigestible as all sharks’ meat,it

is pecu l iarly staying food,a nd a Couple of oun ces will satisfy

a ma n for the day. According to some travellers (Dillon a nd

others) , this crack-dish communi cates its rankn ess to theeater

,who is unapproachable for three weeks ; but I n ever

Observed the fact ; nor did I find that the prepared flesh was u hpleasan t to th e n ose

,

“ its presen ce in a room being very perceptible .” M r Crowe adds that the peasan ts often burying it in theground for two or three weeks

,take it up

,wash

,a nd cut it in

strips,which are hung for a year in the drying house before

being con sidered fit for food . Finally,it is n ever used here

,as

in Maskat a nd Zan zibar,when in th e state which may mildly be

called “ h i gh.

”

At D jupivogr we found the usu al species of fin . The whitefish is caught by long lin es laid at n ight

, a nd hauled in‘

n extday. They carry 200 to 300 hooks

,but they are min iatures of

the gian ts used by English fishermen in the North Sea, whi ch

5


ULTIMA THULE OR,

SECTION I I I — TO BERUFJ ORD : U P THE FIRTH.

At D i pivogr we met Hr Oddr V. Gi'

slason,a C a ndida tu s

Th eologi ae, who had vi sited England,a nd had published a n

Icelandic primer (L eidvi si r , Beyk ,which he dedi cated to

a friend,the late Hermann Bickn ell . At the capital, where h i s

wife remain s,he acts as Lloyd’ s agen t

,a nd in the east he c ol

lects pon ies a nd sheep for Mr Askam . His local reputation asa shark-fish er a nd a c i nca r stands tolerably h i gh

,but he c a n

work hardwhen he pleases . This worthy at on ce applied h imself to buying bé‘tt-pon ies

,a nd to hiring a guide

,whose perfect

a nd well-kn own uselessn ess deserves n otice .

Gfsl i E yr iksson is a good-looking ma n of thirty-five, with blueeyes

,aquilin e n ose

,a nd a full blond beard. Formerly a day

labourer,he prefers to be a n able-bodi ed pauper ; the sturdy

vagran t own s two nags,yet he

;h a s thrown his loa fing self, h i s

wife,a nd his three children upon the parish . His on ly merit is

n ot drinking ; a nd the women pity h im because he is pretty.

A n Ebioni te from the womb, a Lazarus with the tastes of

Dives,the invertebrate creature is soft as a girl ; he dawdles

limp as a n egro ; he malingers, pleading a bad kn ee to attractcompassion ; he makes everybody do his duty ; he is ever in thekitchen

,n ever at work ; he breaks everything he touches ; it

makes on e’ s fingers tingle to look at h im. Presen tly he willstrike for more pay. Meanwhi le he is the picture of the ProdigalSon in Iceland garb : his stutt-bu xu r} the poin ted a nd button ed

overalls,said to have been imported from Scotlan d by King

M agn I'

I s Berfaett i , are i n rags a nd tatters ; his stirrups are

kn otted cords,a nd his bridle is a string. In con sequen t as a

Somali,he drops his fragmen tary Svipa (wh i p) every hour, a nd

he man ages even to lose h i s kn ife . We engaged h im for 4 marksper diem ; the dog of a n Icelander swore after return that thewage was $1 , 3m . ; a nd when he received his $29 he moun tedhis n ag a nd jogged leisurely home .

1 Proper ly sh ort-breeks, or cu rt-h ose, from S tu tt r, stu nted, stin ted, sca n t

(Clea sby) .


We sen t on our ponies, the first detac hmen t, during the thickfog of morn ing

,the warm moist sea-a ir Showing 73

°

c on

den sed by the black a nd white heights ; a nd in mid-aftern oon ,

we set ou t for Beru i rO in Captain Tvede’

s whaleboat. It h ad

a cen tre-board after approved fash i on,bu t no sail to catch the

fair wind from the FjOr5-mouth. T h e crew con sisted of two

Icelanders,who

,accustomed to the silly n arrow blade

,the mos

majoru m,

” were unable to handle the broad c a r ; the two coopers,a Dan e

,a nd a German who disli ked soldiering a t home, did

much better. As the mist lifted we enjoyed the views upon

the firth,which ou r patriotic captain compared with the Organ

Moun tain s,Rio de Ja n eiro. Yet there is abundan t Icelan dic

physiogn omy in the FjO'

r5 viewed from above,especially when

the su n is sli ghtly veiled a nd the shadow of the mist falls upon

the wild forms with a pale,un earthly glare . As a rule, too, there

is a distin ct circulation,a n indri ft of lower a nd a n ou tdr i ft of

upper cloud ; the effect of the double winds,so common in

maritime Iceland,a nd very striking to the n eph eloph i le. The

rival shores con trast sharply. The n orthern,especially about

the Berun es chapel,has broader flats a nd more frequen t farms,

backed by the stepped Copings a nd the buttresses of the Strandafj

'

Oll . The tren d is to the n orth-west,where quain t a nd regu

lar castellation s,either rising sheer or based upon debr i s disposed

at the n atural angle,are divided by deep gaps a nd fosses . The

ea stern sky-li n e is broken in to crags wh i ch appear a mass ofruin s ; in places the capping is a single ston e, a n eedle, a column

,

a Grett i s-tak (logan -ston e), or a n Old ma n here falls a sharp

a r e‘

te ; there towers a pyramid, which viewed at an other angle

proves to be a headland . The gen eral form i s not un like thosedolomites which Sir Humphrey D avy mistook for grani te . A

remarkable ban d of green Palagon ite,locally called petrified

clay,

”

di ps waterwards at a n angle of it crops ou t n orth at

Brei5da lsvik,a nd it is said to be traceable southwards for a two

days’ march .

The fron ting shore begin s with a fringe of rocks a nd Skerries theFi sken akket ange baylet ismistaken at n ight for D jr

’

Ipivogr a nd the

inn er a nd outer Gle51vfk (gled-wich ), the Indre a ndYdr e GlaedingVOL . II. Q


of Old Dan ish charts,are especially rich in rogn on s of

’

rock .

The uplan ds are formed by masses of trap,with drops a nd slopes

cut a nd chasmed,at right angles

,by gashes a nd ravin es bearing a

thin vegetation . We are shown the T eiga rh orn (paddock-horn)torren t, about a mile a nd a half from D j i

’

i pivogr ; here fin e zeolitesare, or rather were, found, a nd Iceland spar is kn own to existun fortun ately the farm is Church property. The only importan tfeature is the Biil a ndst indr

,whose n orth-eastern pyr amid, laid

down at 3388 feet (Dan ish), makes a n excellen t landmark forthose coming from the south ; the grim black wall bears sn owon the n orthern exposure

,a nd the easily breaking ston e ren ders

the ascen t unpleasan t . At five PM . we passed the Ga u tavik (Gothwich) farm,

about a cen tury ago the on ly trading comptoir,dating

from the days of Burn tNja’

l . Some forty-five minutes afterwardswe touched at the excell en t an chorage of S ta u l ovik

,to lan d Hr

Gi slason a nd a very small boy carrying a very very large jar Ofr um . Shortly afterwards we open ed on the right bank Fossarda lr

,

which bounds Bi'

il a ndst indr on the n orth : here the strata rise

waterwards at a n angle of The vale,fain tly green

,is called

Vi t ida lr in the upper part ; it is the directest lin e r id Kelda da lr

(well-vale) to Fl tsda lr , immediately east of S n aefell, but thereis n o bridle-path

,a nd the compass must be the only guide .

The chann el was n ot wholly desert, we met two boats ; thesticks plan ted upon the i slet—rocks

,the .ZE tSa rsker

,

-a nd the ZE 5a rsteinn

, showed it to be a n c ider-firth , where the in telligen t sealwell kn ows that he may n ot be shot, a nd where raven s flock inforlorn hopes of a duckling. Fa r aOsl i5 is the folk or cavalry ofPharaoh

,for that wicked but debatable king

,so great is the mi ght

of myth, has colon ised even Ultima Thule ; a nd his lieges still

become men a nd women,laying aside their furs

,on the eve of St

John . . They give rise to amultitude of proverbs,e.g . ,

Too n earthe n ose

,

’ as the seal sai d when hit in the eye .” Phoca hereforms part of the parson ’s flock . They are tame as porpoises .The cows are n ever killed

,a nd the young are spared ; when a

battue of men -seals with gu n a nd club takes place, it is duringsummer. These mammals are most numerous on the southerna nd eastern coasts ; here in one spot we coun t fourteen pair of

eyes quietly but persisten tly prospecting us . A S the fine is



C Oin s (Odi n’ s Ra ven Song) is a miracle of mystery. Ralph’ s

croakings were a nd still are omen s,betoken ing death when heard

in fron t of a house, a nd he has appropriated a variety of proverbs .

Perhaps this sen timen t preven ted the Northern er “ improving thesubject

,

” as did blin d Herve in the Breton verse, When you seea raven fly

,think that the Devil is as black a nd as wicked .

When you see a little dove fly,think that your Angel is as sweet

a nd white .

” Thus after St Vin cen t was beheaded, all the Gripsthat alighted upon his corpse fell dead ; on the other hand

,

Ravenna owes her n ame to th e fact that raven s, crows, a nd jackdaws flocked from every part of Italy to take part in the feast ofSt Appol in a r iu s . I n the Faeroes the bird of the brook Cherith ”

has lost all his Odin ic reputation ; he is easily kill ed when thesn ow drives h im to the farm-house

,a nd four skill ings are given

for his beak . Perhaps in stead of being slaughtered,he might be

exported to England,where he would n ow comman d seven

shillings . According to the people,he is not invin cible

,being

often beaten by the agile sea-pie (e n a top u s ostr a legu s, theS c eolder of Shetland) , a nd sometimes slain by the strong-billedsea-parrot (pu ffin) .As we approached the bottom of Ber u fj

'

Or5,we could see the

sn ows over which ou r path would lie, a nd the gurly flood ”

dashing down the broad steps of trap . It drain s the Axa rva tn ,

the “ Axe-water,

” so call ed from its shape ; it is said to be richi n trout a nd fish

,but Mr Pow

,who was Of the party

,found it

far too clear a nd cold. After a pleasan t row of twelve miles inabout three hours

,we reached ou r destination

,a nd the new

chums derided the place which.

appears so large upon the ma p.

Ber u fj6r5 is, in fact, n othing but a Prest aga rt r (parson age) a nd achapel

,the latter distingu i shed from a stable on ly by the white

cross,episcopally commanded ; th e doors hang about, a nd there

is a sad wan t of pain t. I n Icelan d the clergyman often movesoffwhen h i s church wa n ts repair, for he must pay the expen se .Wewere courteously a nd hospitably received by Sira Thorstein

T h ora ren sson,who was busy in h i s tun superin tending the day

labourers . It is the hay-harvest, the on ly harvest that Icelan dknows . The men ride to a nd from their work, ply their ridiculousscythes

,a nd

,besides bein g fed

,are paid per teigr (80 square feet)


1 FjOr tSu ng1 1 0 lbs. of butter, here worth 2 marks per lb . A n

active hand at this season c a n make $2 per diem,1 1 marks being

the average ; many farms are nude of males,a nd con sequen tly

gu ides in August are scarce a nd dear. Hay, which fetches 1

mark per 1 0 lbs . in win ter, n ow sells for $2 the kapa ll2(horseload,

or 240 lbs . Dan ish) ; a nd as the ton in Scotlan d costs at thisseason onl y £1 , 1 0s . to £2, l 0s . ,

Mr Pow scen ts a spec . That

even ing passed in the confusion of sorting goods a nd sending

back all articles n ot strictly n ecessary ; it was far in to the small

hours before we cou l d settle ourselves upon the rotten boards,a nd under the hideous crucifix which

,formi ng the chap

‘

el’ s altar

piece,carefully avoids breaking commandmen t N O . 2 .

J u ly 31 .

Whilst awaiting the arrival of ou r carriage,Captain Tvede

volun teered a walk up the Ber u fja rfia r ska rt , which crosses then orthern wall of the firth

,a nd afterwards an astomoses with the

road to T h ingmr'

I li . Thi s part had n ot undergon e its annual repair,

a nd it was painfull y pitted with horse-traps,deep holes . The

lower part was a n avalan che lin e

In terdum su bi t am gla c ie la ben te r u i n amM on s dedit

,et t repidi s fu ndamin a su bru i t a str is ;

but in terdum hardly applies to what happen s annually fromthese thun derbolts of sn ow. T o the right lay Sota-botn ,

a huge

hollow,probably formed by hydraulic pressure

,the sinking of a

moun tain -stream,a common feature in the Brazil . As Soti a nd

his wife Bera (the bearess) , a n ame often given to women,were

r iding home over this pass, their en emies raised a magic fog ; he

broke his n eck by falli ng in to the pit ; she broke her head as the

famished horse,to whose in stin ct th e rider had trusted

,rush ed

in to the stable— the site of the latter is still shown n ear the

parson age . Bera’s cairn lies at the top of a little promontory at

the n orth end of the Fj'

OrO, where her ghost sits gazing upon the

1 A fou rth ; h en ce ou r fa rth ing .

2 Eviden tly from Ca ba llu s, th e word wh ich h a s so su ccessfu lly ou sted t h e morecla ssica l Equ u s . T h e Diction a ry makes th e h or seloa d 5 tru sses U noVon T roi l

,

1 2 to 1 5 lispu nds, ea ch a bou t 1 7 E ng . lbs . avoir .


ever restless tide . 1 The picture was diversified by a n advan ce of

white mist ; its fragmen ts, forming a vanguard like a flock of wil dgeese

,with abundan t play a nd movemen t presen tly invested the

shall ow cu pola of T h randa r JOku ll , whose brown clou ds were itsown growth : at times it melted under the su n

,a nd presen tly it

ren ewed itself i n the cold wind of the firth a nd in the colderbreath of the sn ow-clad summits . Finally, it settled upon themid-ridge

,making the upper hal f appear mil es away from its

base .After a two hours’ stroll we reached the Bi tru h als , or c ol,whichstan ds over 2000 feet above sea-level . 2 On the left han d rose

Ki stu fell,the apex where the Dan ish Officers placed a lan dmark :

the summit must be at least 1 000 feet higher than the pass .Through the reek a nd dan ce of the morn ing air we looked down

u ponl Br ei5da lsvik ; the Broad Dale is parted in to a n orthern

a nd southern feature by M Oleyr i ,” a great spin e of trap

,a nd

the n earer section is Split by three large perpendicu l ar Gjas .

The winding Brei5da 1sa,which has a fork for each valley, is clear

a nd limpid, very differen t from JOku ll water ; a nd large farms

are scattered everywhere about the soles . The n orthern face of

the Beru fja rt a rska rti is even more striking than the southern ;the Vandyke cliffs have all the tin ts of Brazil ian T a u a’t no

where does Icelan d Show more colouring. The red,pink

,dead

white,a nd pale-green Palagon ite follows the torren t-beds a nd

girths the rivers ; a nd the singularity is in creased by walls a ndoutcrops of the hardest a nd blackest hornblende

,building dykes

,

bridging chasms, a nd causing the sn ow-streams to breach overin cascades . Farther down there is a vein of glisten ing trachytecelled with iron

,probably a prolongation of the Skr i t a hill s

,

which we shall pass farther n orth ; afar it looks like plaster

1 M r Jon A . H j a lta l in in forms me th a t on th e border s of Norwa y a nd Swedensever a l loca l n ames a re ca lled a fter Soti a nd Bera , a nd th e legen d may h ave beentra n splan ted to Icela nd . It i s n ot fou n d In th e list of S a ga s qu oted by th e Clea sbyVigfu sson D iction a ry : I am th erefore in clin ed to refer i t to th e sea r over H a llva r5 Soti, of wh om we r ea d

,

“ Th en ce Kol steered h i s cou r se ou t of th e r iver toNorwa y a n d came on H a llva rfi Soti u n awa res

,a nd fou n d h im in a

loft . H e kept th em off br a vely till th ey set fi r e to th e h ou se, th en h e gave h imself u p, bu t th ey slew h im, a nd took th er e mu ch goods (Bu rn t N j a l i i .

2 T h e a n er oid (compen sa ted) sh owed 27 6 3 ; th e th ermometer , 6 7°

(F. ) in th eopen a i r . On th e retu rn ma r ch , th e former wa s 28 a nd th e la tter 76 ° (bothin pocket) . A t sea -level t h e in struments stood a t to a nd 63

°



H osku llda r Gu tmu ndsson,who is en rou te for h i s father’s house .

Hr Gislason , wishing to attend a fair, accompan ies us for thefirst march. The kind a nd obliging pars on ,

after feeding us withfish , mu tton fresh a nd dry, Sharks

’ flesh, a nd seals’ haslets— good

with vin egar,but even th en s omewh at too oily— a nd a fter in

.sisting upon sundry stirrup-cups of Iceland win e ” (schnapps) ,determines to start on e of the most disorderly of caravan s .We have a total of n in eteen pon ies all under six years, whi chwoul d be four-year olds in England, a nd with the n in eteen n evera rope . For the most part utterly unbroken ,

they break awaya nd lose ou r time ; disgu sted with their loads, especially with

the long b oring-rods, they kick a nd bite,requiring con stan t

reloading . Con sequen tly, Mr Lock misses a carpet-bag, whichcon tain s on ly his mon ey a nd his papers

, a nd all ou r baggage

suffers more in ten hours than in a year of railways . The c om

mer c i a l complication was en ormou s almost each an imal had itsown hire ; one was to be left at this place ; two were to be sen ton to that : we took the wrong on es with us to M y-vatn ,

a nd c on

sequen tly we were threaten ed with a lawsuit. Mr Lock (per e)has a la rgd ma nu mann er

,bu t he is strongly imbued with the

Anglo-Saxon idee,

” to wit,

T h e gr a n d idee th a t every man jest do wh a t h e dam plea ses .

He c ompels the most headstrong to obey h im ; h e remembersthe adage

,In Iceland if you want anything, ask for it he

takes high ground, a nd he“ puts up with no n onsen se .” T h e

people,gen tle a nd simple, do not open ly resen t the n ovelty, but

they slang h im behind h i s back, a nd with a certain dry humour

they dub h im Loki,” 1 the bad god of Scandin avian mythology.

I c a n on ly say tha t th e ton e a n swered well as in Syria or

Egypt .The disorderly party set out about a n hour before midn ight.

1 T h e n ame wa s formerly der ived from Loka , to sh u t, like Woda n from Va tfa ,even a s Ju no a Ju va ndo a nd N eptu nu s a n a ndo . T h e Diction a ry su ggeststh a t th e old form may h ave been Wloka (Volca n u s), th e to being dropped beforet h e l a ccording to th e ru les of th e Sca ndin avia n tongu e. It I s str a nge th a t th ou ghOOin

, Th orr , a nd Loki were by fa r th e most prominen t person ages of t h e h ea th enfa ith , th e n ame of th e la tter Is n ot preserved i n th e records of a ny oth er Teu ton ic,or ra th er let us sa y, Goth ic people.


We passed in th e dark a mi n e of magn etic iron disposed, theysay, in volcan ic rock. This metal cann ot be smelted for wan t of

fuel, a nd its only r a i son d

’

e’

tr e in Icelan d is to deflect the magn et

.a nd to make n avigation a nd ; the Va tn ajOku ll dangerous . Theugly bridle-path runn ing up the left bank of the A xava tn ,

a nd

ascending a variety of stony steps, divided by flats of deep moss,with a rare Bei t ivellir , baiting or pasture ground

,a nd sn ow

wreaths sounding hollow ben eath the tread,sh owed few features .

Before the cold mist set i n from the n orth,we saw at ou r feet

the long Berufj6 15,a nd the spectre of T h r anda r J

'

Oku ll, gleaming

wh i te in the pale a nd glaucous green light of a n Arctic midn ight ;whilst the con tinuou s roar of foss a nd torren t rang in ou r ears .

At the foot of the fifth a nd roughest grade,the Oxa rh ei5i , we

halted for a while,where the steep ascen t is called

,apparen tly

i n bitter derision,Vagn a-brekka

,or waggon -hill . The huge

moun tain -walls seemed to tower straight above ou r heads ; on

the right was the H a u r a r -Gil (crag—gil), a nd n earer the Man nabein a fj a ll , or ma n -bon e hill

,where some of SOt i

’

s horsemen

were slain These th i ngs the good priest tells us,a nd then

,

wringing ou r hands a nd bidding us Godspeed, he rides home,bearing with h im ou r best thanks . The very large jar of rum

proved too much for on e Of his friends ; after galloping about

like on e in san e,changing his horse every half-hour

,a nd drink

ing every ten minutes,he lay h im down to sleep comfort

ably upon the soft,cool sn ow

,a nd lost n o time in losing his

saddle a nd saddl e-cloth,his bridle a nd his horse . He will

walk into camp at five P.M . n ext day,sadly crestfallen ,

if notrepen tan t.

After three hours, during wh i ch I felt frozen hands for the

first time,we stood on the summit of th e Brei t da lsh eibi , a nd

looked down upon the long vall ey to the n orth . It wa s a pleasan t change after ou r un couth way a nd the p a norama ma u di t of

the earlier n ight ; but the sun light, though gleaming pink a nd

gold ' upon the sn ow hill s to the n orth,on ly sadden ed sleepy

“eyes . The path leads down the right bank of the M l’

i la a'

. in the

Skr i5da lr , a mad stream rolli ng reckless over slope a nd drop,

gr een a nd blue,cold a nd clear

,here deeply en cased by huge

sli ces of black trap,there low-banked with long streaks of red

250 ULTIMA THULE OR,

yellow bog-iron . The left wall was regular with gracious c oncave lin es

,ending in the lion -headed Ml

’

i li,which gives a n ame

to the M I’

I la Sysla : the right was a succession of buttresses,each

own ing its own KVI’

sl,or shallow drain

,a nd the latter were

ma u va i s p a s, where on ly the cleverest pon ies cou ld spring upa nd down the rocks without a fall . As we advan ced, the vall eybroaden ed ou t in to flats of vivid

,unwholesome green , bog a nd

swamp spangled with cotton -grass,whose pods mu ch resemble

those of the veritable tree—wool,a nd which should be collected

for sheep-fodder. At A .M . we forded the s tream,a nd rode

up to Th ingml’

i l i,much to the edifi c a tion of the mowers, men in

shirt-sleeves a nd women half-dressed

All h a nds employed,Like la bou r ing bees on a long summer day.

We were n ot equally edified by their unbusy,dawdling ways

so at the churn the servan t girls will work five mi nutes a nd rest

fifteen .

As I expected,the Thursdaywa s a di es n on

,whose on ly even t

was pan cake made by the farmer’s wife . We in spected the tallM fl l i

,whose bare a nd ragged head of trap ends the long buttress

to the n orth-n orth-east : it is bounded east by the Gei tda lsa, risingin the L ikarva tn ; drain ing, they say, the T h randa r , a nd un iting

with the M l’

I la a'

. to form the Gr imsa. We botan ised at its foot,col

lec ting two equiseta, Elting (spearwort, or E . a rven se) a nd Bei ti ll

(horse-tail), of which there are many varieties ; the FjOla or violet

(V. mon ta n a the H rossa nal,or horse-n eedle (J u n cu s squ amo

su s) ; the Bla-ber a nd Gr aenya xl a r or young blaeberry (Va c c i n i u rnmyr ti llu s) the bog-whortle (V. u ligi nosu rn ) the blue-bell (Blaklukka ; C amp a nu la r otu ndifoli a ,

which grows everywhere, reminding u s of Europe ; the small, grey birch ; the dwarfwill ow

,all catkin s ; the Alpin e bartsia (Icel . Loka-s 5sbrOOi r

the meadow-rue (T h a li c tr um A lp en se Icel . Kross-gras) thefleaba ne (E r iger on ; Icel. Smj

’

Or -gras) a nd the ephemeral Veron ica .

There were also the bright,yellow-green reindeer-moss ; the red

Alpin e catch-fly (Lych n i s A lp .) the usual“ su n ’s-eye,

” or butter

1 Loka -sjo5r , or Loki ’s pu rse, i s th e cockscomb, or yellow r a ttle (R h i n a n th u sc r i sta ga lli ) .



I n the evening the people began to gather for the fair, a ndmost of them were in that state politely called ‘5 excited.

”

On e

ma n made himself especially remarkable ; with one leg shorterthan the other

,he was dan cing

,roaring

,sn orting fou’ ; h i s face

was much kn ocked about a nd,with his ’baccy smeared lips

,he

in sisted on succulen tly kissing every femin in e mouth. Mr

Lock,sen .

,had a somewhat n arrow escape from a ven erable

matron whose n ostrils showed that she was n o better in one

matter than ou r gra ndmothers : she advan ced towards h im

progn a th ou sly, when in the n ick of time he turn ed a nd fled.

He was much shaken, a nd for some hours looked pale a nd

weak.

The even ing mi ght have been in Tuscany ; a nd we drank

coffee outside,a practice which excited gen eral reprehen sion

here you rarely see a ben ch or seat in the open air. Wewere lucky in engaging a superior guide

,the studen t S igu rtlu r

Gu nn a r sson,n ephew of the archdeacon of H a ll ormsta t ir ; his

seven years at Reykjavik had given h im a tin cture of Englishhe was good-tempered a nd obliging in fact

,the absolute reverse

.of Baring-Gould’ s Gr imr . Hr Gi'slason,to the satisfaction of

every on e,disappeared with his big dog, a cur whose only idea of

life was to chivy sheep .

1

Our day’ s march was far more interesting than usual : it layover the long

,prismatic tongue of land

,a sister formation of the

M fl ll lin e,separating th e Gr imsa from its ultimate receptacle,

th e lake . Amongst the scatter of farms lay .GeirOlfst a t ir , whereI slept on return : the house is partly built of green ston e . Themoun tain path is called

,wh y, I kn ow n ot

,a Remba

,

” a hardroad to travel

,from aO remba sk

,to struggle with

,to puff on e’s

self up . The summit of this H a llormst a t a rh als was a mere

1 It i s on ly fa ir to r epea t wh a t th e S ta nda r d (Au gu st 29 , 1 874) says of th isworth y “ T h e ma n to wh om I sh ou ld strongly a dvise a ny English vis itors toIcela nd to a pply for a dvice a nd a ctive a ssista n ce— a r esiden t in Reykj avi k, speaking excellen t English

,a ctive a nd en ergetic, wh ose n ame i s Gi sla sson—wa s , In h i s

ea rly days , a th eologica l stu den t, a n d pr eviou s to h i s ordin a tion wa s a ppoin ted tot h e pa stor a te of Gr imsey . H e declin ed to go

,a nd with drew from t h e min istry. I

do not kn ow wh eth er t h e Gr imsey fish ermen lost a good pr iest or n ot, bu t I kn owth a t th e English ga in ed a n excellen t cou n sellor . H e i s th e Gr imr of Ba r ingGou ld ’s well-kn own book

, bu t if t h e sketch of h im th ere con ta in ed i s a t a l l tru eto t h e life, h e mu s t h ave wonderful ly improved.

" I h a ve spoken of h im a s wefound h im.


divide,n ot a H eibi with level ground ; a nd from its altitude,

about 880 feet,we looked down upon a nd aroun d a most exten

sive View. Below us, a nd stretching to n orth-n orth-east, lay the

long broad,kn own as the L aga rfljOt , a milky water eviden tly

from the sn ow-moun tain s a nd on the n earer shore,protected from

the biting blasts,lay the celebrated SkOgr , or forest of H a llorm

stat ir,straggling some twen ty miles, a nd composed of birch-trees,

If trees th ey may be ca lled , wh ich trees a re n on e.

Yet from afar they act pretty well as acacias, the poin t-lace of theforest. To the n orth-east rise the nubs, heaps, a nd sn ows of H Ottr ,the hats or cowls

,a nd th eir frost-boun d prolongation ,

the icy

range of Borga ri'

rES,a nd

,especially

,the con es of D yrfj

'

Oll . But

every eye turn ed in stin ctively southwards when majestic S n aefell,

the n orthernmost outlier of the Va tn ajOku ll, fron ted by its twon orthern outliers

,the H a fr sfell a nd the L a u ga rfell, Shoots up

towards the cir ri a nd cumu l i of the still air,its glisten in g

glaciers a nd steely-blue sides making eternal win ter in a lovely

garb appear.At H a llormsta bir

,ou r first stage

,we failed to find the PrOfa str

(archdeacon ) S igu r5u r Gu nn a r sson ,who had gon e for supplies to

S eyt i sfj'

Or'

O. His wife received us kin dly with Yule bread,

”

con ta in ing raisin s a nd other delicacies . She must be a modelhousewife her six-gabled house was being pain ted her kitchengarden grew unusually fin e potatoes a nd her poultry-yard was

far better stocked than usual . We were hospitably invited topass the n ight

,a nd Gfsl i Sku lk looked wistfully at the comforts

aroun d h im ; but we were in exorable a nd,after a two hours ’

halt,began operation s upon the n ext stage .

I shall n ot readily forget that march. T h e pon ies,also

,had

apparen tly made up their minds for a half-holiday, a nd, when

refused,they resolved to revenge themselves . Briefly

,the loads

were everywhere except where they should have been,a nd the

fight at the ford was unusually severe . The bridle-path up theright bank

,moreover

,was bad, broken with gulli es, rugged with

rocks,a nd c u l lendered with holes ; i n places we had to avoid

headlands of stony teeth by fording the waters a nd,as on the

skirts of Hermon , the ways were double, hi gh for winter, a nd


low for summer. Studen t S igu r t u r explain ed L aga rfljOt as acorruption of Langr

,a bath ; others tran slate it the layer or

mixed water,because composed Of ice a nd mu d. It is c on

sidered unwholesome a nd undrinkable . The average breadthis on e mi l e a nd a half

,a nd the people declare that the

depth reaches sixty fathoms . It is formed by a glacier stream ,

the little JOku lsa,flowing through the Fl tsda lr or -N or5u r

da lr,a lin e which we Shall presen tly foll ow ; a nd a n eastern

lake-stream,the Kelda

,drain ing the Sy5r i da lr . The latter

rises in the Keldava tn ,which the map writes Keldu arva tn ,

the lake of springs-water ; a nd it is reached in a long day’ sri de from the Vi t ivell i r

,or the Klfika farm,

which almost fron ts

Va lth i éfsta bir .

I had heard much of the Skégr (Shaw) of the L aga rfljOt , asthe most beautifu l in Iceland : it probably tempted the first

settler,H a llormr

,to become H a llormr of the Wildern ess . In

other places,the freezing a nd thawing Of the sap bursts the

vessels a nd kills the plan ts . Here,however

,the Birkis have a

backing of heights to con cen trate su n -heat,a westerly exposure

,

a nd a large sheet of water tempering the cold. The thin birch

scrub grows on all kin ds of soil ; mostly the trees are merebushes

,but the topmost twigs of the gian ts of the forest may

reach twen ty feet,a nd the timber is heavy en ough to make

pack-saddles . Al l are being felled,a nd n on e are plan ted ; the

weight of the sn ow is said to destroy the young trees . Nor was

the Skog a vocal growth : I listen ed long a nd in vain for themerest chirp .

About a n hour before reachi ng the ferry we had a fair prospectof the H engi foss, said to be the tallest cataract in Iceland . It isa n Icelandic copy of the immortal Cocytus (M avron er i a ) inArcadia

,with a fall six times the depth .

“Hanging-force” plungessudden ly in to a huge caldron

,the H engifossargil , a nd is dashed

to drops before it reaches the kieve,which is con sidered to lie

1 200 feet below. Its wonders c a n hardly be appreciated, wewere told, without en tering the cavity : it faces to the southeast ; a nd, as you ride along the lake, the strata lie exposed tosight, as in a Californ ian can on . Amongst them is said to be asmall quan tity of Surtarbrand.



man ’s forage c ap. The churchyard epitaphs are funny as usual .H j

'

Orleif T hOr5a rson (ob. 1 786) speaks of h i s future prospectswith a confidence which some mi ght con sider premature

,if not

misplaced

Flu c t ibu s innumer i s a dversae sortis in orbeT a ndem t r a n smi ss is

, j am bene tu tu s a go

a nd an other’ s long home, a box, has become a classic“u rn

Qu i fu it eximi um gen tis decu s u ndiqu e n ostrasGu t th ormu s

, j a c et h i c tenu i H i orler iu s u rnA

More satisfactory was the aspect of the farm,which supports

1 1 cows a nd 600 sheep . The labou rers’ Hey-a n n ir is n ow

begun,a nd will last for six weeks : they were at work qu eerv

ing the grass,as Shetlanders say

,with long thin rakes

,so that

it may n ot dry too soon ; mixt ae pueris pu ellae,” the lasses with

turn ed-u p sleeves a nd the in evitable gloves : at mid-day all seekshelter from the “ torrid su n .

” This essen tial part of Icelan dagriculture is well a nd carefully don e ; a nd the number ofhands en ables the farmer far to surpass anything farther south .

The Ta5a,”or hay from the manured (T an) infield, opposed to

the U t-hey, or produ ce of the outfield a nd hills, is close-shaved,a nd tedded twice, a nd even thrice

,a day : that wan ted for

immediate use is carried to the house inKlafrs (creels or crates) ,articles of uni versal Use

,the L eipu r of the Fasrocs, which also

carry peat in the Isle of Lewis ; a nd the rest, when thoroughlydry

,is stacked a nd covered with turf. The implemen ts are

mere toys,moun t-ed on rods like billiard queues for easy packing

a nd cheap passage . The scythe is a sickle attached to a twohan ded stick n in e span s long ; the blade of three span s

,little

more than a n in ch broad,a nd sharp as a razor

,is used here a nd

i n the Faeroes because the warty ground permits no other. Therakes are of two kinds

,with big pegs a nd with small teeth, both

whollyof wood ; a nd in the best farms there are always wheelbarrows a nd hand-barrows .The ven erable parson

,who appeared somewhat eld-gama ll

(u n vi eu x vi eu x) , con sen ted to give us a n extra guide, a studen t ladn amed Thorsteinn

,from the n orth coun try

,whose circumstances


had not allowed h im to keep his term at Reykjavik : h e was to

receive the un con scionable sum of $4 for on e day’s march . We

set ou t in mid-aftern oon,a nd rode down the L a ga rfljOt

’

s left

bank,in twen ty-five minutes

,to the ruin s of Skr i t u kla u str ,

the last priory founded in Iceland . Two long barrows of earth

a nd ston e Show the site of the church : they measure 87 feetn orth to south

,a nd 62 east to west. The fa n s is surr ounded by a n

en c ei n te of similar humble material : the n orthern en tran ce is

apparen tly an cien t ; that to the west, modem . The habitation s

of the reverend men were n ear,but below the little adjoin ing

farm ; a nd there are still fragmen ts of a built causeway runn ing

south-west to the cemetery. The latter lay all arou nd the

church,a n d the Old custom has been perpetuated : to the

south is the grave of Sysluma t u r Winn e,wh o died in the early

eighteen th cen tury ; whilst an other heap, which trends east to

west,n ot n orth to south

,is called the tomb of the bad fellow ”

a poin t of a fli n i ty between Icelandic a nd N ew Zealan d English .

Un fortun ately,I had n o time for skull -digging, a nd gain ing the

title of H a u gabr iOtr (cairn -breaker) .We were n ot asked to dismoun t

,n or did we dismoun t, at

Bessa sta 5i r : the tumulus of the foun der,Old Bessi (the bear) ,

is a green heap by the river-side . After a gen eral bout of kissi ng a nd r eki ssing, we began the rugged di vide separating theL aga rfljOt from the EasternJOku lsa, a nd at on ce blundered n orthwards when in the worst quagmi re the n ew guides

,Stefan a nd

Thorstein n,a cock-n osed lad of about twen ty-two

,qu ietly said

,

H a, we sh ould have gon e there !

” Gradually we rose to 20002200 feet

,the average altitude of these H ei t i s . The foregroun d

was unusually repulsive,a nd its aspect su ggested frost a few

in ches below . It was a surface of mosses,ever dank a nd dew

dren ched ; of iron -stain ed swamps ; of tarn s like horse-pondsof soppy stream beds, with livid-yellow Palagon ite en casing the

gashes of brown heath a nd black peat ; of huge heaps in steadof the usual warts

,as if the farmer had just drawn the manure

in fact,it was a bad specimen of the worst parts of the N ew

Forest centuries ago .Ou r eyes, sadden ed by a path all steps a nd drops

,were

su dden ly electrified by the first magical View of the Va tn ajOku ll ;VOL . II . R


it had hitherto been hidden by sundry outli ers,especially the

Eastern or lesser Eyvi nda r , a sn owless block, or rather doubleblock, curving like a serpen t

’s tail,from left to fron t

,from south

to west (275°

ma g. ) For better examin ation,we dismoun ted at

Vegu p Colli s viae,said th e studen ts.

Behind the Sn aefell con e a blue distan ce of lowland sweepslike a streak of pain t

,to the very foot of the “ Lake Glacier

,

whose gen eral aspect is a high dorsum of virgin white,a n

exaggeration of the Wiltshire down s after a heavy fall of: snow.

The first thing which strikes me is that the altitude by n omean sjustifies all this eternal frost : we must probably seek a cause inthe immen se agglomeration of ice behind ; in thrust from above,a nd in the prevalen ce of southerly

,here the frigid

,winds .

Secondly,the features of the grand n e’oe

’

are perfectly separablea nd distin ct

,very un like the dead blank plateau of all the maps .

Beginn ing from the south-west,we n otice the domed Kverk

(throat) Joku ll, fron ted by the feature which gives it a name ;the huge gloomy mound

,fissu red to the n orth

,stands boldly

ou t from the pure expan se,a nd sinks to the level of the deep

blue a ir . Su ccessively rise the Skala fell (hall -hill) , a doublecon e

,conn ected by a long yoke of min iver

,a nd fron ted by a

glisten ing glacier ; the three horn s of Sval-barts a nd the icemailed poin ts of S n aefells ku ll , n ot to be confounded with the

isolated Sn aefell con e . :1 thi s small Spitzbergen ,

r ibbed a nd pa led inWith rocks u n sca la ble a nd r oa r ing wa ters ,

”

all bristling with pink and silvery spikes, tapering, tooth rangedn ear tooth

,in formidable array

,projects a long slope eastwards .

Farther on,the lin e

,bombé in the map

,bends with a great bay

from us. Helped by Olsen a nd the studen ts,we pick ou t the

var ious features of the south-eastern corn er ; th e H ein abergs

jOku ll (hon e-hill _ glacier) the S a u t h ama r st indr (Sheep cliffpoin t) , a dark moun d like a brown cloud ; a nd eastward, again ,

1 Th is S n aefellsjoku l l, wh ich we Sh a ll see from a fa r n ea rer poin t, i s n ot la iddown i n th e ma p : it lies du e sou th of S n aefel l, t h e mou n ta in . Th u s th ere a re

th r ee S n aefel ls i n E a stern a nd Western Icela n d. Th ere a re a lso two E yvinda r s,both snowless on e n ea r t h e r oa d, t h e oth er close to t h e Va tn a jbku ll we distingu i sh ed th em a s th e ea ster n a nd t h e western . Fina lly

,th ere i s a n Ea stern a s

well a s a Western Skj a ldbrei ti .


ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

which drain the Va tn ajOku ll n orthwards— the Little Joku lsa,from Sn aefells ku ll , formi ng the headwater of the Fl tsda lr ;the Great Easternmost J

'

Oku lsa, kn own to the people as theVale River (a da lr) , or the Bridge Stream (a Br l

’

l ) ; a nd theGreat Westernmost JOku lsa

,or the Hill River (a

'

. mllum) .Icelanders apply the term J

'

Oku lsa Eystr i (eastern ) a nd J'

Oku lsa’

.

Vestr i (western ) to the chief headwaters of the Ska ga fj6r5 , asthose who have read Chapter X. may remember. Our river,a n ugly gutter-water

,milky

,min eral as the drain of a Corn ish

mini ng village,a nd con sequen tly desert of fish , ,

r u n s in a n old

vall ey ; a nd the ledges between the hills a n d stream are thesites of frequen t farms . The deep perpendicular rifts, c u t byrain -torren ts

,are filled with win try sn ow ; a nd throughout this

part of the coun try the people use sledges,heavy

,tasteless

board-boxes on iron runn ers, wan ting all the fin ish of Russiaa nd North America. The modern bed is mostly a crevasse of

grey-blue basalt,black when wetted

,built in regu l ar strata

,a nd

pitted with drusie pock-holes : the perpendicular walls are split

in to thick a nd thin slicings ; a nd slaty de’

br i s a nd spoil-banksdeform the broads where the cliffs sink low in to the valley.

The n arrowest part s of the bed are n aturally chosen for passage ; in these gorges there is a great rush from sides to cen tre,with a fu r iou s 'boi l ing of the foul stream,

tossing up dirty waves,

from whi ch there would be scan ty hope of escape. On on e prec ipi c e two ends of Kat lar (cables), here in ch ropes, kn otted toon e cross-piece

,a nd passed over a second, are made fast under

piles of rough ston e : on the farther side the cords are rovenwith a round turn over the cross-piece

,a nd are kept clear of the

rock by a wooden bar,batten ed a nd rag-

garn ished

,to preven t

slipping a nd chafing. The Klafu r,or cage

,is a lidless box

,a

stool,whose u ptu rn ed legs are provided with pulleys ; it is, in

fact,the cradle ” wh i ch on ce crossed the chasm

,65 feet wide,

between the Heights a nd the Holm of Noss in the ShetlandIsles . The passenger

,S itting or standing

,is towed across by on e

of the two guys,fasten ed fore a nd aft. The passage takes about

half a minute ; you descend the sag with a little r u n,a nd are

slowly hauled up the other section of the arc . Wire might bea n improvement, but it would certain ly be rejected as liable to

A SUMME R IN ICELAND . 26 1

cUt th e pulleys . Meanwhile , the guy is always snapping a nd

wan ting splicing ; so, a t fi lm i Kldfi ,is by n o mean s pleasan t

to the n ervous ma n,who looks down upon

T h e h ell of wa ters, wh ere th ey h owl a nd h iss,And boil in endless tortu re.

”

I n eed hardly observe that the cradle is a form still ruder

than the rudest Andin e or Himalayan swinging-bridge, which

gave a hin t— for “ travelli ng teaches — to the civili sed sus

pen sion .

We wasted four hours at this river,the ch i ef delay being

caused by the horses . The caravan then gathered at Eyr ikstaOi r ,the large farm of Hr Jon Ja n ssen . Whilst the n ags were being

shod,we drank blanda

,

”milk mixed with water

,the best pro

curable remedy for thirst. In quiring about the stage ahead,we

were told that it would take four,six

,eight

,or ten

“ tima ” (times) ,n ot to be con founded with Klu kku -stu ndi r . As the studen t

Thorstein n had left us,we here engaged for the day’s march the

own er’s brother,Hr Gu nn la u gr Ja n ssen ,

who also gave complete

satisfaction .

The aftern oon had passed away before we began to clamber

up the high eastern bank of the J'

Oku lda lsh ei51 : prese’

n tly we

came upon a lake coun try,a scatter of tarn s large a nd small .

The map shows half-a -dozen ,but n ot the largest

,An ava tn .

Between them lie variou s hill-ranges,the Western Kn efil l a nd

Sval-ba rO (the cool hill-edge) , which yesterday appeared to us inepau l etted form : to the west lay a Th ri h yrn ingr , with triple

peak on a meridian con cealing the broad shoulders of Her5u

breit . Where hill a nd water were n ot,sand

,here chocolate

coloured,there bright yellow

,gave unusual Opportun ities for a

gallop,especially where the groun d wa s free from dwarf-will ow

,

deep earth-cracks,a nd streams whose black arenaceous beds

ben t a nd swayed under the horses ’ weight. We were shown ou r

lin e far ahead,marked by five bits of sn ow

,which

,disposed

u pon a hill -side,passably imitated the human face : it veiled

a nd unveiled itself like a plain coquette.

On such a formation we expected a devious path hard to find ;but we were bitterly disappoin ted by the absen ce of game

,where


heads i n thousan ds have formerly been seen . Here a nd therelingered a duck or a teal, a sn ipe or sn ippet, too wild to approach ;the Arctic tern (S ter n a A r c ti c a

,Preyer) was n ot c oy, but a soli

tary Skua (L estr i s T h u l i a c a ? that had gon e a -fish ing, keptwell out of ou r reach . A sharp can ter from NO . 2 lake,Gripdei li r} C’er ta rn cn ooi um

,according to ou r literary guides

,

soon placed us at the lakelet a nd fa rml et of Vetu r-h l'

I s

win ter-house,as Opposed to S etr . It is n eutral ground be

tween the swamps,which

,probably

,are under water every

spring, a nd the dry sands of the old sea-shore farther west .

The own er,Pall Vigfli sson ,

own s a boat for ch ar-fi sh ing, a nd afin e flock of goat-like sheep : his kailyard is well manured

,to

judge from the quan tity of soft a nd brittle puffs (Icel. GorkfI laA ga r i cu s forn en ta r i u s) , which here take the place of mushrooms .

The farm-box was a burrow worthy of St Kilda or Ron a in th eOlden day

,en tered by a hall like a min e-gallery the Ba 5stofa

wa s fouler than the forecastle of a Greek brig ; a nd the threebunks which serve as dinn er seats

,as well as beds

,gave one the

shudders . The onl y caloric was the n atural form,which sheep

have learn ed to utilise ; a nd the on ly chimn ey was a hole in thekitchen roof. Yet the farm c on tain ed provision -room

,smithy

,

workshop,byre

,a nd sheep-house . I t was my fate to sleep there

on the return march,but I persuaded the good Pa u dl to pu t me

i n a hay-ga rret . After all,we must remember Sir James

Simpson ’ s description of the Barvas district in the Isle of Lewis,where

,during .the last gen era tion

,n either window nor chimn ey

,

chair,table

,nor metal vessel existed . What a n ation al scandal

was this barbari sm !After Vetu r-h l'I s we passed sundry farms, a nd we drank at

every plac e,as if on the banks of the Congo. M en , boys, a nd

maiden s came ou t to be kissed by the two young gu i des,but we

had only on c e reason to envy their island-privilege. Beyon dthe An ava tn lay the S aen a u t lakelet, on ce upon a time haun tedby the fabled sea-cow ; an other pon d was passed on the left,

1 T h e Diction a ry gives Gr ip-deildi r,

r a pin e,r obbery. Deild (dole, dea l) a nd

D ei ldi r (dea lings) a re common i n loca l n ames, especia lly to bou nda ry pla ceswh ich h ave ca u sed lawsu its, e.g . , D ei lda ra (bou nda ry-ri ver ), D ei lda r -h vammr , et c .

2 U n o Von T roi l (p. 1 08) gives th e Icela ndic n ames of fou r Aga rici .


ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

feet high, the smaller features perfectly con ical, a nd set Off bybars a nd patches of white sand

,lime

,potash

,a nd other produce

of the sea. Eviden tly the formation is su baqueous, as well asvolcan ic} a nd I subsequen tly foun d reason to believe that the

an cien t sea-beach begin s west,a nd upon the parallel, of the

J'

Oku lsa’

t bridge,a nd run s up to the n orth-western base of Sn ae

fell,the moun tain

,n ot the J

'

Oku ll . The whole tract reminds on eof what is said an en t the Barony of Bu n en : it has n either wood,water

,n or earth sufficien t to hang

,to drown

,or to bury a man .

Walking ou r fagged horses down the yielding slopes,we pre

sen tly foun d the grou n d improve . A stream flowed to ou r left ;a lakelet lay on the right, a nd thin grass

,well covered with

sheep,made the scen e a n oasis . We again put on steam

,a nd

shortly after three AM we made the M'

Ot ru da lr farm. The churchwas shut

,but the buxom housekeeper took compassion upon

ou r weary plight ; basin s were brough t to relieve eyes red with

flin ty dust, a nd Skin s painful with prickly heat ; bowls of hotcoffee comforted the in n er ma n

,a nd on ce more we revelled in

the luxury of sheeted beds .

A u gu st 5 .

The farm of Galiums (etymologically Madder girt by itsdesert of san d a nd ston e in all direction s but the west

,where

the Western J'

Oku l sa'

t flows at a distan ce of six indirect miles,is

on e of the best,if n ot th e best

,in Iceland . It is n ot kn own in

the L a ndnamabOk,

2 which tells us that this quadran t wa s thelast occupied . The white-headed own er, S igu rtiu r Jon sson ,

has

often been offered his own price for i t , but to n o purpose . Hebrings out the map a nd

’

en lighten s us upon the features of the

wildern ess on the other side of the river. He den ies the existen ce of the moun tain “ D yngju i ll h in ny5r T rOlla dyngju r ,

”

immediately south of Blafja ll ; a nd I afterwards found that hewas right . Speaking of Baring-Gould’s project to attack the

Sprengi sa ndu r from M Ot ru da l r , he said that a traveller would be

1 T h e volca n ic a sh es a nd la pilli sh ow su pr a -ma r in e eru ption s, bu t th e wa terr olled ston es tell a n oth er ta le .

2

.

T h e M otfru vel li r,th e a bode of Gu 5mu nd t h e Rich or Powerfu l, wa s u p th e

E yj a fj6r5 , a nd th e map still sh ows a ch apel th ere.


taking the wrong road the usual lin e is from Barna rda lr on theSkjalfja ndifljOt to the T t rsa

’

. headwaters : moreover,that this

Sahara is n ever passed till early July. He den ied that the

sn ows on Blafja ll give a ny rule for crossing the cap of theIcelan d dome, of which on e stage is a j or n a da of twen ty-fourh ours, waterless a nd grain less . He confirmed my idea that theOdat a Hraun is bounded east as well as west by the san dyregion ; a nd he shrugged his shoulders when I con sulted h imabout ascending the local sundial

,H er5u brei5} distan t some six

teen mil es . The Broad-shouldered ” stood before us in all his

T H E BR OAD-SH OULDE R E D .

majesty, cabochon -shaped, or , as the Syrian s say, a Kh a t l'

m

(seal-ring) , girt by perpendicular walls, a nd projecting a tall

poin t between the double glacier,here of frosted

,there of

polished silver, as the surface caught the rays of the n oon tidesu n . It is n ot my fault if the sketch be very un like Henderson

’ sH erdu breid

, seen from M Odr u da l .”

The wife was absen t, but the buxom housekeeper let us wan t

for n othing except a sight of the Beauty of M Ot r u da lr,on e of

1 It i s th u s wr itten by a ll tr avellers : H er51-brei 5r,h owever

,from H er5a r

,wou ld be th e a djective broa d-sh ou ldered .

ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

the daughters, who is spoken of by every traveller. The c omfor ta ble homestead with three gables showed me amongst otherthings a map of P alestin e ; but why did Mr James Nisbet writeT rec on i tu s The mill was a turbin e

,so quain t in c on stru c

tion that the water could n ot be turn ed Off. E n r eoa n ch e,the

mutton was admirable : the sheep easily fatten in th is dry a nddelicate air

,a nd like their congen ers of Somaliland

,they put on

flesh with the slenderest rations . Not expecting to see it again ,

we devoured the fresh meat as if devouring were a duty.

Mr Lock,sen

,found the heat oppressive

,a nd we waited till

after n oon before we set ou t . A few minutes’ riding over grassled in to loose

,deep sand

,eviden tly a subaqueous formation ; a nd

here amongst the hill ocks grows the M elr,or wild oat

,with pale

glaucous a nd striped leaf, long, tough root, large ear, a nd grain

too small for making bread.

1 We saw n on e during the n ight ;as on the Sprengi sa ndu r , the land was too high to hold water,and the cereal prefers hollows where it c a n enjoy a modicum of

damp . It will exten d in scatters a nd patches as far as M y-vatn ;ou r horses enjoy it, but the sheep apparen tly refuse the coarsegrowth

,like the “

p a sta fu er te”of th e Argen tin e Republic. I

looked in vain for birdies ” amongst these tu fts , probably theyfind the sands too hot a nd too cold .

After a n hour’s slow ride,we turn ed off the road to the right

,

where Got a h Oll,we were told

,shows a temple of Th in At the

southern S lope of a h ill ock known a s SelhOll, lay a few looseston es ; farther down was the place where the D om-hring was

held, a nd n orthwards a black i nflu en t of the Ska r t sa formedthe BlOt-kelda r . All was mean a nd barbarous in the extreme .We now en tered upon what is called t h e best road i n Ice

land .

”T O the left or west lay San dfell a nd Geldinga fell the

crests were sharp as rabbits ’ teeth,a nd for a similar reason .

After about two hours we crossed the Ska r t sa,a n ugly, dark

torren t, the cesspool of the hills,a nd

,foll owing a ledge

,we

passed”

through the defile of the same n ame,Vega ska rO : the

formation was of basalt a nd Palagon ite,the pure a nd the pudding

1 According to t h e A n tiqu a ires du Nord (p . 434,vol . 1 850

“ Slesvig ”mea n s Vik

, or ba y, of th e S le or S li Ar u ndo A r en a r ia . Bu t i s not th is word th eIcel . S ly, wa ter cotton (Byssu s la nu gi nosa ), u sed a s tinder ?


ULTIMA THULE ; OR ,

wh i ch had been shot about H ert u brei t : they are common in then eighbouring establishmen ts . The guest-room

,en tered by a

small porch,had a wain sc ot pain ted to resemble maple ; a gold

beading a nd mahogany furn itu re ; but it boasted n either stoven or fireplace

,a nd

,as usual

,a“ whisper rang through the house .

Then came the family pa rlour,with eight windows

,each single

pan ed,facing south : the rest of the building con sisted of outliers,

byr es,the sheep-house

,kn own by the n ormal cen tral trough, a nd

the usual artless windmill .

A u gu st 6 .

This morn ing the own er,a rough

,hard-faced a nd obliging ma n ,

in appearan ce much like ou r typical Lowlander,

” lectured me

i n the geography of the U tga rs, or outer region s ; a nd a n hourbefore n oon we can tered over the three or four miles to the river .

This J'

Oku lsa’

. is about 200 yards across,with a san d-bank hard

by the left shore . The sides are of crumbling basaltic san d,red

a nd yellow Palagon ite,a nd water-rolled ston es ; on the right lay

a little strip of equisetum,a nd

“

opposite it were clumps of wild

oats,which promised well for a ride to the south , The turbid,

slaty-white stream flows at the rate Of at least three kn ots a n

hour : there is a tradition of its being swum by a horse-stealer,bu t th e cold would deter most men un less riding for dear life .N ow low i n the bed

,it must rise at least five feet, as appears

from the driftwood,ground to little bits

,which forms the high

“

water mark . The rule of An din e travell ers is to cross suchrivers about dawn

,when the n ightly frost has bound the sn ows

which feed them:The ma p places its chief sources in the n orth

ern border Of the Va tn ajOku ll , but the details can n ot be reliedupon . The length must be at least 1 20 miles ; a nd as the fall

from Gr imsta t fr to the sea is about 1 200 feet, there c a n be n o

n avigation except in the several reaches,a nd we c a n hardly be

surprised that it forms the D etti foss, the small Niagara of littleIc eland. The ferry wa s shaped like a spoon amputated at thehandle ; it was always half full ; a nd four trips were made n ecessary by the exten t of ou r belongings . We sat amongst theE yr a rOs, the islet roses, represen ting the Oleanders of Syria, a nd

watched the n ags swimming across,with their heads as usual


well u p-stream— apparen tly the custom of towing them from the

boat is Obsolete i n Iceland, at least I n ever saw it .Shortly after n oon we at tacked the M y-Vatn Or aefi , the wilder

n ess of M y-vatn ,which is very perfun ctorily laid down in the

map . It is not wholly barren . The surface is composed of

ropy a nd cavern ous lava, with bursten bubbles a nd extinguishedfumaroles

,growing thin grass

,the usual flowers

,dwarf birch

,

ground-jun iper,a n d two species of will ows

,the grey always in

the n eighbourhood of forage ; these stripes overlie a nd alternate

with barren volcan ic san d a nd ston es,bad retain ers of water .

The larger arteries of fire-ston e,as usual in Icelan d

,are called

Hraun -fljOt (ru n -floods) , a nd the smaller vein s Hraun -a rOa . The

sheep of R eykja h l iO a nd other farms are driven to the green parts

during the fin e season ; it is a p a ys bru le'

,but we Shall presen tly

see something far worse . Here,again

,game was almost wholly

wan tin g . Plovers sat upon the ston e-heaps, a nd the stringy

curlewt

(Spé i) , wh i ch our an cestors loved to u ni oyn t”

(carve) ,cried over ou r heads p

,ossibly they kn ew that their in sipidi ty a nd

toughn ess would save them from a ny but steel tipped teeth. Afew ptarmigan r a n almost from un der our horses’ hoofs

,eja c u la t

i ng Reu ! reu ! reu ! They are excellen t eating, but it is a shame

for a ny but starving men to shoot them at this season,when the

grey-brown pou l ts,little balls of fluff

,are still un able to fly .

The bird may be stupid, but it is a n excell en t mother, praise

which c a n by n o mean s be accorded to a ll clever an imals ; it

appears wholly to forget self when aiding in the escape of its

progeny. At this season ptarmigan come down from the barrenuplands to seek flowers a nd berries in more gen ial climes ; yet a

few days a nd they will retire with the young family to safer

homes .The remarkable moun d on ou r left

,a refuge to li fters in

olden times,is kn own as H rossaborg, the Horse-fort. From

afar it appears a mere shell of stratified mu d ; a n earer ap

proach shows a worn a nd degraded H erbu brei t,with regular

couches of Palagoni te clay fall ing steep on all sides but on e .

The huge semi c ir c u s Open s to the east,where its drainage

sheds to the H rossaborgl inda, the stream of the Horse-fortspring, flowing from th e south, a nd much affected by sheep .


I foun d n o sign of laVa,bu t a n abundan ce of sa nd aroun d ' i t if

it ever erupted, the discha rge must have been like that ofH verfjall, which we sha ll presen tly visit . Beyon d it the san d is

lively as that of Sind : on my return I saw a dozen column scareering at the same time over the plain although rain had fallenduring three days . Our caravan was struck by on e of theseH vi rfil sbl

’

ld-Or (whirlwind bolts), whi ch arose close by ;'

u n

like the Shaytan of the Arabian wild,which is adjured with

Iron,0 Devil !” it did not even remove ou r hats . The pillars

,

which spread out at the top like a ston e-pin e in Italy, may havebeen 200 feet high : some travellers, imitating the licen ce of

Abyssini an Bru ce,swell the altitude to 2000 yards .

As t h e gear wore ou t,so the loads fell with unpleasan t per

sisten cy,making us plod slowly over good ridi ng ground. I n

fron t rose a semi circu l ar ridge,extending from n orth

,

foid east,to

south of the lake,a nd thickly studded with h i ll s a nd con es .

The map call s it M y-Vatus Svei t, the M y-vatn district ; ou r

studen t corrupted it to Sveinn”

(puer) , opposed to S tfilka , alass . The latter reminded us of the J oe Mil ler attributedto the British sailor who understood why women were calledSn orers (Sen oras) in Spain ,

but cou l d n ot explain theirbeing Stokers in Iceland . This mild joke had power to c omfort u s whilst all man n er of topographical details con cern ing

J'

Or u ndr,H liea rfell , Barrell , H va nnfell, S ighvatr , a nd Blafjall,

were poured in to ou r dull a nd dusty c a r s . We halted for a fewminutes at the little farm E ystr a sel , a nd then pushed forward to

th e solfatara . After threading the Nama ska r ‘

B,where the air

was n ot balsam,we sighted the lake

,one of the ugliest features

of i ts pretty kin d ; a nd at PM,precedi ng my compan ion s, I

rode in to ou r destin ation,R eykja h l itl . The features here only

n amed will be described at full length in the following chapter.



PM . Night cold, raw,a nd fog

gabout midn ight

,mist from

n orth .

Paid farmer, Davin S igu rtSa r son , $5 ; his wife wan ted $3more . Little trodden paths more expen sive . People have nostandard of value .

T H INGMUL I To VALTH IOFS TAD IR .

Fr ida y, A u gu st 2 .

Set ou t,

P M . Forded river, rode down Gr i’

msa valley ;Often crossed stream best road n ear the bank . After 45 minutes

,

left Gr imsa, a nd struck the Melar or barren s at foot of di vide .

To left GeirOlfsta t i r , small farm of civil people,where I slept

August 1 9 . Up the long green slope of H a llormst a t a rh als ;

less abrupt than western slope . Reached summit 3 R M . (a n eroid

,a nd began rough a nd abrupt descen t. At

crossed H a fu r sa’

t (buck-goat river) , a dwarf ravin e . Trap in

steps,a nd red-ochre fields to left. L aga rfljOt Lake below ; both

banks easy l pes green ledges a nd swamps, crossed by causeways . Bridle—path well kept , because it is road to E ski i rn

,the

port. Farms everywhere ; see seven on western S ide . Passed

throu gh the Skc’

lg,” forest of H a llormsta h i r . Gen eral direction

,

n orth-west ; direct di stan ce, 4 geographical miles .P .M .

—(After 3 hours 40 min . S low 2 fast) ReachedH a ll ormst abir . Left it at 6 R M . Up right bank of L aga rfljét ;succession of torren ts

,gullies

,a nd bad stony places

,which c a n

be rounded. Rode under the Ran a-Skog (wood of the hogshaped hill) . Big san d-bar of Gilsa forms a tongue of boulders

a nd bad torren t if the ford is n ot hit. Path double, summeralong lake a nd in water ; win ter, higher up . Deep holesbetween basaltic blocks horse sinks breast-high .

P.M .

— A t H r a fnkelsta t i r (proper n ame of ma n ), oppositeH engifoss cataract, on other side of lake .9 P.M .

— Opposite fin e farm,Bessa sta t i r .

P.M .

—Ferry below jun ction of two forks of L aga rfljot ;swift

,cold stream breadth

,200 yards curren t

,3 knots ; horses

swam in 2 min . 30 sec. On return ,forded it h i gher up, when


split in to three large a nd three small streams . An other ford,wither-deep

,farther down . Paid ferry, $2 .

6) II . P.M .

— After 20 minutes ’ gallop over green plain,

reach ed Va lth iOfsta ’

c'

Sir church a nd parson age . Secon d march

(gen eral di rection ,south-south-west) , 3 hours 30 min . 1 0

indirect geographical miles . Total day’ s work, 7 hours 1 0 mi n .

1 4: miles .

An eroid, thermometer, 76°

(second observation ,

thermometer,83

°

in su n ) .Morn ing gloriously clear. At 1 0 A .M .

,cloudy a nd sunny . 2 R M ,

su n hot,a nd people complain ed. Cirri a nd cumuli over the

Va tn ajOku ll . Even ing clear a nd cool .

VAL THIo'

ES TA i-HR To T HOR SKAGERD I .

S a tu rda y, A u gu st 3 .

Started P.M .

— Took upper road to avoid tr’

i n s lower better.

P.M .

—Ruin ed mon astery,Skr i t ukla u str . Delayed 1 5

minutes .Crossed ugly boulder-torren t

,which wetted the beds . Reached

Bessa sta t fir farm,

P M .

At PM,true start over the Fljotsda lsh ei t i . Map shows

n early straight lin e from east to west. Not travelled over now.

We struck n orth-west-west ; stiff rise for 45 minutes . Rotten

groun d,a nd cold air.

Reached first step at P.M . An eroid, thermometer,

on summit.First View OfVa tn aj

'

Oku ll from Vegu p (Vegfip ? or Vegu ppPM .

An eroid,279 2 .

On the southern road (A t a lbélsvegr ) the highest poin t Of thedivide was shown by an eroid 278 0 .

7 . 30 P.M .

— Reached midway height,water stagn ates ; presen tly

the versan t changed,a nd the M i5vegr (half-way) torren t flowed

west to the great JOku l sa. Despite Varnas,lost way half-a -dozen

times . Groun d more a nd more rotten .

P.M .

—Crossed boul der river,E yvinda ra, a nd turn ed from

n orth-west to south-west. Began descen t.VOL . 11 .


1 1 P.M .

—The western is the shortest,the Eastern Joku lsa

being some 900 feet above the L aga rfljOt . Crossed many streamsdivided by ridges .M E — The H olkna (water of the rough stony field) i s mi splaced in the map. It is south of E yr ikst abir , on Opposite bank .

Rode along river banks air much warmer.

6) III . P.M .—Reached T h or skager t i . Ferryman

’s housen ewly buil t.Total on road

,9 hours 55 min . ; very slow work ; about 7

to 8 hours’ real work . Distan ce measured by map, 22 to 23

geograph i cal miles . Gen eral direction,n orth-west a nd west

south-west .I n morni ng, su n a nd strong n orth wind . Then clouds from

south . At 5 R M . saw a shower in the L a ga rfljét . 7 PM ,drops

of rain .

T HOR SKAGERBI To M OE RUDALR .

S u nda y, A u gu st 4 .

Early in the foren oon,crossed the (E) Joku lsa

’

t in the cage . The

horses were driven to the ford,200 yards below. On ly four of

sixteen swam over at first trial,in 1 hour 30 min . The rest

were driven farther down,a nd seven passed over in 1 hour 30

min . to 2 hou rs 30 min . The last five were towed over with arope . Occupied 4 hours . En ded atLoaded at E yr iksta t i r ; left bank of

,a nd 1 00 feet above

,

stream . An eroid at 2 PM,289 8 thermometer (in shade) ,

Set ou t at 5 P M . Up the high left bank of stream,a nd at on ce

lost the road . Lin e n ot traced in map it lies between the M 65ru

da lsvegr , n orth, a nd the J'

Oku lda lsh ei tli to the south. Began tocross the great divide

,a tableland

,not a prism,

between thetwo JOku lsas .

At 6 R M ,an eroid

,279 0 thermometer,

Passed n orth a nd al ong foot of Eyr iks moun tain . En tereda region of lakes or tarn s ; whole surface has been under water,a nd probably is so still in Spring. Bu5ara reservoir a nd stream

to right. Divided by dust plain s,chocolate a nd bright-yellow ;

good galloping-ground.



H er t u breifs, 263°30

' to 266° mag. (local variation or

223°

30’ to 226° true .

Kverk i ll , 248°

30’

mag.

Fagr a da lsfja ll, 244° to 246° mag.

$6 to own er, a nd $2 to studen t guide .Set out

,PM . Made for Geldinga fell (1 1

° mag) , in lin e oftall cliffs. Sandfell , roun ded con e, on left. To right (eastward)was Vega h nfikr , 45

°

mag ,a nd the rocks a nd tumuli of Nypi , or

NI’

Ipu r , 64°

ma g. Not i n map . Soon off grass into deep sand.

At turn ed back,a nd lost twen ty minutes Visiting

Got a h é ll .

P.M .

-Crossed Ska rt sa, ugly black torren t, influ en t of

Western Joku lsa. Along a corn i ch e,the Vega ska rt , a pass

through the hills. D u n -coloured Palagon ite clay upon the

ston es ; large blocks of conglomerate a nd yellow basaltic rockbelow.

P.M .

—The M i t vegr (mi d-way) .Sharp riding to Vft ida lr ; ugly barren slope, black waters, foul

stream feedi ng JOku lsa. Red hill on left.P.M .

— Halted at farm; two white gables ; many byres .Halted.

First stage,slow work

, 3 hours 1 0 geographical miles.Set ou t again

,PM . On right

,Gr imsta t a Kerling,

natural pyramid of rock,used by trigon ometrical survey

P.M .

— BiSku psh als .

Skirted Ytri N l'

Ipu r , n orthern hill,bounded south-west by

Gr imsta t a Nfipu r .

P.M .

— Good gallop over grass ; rolli ng ground up a nd

down .

(9 V. Crossed rivulet south of farm,a nd reached Gr imsta t i r

farm,PM

Second stage, fast ; 2 hours 30 min . 1 2 miles. Total, 5h orir s 30 min

,half-slow

,half-fast 22 direct geographical

Paid gu i de, $1 ; he wan ted $2 . Will ga110p back i n two

hours .

Morni ng hot a nd dry ; su n oppressive ; in afternoon , coola nd cloudy air. About 8 PM

,cold east wind ; hands numbed .


In evening, den se cloud, like i c e-fog, rose from the horizon a nd

c overed the su n .

An eroid, thermometer, Next morn ing,an eroid

,

thermometer,59

°

GR lM S TAD IR To M i -VA‘

TN.

Gen eral direction,n early due west. Took sights, a nd farmer

gave n ames1 . JOru ndr

,bare con e of Palagon ite

,which we shall leave to

right, or n orth,334

° mag.

2 . Bl'

I rfell,tall blue hill

,south of ou r road, 300

° mag.

3 . H va nnfell,at n orth end of Blafell , 293

°

mag.

4 . Fremr inama r,at south-east end of Blafell (from afar very

like Kr i su vik), 276°

30'mag.

5 . H ert u breit a rfell (not to be con founded with true Hert ubreit ) , called by people, D yngju i ll ; long lin e of low heaps a ndcraters

,partly con cealing sn ows of H ert u brein.

Paid $4 for pasture, $2 for ferry (Henderson paid a nd $2

for thi s day’s guide,wh o has two horses

,a nd return s in th e

eveni ng.

1 1 A .M .

— Left farm ; pricked over plain ,sand-outs

,a nd th in

scrub .

P.M .—J oku lsa River ; 3miles . An eroid, th ermo

meter,

Ferry made four trips . Horses swam to island in 1 min . 1 5

sec . spen t two hours at river.Remoun ted

,PM . Passed H rossaborg block, a nd began

the My-vatn Or aefi (Desert of M y-vatn ) .Rode slowly ; loads fall ing . Lin e, lava run s (five large) a nd

san d many li ttle craters studding the plain . In fron t, detached

h ill s a nd con es, arc of circle with hollow towards lake . The

M y-Vatu s Svei t (di strict) .P.M .

— Little farm,Eystr a sel (in map, M y-va tn ssel) , 1 hour

30 min . from R eykja h l it ; swamp to east, a nd stream to west .Line marked by tall Va rt a s, alternate layers of turf a nd sticks .


Up a nd down th e N ama ska rts (col of the wells) , di vidingD a lfj a ll , the n orthern ,

from Nama fj a ll , the southern range. Passthrough the heart of the solfatara .At west end of pass sighted the M y-vatn .

6) VI. P.M .

—Arr ived at R eykja h litl, ou r destination .

Secon d stage from river,6 hours 1 5 min . 1 7 to 1 8 dir ect

geographical miles,riding fast a nd slow. Total of day’s work,

7 hours 30 mi n . 20 miles .Du ll

,grey morni ng ; threaten s glare a nd warmth . Wind from

n orth-west ; showers on hi lls . Dust clouds on plain , showing

excess of electricity ; S ign s of heat, not of ram . Sunny after

n oon ; gloomy even ing.


N ? I . N ? 2 .

R EYKJ AH L IB A N D NAM A R PJ A L I. S P R I N GS . P L A N o r PR E M R l -NAM A R .

N ? 3

P L A N OF L E I R H N ll KR K R A F L A ( S P R I N GS )

M‘Fz rl a n e Bu'

kmc l ath " Edin?

Vol II Pa ge 2 7 9


C H A P T E R X I V

THREE DAYS AT THE S OLFATARA OF MY-VATN .

I CANNOT accuse myself of failing to do traveller’s duty at M yvatn : although the weather became raw a nd rainy, not a n

hour was wasted. The first step was to climb the nearest

height a nd form a gen eral n otion of M idge-water, which mustn ot be derived d mi c tu r i ti on e D i a boli . It is said to be fortymiles in circumferen ce— you might as well measure round a

spider— a nd the gorgeous green isles ” look like lumps of mu d

i n a horsepond ; their on ly use is to grow angelica ; but we saw

them under a dull grey sky,like a n inverted pewter-pot . The

mean Of many observation s gave for the an eroid a nd the

thermometer if this be corr ect,Midge Lake must be n earer

900 than 1 500 feet above sea-level . Travellers tell you thatthe fair dimen sion s were curtailed by the great eruption of

L eir hm’

Ikr a nd Kr a fla (1 724 that the lava is n ot yet

thoroughl y cooled ; a nd that con sequen tly the surface is n ever

wholly frozen . But the Kr a fla , as we shall see, c a n n ever have

flowed here,a nd there are Old craters a nd horn itos

,volcan oes in

mini ature,a ll about the edge : the whole becomes

‘

a solid sheet

of ice, except where su lphur a nd other min erals send forth

Springs more or less tepid ; moreover we found a depth of on ly

27'

feet. The bottom is black a nd muddy ; the water along

Shore is shallow a nd weedy, sedgy a nd spumy,whiten ing the

coast a nd the islan d edges ; it is glorious breeding-groun d for the

blood-drawing chief inhabitan ts of the district.” Gn at terrors

are emphatically n oticed,a nd on e travell er assures us that the

people wear a visored c a ssinet of black cloth to guard head a nd

n eck They are compared with those fer ae n a tu r ae, the mi dges

ofMain e ; No-see-ums,”th e Indian s call them. We brought


veils, a nd hardly saw a My — but then

,the cold weather was

again st the “ bodies of Behemoths a nd the stings of dragon s .”

Nor did we find My-Vatn a place where birds a nd fishesaboun d

,a nd where many of the wonders of Icelan d are c on c en

t r a ted.

” Every studen t of the a vi -faun a who has sighted thepool

,from the days of Proctor a nd Kr iiper to those of Shepherd

1

a nd Baring-Gould,makes it a very happy hun ting-ground : all

give lists which bring water to the Sportsman ’ smouth . T en short

years,however

,have made the latest obsolete. We did n ot meet

with a single Iceland falcon,on ce so common ; the birds, with

the exception of gulls,a host of san dpipers

,a nd plucky little

tern s,whose sharp beaks threaten ed ou r heads a nd eyes

,were

rare in the extreme ; a nd we foun d defun ct chicks at every fewhundred yards . Although we boated a nd shot over the uglypuddle

,our on ly bag con sisted of a mallard

,a widgeon

,a few

grebes a nd pipers,a nd the S efOnd or horn ed grebe (Podi cep s

c or n u tu s or a u r i tu s tufted on both sides of the head. Thewaters supplied trout a nd char ; there is n o salmon ,

as the fishcan n ot leap the fa lls twen ty-five miles from the lake. Dead

shells lay everywhere upon the spumy margin,a nd the corpse

of a duck was found studded with mollusks . The soil, di sin

tegr a ted volcan ic rock, is of the richest ; some thirty farms a ndfarmlets are scattered about the H li t a r or ledges between theseveral lava-gushes ; a nd the pastures support sOme 3000 Sheep .

The M y-vatn is somewhat in the delta shape, with theapex fron ting west a nd with the base extending seven toeight miles : its drain

,the Laxa

’

. fra M y-vatn ,escaping about

the poin t a nd feeding the Skalfa ndi Fj'

OrtS,must be a mere

torr en t . North of it is the lumpy,un in teresting mound

,Vind

belja rfja ll, wind-bellows hill the bag to the south, a nd then ozzle to the n orth east ; a n African pair of bellows, i .e.

,

'

One

bellow,

” if such word there be. It is a trigon ometrical stati on

like th e H l l’

5a rfja ll , a bare con e n orth-east of R eykja hl l’

t . Thepoin ts a nd promon tories are most remarkable to the south, butthese a nd other features will be better observed on the road tothe Fremr in ama r .

1 Th is tr a veller men tion s cider -du cks a t M y-va tn . We s aw n one, and th e

fa rmers decla re th a t th e birds do n ot leave th e sea -sh ore.



which were certainly not “ absurdly tame . After‘

a n hour a nda half of T rossa cks

,

”which on return was covered in forty—five

minutes, we halted at Ska rbsel , a little S etr or summer shieling,

a mere but a nd ben withou t tfm,a heap of peat a nd ston es

grubbed ou t i n to rooms . The primitive churn foun d in every

dairy shows that the ewes’ cream is here made in to cheese, whilstthe skim-milk forms the n ational Skyr. Of course the an imalsare poor a nd thin all the year round— the effect of con tinueddrain upon the con stitution .

”

Beyond the Ska rt sel , we began to ascend a nd rou nd sundrydiseased a nd mangy hills, walking up the higher pitches, a nd

riding over peat mounds,based upon Oldish lava . After a total

of two hours,we dismoun ted at the foot of L ei rh n l

’

i kr (mu d-kn oll),where the horses’ hoofs flung up mere su l phu r

,a nd where warm,

damp air escaped from every hole . The view from the summit

Convin ced me that the emplacemen t has been poorly described

by travellers . It is the n orthern head of a thin spin e, a sharp

prism about a mile broad,lying almost upon a meridian (215

°

mag) , a nd con tin uing the heights Of T h r ih yrn ingr , D a lfja ll , a nd

Nama fja ll . At some di stan ce to the n orth-west rises the sn owybuttress

,Gaesa da lsi ll (geese-d ale hi lls), almost con cealing the

Kinn a rfjall (c h eck or jaw moun tain ) . Nearer lies a chain of

con es a nd craters,with sundry outliers ; they seem to have

discharged a torren t n in e miles long by three of maximum

breadth,which inundated the n orth-eastern corn er of the My

vatn with vein s a nd arteries of fire ; a nd the scatter of horn itosa nd fumaroles to the n orth has also aided in the work of destruction

,or rather recon struction . The map shows on ly a

patch of lava reach i ng from L eirhm'

Ikr to the H lft a rfja ll conesouth-west.The L ei rh nukr proper is composed of two hillocks trending

n orth a nd south ; the southern is larger than the n orthern ,a nd

the whole,a lOng oval exten ding some 2000 paces, is on e vast

outcrop. The lowland to the east is far broader than the western ,a mere sli p ; here frequen t splotches of su lphu r a nd a n aph ysema ta ,or gas vents

,lead to the Kr afla

’

springs. The an eroid showed thesummit of the Mud-Kn oll to be about 2000 feet above sea-level .

Henderson (i . , p . 1 67) calls it a volcan o, a nd conn ects it with his


oth er volcan o,Kr afla , by a non -existing ridge ; but with h im,

omne

ignotum, et c — H rossaborg a nd even H ert u brei t are volcan oes .Wh en he compares the scen ery with that of the Dead Sea, oneOf the fairest of salt-water lakes

,we must remember that his

idea of Asphaltites was borrowed from that lively modernwriter

,Strabo.

We then remoun ted and rode over the dwarf Phl egraea n fieldsto the Namar of Krafla } the immense soufr ier e of M. Robert .The lowlan d is here studded with many invert ed con es of cold,blue water ; the prin cipal feature being H elvi t i S taerr a (GreaterHell) . It is a n irregul ar circle, with little proj ection s at th elongest diameter, n orth-west to south-east, a large, tawny funn elof burn t clay a nd bolus

,the degradation of trachyte a nd Pa lagon

ite, about 800 yards across . This is the famous mud-caldron of

Kr abla,

” a n atural phen omen on hardly inferior to the Geyser ;”

but Henderson ’ s Hell Of 1 81 5 was greatly changed in 1 872 a nd

we shall see far larger features at the H verfja ll a nd the Namar

koll . In stead of that terrific scen e,

” the “ jetting pool ” of

wild illustration s, a lakelet smi li ng in the bright su n ,which

burst the clouds about two PM,a placid expan se of green -blue

water,cold

,a nd said to be deep, occupied the bottom of the hole

,

a nd the only movemen t was a Shu dder as the wind passed over

it. I cou l d n ot help thinking of La belle Vision d’Elie,ou nu

Dieu passe sous la figure d’u n ven t léger.” Despite the abrupt

a nd precipitous descen t, 200 feet deep,” there is n o difli c u l ty in

descending the sides of Olla Vulcani ,”now the mere dr egs of a

volcan o .After in specting this poor, abolished Hell, we rode roun d it

n orthwards, crossing sundry sn ow-wreaths,wh i ch on the L iba n u s

wou l d be called T a llajat, a nd left ou r cards upon Little Hell.”

The latter is composed of two smaller lakes on a higher plan e, one

bearing east-south-east a nd the other south-east. Between the pair

lie some half-dozen slimy-bordered leir-h ver a r ,” 2 mu d-boi lers of

1 Pron ou n ce bu t do n ot indite Kr abla — th er e i s n o su ch wr itten word a s

Kr abla . T h e Diction a ry gives a t? kr afla,

” to paw or scr a bble it a lso mea n s

to scr a tch , a nd perh a ps th e obtu se a gr icu ltu r a l mind h a s ‘

c onnected th is pa stimewith th e evil for wh ich su lph u r i s a pa n a cea .

2 Some tr avell ers ca ll th em M akka lu ber, a nd Icela nders wr ite M aka lu pe, a


fetid smell : the ejection s bubbled a nd spluttered,falling in to

their own basin s, a nd th e fumes did not preven t the growth ofFifa a nd bright lichen s .After seeing what you may see in almost a ny solfatara, werode to the n orth-east

,a nd i n twen ty mi nutes we ascended the

turfy a nd muddy n orthern con e of Kr afla moun tain ; a mass of

Palagon ite,pierced

,to judge from the surface scatters

,with white

trachyte. A n isolated con e appears in the map ; I found that

the n ortherly part sweeps roun d to the n orthn orth-east,c on

n ec t ing with the H aga u ng (high-goer) , a long, meridion al buttress Of S imilar formation ; whilst the south-eastern prolongationa n astomoses with the black mass called the H r a ftinn u h ryggr or

Obsidian moun tain .

” I u tterly failed to discover a ny S ign of

crater : we are told that Kr a fla was torn in half during the lastcen tury

,a nd Henderson apparen tly makes Great H elVI

’

t i the

remain s of the bowl . From the apex, where the an eroid showed

we cou l d trace the course of the Laxa ; a nd a gleam in

the n orth was pron oun ced by the farmer to be the A xa rfj5r5, a

corn er of the house where dwells L e Per e A r c tiqu e. Upon the

black summit,where we

Toil a nd swea t,a nd yet be freezing cold,

Dryas was still in bloom, a nd violets a nd buttercups were scattered

over the lower slopes . I looked in vain for specimens of theplumbago or black lead

,reported to be foun d on Kr afla . There

is n o obj ection to its presen ce in th i s ka takeka umene ; gr aph i ti

c al carbon ” was found by M. Alibert in the volcan ic formation s

of Siberian M en in ski,so it is n ot confin ed, as at Borrowdale, to

the primitives .”

As we were descending the hill,my guide in spected a flock of

his own sheep,a nd I vain ly attempted to lay in a store of fresh

mutton . These people would probably sell,if they could get $8

to $9 per head, sOme 2000 of their 3000 an imals,a nd greed of

gain wou l d leave them almost destitute . Yet here,as at other

farms,it is impossible

,even with a week’s work a nd offering

treble price,to buy a single head ; excuses are n ever wan ting

,

cor ru ption of Ma ca lu ba , famed for a i r volcan oes, nea r Girgenti, itself a corru ptionof th e Ara bic M aklub.


ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

work,found my compan ion s busy in pitching the tent

,despite

the cold threats of n igh t. They complain ed of the stranger’sroom, although it rejoiced i n such luxuries as two windows,a bed a nd curtain s

,looki ng-glass

,commode

,map

,thermometer

,

a nd a photograph of J(Sn S igu rt sson . The house,with five

gables, fron ts west-south-west to Wind-bellows hill here thesouth wind is fair a nd warm

,the n orther brings rain

,the c a ster

is wet,a nd the wester dry a nd tepid. As in England, the south

sheltered from it. The house has the usual appurtenan ces,workshop a nd carpen ter

’s ben ch smithy a nd furnace ; byre and

sheep-fold.The shabby little windmill, with three ragged sai l s,

goes of itself, like Miss K.

’

s leg ; there is a n adjacent Laug, of

course n ever used, a nd the n earn ess of the lake renders a L avapés

(rivulet) unn ecessary.Plough

,harrows

,watering-pot, a nd hay

cart are also evi den ces of civili sation , but the kail-yard is nude


of potatoes probably they requ i re too much hard labour.Shabbier than the windmill , the church, bearing date 1 825 ,lacks cross

,a nd wan ts tarring ; it has n o windows to speak of,

a nd the turf walls are bu ilt after a n an cien t fashion,now rare,

the herring-bon e of Roman brickwork . The cemetery around

it is indecen tly n eglected, a nd bon es, which should be buried,strew the ground . Baring-Gould (1 863) gives a n accoun t of itschasubles a nd other ecclesiastical frippery, which may

‘

stil l be

there,un less sold to some traveller. It is a li n eal descendan t of

that church which in a n almost miraculous mann er escaped

the gen eral c onfla gra t ion of 1 724-30 . Hen derson adds thequestion

,Who kn ows

“but the effectual ferven t prayer of some

pious individual,or some design s of mercy

,may have been the

cause fixed in the eternal purpose of Jehovah for the preservation of this edifice ? ” I may simply remark that lava does n otflow up hill ; the stream spli t in to two at the base of the mound,without being in spired with reveren ce for the con secrated

ground,a nd un ited in the hollow farther down . Yet travellers

of that age derided the Neapolitan who placed.

his Madonn a infron t of the flowing lava ; a nd when Sh e taught h im the lesson

of Kn l'

I tr (Canute) the Dan e,1 tossed her in to the fire with

a ’

u a c c i a t’

a n ima tu a , etc. , etc . , etc . Superstition differs not inkind

,but onl y in degr ee .

The reason for the ten t-pitching soon appeared . The burlyfarmer has a lot of lu bberly son s, a nd two surly daughters ;Cross-patch a nd Crumpled-horn being attended by half-adozen suitors a nd women frien ds, bou ch cs i n u ti les all . If we look

in to the kitchen , these L u c ret i a s make a gen eral bolt. There isextra di fficul ty in getting hot-water, although Nature, as Rey

kja h lft shows,has laid it on hard by ; a nd even the cold ele

men t is brought to us in tumblers . The coffee is Copiouslyflooded ; this is femin in e econ omy, which looks forward to thesame pay for the bad as for the good ; a nd cups, which suggest

take a ’poon,pig, poorly supply the place of th e pot . On e of

the son s speaks a li ttle Engli sh : we tried him upon the lake,a nd

1 T h e docks of Sou th ampton , bu ilt wh ere h e sa t, h ave somewh a t stu ltified th esimple wisdom of th e oldman .


after two hours’ rowing he was utterly exhausted . Besides, thereare lots of loafers

,jolter-headed

,crop-c ared youngsters,

With no ba ird to th e fa ceN or a sn ap to th e eyes,”

who are mighty at doing n othing : they peep in to, a nd attemptto en ter

,the ten t ; when driven off they lounge away to the

smithy,or to the carpen ter’s ben ch

,a nd satisfied with this

amoun t of exercise,they lounge back in to the house

,where we

hear them chattering a nd wrangling,cursing a nd swearing, like

a n est Of young parrots . They remin d me of the Maori proverb,

Your people are such lazy rogues,that if every dirt-heap were

a lizard,n o on e wou l d take the trouble to touch its tail a nd

make it ru n away.

” They cann ot even serve themselves : theharder work is don e by a pauper couple

,a blin d ma n a nd his

wife,who sleep in th e hay-loft . The only S ign of activity is

shown by the carpen ter,A rngr imr , a surly fellow,

wearinga fur cap

,like a ma n from the Prin cipalities

,a nd with mu s

t a c h ioes meeting his whiskers, like those of the Span ish Torero .He is Nature’s artist

,

” says the studen t,mean ing that he has

taught himself to pain t,a nd h e

'

la s ! to play flute a nd fiddle .So the even ing en ds with ditties

,dolefully sung

,a nd the Ice

l a ndi c n ation al hymn,the latter suggesting Rule (or rather be

Rul ed) Britan n ia. We are curious to kn ow how all these sturdyidlers live . They fish ; they eat rye-bread a nd Skyr ; they robthe n ests

,a nd at times they kill a few birds : the best thing that

cou l d happen to them woul d be shipmen t to Milwaukee, wherethey would learn indu stry un der a Yankee taskmaster. I have

drawn“

this unpleasan t in terior with Dutch mi nuten ess : it is the

worst kn own to me in Iceland.

The old farmer, Petur JOn sson ,lost no time in deserving the

character which he has gain ed from a gen eration of travellers ;his excuse is that he must plunder the passing stranger in orderto fill the en ormous gapes which characterise his happy home .Yet he makes mon ey as a blacksmith ; he own s a hundred sheep,a nd he is proprietor of a good farm. In his old bill ycock, hisfrock-coat a nd short waistcoat

,he looks from head to foot the

lower order Of Jew ; we almost expect to hear Ole c lo’

start



spring . We moun ted it in ten mi nutes,a nd found the big bowl

to con sist of volcan ic cinder a nd ashes based upon Palagon itea nd mu d : the shape was somewhat like that of the H a u r a n i c

Gh a rareh which supplied the lava of the Leja. The an eroidthermometer

,showed some 800 feet above R eykja

M in; a nd the van tage-groun d gave a n excellen t View of the lake ,with its low black holms a nd long green islets, of which the

longest a nd the green est is Miklasy (mickl e isle) . This M on te

n u oc o was erupted in 1 748-52 ; a nd a plaited black moun d in

the easily-reached cen tre shows where the mu d was formerlyejected . Almost due south of it lies a precisely simi lar feature

,

the Vill l’nga fja ll . These formation s are techn ically called Sand

gygr ,“ san d craters

,

” Opposed to Eld-gygr , the“ fire abyss ;

a nd their outbreaks form the san d summers ” a nd the san dwin ters ” Of aren aceous Iceland a nd its n eighbourhood . I look

upon the H verfja ll as the typical pseudo-volcan ic formation of

the islan d.

The real start was at on e P.M . ; when ,having rounded the western

wall of the H verfja l l , we passed east of a broken lin e of cratersbased upon thin -growing grass . The

'

whole c a n be galloped

over,but ’ware holes ! Nor

’

di d I find th e skirt of a lava-floodalways a n un surmoun table barrier to

’

Icelan d pon ies,al though

in n ew places It may be . On the c a st was Burfell (“ byre hill ) ,

the n ame is frequen tly given to steep, circular, a nd fla t-toppedmounds ; south-west of it lay the H va nnfell

,long a nd box

shaped. Farther to the south-west,a nd n early due south of

the lake,rose S ella nda rfja ll, apparen tly based on flat a nd sandy

ground ; patches of sn ow streaked the hogsback, which distin

gu i sh ed itself from the horizon tal lin es of its n eighbours . Farahead towered the steely heights of Blafja ll, which from the easthad appeared successively a con e a nd a blu ff : it still showed thesn ows which

,according to travellers, den ote that the Sprengi

sandur is impassable ; the last n ight had added to them, butthe lower coating soon melted in the fiery su n-bursts . The lin eof path was fresh lava overlying Palagon ite ; a nd in the holl owsdwarf pillars of black clay were drawn up frOm the sn ow bysolar heat : their regular a nd polygonal forms again suggesteddoubts about the ign eous origin of basalt

,which may simply


result from Sh rinking a nd pressure . This columnar disposal ofdried clay

,a nd even of starch desiccated in c u p or basin

,was

n oticed by U no Von T roi l as far back as 1 770 .

After a n hour’ s sharp ride,during which my little mare often

rested on her n ose,we struck a cindery divide

,a scen e of desola

tion with sandy nullahs, great gashes, down whose sharp slopes

we were accompan ied bodily by a fair proportion of the sideof course the ascen ts were made on foot. The material is a ll

volcan ic a nd Palagon itic ; here trap a nd trachyte i n si tu appar

en tly do n ot exi st : as we made for a Brech e dc R ola nd, east of

Blafja ll, we passed a Sloping wall of white clay ; a nd at half

past three we halted a nd changed n ags at the A fré ttr (comp a sc u um) , to wh i ch the n eighbouring farmers drive their sheep inJu l y a nd Au gust. The lad called it the L a u fflesja r , leafy greenspots in the barren waste . We saw little of the willow which

he had led us to expect ; but the dark san d abounded in flowersa nd gramen s the former represen ted by the white bloom of

the milfoil (A ch i llea mi llefoli um), which the people term Vallh uma ll} or Welsh,

” that is,foreign

,

” hop a nd the latter by theKorn -S l

’

l r a (Polygonum oim’

p a r um) , viviparous Alpin e buckwheat .A sn ow-patch at the western end of the pla in let gave u s drink ;a nd thus water

,forage

,a nd fuel were all to be foun d within a

few hundred yards . The guide said it was half-way, whereas it

is n early two-thirds,a nd we rode back to it from Blafja ll, which

bears 1 00° (mag) , in a n hour.Resuming ou r roadwe rounded the sides of the hill ocks

,a nd

presen tly we attacked a Hraun unmarked byVa rt a s . Discharged

by a multitude of li ttle ven ts,the upper a nd the lower portion s

a re the most degraded ; the middle flood looks quite n ew,a nd

ropy like twisted straw. We n ow sighted a nd smelt the smoke

pouring from the yell ow lip,which looks as if the su n were ever

shin ing upon its golden surface,a nd which stands ou t c on spi c u

ou s from the slaggy, cindery, a nd stony hill s . At five P.

I

M . ,after

a ride of four hours a nd a half,we reached the n orthern or

small er ven t,a n oval open ing to the n orth-n orth-west

,a nd we

placed ou r n ags under shelter from the wind. The hai r was

1 Th u s in th e Diction a ry. Ba r ing-Gou ld (p . or possibly h is printer , ca llsit Vell-h uma ll, wh ich wou ld be gold h op.


frozen on their backs in to lamelld n i neoe c t gla c i a les spi cu les

they had n o forage beyond a bite at the A fré ttr , a nd we were on

a high,bleak level

,the an eroid showing a nd the thermo

meterWhen the su n had doffed his turban of clouds, we sat upon

the edge of the Little Keti ll a nd studied the site of the Fremr i

n amar, the further springs,because supposed to be most di s

tan t from the lake . From the Oraefi the pools seem to clusterabout the yellow crater ; n ow we see that they occupy a ll theeastern slope of the raised ground

,the section of the M y-va tn s

Svelt extendi ng from Bl'

I rfell to Blafja ll . The n orthern ven t ismerely on e of the dependen cies of H va n nfell ° the southern or

Great Crater belongs to the Blue Moun tain . We presen tlyturn ed southwards a nd ascended the Great Kettle

,which Faij

kull declares to be probably the largest i n Iceland.

” This

Namakoll,head or crown of the springs

,

” is a n oval, withthe longer di ameter disposed n orth-east to south-west (true) ,a nd measuring n early double the short er axis (600 350 yards) .

1

The outer wall,raised 1 50 to 200 feet

,is onemass of soft sulphur

covered by black sand ; every footstep gives ven t to a curl of smoke,a nd we do n ot attempt to count the hissing fumaroles, which areof every size from the thickn ess of a kn itting-n eedle upwards .

With the least pressure a walking-stick sinks two feet. Wepick up fragmen ts of gypsum ; alum,

fibrous a nd effloresc en t ;

a nd crystals of lime,white a nd red

,a ll the produce of the Pala

gon i te, wh i ch still forms the inn er crust ; a nd we read'that sal

ammoni ac a nd rock-salt have also been found. The r im isunbroken

,for n o di scharge of lava has taken place ; the in terior

walls are brick-red a nd saffron -yellow, a nd where sn ow does n ot

veil the sole,lies a solid black pudding

,the memorial cairn of

the defun ct E ver or M akka lu ber . From the west end no sulphurfumes arise ; south-eastward the ruddy sufi on i extend to a c on

s iderable distan ce .The Appendi x will describe the old working of these diggings,

which did n ot pay,although the hundredweight cost only ten shil

1 In 1 776 Professor Hen ch el fou nd it “ a bou t 200 pa ces in diameter . (S eeAppendix, Su lph u r in Icela nd,” Section I . )



few sheep lost during the year are not su fli c ien t proofs of such

a n an omaly still existing.

All I saw of theOdasa Hraun was a common lava-field, probablybased upon Palagon ite . It seemed of Old date

,judging from the

long dust-lin es a nd the stripes tonguing ou t in to ashes a nd

cindery sand . The su r face was un even,but n ot moun tain ous ;

long dorsa striped the ejected matter,a nd the latter abounded in

holl ows a nd ravin es,cavern s a nd boilers . Many parts retai n ed

the sn ow even at a low level,a nd thus water cann ot be wholly

wan ting even in the driest season . Here a nd there were tracts

of green ish tin t,probably grass a nd will ows, lichen s a nd mosses ;

possibly of the lava with bottle-like glaze over wh i ch I afterwards rode . The prospect to the south-south-west ended witha blue a nd white buttress

,a n outlier of the Va tn aj

'

Oku ll,wh i ch

might be the (Eastern) Skja ldbreiO.

We proposed to return by the eastern road vid the Bri rfell,but ou r guide declared that the lava was almost impassable, a ndthat the hardest work would n ot take us to R eykja h l i

'

5 beforethe morn ing. Having n either food

,tobacco nor liquor

,a nd

being half frozen by the cold,we return ed vi a the A fré ttr ; we

passed to the east of H verfjall, not gain ing by the change of path ;a nd after a ride of eight hours a nd a half we found ourselves

at home ” sh ortly before eleven PM . My feet did not recoverwarmth till three A .M .

August 9 th was a n idle day for the horses,which required rest

before a longmarch to the wildern ess the weather also was rainy,a nd more threaten ing than ever. I proceeded to examin e theH ll

’

t a rn ama r,or Ledge-Springs, a nd to see what boring work had

been don e by my compani on s .1 The smell of rotten eggs,

” theeffects of suffocating fumes ” upon respiratory organ s

,

” whichby the by c a n only ben efit from them

,a nd the chan ce of being

sn atched from -

a yawn ing abyss by the stalwart arms of theguide -we were ou r own guides— had n ow scan ty terrors forou r daring sou l s . They have been weighty con sideration s with

some travellers their attitude remin ds me of two Alpin e climberswh o

, in stead of crossing it, sat down a nd debated whether, a s

1 T h e lay a nd th e su ccession of th e str a ta so mu ch resembled th ose qu oted inM r Vi ncen t ’s paper th a t th ey need not be r epea ted h ere.


fathers of families,they would be justified in attempting that

sn ow-bridge . Perhaps the conviction that the abyss here

rarely exceeds in depth three feet,where it meets with the

ground-rock,Palagon ite

,may accoun t for ou r exception al calm

n ess . The reader will n ote that I speak on ly Of the H lft a rnama rin 1 874 they tell me a traveller was severely sca lded at somehot Spring.

The H li t a r nama r west of the N ama fja ll , wh i ch Henderson

calls the Sul phur Moun tain,are on a lower plan e than the

Namar proper,east of th e divide . They are bounded on the

n orth by the double lava-stream which,during the last cen tury,

issued from the n orth-east,n ear the base Of the H lft a rfja ll : to

the south stretch independen t ston e-floods,studded with a

multitude of horn itos,little ven ts

,a nd foci. The area of ou r

fragmen t of the great solfatara extending from the moun tain ,

where it is richest,to the lava which has burn t it out

,may be

on e square mi l e. It is n ot pretty scen ery save to the capitalist’ s

eye,this speckled slope of yellow splotches

,set in dark red a nd

chocolate-coloured bolus,here a nd there covered with brown

gravel,all fuming a nd puffing

,a nd making the delicate a nd

tender-hued Icelandic flora look dingy a s a S ’

a Leon e mulatto.We began with the lowlands

,where the spade, deftly plied

by the han dy Bowers,threw up in many places flowers of sulphur

,

a nd almost pure min eral . Below the gold-tin ted surface we

gen erally foun d a white layer, soft, acid, a nd mixed with alum ;

under this again occurred the bright red,the chocolate

,a nd other

in termediate colours,produced either by molecular change

,the

resul t of high temperatu re ; or by oxygen ,which the steam a nd

su lphur have n o longer power to modify. Here the material

was heavy a nd viscid,clogging the spade . Between the yellow

outcrops stretched gravelly tracts,which proved to be as rich as

those of more specious appearan ce . Many of the issues were

alive,a nd th e dead ven ts were easily resuscitated by shallow

boring ; in places a puff a nd fizz immedi ately followed the re

moval of the altered lava blocks which cumbered the surface.

I n places we crushed through the u pper crust,a nd thus falling

in merely mean s dirtying the boots . Mr Augustus Vollker,I

am told,has determin ed the bright yellow matter to be almost


pure The supply,whi ch has n ow been idle for

thirty years,grows without artificial aid

,but the vast quan tities

which n ow waste their sourn ess . on the desert air, a nd whichdeposit on ly a thin superficial layer

,might be collected by roof

ing the ven ts with pan s, as in Mexico, or by building plankSheds upon the lava blocks

,which appear already c u t formason ry .

According to the old traveller, Ola fsson ,t h e supply is readi ly

ren ewed ; a nd Dr Mouat The Andaman Islanders coversall the waste i n two or three year s .Leaving ou r n ags in a patch of wild oats

,which

,they say, the

Devil plan ted to delude ma n,we walked up the N ama fja ll ,whose

white,pink

,a nd yellow stripes proved to be su lphur-ston es a nd

san d washed down by the rain so as to colou r the red oxidisedclay. Here we picked up crystals of alum a nd lime

,a nd frag

men ts of selen ite a nd gypsum converted by heat in to a ston e-li kesubstan ce . The several crests, looking like ruin ed towers frombelow

,proved to be box-shaped masses of Palagon ite a nd altered

lava ; the summits, n ot very trustworthy to the tread, gave c om

prehen sive prospects of the lowlands a nd the lake. Upon thechin e we also found mu d-springs

,blubbering

,gurgling

,splu t

t ering,plop-plopping

,a nd mu d-fli ngi ng, as though they had been

bits of the In fern o : the feature i s therefore n ot confin ed, as somewriters assert

,to th e hill -feet facing the Or aefi . The richest

di ggings begin east of the crest, a nd here the vapour escapeswith a treble of fizz a nd a bass of sumph

,which the vivid fan cy

of the Icelandic traveller has converted in to a “ roar.” Mycompan ion s were much excited by the spectacle of the great

soufr ier e, a nd by the thought of so much wealth lying dormant'

in these days of “ labour activised by capital,

” when sulphur,the main stay

,

” says Mr Crookes,

of ou r presen t industrialchemistry

,

” has risen from £4,l 0s . to £7 a ton ,

when 1 5 to 20

per cen t . is a paying yield i n the Sicilian min es,a nd when the

expensive old system of working the ore has been renderedsimple a nd econ omical as charcoal-burn ing. A nd we shou l dhave looked rather su rprised if in formed that “ all these mineswere shortly to be extinguished by a scien tific member of theSoc iety of Arts .I n the even ing

,which un expectedly proved the last when we



1 500 feet in a distan ce of 45 miles . 1 It is wrongly shown inGu nnl a u gsson

’

s map, for in stead of being on the eastern side ofL angava tn it skirts the western shore of that lake, a nd it likewise passes on the western side of U xa h ver .

Husavik harbour is a very good on e,judging from the

description given us by Captain Thrupp,R .N .

,of E M S .

‘Valorou s

,

’ who spen t some time there this summer. A n old Dan i shSkipper said it was perfectly safe when proper moorings werelaid down

,no vessel having been lost in it during the last

thirty years. He has been trading between Copenhagen ,Hull

,

a nd H i'

I savik for twen ty-five years past,reaching the latter port

each year about the end of February,a nd making his last voyage

home in October. Between October a nd February there isgen erally a quan tity of ice floating ofl

’

the coast,which hinders

vessels en tering the harbour .” 2

I also asked my young c omp a gnon de voya ge to collect for me,upon the spot

,certain detai ls of the earthquake which occurred in

the n orth-eastern part of the island,a nd which

,as was n oticed

i n the In troduction,did some damage at Husavik. On the after

n oon of April 1 6,three shocks were felt ; two others followed

during the aftern oon of April 1 7 the second was remarkablyviolen t

,a nd throughout the n ight the ground con tinued

,with

short in tervals of repose,to show lively agitation,which on the

1 8th reached its culmin ation . All the wooden huts were thrown

down,a nd the ston e houses were more or less shaken

,the fac

tory alon e remain ing in a ny measure habitable . Some cattlewere killed ; there was no loss of human life, but from twentyto thi rty fami lies were compelled to seek shelter in the outskirts .

Nobody remain ed in the dilapidated l ittle market-town exceptthe Sysluma t r , whose fami ly left for Copenhagen in the steamerHarriet

,

” bringing th e n ews to Europe— I met them on theirreturn to Reykjavik

,a nd they con fessed having been terri bly

startled a nd shaken . During the three days after the 1 8th , thevibration s con tinued with dimini shed violen ce they were un im

portan t in the immediate n eighbourhood of H I'

I savik ; they were

1 A s h a s been seen I wou ld con sider a bly redu ce th ese figu res .

2 Th is “ ba nqu ise,

a s th e Fren ch ca ll it, i s sa id to form a compa ct belt ex

tended th irty miles from sh ore i n th e Skjalfa ndi fjfirfi .


in sign ifican t about Kr afla , a nd when the vessel sailed they had

wholly ceased . There was also a report that the crater in th e

icy depths of the Va tn ajOku ll had begun to vomit fire .”

This much the N orddeu tsch e A llgemei n e Zei tu ng had in formedme : Mr Charles Lock added the following details : “ During

the eight days of earthquake the thermometer (R) , during then ight

,fell as low as The direction of the shocks was from

east to west,a nd some of them were very severe . The inh abi

tan ts were so much frighten ed that they crowded on board

a vessel which chan ced ta be in port . I was n ot told that the

effects were at all felt in the harbour. The Syslu ma t r slept in

on e of the streets for several n ights . Many small cracks were

left in the ground when the shocks had subsided ; but these

have sin ce been fil led up : some n aturally,others by th e

peasan ts .”

Let us now hark back to M y-vatn .

A S a wandering son Of Israel on ce said to me, in my green

a nd salad days,Gold may be bought too dear.

” The question

is n ot whether sulphur exists in Icelan d ; it is simply C a n we

import sulphur from Icelan d ch eaper than from elsewhere ? ”

Calculation s as to profit will eviden tly hinge upon the cost ofmelting the ore at the pit’s mouth

,a n d of conveying it to a port

of Sh i pmen t : however cheap a nd abundan t it may be in theinterior

,if fuel be scarce a nd roads a nd carriage wan ting

,it c a n

n ot be expected to pay. My opin ion is that we c a n ,if scien ce

a nd capital be applied to the min es . The digging season wou l d be

the h ot season ; a nd the quan tity is so great that many a summer will come a nd go before the thousands of ton s which c om

pose every separate patch c a n be exhausted. Bu t this part of

the work n eed n ot be confin ed to the fin e weather : it is eviden t,

even if experien ce of the past did n ot teach us,that little sn ow

c a n rest u pon the hot a nd steaming soil . As one place fails, orrather rests to recover vigour

,the road c a n be pushed forward to

an other— I am persuaded that the whole range,wherever Pala

gon i te is found, will yield more or less of the mi n eral .The first produce could be sen t down in win ter to H l

'

I savfk by

the Slebi (sledge) . When in come justifies the outlay, a tramroadonthe Haddan system would cheapen tran sit. The ships which


export the sulphur c a n import coal to supply heat where the boili ng springs do n ot suffice, together with pressed hay a nd oats for thehorses a nd cattle used in the works . As appears i n the Appendix

,

turf a nd peat have been burn ed,a nd the quan tity of this fuel is

literally in exhaustible . It will be advisable to buy sundry of thefarms

,a nd those about M y-vatn range i n value between £300

a nd a maximum of £800 . The waste lands to the east will carrysheep sufficien t for a ny number ofworkmen . The han ds might beIcelan ders

,train ed to regular work, a nd superin tended by English

overseers,or

,if judged advisable, all might be British min ers .

Good ston e houses a nd stoves will en able the foreign er to weathera win ter whic h the n ative

,in his wretched shan ty of peat a nd

boards,regards with apprehen sion . Of the gen eral salubrity of

the climate I have n o doubt.The sulphur trade wil l prove the most legitimate that the

island c a n afford . Exploitation of these deposits,which become

more valuable every year,promises a source of wealth to a poor

a nd struggling coun try ; free from the in conven ien ces of the pony

traffi c,a nd from the danger Of exporting the sheep a nd cattle

required for home supply. A nd the foreign er may expect to

enrich,not on ly the n ative

,but himself

,as long at least as he

works hon estly a nd~

econ omically,a nd he avoids the errors

which,in the Brazil a nd elsewhere

,have too often justified the

old Span ish proverb,A silver min e brings wretchedn ess ; a gold

min e,ruin .

These statemen ts,prin ted in the S ta nda rd (November 1 ,

have lately been cri ticised by a certain Brimston e (M in i ngJ ou r n a l

,August 29

,a nd September 1 9

,He is kind

en ough to say,I have the greatest respect for Captain Burton

as a traveller,but n on e whatever as a n in spector of min ing pro

per ties— where

,however

,a little candour a nd common sen se go

a long way. A nd he is hon est en ough to own,despite all in

terests

,

i n pyrites or Sicilian min es, that the working of thesu lphu r deposits in question may possibly, with great care a nd

econ omy,give moderate return s on capital.” His letters have

been satisfac torily a n swered by Dr C . C arter Blake a nd Mr JOn

A. H ja lta l i’

n . It only remain s for me to remark that n othing iseasier than to draw depreciatory con clusion s from on e

’

s own


302 UL TIMA THULE ; OR,

con sequen t on the latter, a nd on the in evitable u se a nd abuse ofthe spirits of the coun try

,in order to while away the time ? ”

The Brazil is surely as thirsty a land as Iceland,yet my host,

Mr Gordon,of the gold min es in Min as Geraes

,wou l d be some

what surprised,a nd perhaps n ot a little scandalised

,to hear

that h i s wh i te,brown ,

a nd black hands cann ot be kept fromdrink. Briefly the objector’s cavils may be an swered in theun tran slatable poetry” of theAmerican backwoodsman

,

“T’ain t

n o squ a r’ game ; he

’s j est put up the keerds on that chap (Sicily)from the start.” I have n o idea who Mr Brimston e ” is

,but I

must say that he deserves a touch of his own min eral,hot withal

,

for so n otably despising the Englishman ’s especial virtue— Fa irPlay.

On the other hand, my n otes on the M y-vatn mi n es drewfrom a Brazilian acquain tan ce

,Mr Arthur Rowbottom

,the fol

lowing n ote,contain ing a n inquiry which un fortunately I could

n ot an swerI read your accoun t of the sulphur min es of M yva tn with

great in terest a nd pleasure ; a nd from you r report I should feel

disposed to believe that boracic acid exists in the same district.You will , n o doubt, remember the conversation we had on boardthe Douro

,

’ return ing from Brazil,about the very large fortun e

made by Coun t L a rderel out of the boracic acid produced in theTuscan lagoon s situated n ear Castelnuovo . Wherever nativealum a nd brimston e are found, there are always traces of borateof soda in one form or an other. Boracic acid exists at the Torredel Greco

,a nd in Volcan o of the Lipari Islands . 1 The locality

where the Tincal ’ is found in Thibet is reported to be pluton ic ;in fact

,n early all the coun tries fr om when ce the borate Of soda

is drawn are somewhat similar to the sulphur districts of Iceland ; a nd I shou ld feel greatly obliged if you could inform meif boracic acid or borate of lim e exists in the island.

1 It wa s th ere fou nd by th e la te S i r Henry Holla nd ; Dolomieu h ad some specimens, bu t h e did not kn ow wh en ce th ey came.


C H A P T E R XV.

RETURN To D JUPIVOGR AND END OF J OURNEY.

SECTION I .— RIDE To H E RBUBR E ID .

A u gu st 10 .

WE were human ly threaten ed with rain on the fourth day,but my an eroid gave me better n ews . The prin cipal difli c u ltywas to find a guide for the southern Or aefi Hr Petu r ’s son s

Shrugged their shou lders a nd pleaded illn ess p i tu i tam h a ben t”

explain s the studen t— they swore that the farm horses were n otstrong en ough to traverse the grassless waste. After a three days’

search,I managed to secure a dummer j u nger , n amed Kristian

Bja rn a son of E ilffr , who had on ce almost reached the base of

H erbu brei t ; a nd Old Shylock len t h im,for a con sideration

,two

lean n ags,with orders to go so far a nd n o farther. My own

stud con sisted of eight,a nd on ly on e of these carried the little

ten t a nd provision s— a loaf of brown rye-bread,two tin s of

potted meat,a dimi nutive keg of schn apps

,a nd ration s for my

compan ion s, the studen t Stefan a nd Gl’

sl i Sku lk . The latter

showed some alacrity in preparing to return home ; as he had agrudge again st Mr Lock, so he contrived to n obble all the ropes,a nd tried furtively to drive off all the baggage-horses . I lookedcarefully to the tethers of my n ags

,a nd person ally saw them

shod with good iron s a nd n ew-made n ails : I strongly suspect

my hen chman of having stolen a march upon me he coul d notsmash my hammer, but he man aged to lose the extra nails . More

than on e Shoe proved to be broken on the second day, a nd several

were found fasten ed with on ly three mere tacks,

” the best c ontriva n c e i n the world for perman en tly injuring a hoof.The start was, as usual, painfully slow ; although I rose at five

304 . ULTIMA THULE ; OR,

A .M . ,the journ ey did n ot begin before T h e

’

M essr s Lockaccompan ied me part of the way ; we were a ll tomeet at D j i ipivogr on the seven th day

,but that meeting was n ot written in

the Book of Fate . After shaking han ds with the good Bowers,I

pricked sharply over the plain,glad to escape the reeking vall ey

of M y-vatn the cool a nd clear north-c aster at on ceswept awaythe mourn ful gr i sa i lle of the charged sky ; presen tly

°

th e su n came

ou t,afflicting the horses

,a nd the dust rose

,troubling the riders .

About half-way to the river we turn ed off south-eastward, a nd

rode over the usual mounds,wh i ch resemble

T h e gra ssy ba rr ows of th e h a ppier dea d.

After this rough,tussocky ground came black sand

,bordering

black a nd ropy lava ; the former was grown with oa t -clumps sevento eight feet high

,many of them dead at thi s season : they sh'el

tered the n ormal vegetation ,a nd extended immen se roots to

collect nutrimen t from the barren soil . The path was pitted,

especially on the outskirts of the various ston e-floods,with blind

holes (Gja), wearying, a nd even dangerous, to horses— I soon preferred the rougher riding. T h e floor -rock again was yellowPalagon ite

,barred with whi te 1waves, soda a nd potash . At four

PM . we' crossed . the Fja ll a gja, a yellow wady, wh i ch mi ght have

been in the heart of Arabia Deserta we Were approachingits recipien t

,the foul JOku l sa. Fin ally

,after en tering broken

ground of. deep sand,a nd Crossing a black hill

, Glet a h us, thegled’s house

,we come to ou r halting-ground

,Va lh uma ll -la

,

1 th e

low lan d of mi lfoil,” an other wady

,but black with sand

,a nd

showing lava-streams to the south . The guide declared that wewere on t h e parallel of V15ida lr , which, however, could not beseen .

The day’s work had been thirty-two miles,in six hours twenty .

minutes,a nd I was much pleased with it ; no better proof was

wan ted to Show the feasibility of travelling in the wildern ess, atleast wherever a r i

rVer is found. Al l the features have namesgiven during the an nual sheep-hun ts . We found tracks of the

1 T h e Diction a ry gives L a, su r f, sh a llow wa ter a long sh ore ; a nd h a ir (La nu go).I(

20

1

1

1

1

511

1511;i’

t exten sively u sed to sign ify a low pla ce wh ere wa ter sinks, th e Ar ab’

s



is the same in all region s from the Neva to the banks of theSen egal, the Ganges a nd the Orin oco ; a nd the range has beenplaced between 93

°

a nd 1 04°

(F) in the shade. I n this islandwe are preserved from extremes by the n eighbourhood of the sea

,

yet the power of the su n at times still aston ishes me. The R am

leh (aren aceous tract) ended in a pleasan t change, a sha llow,

grassy depression,with wi llows

,red a nd grey, equ isetum,

bloodthyme

,wild oats

,which abhor the ston e tracts

,a nd the n ormal

n orthern flora . Here, as I afterwards found, we should haveskirted the JOku l sa

,made for the mouth of the Gr a fa rla ndsa

,a nd

ridden up the valley of the dwarf stream. The guide preferreda short cut

,which saved di stan ce a nd which lost double time .

To the right or n orth-west we could trace distin ctly the golden

crater,the S igh va tr pyramid, a nd the familiar features of the

Fremr inama r . I again ascertain ed that a lin e of high ground,a

blue range streaked with sn ow,trending from n orth -west to

south-east (mag) , a nd represen ting the fan ciful T r'

Oll a dyngju r

(Giga n tum cu bi li a ) of the map,

°

a lso conn ects Blafja ll with the

H ert u brei t a rfell . The latter,separated by “Grave-lan d Water

,

”

a common name for deeply en cased streams,from the Broad

Shouldered proper,is a brown wall with frequen t discoloration s

,

a lin e of domes a nd crater con es,now regu l ar

,then broken in to the

wildest shapes ; in on e place I remarked the quaint head a nd footpillars of a Moslem tomb . A single glan ce explain ed to me theash-eruption from the T rolla dyngju r recorded in 1 862, a nd themany ston e-streams supposed to have been ejected from Heronbrei5 ; they exten ded to the very base of the latter, a nd all theH r a u n a rds

”

(lava-vein s) which we crossed that day had evidentlybeen emitted by these craters .At n oon

,after four hours fifteen minutes fifteen very devi

ou s miles) , we en tered a lin e of deep, chocolate-coloured slag a ndcin der

,u n u su a llyb a d riding. It presen tly led to the soft a nd

soppy, the grassy a nd willowy vall ey of Gr a fa rlOnd, which isexcellen tly supplied with water. I n aturally expected to find

a drain from the upper sn ow-field of the Great Con e ; the wholelin e is composed of a succession of springs dividing in to twobran ches

,a n orthern

,comparatively n arrow

,a nd a southern ,

Showing a goodly girth of saddl e-deep water. The weeds of th e


bed a nd th e luxurian t pasture amid the barrenest lava, Beauty

sleeping in the lap of Terror,” suggested that in this veritable

oasis,if anywhere

,birds would be found . A single sn ipe a nd

three Stein -depi ll1

(wheat-ear) showed how systematic throughou t this part of the coun try had been the depopulation of the

a vi -fauna . A few grey-winged midges . hovered about,but I

looked in vain for shells . The spring showed on ly a differen ce

of 05 from ou r sleeping-place . A nd n ow my error began to

dawn upon me : the ride to H er5u brei5 would be seven hours

in stead of two to three ; the ten t had been left behind ; the men

had n o ration s,a nd alimen tary substan ces were confin ed to

a few cigars a nd a pocket-pistol full of schn apps .But regret was n ow of n o avail ; a nd time was precious .

After giving the n ags time to bite,I shifted my saddle , a nd, at

two P.M .

,leaving Gi

’

sli Skulk in charge of the remounts,I pushed

on south,accompan ied by Stefan a nd Kristian . We crossed the

two streamlets,each of wh i ch has its deeper cun ette

,luckily

a vein of hard black sand . Beyond the right bank of the Gra

fa rla ndsa we at on ce en tered the wildest lava-tract,distinguished

main ly by its green glaze,fresh as if laid on yesterday. It was

like riding over domes of cast-iron,a system of boilers

,these

smooth or corrugated, those Split by Gjas a nd Showing by

saw-like edges where the imprison ed gases had burst th ebubbles : n ear the broken cairn s we found lin es of dust which

allowed the shortest spurts ; the direct distan ce to H ert u brei ti

was not more than two miles,but the devious path had doubled

it. Again we had been led by the worst lin e ; on ou r return ,

Kristian,having recovered his good temper, showed us a toler

able course . He frequen tly halted,declaring that his master

had forbidden h im to risk the n ags where the U t i legumennmi ght at a ny momen t poun ce upon them.

At PM . I reached the base Of H ert u brei t,a nd foun d it

,

as was to be expected, en circled by a smooth, sandy, a nd pebbly

moat, a kin d of Bergschru n d, whose outer sides were the lava

field,a n d whose inn er flanks formed in places high cliffs a nd

1 D epi ll i s a spot or dot ; a dog with spots over th e eyes, a ccording to th eDiction a ry

,i s a lso ca lled D epi ll .

” Clea sby tr a nsla tes Stein -delfr (mod . Steindepill) by wa gta il, M ota c i lla .


precipices . The formation at on ce revealed itself. The BroadShouldered moun tain is eviden tly on ly the core of what it was .Its lower part is composed of stratified Palagoni te clay

,which

h i gher up becomes a friable conglomerate,embedding compact

a nd cellular basalt,mostly i n small fragmen ts . The heaps at

th e base are simply slippings, disposed at the n atural angle, a nd

they are garni shed with many blocks the size of a n Icelandroom . Above them rise the organ s

,buttresses

,a nd flying but

tresses,resembling pillars of mu d

,several exceeding 300 feet ;

the material assumes the most fan tastic shapes : in on e placeI found a perfect n atural arch resting upon heat-altered basalt .The heads Of the column s form a corn ice

,a nd from the summit

of the cylin der a n unbroken con e of vi rgin sn ow sweeps grandlyup to the apex . Eviden tly the H er5u bre15 is n ot the n orma l

volcan o : it may be a San d-gygr after the fashion of H verfja ll ,but of thi s we cann ot be assured un til the c ap is examin ed. Thechief objection would be the shape

,the reverse of the usual holl ow.

Leaving Kristian in charge of the horses,I attacked the slope

in company with Stefan ,from the n orth-east

,a nd we gradually

woun d round to the east of the con e . The slopes were clothedwith small a nd loose fragmen ts of ba salt

,making the ascen t

difficult. Here rain -gulli es radia ted down the in clin e ; to thesou th-east yawn ed a great ma rmi te, a breach probably formed

by a long succession of clay-slips a nd avalan ches . The adhesivesn ow clinging to the rough conglomerate lay in fan s a nd

‘

wrea th s

even again st perpendicular walls,whereas

'

in Europe largemasses cann ot accumulate at a n angle of a nd the meteoris un stable a nd apt to break away when the a ngle exceedshere it seems plastered upon the steepest S ides, looking from

afar like glisten ing torren ts . After seeing the huge n e’

ve’

wh ichclothes the moun tain from the shoulders upwards

,I was sur

prisedf

to find that,although the ascen t was broken by huge

gullies whic h in spring must discharge torren ts,the flanks are

absolutely waterless ; as on Western Sn aefell , the drainage sinksthrough the porous matter a nd

,passing underground, reappears

i n springs upon the plain,a familiar feature to the travell er in

Syria . Yet the slopes carried the usual Icelan d flora, of courseShrunk a nd stun ted by the cold thin air. I picked up the vermi



which by careful swarming,might have open ed a pa ssage .

But here a n ew difficu l ty was added to ever-in creasing darkn ess

a nd to numbing cold . In Switzerlan d the rock c ann on ades aremost frequen t between midn ight a nd dawn : here the blocks ofbasalt

,detached by the leverage of su n a n d frost

,begin to fall

as soon as the temperature lowers . The cou loi r was too n arrowfor swarming up the sides

,which are less risky than the cen tres .

After three n arrow escapes,in on e of them my right hand savin g

my head, I judged that the game was n ot worth the candle .Though close to the sn ow (an eroid, it would have been

impossible to reach the summit alon e,in the ni ght a nd over a n

unkn own field .

Descen ding in double -quick time devouring space,as

Belmon tel says—we soon reached the moat which separates thecastle from i ts outworks of lava

,a nd refreshed ourselves at the

little tarn . During the descen t I observed a feature, beforehidden from View ; a lumpy tail with two main bulges prolongi ng H er t u brei t to the south-west : perhaps the n ext attempt

might succeed if this lin e be followed . From the H er5u brei5a r

vatn we took the south-eastern lin e,where the lava-fieldwa s by no

mean s so horrid. After a n hour, striking the H ert u breirla rlinda,

also a n influ en t of the JOku lsa,we hurried down the right bank,

frequen tly crossing when the soft a nd rotten ground threaten edto admit the pon ies . Fin ally, we traversed in fifteen minutesa divide of lava

,we forded the double chan n el of the Grafar

l a ndsa, a nd at we were received with effusion by the soli

tary Gfsli . Those who foll ow me will do well to ascend theleft bank of the JOku lsa, to trace the Grave-land Water to itssource, to pass over the lava -breach, a nd to follow the Lin da

where it rises from the plain .

The day’s ride had occupied n in e hours thirty minutes, a nd

the un fortun ate tattoos were n ot prepared for some fourmore moreover

,les genou s m

’

on tr a i en t da ns lo corp s, as the gami n

says . The blood-red sun set promised a fair n ight, free from

wind a nd fog,a nd

,although we were some 1400 feet above sea

level,a bivouac in the glorious air of the desert under

Cette obscu re cla rté qu i tombe des étoiles,c ould not be c on sidered a hardship . No one thought of a fire


till I set the example of collecting will ow-roots,a nd then all

,

beasts as well as men ,were greatly comforted by the short,

sharp bursts of blaze . The p oor fellows offered me a share of

their on ly Viaticum,a bit of bread a nd sausage

,but I saw by

their longing,hungry eyes that their n ecessities were greater

than min e. A blanket in stead of t h e oilskin from my saddle

bag woul d have been a comfort ; but even without it I sleptlik e a n bi cn h eu r eu a ’, a nd awoke lively as a lark. What a differ

en t matter was my n ight in the Open below Fernando PO peak !That morn ing I had set ou t to plan t a lan ce in Iceland

,

” by

masterin g the H ertiu breiti ; for on ce utterly deceived by the clearn ess of the air

,I had despised my en emy, a nd he got the better

ofme— the gen eral verdict will be, Serve you right .” My c on

solation was that,though beaten

,I had hardly been fairly beaten ;

the fog was n ot to be con trolled ; the guide led us by the worst

paths,a nd we crept over lava after expecting to move fast. The

altitude is laid down at 5447 English feet above sea-level a nd

as we rode up to the base,about 1 500 feet high

,there remain ed

only 4000 feet, which would n ot have taken more than five

hours . Such was my calculation ,and it c ri ed by being drawn

too fine. Nor coul d the attempt be ren ewed n ext day. I hadpromised to sen d back to Mr Lock my on ly compan ion

,Stefan ,

whose foot-gear was in tatters ; Gi’

sli a nd Kristian wou l d have

seen me in Na-strOnd, the shores of the ign oble straw-dead,

”

rather than accompany me over a n unkn own sn ow-field, a nd

such climbing must n ot be don e single-handed.

SECTION I I .

—RETURN T o VALTH IOES TAE IR AND STAY THERE .

A u gu st 1 2-1 6 .

There is li ttle to say con cern ing these five days,which were

spen t in return ing toVa lth iéfsta t i r by devious ways . On August

1 2th the world, according to local belief, was to have been de

stroyed ; kn owledge has in creased sin ce A .D . 1 000, so n o on e made

preparation,Spiritual or material, for what Hin dus call the Pra

laya,hourly expected by primitive Christian ity. J c m

’

cn mogu e

comme de l’

a n qu a r a n te At th ree A .M . we rode down th e


cold valley of the Gra farla ndsa, picked up the ten t,a nd biddingadieu to the good Stefan a nd the miserable Kristian ,

we reachedthe J

’

Oku lsa ferry after a total of six hours forty-five minutes .The blood-red sun set had kept its promise till clouds rolled upfrom the south

,a nd I have seldom had a more thorough dusting.

At early n ightfall sudden ly appeared Mr Pow a nd his guide,

J(in Petu r sson ,son of the old priest of Va lth i éfsta t ir : they had

been payi ng a visit to M y-vatn , a nd n ow they were hasteninghome for a wedding. The former had been making inquiriesabout sheep-farming ; he believed that, in that lin e, someth i ngmight be don e whilst the pony traffic was thoroughly workedou t . Farms ranging from $3000 to $6000 are readily bought

throughout this part of the coun try. As the sn ow begin s upon

the Heinis in November,lies deep in December a nd January,

a nd lasts till May,it would be n ecessary to allow on e ton of h ay

per thousan d head,a nd the import price

,excluding freight

,must

be computed at £2 , 1 os . rising to £4 . He was sanguin e en oughto expect a cen t . per cen t . profit I n ever heard that the project

had a ny results .Next day we started betimes in the cool east wind

,wh i ch

presen tly chopped roun d to th e south, a nd gave us a taste ofSin d a nd the Panjab— all the san d of the Arabian desert seemedto be in the air

,a nd it was the sharpest of its kind . We enjoyed

a headl ong gallop n ot unworthy of theArgen tin e Pampas,halted

a fewminutes at the M 65ru da lr oasis,a nd pressed on toVetu r-hi’i s :

here we parted as I wished to examin e the lake region, a nd to

in spect the Br l'

I of the JOku lsa.

On the n ext morn in g,which

,after the stilln ess of dawn

,also

obliged me with a dust-storm,I set out at eight

,rounded the

swamps a nd black bogs,a nd

,after crossing a marshy divide,

en tered the valley between the E i r ikr a nd T h r i h yrni ng hills.

The lan d is poor,but it man ages to support two little Sels. Atlast we came upon the T h verarva tn ,

the south ernmost of thetarn s

,a nd following the right bank of its drain

,the T h vera} we

reached the E ra after a n hour a nd a half’s hard riding. It still

1 T h vera, th e th wa r t-wa ter , from T h ver , Germ. Qu er , a nd E ng . Qu eer , i sgenera lly tra n sla ted Crooked River , Riviere a tr a vers : t h e term i s Often applied toa tr i bu tary wh ich strikes t h e ma in stream a t a r igh t a ngle.


3 14 ULTIMA THUL E ; OR,

gear,in cluding the handsome brass woman ’s saddl e of a c er

tain English traveller, fil led the stables, or browsed about the

t fin ,showing a goodly gathering

’

of relatives a nd friends ; evenS ey5 i si r5 sen t forth its con tingen t. Those who had din ed werechatting a nd touch i ng pipes ” on the green : despite my garb

being the reverse of a wedding garmen t,I was hospitably pressed

to join the second detachmen t. After we had satisfied hyperborean appetites

,the speeches began

,prefaced by loud cries of

Silen tium As many of the orators were priests a nd studentstrain ing for the priesthood

,few could plead unaccustomed to

public speaking,a nd most of them acquitted themselves remark

ably well. M r Pow,after delivering his sen timen ts in Engli sh

,

sprang out of the window to prepare for a wild ride ; I aired myLatin

,con cluding with a n effective sen ten ce

,Deus sit prOpi t iu s

his pota tor ibu s —Of course ign oring Walter de Mapes. Having

talked ourselves dry,

” we in stalled a magi ster bibendi,

”a nd

fell to with a will ; we were loud in ou r mirth as the Ritur

(tarrock-gull) on the rocks,”

a nd the bottles of Cognac a nd ryebrandy required repeated replen ishing

,till the small hours sen t us

to bed. The n ewly-mar ried couple slept at home,a nd n ext morn

ing, after coming to breakfast, they took horse a ndwen t their ways .At Va lth i éfsta ‘

Oi r I was fortun ate en ough to meet PrOfa str

S igu rt u r Gunn arson of H a llormsta t i r,whose n ame has already

been men tion ed. A portly,good-looking man of sixty, hardly

showing fifty,he is a good Latin ist

,a nd his gen ial mann ers

make h im a gen eral favourite . He first accompan ied ProfessorGu nnl a u gsson in 1 832 to theVa tn ajOku ll svegr , a nd sin ce that time

he has made three trips to the n orthern edge . He gave me theposition of the volcan o (N. lat. 64° a nd W. long. G

7

which appears upon the map. When told that H erbu brei t was amass of Palagon ite

,he declared that he had seen M O-berg at LO

magnupr a nd other hills of Sera a nd Floskelda r ; moreover, that he

suspected it to bethe con stituen t of the Ki stu fell a nd the Kverk,

wh i ch he had passed in the dark. He assured me that he hadfoun d the Western JOku l sa easily for dable after its fork, whereit is called Kreppa , or the Squeezer.

1 Among other places wh i ch

1 From th e verb Kreppa , to cr amp, clen ch . T h e map gives th e n ame to th eea stern h ea dwa ters of th e JOh u lsa

,r ising from th e Kverk .

J


gear,in cludi ng the han dsome brass woman ’s saddle of a c er

tain English traveller,filled the stables

,or browsed about the

t fin ,showing a goodly gathering

’

of relatives a nd friends ; evenS eyoi si rtS sen t forth its con tingen t. Those who had din ed were

chatting a nd touching pipes ” on the green : despite my garbbeing the reverse of a wedding garmen t

,I was hospitably pressed

to join the second detachmen t. After we had satisfied hyperborean appetites

,the speeches began

,prefaced by loud cries of

Si len tium As many of'

the orators were priests a nd studen tstrain ing for the priesthood

,few could plead un accustomed to

public speaking,a nd most of them acquitted themselves remark

ably well. M r Pow,after delivering his sen timen ts in English

,

sprang ou t of the window to prepare for a wild ride ; I aired myLatin

,con cluding with a n effective sen ten ce

,Deus sit propi t iu s

his pota tor ibu s —of course ign oring Walter de Mapes . Having

talked ourselves dry,

” we in stalled a magister bibendi,

”a nd

fell to with a will ; we were loud in ou r mirth as the Ritur

(tarrock-gull) on the rocks,”

a nd the bottles of Cogn ac a nd ryebrandy required repeated replen ishing

,till the small hours sen t us

to bed. The n ewly-mar ried couple slept at home,a nd n ext morn

ing, after coming to breakfast, they took horse a ndwen t their ways .At Va lth i éfsta bi r I was fortun ate en ough to meet Préfa str

S igu rtlu r Gunn arson of H a llormsta t i r,whose n ame has already

been men tion ed. A portly,good-looking man of sixty

,hardly

showing fifty,he is a good Latin ist

,a nd his geni al mann ers

make h im a gen eral favourite . He fir st accompani ed ProfessorGu nnl a u gsson in 1 832 to theVa tn ajOku ll svegr , a nd sin ce that timehe has made three trips to the n orthern edge . He gave me theposition of the volcan o (N. lat. 64

°

a nd W. long. G. 30°

which appears upon the map. When told that H er t u breib was amass of Palagon ite

,he declared that he had seen M O-berg at Lo

magnfipr a nd other hills of Sera a nd Floskelda r ; moreover, that hesuspected it to bethe con stituen t of the Ki stu fell a nd the Kverk,

whi ch he had passed in the dark. He assured me that he hadfoun d the Western JOku l sa’. easily for dable after its fork, whereit is called Kr eppa , or the Squeezer.

1 Among other places whi ch

1 From th e verb Kreppa , to cr amp, clen ch . T h e map gives th e n ame to th eea stern h ea dwa ters of th e JOh u lsa, r ising from th e Kverk .


A SUMMER IN ICELAND. 31 5

are sh own by the map, he mention ed the L indakei lir (fountainpyramid) with its two spr ings, the northern cold, the southern

hot ; the H va nn a l indi r , rich, as the n ame shows, in Angelica ; andthe Kr ingi lsa, or en circling water.The morning after the feast was spent in breakfasting, in

chess—playing,a nd at cards, with coffee beans for counters : on

this occasion the men ate first,a nd after them the women

,some

what after the fashion of the Druses : the parson’ s wife alsowaited

,like an Orien tal

,upon her younger brothers . The

friends moun ted their stout nags, a nd disappeared after the

normal salutation s : amongst them was the Profa str,with coarse

woollen stockings sensibly drawn over his shoes . The kith and kin

waited till two P.M . on the next day, a nd, when the heartiest a nd

sma ckingest of busses had been duly plan ted upon projecting lips,all rode off

,escorting the bride a nd bridegroom,

a nd escorted by

the family h onom'

s c a u sd as far as the n ext farm . Mr Pow had

agreed to join me in attempting the Va tn aj'

oku ll but,whilst I

remained to collect prova u n t and to avoid the heavy weath erwh i ch threaten ed

,he resolved upon a preliminary trip

,with the

prime object of shooting a reindeer. He hired for $ 2 a n old

roun d-ball E nfield from the farmer-ferryman of Bessa sta t i r,who

,

apparen tly convinced of the E n skima t u r’

s in san ity,sn atched

it three times ou t of his hands,till he received a watch in

pledge . The solitary march was hardly to be recommended .

About the Va tn ajoku ll fog or sn ow may cover the world at

a ny moment, even in July, the best month ; a nd dozen s of sheep

are often kill ed by a single'

violent'

storm . Mr Pow set ou tearly on the 1 5th

,missed the road

,and return ed at eleven A .M .

on the next day,thoroughly dazed

,and apparen tly unable to give

a ny account of h i s march— J én Petu r sson’

s eyes fill ed with tears

at the sight. That trial proved sufficien t formy in tended compan ion,

who,as soon as his two n ags could move

,set ou t for S eybi sfj

'

orb.

The weather,which had been surly and wrathy for some time

,

could n o longer restrain its rage the aftern oon (Au gust 1 6) wasbad

,a nd the evening was very bad. The day sped wearily

watching the cloud-battalion s as they scaled the seaward hill s :here this easter and deflected norther brings heavy rains and

thick raw mists ; the souther and the south-wester are li ttle

31 6 ULTIMA THULE on,

better,a nd men rely only u pon the western wind, which comes

from the arid lavas a nd sands of the Odaoa . The n ight was onelong howl of storm ; drip-drip resounded from the churchfloor

,a nd the wind flung itself again st the building

,threaten ing to

bear away the frail steeple in to space . Huge black nimbi,parted

by pale a nd sickly gleams,ever greeted my sight as I gazed in

sorrow from the casemen t of my ecclesiastical lodging . But joycame in the morn ing : first a glimpse of blue sky between thefli rts of rain

,then a sign of the su n . The river was reported to

be rapidly fill ing— never mind, un lucky Friday has passed by,a nd we may look for better things on Saturday.

The provisions,bread

,meat

,and cheese with the u nfin

i sh ed keg .of schn apps, were awaiting ou r departure. But StefanPetu rsson ,

who was to accompany me,had fallen ill

,the malady

being probably that popularly call ed in India a squ i ffy quo

t idi a n so I engaged as guide the student Thorsteinn,who had

led us to T h or ska geroi , paying for him a nd his nag $3, 3m. 0sk.

per diem . Gi sl i , the coal-biter,” when drawn badger-like from

the kitchen,again tried to shirk

,pleading the weakn ess of the

pon ies,but a threat to withhold wages reduced all Opposition

to a slackn ess of the kn ees,a settled melan choly

,and a hurt

feeling expression of coun ten an ce . This time he was n ever

left alon e with the h orses after they had been s hod : he pre

sen tly revenged himself by displaying an amount l ‘of appetitewhich threaten ed th e party with starvation ,

if it lingered in the

wilderness a day longer than he liked .

SECTION I I I .

— THE RIDE TO S N E FELL : VIEW or THEVATNAJoKULL .

S a tu rda y, A u gu st 1 7 .

I managed to draw the sleep-thorn from Gi sl i ’s ears a nd, afterthe usual silly delays

,to set off at along the left bank of

the Fljot sda lr , a li a s the N c rou rda lr : the wind was still southerly,c louds came from the east

,but the an eroid was rising a nd the

su n was taking the master’s place. The broad trap valley sup


31 8 ULTIMA THULE ; on,

A ugu st 1 8.

I rose at dawn with no little anxiety ; in these altitudes manis wholly dependent upon weather : it is like a Polar expedition

on a small scale . The rainy a nd windy night had cleared theair

,a nd the su n rose bright

,bringing with h im a stinging and

in tensely dry 1 south wind from off the Joku l l s . The baggage

pony was loaded,and all preparations were made by We

began with the rotten a nd boggy ground,draining the Sn aefell

and its north-eastern outliers to the J'

oku lsa. Here began thetrouble wh i ch lasted more or less throughout the morning. The

surface is cut by gu l lies a nd earth-cracks,often twenty feet deep

,

a nd varying from a yard to ten yards in breadth. Few could be

leaped by untrain ed an imals, and the many which cou l d not becrossed caused detours either up or down

,often a furlong ‘

to

cover a perch . The smaller sort were the most troublesome,owing to the badn ess of the take off a nd landing : the nags made

th emselvesfi

r idi c u lou s in attempting to scramble over, with their

h i nd'

legs in the hollows,whilst the forehand was holding on the

farther bank . I n the worst places,at least on e of the caravan

was sure to be sprawling upon the ground. The best parts were

the stony spots,and the medium were th e swamps

,especially

whereFifa and bright mosses spangled the ground.

The wind n ow veered to the south-west,a nd after two hours

we easily forded the H a fr sa,a drain rising in the south-east of

its “ fell . The latter,seen from the eastward

,proves not to be

a single cone,as th e map shows behind the knob lie a jagged

,

saw-toothed ridge a nd sun dry outliers . At a di stan ce,it appears

to be lava,but when riding over it in the aftern oon I noticed

that such form of erupted rock is wholly absent from this lin e .The material

,like that of H erou breio

,is Palagon ite

,which

doubtless forms’

the base of the northern Va tn ajoku ll . Unlikethe ba saltic conglomerate of the Broad-Shouldered

,however

,it is

pu ddinged with cinders reddened and charred by the flames .

The colours are ruddy,black—brown

,chalky-white

,green

,a nd

yellow,the two latter extending in a ban d through Sn aefell from

1 T h e experimen ts of M . J . M . Ziegler of Win terthur show th e drying powerof i c e ; a differen ce of 32° per cen t. humidity in t h e glacier a ir a nd in th e air ofth e adjacen t plain .


322 ULTIMA THULE ; on,

A near view of the Va tn a j'

oku ll,from the south of Sn aefell

,

c onfirmed my previ ous Impression s . The snowy base-line isformed by the descending angle of the win d : this must explainhow all is congealed at a height where Sn aefell is free from frost .

(aneroid, perhaps the thrust from behind may perpetuatethe n e

’

ve’

. Beyon d the long wh i te wave,pure ermin e above

,a nd

below spotty like a Danish dog,stretching far to the west

,rose

the quain t form of Kverk,the throat or angle beneath the chin

,

1

with two big,blue buttresses to the east : the black outlier of

conical shape has a deep gullet to the n orth,vomiting a light

blue glacier upon the sn ow-fields lying at the base ; it is prolongednorth by the Kverkh nukrr a n i (snout of the gullet-kn oll), apparently contain ing two distin ct patches of volcan ic aspect .Resuming ou r ride to the west over the tru e S n aefellsh als,whose stony flanks delivered us from bog a nd earth-crack, wefound that even here the summer pasturages are not unused .

The dandelion a nd th e violet,dead elsewhere

,still enjoyed the

autumn of life ; sign of reindeer was seen in two places, a nd we

flushed sundry coveys of ptarmigan . A couple of ravens anda snow-tit composed the remn ant of animal life ; happily for usthe midges were absen t .I At two PM . we reached ou r farthest southern poin t, the longdorsum which prolongs Sn aefell southwards to th e Sn aefellsh als .

On the far side of the col rose T h jofa h nukr , a big, black, cinderycone

,like the rest. Between it and the northern hypothenuse of

the Va tn ajoku ll lay a dark saddleback, with all the appearanceof a volcanic crater ; the absence of lava may be explained by its

vomiting,like H verfja ll and H erou breio, cinder a nd ashes . As

we turned up the T h jofa da lr , between the Thieves’ Kn oll and

the S n aefell proper, the ice-wind struck ful l on ou r backs . Theamphitheatre was girt on both sides by jagged, rocky peaks, likethe edges of bursten bubbles and blisters ; a nd the shou l ders ofSn aefell projected to the south-west, a sharp ridge and a cone ofwarm-yellow Palagon ite here the ascent would have offeredno difficulties . This part of the valley discharges to the south

1 Thu s in th e dictiona ries ; bu t it seems to have a nother sense in popu la r lan


many streamlets of melted snow, some clear, others of white

water. Crossing the divide,we struck the H r a fnkelsa, which is

prolonged by the Joku lkvi sl and the S a u oa ra (sheep-water) toJoku lsa of the Bridge . The line presen tly became a deep and

grisly gorge of black and C opper-coloured Palagon ite ; a nd we

passed sundry long bridges of ha rd sn ow which were excell en t

riding. So far I can confirm the experien ce of the Fren ch naval

officers, who assured me that in Iceland these formations, soredoubtable farther south

,offer no risk .

At four PM . we halted for an hour at the head of the EasternJoku l sa

,quietly enjoying the warm western exposure . From

this poin t there was an extensive view of the river-drained plain

whi ch, broken by detached lumps of hill and broken ridges,

separates Sn aefell from the eastern edge of the Odaoa Hraun .

When the n ags had enjoyed a bite we resumed the descen t ofthe deep and broken river-valley that passes between the H a frs

fell and its western outliers : the buttresses and banks of loose

wind-blown sand descended bodily with ou r weight . Again wesaw a Spine of Palagonite, showing a fair ascen t to the upper

snow-field ; and we looked in vain for the delicate ripple-marks

which from a distance betray hidden crevasses . Here thesurface material melting in the sun sinks in to the lower strata

,

making the whole a solid mass— hence the glacier growth whichexi sts in Greenl and

,a nd which is suspected in Iceland. As we

rode under the precipices of North-western Sn aefell,the snow

,

sli ced off as if by a razor, forms a wall some fifty feet thick,

soft above,a nd below pale -blue, like the Bla abreen of Norway

,

where hardened to ice by excessive pressure. This fine snout ”

showed a few thin ribbons,but nothing like veined structure

that vexed subject of the glacialists . The whole snow-fond

for perfect beauty wan ted only the lovely background of

mazarine—coloured skies to be seen in more southern latitudes .At six PM . we forded the Hauka (hawk-water) , on e amidsta score of shallow,

bubbling,pebbly streams, random rivulets,

which the afternoon heat was setting free from the vast sheets

of sn ow. Beyond H a fr sfell we recogni sed with disgust the

sodden,rotten ground of the morning, and the weary ponies so

lost their tempers that they seemed u nwill ing to rise after the


frequen t falls . Yet I could n ot but admire the pathos, the strangedouble n ature of the wild prospect. Here it was a hard anduncompromising photograph

,a weird etching by Rembrandt or

Doré,in which

,from the vivi d whiten ess of the sn ow and the

blackn ess of the rocks , the far appeared n ear : amongst the chaoticrubbish heaps there was no shadow within shadow

,n o dark

as opposed to a light side . There,beyon d a middle groun d of

steely blue plain,lay a “ lovely Claude

,

” a dream-landscape of

distan t Joku ll . The delicate tints,cool azure-wh i te a nd snow

warm with ethereal rose-pink,seemed

,

to flush a nd fade, to shiftand change places

,as though ghostly mists

,u n seen by the eye

of sen se,were sailing in the pal e beryl-coloured sky. An on the

su n sinking towards the hilly horizon rain ed almost horizontalfloods of light, tra n sfigu r ing the scen e with golden glory as everyfeature kindl ed a nd lit up with a pecu l iar freshn ess of expression— a region so calm a nd bright did not seem to be of th i s world.Yet a few moments more a nd its rare spiritual loveliness

,pass

ing through gradation s of matchl ess tenderness,began to fade ;

the pale-grey shadow came,stealing like serious thought o’er

joyous face,

”a nd all disappeared in the dark noth i ngn ess of

ni ght. These splendours of the Trolls’ home were well wortha journey to the Brumous Isle

,

” but the long search and theshort fruition almost tempt me to point a moral.”

After some ten hours’ hard work for man and beast,we were

cheered by the steam rising from the Laug,a nd we again thanked

Icelan d for laying on such plen teous supplies of hot water. Thememory of the last touch i ng view

,with its wild beauty of

colouring,

” moved me to issue,about midn ight

,from the n est

and to compare the dark with the light hours . But the moonand stars seemed to count for nothing i n that inspissated

gloom.

” The scene was

All ru ined, desolate, forlorn , a nd savage.

The deepening glooms made the silence something more oppres

sive—w as m yfis Boipos— than the mere negative of soun d ; itbecame an indescribably awful presen ce

,weighing on a nd dead

en ing to the spirit as the sense of utter soli tude— even thenasal music within the L a u ga rkofi was a positive relief. I can


326 ULTIMA THULE ; C R ,

which is noticed in Chapter XIII. At H a ll ormsta ifir I againmissed Sira S igu ror , who appears not to be of a very domesticturn . Reaching the Beru i ro parson age at P.M . on August21

,I foun d the pon ies far too much fagged by a day’ s work

of 5500 feet, up a nd down,for riding another twelve mi les

roun d the firth. The Reverend was absen t from the Prestaga ro,but his wife kindly foun d me a boat a nd a boat-boy

,the student

Thorsteinn taking the other oa r . Progress was pain fully Slow,

and the tall ghostly loom of Bi’

I la ndst indr seemed to follow uslike a Fylgja

,

”or fetch . We enjoyed all the pleasures of

l’

h umi di té spe’

c i a le dc l’

ea u ole mer p u lver i se’

e the bright phos

ph or i c lights of the tropical seas were absent— indeed, I n eversaw them in Iceland . At this season the nights become realni ghts ; the smooths in the water, alternating with ripple-lines,had no worse effect than to persuade the inexperienced lads that

they were approaching land,and

,as the Skerries and drongs

are thickly ranged along the southern shore,we were fortunate

that there was no gale

On ly th e sea -fogs to a nd froSkipped like th e ghosts of th e streams below .

A fter S ix hours of mortal weariness,I landed with feet dead

from S itting in cold water, a nd awoke Captain Tvede . My goodfriend turned ou t of his bunk ; the cooper put the kettle on ;sundry glasses of red-hot toddy were admin istered medicinally ;and I went to my old quarters

,well satisfied wi th having ridden

,

from under the very Shadow of the Va tn aj'

oku ll,in two days to

the eastern coast.The balance of my stay at D jfipivogr would not havebeen pleasan t without the Ancient Marin er, who en ergeticallyassisted i n preparin g my diary and in paying off the guides,a matter of $49 . Hospitable Hr Weyva dt

’

S son,the acting

Syslumaor , presen tly join ed us from E skifjoro, a nd lectured meupon taxation in Iceland which

,as the reader has seen , is no

joke .” The on ly drawback was a certain n ervousn ess touchingthe movemen ts of the “ Dian a

,whi ch was to touch at Deep

Bay for the last time this season . Altern ate fog a nd rain, withfain t attempts at clearing about mi d-day

,had lasted for a week,


and on August 24 the “ Postdampskibet was due . The sea

mist roll ed thick as a bolster up the n arrow line of Fj'

orO ; I had

almost abandoned hope,when suddenly we received the glad

tidings of her being anchored at the mouth of the voe .

Hurried adieux were exchanged,and we steamed for Reykjavik

the same even ing.

Rain and fog accompan ied us the whole way ; fortun ately forme

,Dr H ja lta h

’

n was on board, returning from a visit to D en

mark,or the lively “ Diana ” wou l d have been a very purgatory

Of dullness . The rest of my tale is soon told. We made Reykjavik on the 26th . On September 1

,I embarked on board an

old friend,the J On S igu rOsson and steaming southwards cast

a farewell view,wh i l e Iceland faded into the past

,at the pale

gold and gli ttering silver of the OraefajOku ll.On S eptember 1 5

,I landed at Gran ton.

C O N CLU S I ON.

The past has been very Short-lived of late,says the Duc de

Noaill es : the world moves fast, a nd even

th e n aked,melan choly isles

Of farthest Thule

have felt the civilising influence of the nin eteenth century.

During the two short years which have followed my visit,Ice

land,after a generation-long struggle for political liberty a nd

self-government,has conquered

,by in scribing her name on the

European li st of con stitution al coun tries . The Annus Ju bi laeu s

M ill esimu s has been a n Annus Mirabili s : ” the Presen t hasmet the Past : the “ living antiquarian museum ' has been

hon oured with a royal visit, which highly gratified the loyal, a ndwhich gave the di sloyal an opportun ity of declaring that Ice

lan d has laws .” The Mill enary festival drew a host of tourists

a nd Own Corresponden ts,” even Hungary being represen ted

,

and a dozen octavos will presently be the result. The practical

Americans brought with them a gift of some 2000 volumes

328 ULTIMA THULE .

which will,when room is found for housing them

,change th e

face of the Reykjavik li brary. As regards physical matters,

Iceland has witnessed a new eruption of the Skaptar a nd, asthe map Shows, the north-eastern side of the island is at thismomen t (Ju ly 1 875) in violent volcani c action . The KOtlu -gja,or Katla’s Rift of many terrors

,has been visited a nd foun d to

be another humbug and,last but not least

,the Vatn a or

more probably the Klofa jOku ll has been penetrated by theenterprising Mr

'

Watts and his party,wh o are reported to have

planted the Un ion Jack upon the highest peak. I may concludewith the lines of the Millennial Memorial

Ages thou numberest ten , u n conquered a nd long-biding Thu l eHardy mother ofmen

,Thorr gran t thee life through th e ages

After thy sad, sad past, may Happin ess smile on thy futu re,And Liberty, won so late, crown every blessing with glory.

”

S T ON E AXE I N M U S E UM , R EYKJAVIK.


330 ULTIM A THULE ; OR,

sometimes it is perfectly white,sometimes with red streaks

,a nd

on e might take it for pipe clay. On e may therefore con clude, thatby the acid

,the effects of the rain a nd the sun and the rising

heat, a fermen tation has been brought about in this earth, a ndthat it has thus become tough . Besides the alr eady-mention edva riation , another kin d of gypsum earth is found on the top of

the mountain in hard sheets irregularly formed ;'

here we probably see the effects of strong heat combin ed with absen ce Ofsufficien t water

,after the fermen tation has taken place . In

other places where this earth is saturated with sufficien t acid,and partly dissolved by the same

,a nd has

,besides

,a

'

s u i table

or a n atural degree of heat,so to Speak

,it is found in loose,

reddish,”a nd prismatic crystals . There is a considerable quantity

of it, but it is n ever found deeper than from on e foot to a foot

and a half ; the deeper you go the less solid it becomes, a nd at adepth of on e foot it becomes qu i te fluid

,because the heat is SO

strong, and the ground pen etrated by warm vapours to such a

degree that it cannot attain any soli di ty in fire it loses its redcolour. In short

,this earth goes through SO many changes,

partly through the greater or lesser degree of heat, partly througha greater or less abundan ce of acids

‘

a nd water,a nd through the

admixture of foreign substances,that it can almost bewilder on e.

The blue bolus ” is found everywhere beside the boiling

springs, a nd some of them are filled with it in such quan titiesthat they are like a pot full of thick gruel . When the bolushas become hard it cann ot be melted by the blow-pipe, but, inits natural condition

,it attracts vapours from the air, a nd forms

very fine white crystals,a nd at a distance they look like hoar

frost. This seems to Show that this kind of stone must beimpregn ated with calcareous earth which has been saturatedwith vitriolic acid . That it must be this kind of earth in ahardened state i s seen both from its form a nd from the flowersof pyrites that are mi xed with it ; for when one breaks Off a

piece of these earths in their soft and half-solid condition , the

broken pieces have the same form,and are also interspersed wi th

pyr ites .The red “ bolus is always found on the surface of the ground

like the white gyp seous earth, and is never covered by a bed of


another kind ; it is never mixed with the water of the boilingSprings ; there is no sublimated sulphur where it is found,although the subterran ean heat in some such places is quite as

strong as where that process actually takes place .Several hot Springs are to be found here

,and most of them

contain the blue bolus,

”bu t on e con tain s white earth . These

springs often disappear in one place,a nd break ou t again in

another place where n o spring has been before ; the probablecause is that the n arrow pipes under the groun d

,through which

the Spring is suppliedwith water,fill up by degrees the strong

heat“

tran sforms the water in to very elastic vapours,which break

through the groun d where they find the least resistance, and

thus a n ew hot Spring is formed .

On a hill between the southernmost hot Spring, called theBath-room

,and the more n ortherly Springs

,a harden ed bolus

is foun d ; it is so brittle that it c a n easily be broken between

the fingers it is porous,and its holes are fill ed with harden ed

lime . At first I assumed this “ bolus ” to be a kind of lava

partly dissolved by the atmosphere and the S low heat rising

from the ground the lime I took for a kin d of salt,which had

been embedded i n the lava,a nd let loose by its solution

,and

then settled down into the holes of the “ bolus .” But, upon

closer examination of the solid state of this lime,a nd

,after

having tested it by aquafortis,by which it was brought to a

high state of effervescence,I saw plain ly it must be lime . I

had tried to dissolve it in water,but without success ; if it h a d

been a salt let loose by the dissolution of the molten lava,it

must have been more loose a nd in a somewhat crystallised state .My idea is that the lime must have been sublimated by the hotvapours when the lava was already thrown ou t ; then it sub

sided into the holes of the lava a nd became hard . When I com

pared this earth with the lava of other places where volcanoes

had been,from wh i ch the lava had spread far a nd wide

,with

ou t undergoing a ny perceptible change or dissolution,I saw

that this could never have been a lava. Although the lava of

volcan ic moun tain s is often confounded with Slag produced by

burning of the ground, I saw that this h a d‘

n ever been melted to

real slag ; and it seemed to me therefore probable, that it must


be a kind of hardened clay. I did not,h owever

,find a nythi ng

to confirm my conjecture until I came to Myva tn ,where I found

Specimen s of it i n a soft and crude state.The loose sandstone (Palagoni te) already men tion ed, which is

found besides the most northern h ot springs, is there much finerthan in other places it is of a slaty structure

,and between the

plates gypsum is found,so one mi ght almost take it for alum

plates . On the top of the moun tain another kind of sandston e

(trachyte is foun d ; it is a good deal harder a nd burn t ; itlooks like mill stone rocks from th e Rhine

,yet it is more porous ;

it is in irregu l ar heaps,a nd

'

n ever makes a whole moun tain, as if

it had been thrown over by earthquakes .Near the boiling springs

,where the groun d is loose and

porous,but especially where the heat has free ventilation through"

the above-mention ed gypseous earth,the sulphur is to be found .

At the bottom it is dissolved and mixed with acid vapours andwhen the sublimation has taken place

,it becomes fixed in the

outermost crust where there is a colder bed ; a n d here it is found

either in the Shape of crystals, powder, or flowers ; it is never

deeper than on e,two

,or three inches under the surface

,accord

ing to the greater or lesser degree of heat,or the greater or lesser

porosity of the earth which forms the uppermost bed, as thesulphur bed itself

,when it is in the Shape of powder

,is never

more than three to six inches a nd when in a crystallised form,

never th i cker than two to two and a half-inch, and th ree inchesat the very h igh est .These min es are n ot many

,and do not cover a large Space of

ground there are in deed a few spots here and there wheresu lphur is sublimated

,but these spots are very small . The

most importan t as well as the largest are the two min es highestup in the mountain ; on e of them is

_

120 yards long, and from 1 6to 20 yards broad the other is from 140 to 1 60 yards long, andfrom 20 to 40 yards broad. I n these two mi nes the fin est andbest sulphur is found in the largest quan tities . The bed coveri ng the sulphur con tain s a great deal more Of acids than thelayer immediately below it

,because the hot acid vapours ri sing

from the depths below must keep the lower bed permanen tlyacid and damp ; the surplus acids are driven up through the



a nd where on ly a slight.

heat is felt. The first experiment was

made in the n orthernmost min e . Below the sulphur I found aone-foot thick bed of the white gypseous earth then there

was a bed of fine blue “ bolus,

or an earth impregnated

with flowers of pyrites here a nd there . I n this bed the heatbegan to increase, a nd when I came to a depth of three feet thebed became a little harder, but, at the same time, warmer a ndcoarser

,as if it were mi xed with gravel and thus it con tinued

to the depth of fourteen feet,when it became a little softer.

I examined an other place where no con siderable heat was felt .The Wh i te gypseous earth con tinued to the depth of a foot a nd ahalf ; a nd in this place it was harder a nd more solid than where

the heat h ad a free egress . Then came the blue earth ; uppermost i t was somewhat loose, but farther down it became so hard

and close that the earth-borer could hardly penetrate it ; thelower down the more it became mixed with pyrites

,and was

filled with gravel, as it were . At the depth of twelve to thi rteenfeet it became a little looser as I thought. It was the same

kin d of earth all the way through ; the heat was inten se .The third place which I examin ed was at the most northern

point,beside a small hot spring

,thick with blue earth . Uppermost

there was red bolus to the depth of on e foot then a bed ofpurple a nd a yellowish one, three feet thick then a purple andbluish on e, one foot thick . The heat in creased with the depthhere the bed became very hard

,a nd I found the blue earth im

pregn a ted with pyrites . This bed was ten feet deep at this depththe heat was SO in ten se that the water trickling down from theupper beds boiled vi olently, a nd preven ted all further progress .By these experiments I found that the conditions necessaryfor the sublimation Of the sulphur are : Fi r stly, A sufficientquantity of water to keep the soil loose a nd porous

,that the

sulphur may pass t hrough it,and to drive the sulphur vapours

upwards . S econdly, That the water must come from below ; forwhen it comes from above

,it cannot penetrate through the blue

bed in the absen ce of the rising hot vapours which keep the bedporous ; a nd in that case the bed becomes harder a nd harder,and prevents the sublimation of the sulphur.I tried in several places, both with the earth-borer and other


wise, to discover some of the so-call ed dead mines, but withoutsuccess . From the many experiments I made, I con cluded that

the volcanic mountains of Icelan d must have been sulphur

moun tains or sulphur mines in the beginn ing ; the blue bed be

came hard,a nd the sulphur vapours were thus prevented from

being sublimated. Thus they became more conden sed,and

,at

the same time,more elastic in the ground ; then there arose in

them a heat-forming movemen t,

” by which the whole groun d,wh i ch is very sulphureous

,became violen tly Shaken

,a nd su bse

quently ignited,causing tremendous destruction .

M EVATN .

Fr emr i -u ama r .

At Husavik I obtained horses and workmen from the sheriff,

and left that place the 9th of August,a nd a rr Ived the 1 2th in

the even ing at the so-called Fremr i -n amar. At a distance of

about on e mile from the min es,there is a vall ey called H ellaks

dalur, where there is a little grass, just so much as to give the

groun d a green colour,and this is the only green spot that is to

be found here within a distance of many miles ; yet there wasnot grass su fli c ien t for the horses, but I had to bring with me

hay for them,and water for the men . In this valley I spent the

night,and the next morning

,the 1 3th , I wen t to the mines,

wh i ch are about ten Icelan dic miles (1 1 indi rect, 40 geographical)south-east from Husavik

,situated on the west S ide of a moun

tain called H erOu breiO. On the top of the mountain there is aridge or an emi n ence

,from which there is an extensive view ;

but as far as the eye can reach in every direction,nothi ng can

be seen but lava . This emi nence is 1 500 paces long, and equallybroad

,a nd about 1 20 feet high. On the top of the eminence

there is a deep holl ow completely round, and about 200’ paces in

diameter. From its Shape it is called by the inhabitants a kettle.

The south a nd west sides of this eminen ce, as well as the hollowitself

,con sist Of lava, and it may therefore be concluded that the

mountain has been an active volcano in Olden times . On'

the

north a nd east side the mines are found, and where these are

the mountain consists of gypseous earth like that at Kr isu vik.


A la rge quantity of sulphur is said to have been dug from thedead min es here ; but n ow they are rarely found, because theyhave been worked annually

,a nd the sulphur is not generated

afresh i n these as in the live ones. Thirty paces from the endof the vall ey, a nd also on the side of the moun tain ,

the first livemin es are found . In the vall ey they are about 60 paces long

,

a nd from 20 to 30 broad. On the side of the moun tain theyare 200 paces long

, a nd from 20 to 30 broad. On the east sideof the moun tain

,40 paces lower than the min es above men tion ed

,

other live mines are foun d 220 paces long, a nd 40 to 50 paces ,

broad . From all these the sulphur has been completely clearedaway

,because the sulphur found here was very good a nd pure .

The soil is moderately damp,a nd the su l phur has just as much

water as (when converted into steam by the hea t) is su fl‘

i c ien t

to raise it up,a nd to keep the ground in a loose a nd porous

condition,so th e sulphur can be sublimated through it without

hindr an ce. Yet it does n ot make,the soil too loose ; in that

case,small particles of earth would rise along with the su l phur

,

become mixed with it,and thus make it impure. In the min es

,

which,according to my guide’s information

,had been completely

cleared of su l phur, there was already a new bed of sulphur on eto two in ches in thickn ess, but very impure. There are otherswh i ch formerly yielded su l phur, now quite cOld a nd ruinedThe destruction of the mines, as well as the impurity of the

sulphur,arises from careless digging. When the peasan ts dig

the sulphur ou t of a mine, a nd particles of earth and impurities

a re sticking to it, they clear away the largest lumps ; but they

do n ot take care not to let the impurities fall down where theyhad taken the su l phur, where some flowers of su lphur alwaysremain. For although the uppermost sulphur is tolerably com

pact and crystalli sed,the lowest is loose . The reason is that

the uppermost bed is made more and more compact by thesulphur rising from below

,a nd the acid phlegm surrounding the

su lphur vapours cann ot evaporate ; the small sulphur particlesare thus preven ted from immediate con tact with each other, butare enveloped in the superfluous ph l egm. This is the reason

why the lowermost sulphur must remain in the shape of flowersu ntil the hard crust is removed ; then the phlegm is exposed to



min e. T h i rdly,When they work a min e, they must first removethe uppermost earth ; they must n ot completely empty anymin e of its sulphur : they should leave the utmost border standing ; then run a tren ch along th e whole length of th e min e, thenleave a ridge stan ding

,a nd run an other trench

,and so on un til they

have reached the utmost border,which they a re to leave stand

i ng. Thu s t h e wind will be prevented from having a full sweepof the mine

,and thus making it cold. These tren ches ought

therefore to ru n across the course of the most frequen t winds ;these are here

,in my Opin ion

,a north -wester a nd south-easter.

A fter one year the ridges left standing might be taken withthe same precaution a s mentioned above . The workmen ought

therefore to be as much as possible prohibited from steppinginto the mines ; every d igger shou ld take with him a boa rd

'

to

st and on while he digs,a nd this he should move with him as he

proceeds. By these mean s the mines might be saved from beingunequally trodden down

, a nd the digger might escape from

burn ing his feet,which he now frequently does

,by sinking

through the loose and hot soil

On the east side of the moun ta in , below the above—men tionedmines

,a red bolus begi n s, stretching round the mountain from

south to north un til it meets with a sa ndstone mou n ta in ; be

tween the moun tain a nd this ridge of “ bolus ” there is a littlesu lphur min e

,and here th e gypseous earth is found below the

sulphur as usual . Digging up the real bolus,I found it to be

very loose and soft ; it was full of holes, like the harden ed oneat Kr i su vik

,a nd t h e holes were filled with lime

,very loose and

gelatin ous,a nd slimy to the touch. Under the “ bolus the

earth was in many places hollow,a nd on e hardly dared to tread

there. Very hot vapours arise from the bottom,by which these

earths are sublimated,for it is quite as h ot here as in the

sulphu r mines . Th is is a very in teresting C i rcumstance, andwell worth observing

,that there are two pla ces lying side by

side, a nd presen ting such a difference in the stuffs driven up

from the bottom by the heat,which is equally gr eat in both

places . I n on e,however

,sulphur is sublimated along with a

strong acid, a nd in the other the above sa id lime is sublimated,and not the least acid is found in it.


E liOa r -ndrn a r .

The 1 5th I went to the S O-called H li Ca r-namar, which are abouteighteen mi les di stant from the former ones . These a re the

largest of all the min es,a nd here too is the greatest heat ; the

sulphur is consequently sublimated in less time than in a ny

of the others . At present there is a large quan tity of sulphurhere

,but it is all in powder

,or in the form of flowers ; most of

them are foun d in the mountains,a s in the former places ; a nd

the sulphur bed is in many places six inches and more in thickness . The reason why the heat drives up great er quantities ofsu lphur here than in the former places is to be found in the

looseness of the soil ; it is not only much looser than in theformer ones

,but in some places even too loose a nd damp, which

both makes the spot difficu l t to approach in order to dig,and fill s

the sulphur with earth and impurities,so as to ma ke it useless .

The reason why these min es a re in such a good condition n ow

is,that the sulphur brought from here to the refinery was not

so well received as that which came from the Fremr i -namar, or

the so-call ed T h eysta rreykja -namar nearest to Husavik. I admitthat the sulphur found here is more mixed with ea rth and acids

than in the other plac es ; not, however, in such a degree as to

offer a ny serious di fficul ties . But a s the wh ole of the sulphuris in the form of flowers, and the earth immediately below it has

nearly the same appearance,and cannot therefore be easily dis

t ingu i sh ed from the sulphur, the peasants do not,therefore, I

th i nk,separate the sulphur from the earth with a s much care as

where it is foun d in a more solid condition, and where the earth

is more easily detected.

The mountain where these mines are situated stretches fromnorth to south

,and on the north side it goes a considerable

distance beyond the mines. The same kinds of earth are foundhere as at Kri su vik, except the grey slate, of which there is none

here,neither are there any variations in the gypseous earth ; and

very little of gypsum is to be found, which probably is owing to

th e higher degree of heat, or it may be because the heat has less

interr u pted egress, and consequ ently keeps th e earth constantlyporous . There is a larger quantity of the vitriolic alum. For


the rest,the mountain con sists of common sandston e . That even

these min es have n ot been worked carefully is evident from thecon siderable number of ruin ed a nd cold min es .Below the sulphur moun tain on the east S ide there are three

boili ng springs ; it is eviden t that the two farthest to the south,a nd S ituated close to each other

,have been produced by an earth

quake, because they are found in a rift in the mountain ,and

boil with such awful noise,especially the most southern on e,

that it can be heard 200 yards Off,a nd the ground

,which c on

sists of bluish “ bolus,

” is Shaken . Close to these hot springs isa large lava-tract

,which Spreads to the n orth to a con siderable

distan ce ; it also winds round the southern poin t of the mountain , and crosses the path that leads to Fremr i—n amar, a nd

spreads almost down to R eykja hl its. The groun d is hot everywhere

,and the hot vapours rise through the lava

,and the whole

is therefore continually steaming. About nin e miles north of

these mines is the mountain Kr abla , where excellen t min es aresaid to have been

,but when the eruption of 1 724 took place, it

caused great destruction. One bran ch Of the lava-stream comingfrom th i s moun tain passed close by the mines on the west sideand through the farm of R eykja h lis, the whole of which was

destroyed,a nd at last the curren t flowed into th e lake M yva tn .

The lava thus produced was i n various places hollow,as if the

uppermost crust had been harden ed by the air,a nd the still

liquid lava which was under it flowed away. A S the outmostcrust cooled down by degrees

,it contracted

,a nd thus rifts were

formed ; i n some places also it was not strong enough to supportits own weight

,and fell down . Crawling into these caves, I

found a kind of salt which had been sublimated from the earth,a nd become fixed there . It had a bitter taste

,and after being

dissolved a nd dried again it formed Square crystals, with a squarepoint: It was easily melted by the blow-pipe .

T h eysta r r eylej a M i nes.

The 31 st of Augu st I came to the T h eysta r reykja mines, whichare about two miles from the refin ery. A large quantity of

su lphur is said to have been brought from these min es to therefinery, as they were very important ones, but now they are



the red bolus, therefore it is not foun d here . Very little ofgypsum is found in these mi n es . The warm springs are neitherdeep nor very hot, a nd the minerals are either sandston e

,or

harden ed like those at Kr i su vik.

All the sulphur min es whi ch I visited in the n orth are i n thefoll owing con dition : Fr emr i -nd/ma r bad

,because a ll the su lphur

was taken away last year. H Zi Ca r -ndma r good,because they

have been saved the most. T h eysta r r eykj a -nama r are worst,because the largest quan tity has been taken from them . My

advi ce is,therefore

,to let Fr emr i -ndma r a nd T h eysta r r eykj a

ndrn a r rest for some time,a nd to work the H Zi tSa r -ndma r on ly.

When these have been emptied,the former two may be worked

in their turn.

T h e R efin ing of th e S u lph u r .

The refinery is situated a few hundred paces from the factory

of H 1’

1 savik,and con sists of a su lphur hut ; two store-houses, on e

for the raw sulphur,the other for the melted

,or refin ed ore ; a

dwell ing-house,with kitchen and outhouses

,all built of turf

according to the Icelandic fashion . The hut is about 20 feetlong a nd 1 2 to 14 feet broad . In the middle of it is a smallchimn ey

,a nd on both sides of it two iron boilers are walled in ;

on e is quite small,and holds only 1 cwt . of melted sulphur, th e

other holds 3 cwts . ; the smaller on e is very li ttle used . Abovethe boiler a small board is inserted in the chimney, which reachesover the middle of the boiler ; it has a hole at on e end, throughwhich a stick is put to stir up the sulphur ; when its lowermost

end reaches the bottom Of the boil er, the uppermost is supportedby the board

,and he wh o stirs the sulphur can therefore move

the stick more easily than if its upper end were loose. Theother instrumen ts are

,an iron spade with holes

,which is used

for ta king Off the impurities floating on the molten su lphur.Then there are some wooden forms

,in to which the molten

sulphur is poured. They are made of oak planks 3 inches th ick,1 2 in ches broad

, a nd 3 feet long. On one side Of the two outermostplanks, a nd on both sides of the two middle ones, th ree cylindershaped grooves

.

are made,so that every half-cylinder groove of

the two outermost corresponds with those on the middl e ones,


and those on the middle ones with each other. The planks are

laid one on the top of the other, a nd kept together with an iron

ring ; i n such a form n in e bars can be made at the'

Same time .

A small iron S ieve with narrow holes is put in the top of eachhole

,through which the sulphur is sifted when poured ou t from

the boiler with a large iron ladle . When not used the forms

are put in to a tank filled with water,in order that the hot

su lphur may n ot S tick to the sides of the holes . This is com

pletely prevented by soaking the forms in water. These are all

the in struments used in the refin ing of the sulphur. The fuel

used is some little wood sent by theGovernment,and for the

rest peat,Of which there is a good supply close by.

When the sulphur i s to be purified,a S low fire is made under

th e boiler, a nd when it grows hot a small quantity,about two

pounds,Of raw su l phur is put in ; this is stirred till it becomes

hot ; the fire must be slow,in order not to burn the sulphur

,

which might easily happen on accoun t of the qu an tity of earth

mixed with it. When the portion is quite dry a nd begin s to melt,a little train -Oil is poured in and stirred quickly, by which the

earth un ites with the oil,and floats on the top , As soon as

this is melted,an other portion Of raw sulphur is put in ; and

when this is melted,an other portion Of Oil, if required : this is

easily seen if the earth absorbed by the oi l falls to pieces like

ashes,it falls again in to the sulphur

,a nd Oil must be poured in

immediately. Thus the work is continued un til the boiler is

full When the boiler is nearly filled with molten su lphur, a

quantity of train-Oi l is poured on the top of it,a nd heated

sufficiently. Then the fire is removed and the stirring discon

t inu ed. The impurities absorbed by the Oil are removed with

the iron spade described above . The forms are taken ou t of the

water,put together

,a nd raised on on e end. The iron sieve

described above is placed over the first form,a nd th e sulphur

pour ed over it from the boiler. When it is full the Sieve is

placed over the second one, then over the th i rd, and so on .


SECTION II.

The next account that we have of the Kr i su vik di ggings willbe found in the following extracts from Travels in the Islan dof Icelan d during the Summer of the Year by Sir GeorgeSteuart Macken zie

,Bart

,etc.

,etc .

,secon d edition

,1 8 1 2 .

Pp . 1 1 3, 1 14 —We set ou t towards the Su lphur Mountain,

which is about three miles distan t from Kr i su vik. At the footof the moun tain was a small bank

,composed chiefly of white

clay a nd some su lphur,from all parts of which steam issued .

Ascending it,we got upon a ridge immediately above a deep

holl ow,from which a profusion of vapour arose

,and heard a

con fused n oise of boili ng a nd splashing,j oined to the roar

'

of

steam escaping from n arrow crevices in the rock. This hollow,

together with the whole side of the moun tain Opposite,as far u p

as we could see,was covered with sulphur a nd clay

,chiefly of a

wh i te '

or yell owish colour. Walking over this soft a nd steamin g

surface we foun d to be very hazardous,and we were frequen tly

very u n easy when the vapour con cealed u s from each other.The day

,h owever

,being dry a nd warm

,the surface was not so

slippery as to occasion much risk Of ou r fall ing . . The chan ce Ofthe crust of sulphur breaking, or the clay S inking with us, wasgreat ; a nd we were several times in danger of being much

scalded . Mr Bright ran at on e time a great hazard, a nd sufferedcon siderable pain from acciden tally plunging on e of his legsin to the hot clay. From whatever spot the sulphur is removed,steam in stantly escapes ; a nd, in many places, the sulphur wasS O hot that we could scarcely handle it. From the

,

smell weperceived that the steam was mixed with

.

a small quan tity of

sulphuretted hydrogen gas . When the thermometer was sunk afew in ches in to th e clay it rose generally to within a few degreesof the boi li ng poin t.Pp.

—A t the foot of the hill,m a holl ow formed by

a bank of clay and sulphur,steam rushed with great force and

n oise from among the loose fragmen ts of rock .

Farther up the moun tain we met with a spri ng of coldwater, a circumstan ce little expected in a place like this . As



Min eral deposits, Showing the presen ce of C opper,iron

,lead

,

a nd silver, are foun d in many parts of the island, but either fromth eir poorn ess or the want of fuel

,n o attempt h a s been made to

utilise them. Calcareous ston e, marbles a nd feldspath arealso found ; a nd large deposits of sulphur likewise exist in somedistricts

,.whi ch at differen t times have been the Object of com

mer c i a l Speculation . The sulphur mines at Kr i su vik,i n the

south,are at presen t worked for foreign account, but, I believe,

owing to their partial inaccessibili ty, a nd difli c u lty of transport,

without much success.

The right of working sulphur mines at M yva tn ,in the

northern portion of the island, has recen tly been con ceded bythe Dan ish Governmen t to an Englishman on a fifty years’ lease.They were worked some. years ago for account of a Copenhagenhouse

,but were abandoned in 1 851

,sin ce which time they have

remained closed. Many causes contributed to this result ; thechief of which

,doubtless, were, ign orance Of the proper method

of mi n ing the sulphur, the cost of tran sport on horseback to thesea-board

,a nd the wan t of remunerative demand .

S in ce then these condition s have changed, a nd there existsno reason why these mi n es shou l d not be worked profitably.

They extend over a large tract of coun try,and their position is

most advantageous,in the midst of a flat coun try, within an easy

distan ce of Husavik,a convenien t shipping port ; and, during

the many years they have been closed,the deposits must have

Very greatly accumulated,a nd should yield abundan tly. Indeed

,

SO strong was this conviction in the mi nds of the natives that

they long Opposed the leasing except on very onerous terms,

althou gh quite un able themselves to work them .

As these mines are n ow likely to rema in in English hands formany years, a short accoun t of their former history may be readwith some in terest.They are situated between 65

°

20’ north latitude and the

Arctic Sea, or more defin itely speaking, lying in the tractbetween M yva tn on the east

,and J

'

Oku lsa (glacier river) on

the west.The right of working them was bought from private own ersby the Dan ish king, Frederick the Second, in 1 563, and thi s


right has ever S in ce been in the possession of.

the Dani sh Crown

(now the S tate) . During the reign of this king a con siderable

quan tity of su l phu r was extracted,amounting to as much as 400

tons annually. In the reign of his son and successor,Christian

the Fourth,the produce appears to have fallen ofl

°

,a nd his

Maj esty was un successful in his endeavours to lease them toforeign ers . To the falli ng-off of their supply of sulphur in this

reign , and th e con sequen t scarcity of gunpowder, the Dan esattribute their defeat by the Swedes in Holstein

In 1 665 we are in formed that the Crown gran ted a conces

sion for digging sulphur ” to a foreigner,who is stated to have

exported large quan tities up to the year 1 676 S in ce which date

no special mention appears to have been made of them until theearly part of the eighteen th cen tury

,when two foreign ers

,appar

ently Germans,acquired in 1 724 the right Of exporting sulphur

from Iceland . They also shipped considerable quantities during

the succeeding five years,when the death Of the lessees put a

stop to this commerce .After this date

,and up to the begin n ing of the present cen

tury, the Danish Government worked the mines for their ownaccount

,at times

,it appears

,with con siderable profit

,un til

1 806,when they were again leased to a foreigner. Subsequently

,

they have at times been worked by private Speculators up to 1 851 ,sin ce which date

,as already mentioned, they have remained

untouched .

In 1 840 they were visited by some scientific travellers,who

calculated that these northern mines might easily yield an

annual net profit of £1 000 or £1 200 . Ten years later they werespecially examined by a Dan ish mi neralogist, who discreditedthis statemen t

,and reported them to be less valuable ;

1 but in

speaking of the Kr i su vik mines in the south, he says,“ These

might be easily made to yield 200 tons annually, and yet theyhave always been considered inferior to the northern mines . AFrench geologist

,Eugen e R obert, who visited Iceland in 1 835,

and afterwards published a treatise on its geology, calls the

1 In Chapter XIV. I have given th e rea son s why th eMi -va tn mines were notrecommended by th e Dan ish engineers.—R . F . B .


atten tion of the Dan es to the value of the M yva tn mines, andadvises them n ot to lease them to the Englishmen (who werethen applying for them), as the property might become of greatcon sequen ce in the even t of the sulphur min es of Sicily fall ing

Off,of which

,he affirmed

,symptoms had Shown themselves .

It will thus be seen‘

that Opin ion s are di vided as to the produ c t iven ess a nd presen t richn ess of these min es ; but SO muchis certain

,that they have for several cen turies been worked at

in tervals with varying results ; at times with considerable profit : the history of the coun try

,a nd the experi en ce of so many

years,poin t to the conclusion that

,if properly worked

,they

would become valuable property.

The min es,for in sta n ce

,at R eykja h lida r -namar are the richest

to be found in all Iceland,a nd produce large quan tities Of th e

purest sulphur.The reproduction is incessan tly going on from upwards of

a thousand small eminences,called solfataras

,wh i ch are found

on the ridge along the sides and at the foot of N ama rfja ll . Richsulphur deposits are also found at the Ket i ll Crater (calledFremr i -namar), while the least rich are the Kr afla -n amar, but atall these there is a continual deposition of sulphur going on .

They all have the great advan tage of lying in the track of one of

the few practicable roads i n the island, leading to an accessibleshipping port.

SECTION IV

HOT E L D E LA VI L L E (AU TR OI S IEM E ), TR I E S T E ,l 6th Febr u a ry 1 873 .

The following are the n otes wh i ch I made,for the use of Mr

Lock,upon Mr Vinc ent’s able a nd instructive paper.

Holding sulphur-export to be the most legitimate trade inwhich Icelan d can engage

,I rejoice to see the paper by Mr

C . W. Vin cent,F.O.E .

The writer’s theory upon the formation of the mineral, bythe by, the action of water upon pyrites, is n ot n ew,

nor amI certain that it is true : perhaps it may be provisionally



Also Mr Vin cent appears to extend the solfata ra district ofKr i suvik over a space of twenty—five miles, along a fancied vol-f

c a n i c diagona l . Thi s ma y be the case, but on July 9-1 0 M r

Chapman !a nd I rode from Kr i sa’

s Bay ’ eastward to the Reykir,

a li a s the Little Geysir,

’

a nd, _although we looked curiously

for the en ormous area theoretically assigned to the sulphurformation

,we fail ed to see any S ign of it. Our path ran over

the normal qu aking bogs,over large spills ofmodern la va poured

down the walls of the high in terior plateau,a nd occa sionally

over a strip of sea-sand. The apparen tly indispensa ble Palagonitewas also missing till near the end of the second march . Gunn

la u gsson’

s a nd Olsen’ s large map of Iceland,hereabouts SO

minute in a ll its details,does not Show a single h ot spring

between Kri su vi k a nd Reykir ; on the con trary, all is colouredred-yellow

,as a Hraun (lava-tract) . Even the western min e

of Kr i su vi k has been described to me by authorities who knowthe coun try well

,as con tain ing very little sulphur ; and a pass

i ng visit induces me to believe them .

Al l these are minor Objections to Mr Vincent’s paper. Butwhen Speaking of

,or rather alluding to, your c oncession, he

has fall en in to grievous error. If he has studi ed the subject,

he simply misrepresents it ; if not, he should have avoided a lldepreciatory notice Of the M y-vatn mines .

A nd now for the proofs .I read (p . 1 37) with unpleasant surprise, a violen t eruption

of the mud-volcano Kr abla to a great exten t buried the then

active strata ben eath en ormous masses of volcan ic mud a nd

a shes,SO that th e energy has been probably transferred along the

lin e (vi z ,the gr eat volcan ic diagonal stretching, or supposed to

stretch, from Cape R eykja n es to the M y-va tn lake) southwards,’

that I s to say, to Kr i su vik.

Wi thout dwelling upon the fact that Mr Vincent’S theoryabout the local production of sulphur renders such ‘tran sfer ofen ergy impossible

,I rema rk that

,firstly

,the H li5a rnama r

,the

nearest deposits of the M y-vatn Sulphur,are at least two miles

removed from the'

extremest influen ce of'

Krafla,whilst the

Fremr inama r are four times that distance,a nd the latter are

situated upon a much higher plane . T o those who have breathed


the live sulphur tainting the air for mile after mile, this transfer of en ergy ’ becomes a mere matter of fancy. Secondly, on

the very flank of Kr afla,the hollow called Great Hell (H elvft i

S teerra ) Shows an abundance of sulphur,which extends right

across the valley westwards to L eirhmikr (mud knoll ) . In this

small section of your concession Gu n n la u gsson gives no lessthan seven H ver a r (boiling springs) lying close together. I needhardly pursue this part of the subject : to on e wh o has seen th ecountry the assertion that any eruption from Kr afla has effectedeither the H li5a r or the Fremr i diggings appears inconceivable .Suffice it to say that your six square miles of live sulphur c ontrast wonderfully well with the two at the south-western end ofthe island . Kr afla alon e con tains as many solfataras

,boiling

Springs,a nd ‘makka lu bers (mu d caldron s), as exist in the whole

district Of Kr i su vik,and Kr afla is only a part

,a very small part

also,of the north-eastern deposits .

“ Again I see with astonishmen t (p . that ‘th e sulphur

a t M yva tn ,though great in quantity

,is at too great a distance

from the port of embarkation to permit its extraction being

carried on with a ny chance of competing with that from the

Kr i su vik min es . ’

“ It is true that your con cession lies some twenty-five direct geographical miles from H 1

’

1 savfk, the nearest available port, whilst

those of Kr i su vik are only ten distant from H a fn a i rO. But asimple statemen t of th i s kin d is fallacious

,because it c onveys

the wrong impression . It is known to every Icelander that the

northern li ne is on e of the best, the southern on e Of the worst,if

not the worst,in the island . The H i

’

I S avfk road has th e immen se

advantage of a n easy a nd regular in clin e from 900 feet high tosea-level

,and in the depths of a protracted winter your sledges

can always carry down th e material dug up during the long

summer days . There is nothing to prevent your having yourtramway

,when such expen sive article becomes advisable .

You are at liberty to make a ny use you please of these Short

a nd h urried n otes . Pray understand that my Object is by n omeans to disparage th e sulphur mines of Kr i su vik ; on the c ontr a ry, I hope soon to see a company formed,

'and a stout-heartedattemptmade to benefit both the island and ourselves . M.Robert’s


Opin ion upon the capability of Iceland generally to supply a narticle which every year grows in request

,a nd h i s trul y Gallican

horror of the trade fall ing in to English han ds,are too well kn own

,

a nd have too often been quoted, to justify repetition . But I c a ntruthfully say

,that the M y-vatn con cession will be foun d pre

fer able to that of Kr i su vik, a nd I regret that Mr Vin cen t hasadopted

,without person al acquaintan ce with Iceland

,in forma

tion which seems to come from suspected sources .“Why do you not render justice to the M y-vatn min es by a

lecture,with the assistan ce ofmaps

,plan s

,a nd other requisites

Mr Vin cen t,I see

,proposes to con tinue writing upon the highly

in teresting sulphur supply of Icelan d : pray remember that inthese wild solitudes I am wholly dependen t upon the piety of

my friends a nd the pity of those who remember me .Ever yours truly

,

RICHARD F. BURTON,

Al fred G . Lock, Esq.

SECTION V.

SULPHUR IN IC ELAND . By C. CARTER BLAKE,Doc . S c i

,Hon .

For . Sec . Lond . A n th . Soc . London : E. F. N. Spon,48

Charing Cross . 1 873 .

The fact that sulphur,on e of the most usefu l substances

known, a nd, in the words of Mr Crookes

,the main stay of

present industrial chemistry,

” has been a n article of commerce

throughout all time,and that a ready market has always existed

for it,is familiar to a ll . Like the famous electrum of the

an cients,its origi n has been comparatively unknown . We shall

briefly con sider the conditions under which sulphur is found ;its geograph i cal distribution over the face of the globe ; themethod of its preparation for

‘

the market,a nd the circumstances

which may lead capitalists to seek for the productive mineral ata shorter distance from ou r own shores than the Mediterraneanor Mexico.



large deman d for this important substance must in crease isquite evident when we consider the purposes to which it is

applied.

Gu npowder .

— Sulphur enters in to the composition of thisimportan t article in proportions ranging from 1 0 to .20 per cen t ,

according to whether the powder is required for war, sporting, or

blasting purposes . 1 When we consider the vast quantity re

quired by the gigan tic armaments now main ta in ed in everycivilised country

,as well as by the numerous mi n ing a nd

engineering operations at present in existen ce throughout theworld (in whi ch it is indispensable for blasting) , we can formsome idea of the immense amount of sulphur annuall y consumedin the manufacture of gunpowder alon e .S u lp h u r i c A c id—On e of the most important chemical agen ts

required in the arts a nd manufactures,is used very extensively

for making soda-ash for bleach i ng li n en,woollen s

,etc .

,straw

,

etc. ,2 manure making, a nd for a variety of chemical productions ;also for refin ing metals . 3

S oda -a sh (alkali) is obtain ed from common salt by means ofcon centrated sulphuric acid. It is used instead of barilla for

soap-making,as a substitute for pot a nd pearl ashes in gla ss

making ; for clean ing a nd bleaching ; and, in the form of carbonate

,for medicinal a nd domestic purposes . In the year 1 862

the enormous quan tity of from to tons of theformer, a nd from to tons Of the latter

,was made

in Great Britain alone .

4 That quantity is now vastly increased .

5

M a nu r es .

—A great con sumption of sulphuric acid has Of lateyears taken place for agricul tural purposes,6 viz . , in the preparation of superphosphate of lime, the most active manure forturnips, grass, and cereals.0

‘

i di um .

—Withi n the last few years it has been disc overed

1 Ure’s Dict . , vol . II . , p . 432 .

”

Sgammond

’

s Dictionary Of Tra de Produ cts,p. 367 ; M u spra tt

’

s Chemistry,vol . i . ,p. 0

3 L iebig’

s Letters, 1 49 .

4 Simmond ’s Diction ary of Trade Products,p . 351 .

5 S ee Exports for 1 872 .

6 L iebig’

s Familiar Letters on Chemistry,p. 150.


that the use of flowers of sulphur, contain ing traces of su lphuricand sulphurous acid

,and of carburetted hydrogen

,is a pro

tec tion against the vi ne disease—oi di um. Al though no reli able

information exists as to the exact quantity used for this purpose,yet it is known to be very con siderable .Flowers of sulphur have recently been strongly recommendedas a remedy for the potato disease . 1

Such are a few of the principa l Objects to which su l phur isdevoted

,and for which it is needed ; thereby proving most

con clusively that THE CONSUMPTION I s ONLY LIMITED BY THESUPPLY.

Sulphur is found in Corfu,the neighbourhood . Of Rome

,Tran

sylvani a,Spain

,the clear or borax lake in Californi a

,the slopes

of the Popocatepetl,in the province of Puebla

,Mexico ; in M on

tana,North America

,and in the Andaman and the Japanese

islands . Supply from these sources is practically impossible,

and the whole supply of su lphur to Europe and America isderived from the S icili an sulphur-deposits, the imports of which

into this country arose from tons in 1 842 to tonsin and over tons in and in Fran ce

,from

6 668 tons in 1 820 to ton s in 1 855 .

Sulphur is found either (a ) in a pu re native state, (b) as gas,or (c) in mechan ical admixtures with clays or other earths .The method Of

’

extraction of sulphur when mechanically c om

bined with foreign substances is thus described in Richardsonand Watts’ Chemi cal Technology

,vol . i . , part i ii . , p . 314

It has already been noticed that the deposits of sulphu r arealways assoc iated with var ious min eral or earthy matters

,and

three processes are foll owed to separate the principa l part of

these impurities,wh i ch generally amount to more th a n one-half

of the entire weight of the deposit.When the deposit is rich in su l phur it is melted in a cast

iron pot,heated by an Open fire. The melted mass is stirred

with an ir on rake to facili tate the separation of the earthy

1 S ee Smee’s My Garden .

1 Richa rdson a nd Watts’ Chem . Tech . , 2d edit , 1 863, vol . i . , part iii . , pp .

2 a nd 3 . This Old calcarelle fu rn ace h a s been grea tly improved . It mu st not bedescribed as a blast-furn ace .

”

3 Simmond’s Dict . Tra de Produ cts, 1 863, a rt . “ Su lphu r .


matters,which are a llowed to fall to the bottom . The liquid

sulphur is then removed by a ladl e,thrown in to an iron vessel

,

and allowed to solidify. The temperature ought to vary between250

°

a nd 300° Fahr. , and never reach at which poin t the

sulphur wou l d take fire . The residue wh i ch remains,and c on

tain s more or less sulphur,is removed

,a nd may be treated by

either of the following plan s

A small blast furnace,constructed of fire-brick or stone

,is

charged with the su l phur-ston e at the bottom,which is ignited

,

and fresh charges of the sulphur-ston e are thrown in from time

to time . The working holes at the S ides admit a small supplyof air to support combustion on the surface

,by which mean s

sufficient heat is gen erated to melt the sulphur,which I ‘ll l l S

l

Off

at the bottom through a pipe in to an iron pot,where it solidifies .

The third plan is suitable for treating the impure su l phur7ston e

,containing from 8 to 1 2 per cent. of sulphur. It consists

of a furn ace sufficien tly wide to receive two rows of earthen pots— the vessels for di still ation— which are arranged in pairs somewhat raised above the sole of the furn ace

,upon the supports so

that the necks of the pots are a little above the tOp Of the furnace . Thus the mouths of the pots are free

,and having been

charged from without,they are C losed by the lids

,cement-ed on

,

and the di stillation begins . The su l phur vapours pass over bythe lateral tubes to the receivers

,where they condense to liquid

sulphur,which flows through into a vessel filled with water

,and

there solidifies .”

We have indicated the three conditions under which sulphuris found . The sulphur in a gaseous state in Iceland

,where

,

besides the large and rapid deposit of the sulphur in and uponthe gr ound, an immen se quan tity escapes in the sulphureousvapour

,is now. entirely wasted

,but with the adoption of the

improved Mexican process an enormous saving would result.NOW the whole of this may be recovered by condensing thesevapours in clay vessels

,a method practised with great success in

Mexico,where in certain places the fumes escape from the soil

and c a n be utili sed only in this mann er. The su lphur thusobtain ed i s

'

requ ired at the mint Of the city of Mexico and atthe assaying works .



the upward flow of th e gas has caused the outbreak of the fluidat spots far distan t from the original central crater of thesulphur volcano. The geology ofMr Vincen t is decidedly vague.Th at a great volcani c diagonal li n e stretches from Cape Rey

kja nes to the lake of M yva tn ,is a theory whi ch is unproven by

topograph ical science, a nd which a glance at the map, whic hshows the elevated hill s of Langj

'

Oku ll,H ofs ku ll , a nd Vatn a

jOku ll extending across this imagin a ry li n e, is sufficient to disprove. The relative elevations Of the mountains, from Sn aefell

on the east, to E yja fja llajOku ll on the west, seem to indicatethat the central line of volcan ic action has been along a lin eparallel with the south-south-east coast

,a nd which has left the

formation s in the neighbourhood of Lake M yva tn ,with the small

volcan ic chain of S ella nda fja ll , Blafja ll , H va nnfell , a nd Bri rfell ,en tirely to the n orth. The abrupt escarpmen t of the greaterchain lies along its sou th-eastern strike

, a nd the fissures along

whi ch the parall el rivers from the J'

Oku lda lr to the H ruta fjOrtia ré.flow are

,according to a well -kn own geological law

,produced on

the less inclin ed slopes . Whilst Mr Vinc en t’s theoreticalgeology verges on the speculative

,h i s assertion ofk nown geo

graph i cal facts is inexact.In 1 857 when the temporary cessation of war by England led

the British Governmen t to look for fresh sources of. gunpowdersupply for Europe

,Captain J. E. C ommer c ll, ofH .M .S . Sn ake,

”

was sen t to Iceland by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiraltyto report upon the capabilities of the min es ofKr i su vik a ndHusavik. He found the Kr i su vik mi nes

,though comparatively close

to the sea, did not possess a safe port of debarkation nearer thanH a fn a r i rCr . An eac pa r te statement of the Objects

,pleasures,

and a dvantages of the truly eligible Kr i su vik sulph urmin es leaves itself Open to severe criticism

,and the Opin ion of

Commander C ommerell that the sulphur at M yva tn , thoughgreat in quantity

,is at too great a distance from a port of em

ba rka tion to permi t its extraction being carried on with a ny

chan ce Of competin g with that from the Kr i su vi k mi nes,” may

be profitably contrasted with that of A. de Capel Crowe, E sq ,

Consul in Copenhagen .

1

1 Qu oted i n extenso, Appendix, Section III.


Consul Crowe’s remarks as to the richn ess of these depositsare corroborated by Commander C ommerell h imself, wh o says inhis report

I found at Nama rfia ll,which li es about S ix miles to the east

of Lake M yva tn ,large beds of su lphur in a very pure state ;

and though the quantities already deposited were very great,no

signs appeared of their having been worked.

”

We Shall give the testimony of a few of the more distinguished

Icelandic travellers relating to th e value of the M yva tn fields .But quotations are on ly made from authors whose scien tific and

literary position render their Opinion of value and authority.

The testimony of the Rev. Mr Henderson ,the celebrated

mission ary in Iceland,cites the following notorious and well

known factsT O the east ofKr abla the sulphur mines of R eykja h lid.

1

Of the sulphur mountains a particular description I S givenin the j ourn al .2

Several huge dark moun tain s that are againrelieved in the east by the Namar

,or sulphur moun tains

,from

the decomposition going forward,in which a vast profusion of

smoke is constantly formi ng, ascendi ng to a great height in theatmosphere .

3

Olafsen a nd Povelsen,describing two pools on the south-east

side of Kr abla,sa y th a t th e wh ole r egi on comp letely a nswer s to th e

well-known solfa ta r a i n I ta ly.

” 4

Describing the neighbourhood of M yva tn ,he

,in an eloquent

description,says

On either side lay vast beds of sulphu r covered with a thi ncrust

,containing innumerable small holes, through which the

vapour was making its escape . In many parts the cru st, which

presented the most beautiful alumin ous effloresc en c e, was not

more than half-a n -inch in thickn ess ; and on its being removed,a th i ck bed of p u r e su lp h u r app ea r ed, th r ough wh i ch th e steam

i ssu ed wi th a h i ssi ng n oi se. The sublimation of the sulphur is

produced by the constant ascension of this vapour ; a nd it is

1 Hen derson ’s Icelan d, 1 81 8, In trodu ction , p . 4.

2 I bi d . , p. 7 .

3 I bi d. , vol . i . , p. 1 60. 4 I bi d. , p. 176 .


found to possess greater and less degrees of purity,in proportion

as the soil is more or less porous . In general,however, th ese

mi nes a r e VASTLY sup er i or to a ny oth er i n I cela nd, owing to the

in ten se degree of subterran ean heat,a nd the very loose and

porous nature of the earth at this place .The sulphur moun tain rises to a con siderable height from

the east side of the holl ow in which these mines are situate. Itdoes n ot exceed a mile in breadth

,but is more than five miles

in length,stretching from the east end of the lake in a northerly

direction,between the volcan oes Kr a bla a nd L ei r h n u ler

,where i t

joins the ridge by which these two moun tains are connected .

The surface is very un even,consisting of immense banks of red

bolus and sulphur,the crust of which is variegated with random

mixtures of yellow,light-blue, a nd white colou rs, and in some

places a soft sandstone makes its appearan ce through the predomin ant mould. I could also observe holes

,ou t of whi ch the

sulphur has been dug by the peasants .The jetting is accompani ed with a harsh roar

,and the escape

of a vast quantity of vapour strongly impregnated with su lphur.Passing a desolate farm

,a nd keeping at a distan ce from

the su l phur banks,which appeared in the face of a contiguous

moun tain,we succeeded in reaching the base ofKr abla .

On the northern margin rose a bank,consisting of red bolus a nd

sulphur,from which

,as the win d blew from the same quarter,

we had a fin e View of the whole . Nearly about the cen tre ofthe pool is the aperture whence the vast body of water

,su lphur,

and bluish-black bolus is thrown up ; a nd which is equal indi ameter to the column of water ejected by the Gr ea t Geyser atits strongest eruption s . What was visible of Krabla

appeared covered with the same clay, pumice, and sand as that

on which I stood,on ly diversified by beds of yellow sulphur.

T O the west of this wilderness lay a number of lowmoun tains, where the Fr emr i Namar are situated. Directly infron t was the valley fill ed with lava above described ; n ear thefarther end of which the large columns of smoke ascending fromthe sulphur springs had a fine effect.” 1

1 Henderson ’ s Iceland, 1 81 8, vol. i . , pp . 1 66, 1 67, 1 70, 1 71 , 173, 1 74, 177 .



of Can ada) in his charming book, Letters from High Latitudes,says

Opal,calcedony

,amethyst

,malach i te

,Obsidian

,agate

,and

felspar are the prin cipal minerals ; OF SULPHUR THE SUPPLY Is

INEXHAUS TIBLE .

M ‘

C u ll oc h’

s Geograph i cal Dictionary, vol . i .

,p . 585

,under

the heading Iceland,” says

Few metals are met with. Iron and C opper have been found,

but the mi nes are n ot wrought . THE SUPPLY OF SULPHUR I S INEXHAUSTIBLE ; large mountains are encrusted with th i s substan ce,which

,when removed

,is again formed in crystals by the agency

of the hot steam from below. Large quan tities were formerlyShipped ; but latterly the supplies sent to the foreign market

were comparatively small .

C h amber s’

s En cyclopaedia,under the heading Iceland

vol . v. ,p . 505

,says

The min eral wealth Of Iceland has on ly begun to be developed. IN N o PART OF THE WORLD I s SULPHUR FOUND IN SUCHABUNDANCE .

An adequate idea of the va lire of the Icelandic sulphur fields,as compared with those of Italy

,cannot be conveyed by the

reports of travellers . To thoroughly comprehend thi s, we must

bear in mind the reproductive properties displayed by solfataras,

and the best means suggested by practice to extract the sulphurand yet not in terfere with this peculiarity.

The process for the separation Of the sulphur at the celebratedsolfatara of Pozzuoli, near Naples, Where the sulphur is c onden sed in con siderable quan tities amongst the gravel collectedin the circle which forms the interior of the crater

,is conducted

as follows : The mixture of sulphu r a nd gravel is dug up andsubmitted to distillation to extract the sulphur

,and the gravel

is return ed to its origin al place,and in the course of about

THIRTY yea r s is again so rich in sulphur, as to serve for the sameprocess again .

1

We thus see that the reproductive process occupies a periodof THIRTY yea r s in the Ita lian mines, Whereas the same results

1 Ure’s D iet . ofArts, Ma nufa ctu res, and Mines, 1 860, vol . iii . , p. 830.


are produced in THREE years In the Icelandic mines, i .e., that

A GIVEN AREA IN ICELAND WILL PRODUC E TEN TIMES THE QUANTITYOF SULPHUR

,OR Is TEN TIMES AS VALUABLE

,A s THE SAME AREA IN

ITALY.

The permanency of the volcano,as a source of sulphur,

would depend on the ra pidity with which the sulphur wou l d be

replaced,after the sand had been on ce exhausted. The time

required for this is not necessarily fixed to periods of twenty-fiveor thirty years . In Iceland

,at a S imilar spot the sulphur is

ren ewed every two or three years .” 1

The nearest port suitable for shipment of the sulphur is

Husavik,

” situate in the Bay of Skjalfa ndi i t is perfectly

accessible at all times of the year. Mr Consul Crowe having

been qu estion ed on the subject,states 2 that :

The Icelandic ports are,owing to the influence of the Gu l f

Stream, in ordinary years accessible to shipping a ll the year

round, and Shipmen ts can safely be made during seven mon ths

at ordinary rates of freight a nd insurance . Husavi k, as a ru l e,is never frozen up

,the only impediment to free navigation being

the floating ice which at certain seasons is loosen ed from Green

land,and may for a time lie Off the coast. Such occurrences,

however,have their stated times and seasons

,which are well

kn own to navigators In those waters ; in some years there areno hindrances of the kind at all

,and shi pmen ts in good vessels

may be made all the year round . In support of this statement,

I may mention the fact that steamers leave Copenhagen for Ice

lan d as late as the mi ddle or end of October,and woul d do so

later were there sufficient goods or passengers to make thempay. Again

,the Icelan d ‘Al thi ng ’ have recently proposed to

raise funds for running steamers round the island a ll th e yea r ,’

and thus supply the want of internal commun ication ; and, if the

proposal fell throu gh,it was on ly on finan cial grounds

,and not

from inaccessibili ty of ports from ice . I am therefore simplyrepeating facts in stating that, as a rule, Icelan d navigation is

free all the year roun d . T h e i sla nd i s bu t a two da ys’

jou r ney

1 DrF. J . M ou a t’

s Adven tu res a nd Resea rches among th e Andama n Isla nders,

1 863, p . 1 69 .

2 Letter of A. de C . Crowe, E sq , 27th J u ne 1 872 .


from S cotla nd, a nd wi th su i ta ble vessels a n a lmost u n i n ter r up ted

i n ter cou r se migh t, i n ordi n a ry sea sons,be kep t up . I n further

confirmation of what I have stated,I may add that this same

warm curren t from the Mexican Gulf,which is so beneficial to

Icelan d,keeps also all the Norway ports

,from the Naze to the

North Cape,ice-free all the year round.

”

The road from H a fn a ri rb‘

r to Kr i su vik will certainly beimproved by the formation of a railway.

It has been said by Professor Pa ijku ll that th i s road is one of

seven or eight hours’ journey.

This road is one of the best in Iceland . The hei5i south

of Husavik is free from stones, and is level, although onlysparsely overgrown with grass . Neither are there a ny hill s or

fjelds to be met with along it, a nd there are only a few smallstreams to be crossed. The last few miles north of M yva tn

certain ly consist Of a sandy plain,but it is tolerably level, and

the road is pretty good,owing

,I suppose

,to the sulphur traffic

from the solfataras,near M yva tn ,

to Husavik,in former days, in

which 1 00 horses are said to have been employed at one tM e.

” 1

In 1 868, the late foreign min ister of the Un ited States, MrW. H . Seward, on e of the most far-sighted statesmen which thatcountry has ever produced

,was able to anticipate the future

importan ce of the Iceland sulphur min es both to Europe andto America. It was even proposed that the U ni ted StatesGovernmen t shou l d purchase both Icelan d and Greenl and, aswell as St Thomas

,from the Danish Government. T o promote

this object,Mr B . M. Pierce was sent to Iceland to report on the

mines . Extracts from his report are subjoined :The su lphur moun tains

,beds

,a nd min es are very rich and

exten sive,easily worked

,and of immen se value . The sulphur

is supplied at half the cost of that furnished by the Sicili anmines, which it is believed will soon be exhausted. T h e p osses

si on of these mi n es a s a p a r t of ou r ter r i tory i s a qu esti on of vi ta lmagn i tu de.

By the way of R eykja h l id and Kr abla , where arethe most exten sive sulphur deposits of the island.

1 Pa i jku ll, pp . 2 1 7, 244, 245, 246, 247 .



in geological circumstances anal ogous to those of the beds at

Kr i su vik. It is found there gen erally in con crete masses of a

C itron -yellow colour, quite pure, sometimes very plentiful, a nd

generally as sociated with lime and silica . It is to be regrettedthat the Dan ish Governmen t does n ot favour th i s industry

,

which would furnish as fin e sulphur as that of Sicily, and doubtless a t a lower price . Besides, Denmark possesses in Icelandimmense stores

,which will on e day be of great value to her

when those of Sicily are exhausted .

”

Before the concession was gran ted to Mr Lock,Professor JOh n

strijp was sent by the Dani sh Government to survey a nd makeplans of the mi nes . His report is in serted at lengthReferring to the consul’ s request to me in date of the 27th

of last month, I beg to in form him that on the journey which Imade last year to Icelan d I visited the sulphur mi n es belongingto the State there

,wh i ch lie to the east of M yva tn ,

and I made

maps of them, wh i ch were sen t to the Mini ster Of Justice, wh owill

,no doubt, let you have copies of them . From these you

will be able to see that the richest min es are to be foun d in thatpart called R eykja h lida r -Namar, where large deposits of thepurest su l phur are to be found .

The reproduction is i n cessa n tly going on from about a th ousa nd sma ll emi nen ces (solfa ta r a s), which are foun d on the ridge,along the S ides

,and at the foot of N ama rfja ll .

Further rich sulphur mines are to be found a t the Kéti llcrater, called the Fremri -Namar, wh i l e the least rich mines arethe so-call ed Kr abl a -Namar

,but also at these there is a c on

t inu a l production of sulphur going on . The first-men tion edmin es ARE THE RICHEST To BE FOUND IN THE WHOLE OF IC ELAND ,and have the advantage of lyin g in th e tr a ck of a PRACTICABLEROAD to th e sh ipp i ng por t of HUSAVIK, WHICH ROAD Is AMONG THEBEST IN THE ISLAND . As regards the position of the mines

,I

must refer you to Olsen and Gu nnl a u gsson’

s map of Iceland, onwhich they are marked. It will be a pleasure to me shou l dthese particulars be of service to you .

(Sign ed) J. F. JOHN S TRUP,

Pr of. M i ner a logy a t th e Copenh a gen Un iver si ty.

Apr i l 30, 1 872 .


The examination of these facts is quite enough to show the

inquirer that the transit ' from M yva tn to H fi savfk is more prao

tical,and of more easy access, than that from Kr i su vik to any

of the ports at the south-west corn er of the island,which have

been extolled by Mr Vin cent in his ex p a r te glorification of the

Kr i su vi k mines . We will now turn to the testimony of a far

greater travell er,whose Opinion on the su bject ought

,indeed

,

to be regarded as final . Captain R. F . Burton, in his recent

exploration of Iceland, devoted much time to the examin ation

of the M yva tn su l phur deposits . The great question is an swered

by him in the following letter which appeared in the LondonS ta nda rd, N ov. 1 , 1 872

Sir,— Perhaps you will allow me, in continuation of my

letter of October the 14th, to attack the subject of the su l phu rdeposits in Iceland now belonging to British subjects .

For'

many years these diggings , so valuable sin ce the exh a u stion of the supply from S icily, were a bone of con tention between

Fran ce a nd England.

Denmark can hardly work the mines for herself withouta great expenditure of capital, whi ch will find its way into

Icelandic pockets,and thus she wisely leases her property to

strangers . She relies u pon the fact that su lphur has risen from

£4 , 1 0s . to £7 per ton ,a nd consequen tly that her Iceland diggings

must become more valuable every year.

I spen t three days— from August 7th to August 9th , 1 872a t the solfataras Of M y-vatn, or Midge Lake

,situated to the

north-east Of the island . I lodged at the farm of R eykja h l it?

(reeky ledge) , un der the roof of the well -known Hr Petur JOn sson

,whose alacrity in composing a bill of charges has won for

him a wide reputation .

On Wednesday,Augu st 7th , I set ou t under the guidance

of this worthy to inspect the diggings of Kr afla , generally but

erroneously written Kr abla . And n ow a verbatim extract frommy di ary will assure the reader that my statements are c om

pletely free from the process called cooking.

’

Rode to L eirh nukr (mud knoll) in on e hour fifteen minu tes.At once understood an emp la cemen t very imperfectly described byold travellers . It is the northern head of a spine

,a sharp prism


about on e mile broad, with a magnetic direction of 21 5 deg ,in

fact,nearly due north— south. It is a mass of Palagonite (sea

sand forming a ston e) , everywhere capped by spill s a nd gushesof modern lava, a nd su lp h u r a bou nds at the junction of theseformation s . The hi ll ock of L ei r h nukr i s one va st ma ss of su l

p h u r ou s deposi ts. I coun ted seven wells upon the slope,whilst

the lowlan ds aroun d were spotted with unwholesome-lookingeruption s . Rode east to H elvi t i

,which the Rev. Mr Henderson

described in 1 81 5 as a crater,not unworthy of its grim n ame .

Hell,

’ here as elsewhere, has been dismissed with costs,’ the

placid blue lake,ruffled at times by the passing breeze

,a nd

blowing off odours the reverse Of S abaean, is now hardly worthvisiting . At H r a fn t inn u h ryggr (raven stone ridge)— excusethe word

,I did n ot make i t— expected to find

,as the Obsidian

Mountain ’ has been described,a heap of broken wine bottles

shin ing with their jet-like colouring.

’ Foun d n othing of t h e

kin d,but picked up some decent specimens . Rode back much

edi fied, etc . , etc .

On the n ext day rode to the Fremr inama r (outer warmsprings) to th e south with some easting to R eykja h l id Foundthe road utterly dissimilar

'

to anything laid down in maps .After four hours thirty minutes of rough travelli ng

,reached the

deposi t wh i ch h a s been worked for some gener a ti ons, bu t wh i ch

c a nnot be sa i d to h a ve been EVEN S CRATCHED . The ‘lay ’ is uponthe north-eastern

,the eastern

,and the southern flank of a crater

,

described by the late Professor Pa ijku ll as probably the largestin Icelan d.

’

Immen se dep osi ts c over ed th e gr ou nd, a nd wh i te

fumes everywh er e fi lled th e a i r . Wh ole tor r en ts of What Mr

Crookes calls the mainstay of ou r present indu strial chemistry— I mean su lph u r— h a ve h er e been ej ec ted. Could not coun t theh i ssing hot coppers,

’ popularly called fumaroles . Returnedafter a stiff ride of eight hours th i rty minutes, which gave a fineview of the Odatia Hraun ,

the ‘great and terrible wilderness oflava to the south-west

,etc.

August 9th was a lazy day,spent in preparing for a trip to the

desert. In spected the H lf5a rnama r (ledge springs), from whi chthe farm of R eykja h liti takes its n ame . Bravely objected to bedeterred by the smell of rotten eggs

,

’ by the suffocating fumes,’



mud-springs, wh i ch Icelan d travellers have agreed to call by

the corr u pted name M akka lu ber the people kn ow them as

H ver a r .

’ This peculiarity is therefore not confin ed,as writers

assert, to the eastern hill feet . The richest diggings lie below

the crest, and here the fumes escape with a fizz and a mi ldgrowl

,whi ch vivid fan cy has converted into a roar. ’ I r etu rned

fr om th e immense soufr ier e va stly edifi ed wi th th e sp ec ta c le of so

mu ch wea lth lyi ng dorma n t i n th ese da ys of c ap i ta l a c tivi sed by

la bou r,etc .

,etc.

To the question,Will this sulphur pay its transport ? ’ I

reply unhesitatingly, Yes, if great care and moderate capital be

expended upon the mines. In the first place,the li ve ven ts

whi ch waste their sourness on the desert air must be walledround with ston es

,or

,[better still , with planks, a nd the fumes

should be arrested,as in Mexi co

,by pans and other contrivan ces .

The working season would be the summer,AND THE QUANTITYI s

so GREAT THAT MANY SUMMERS MUS T ELAPS E BEFORE THE THOUSANDS OF TONS WHICH C OMPOSE EACH SEPARATE PATCH C AN BECLEARED OFF. In winter th e produce c a n be sen t down to Husa

vik (House’s Bay) , by sledges, not the E squ imm x-like affair at

presen t used in Eastern Icelan d,but the best Norwegian or

Can adian . The road is reported by all travellers to be exc ept ion a lly good, running for the most part over gently undu l atingheaths

,overlying basal t. There are no rivers of importance on

the way,a nd the fall is about 1 500 feet in forty-five English

statute mi les . The line is wrongly placed in Gu nnl a u gsson’

s

map it runs on the eastern, not the western shore of the Langavatn

,and it passes to the east of the celebrated U xa h ver . I

am also assu r ed that the much-abused Bay of H i i savfk is a safeharbour

,when proper moorings are laid down

,that no vessel has

been lost there during the last thirty years,and that Captain

Thr upp,of H .M . S . Valorous

,

’ judged favourably of it. Thisalso was the verdi ct of an old Dani sh skipper

,who as sured u s

that during the last twenty-five years he has been tradingbetween Copenhagen

,Hull

,and B li savfk, reaching the la tter

place about the end of February,and maki ng h i s last voyage

home in October. During the balance ’

of the year masses offloe-ice prevent navigati on.


From such a speculation present returns may be expected .

When in come justifies the outlay a tramway would greatlycheapen tran sit. The ships which export the sulphur c a n im

port coal, a nd n ow that the offi c i n a l treatmen t of su l phur has

been so much simplified by the aboli tion of train-oil,nothing

else except pressed hay for the cattle is wanted. When on e

patch is exhausted,the road c a n be pushed forward to an other .

I am persuaded that the wh ole r a nge, wh er ever Pa lagon i te a nd

la va meet,wi ll be fou nd to yi eld mor e or less su lph u r . Of course

it will be advisable to purchase sundry of the farms,a nd these

,

in Iceland,range in value from £300 to £800 maximum . The

vast waste lan ds to the east will carry Sheep sufficient for a nynumber of hands ; and good ston e houses will enable the Englishman to weather a winter at which the Icelan der

,in his wretched

shanty of peat a nd boarding,looks with apprehen sion . I have

al ready spoken about the excellen ce of the summer climate, a nd

any gazetteer shows that the change of temperature at Mon treal

is more to be feared than in Iceland .

I am,&c . ,

RICHARD F. BURTON .

AT H E N E U M ,

Oc tober 1 6, 1 872 .

The very language of Iceland seems to indi cate the importance of its sulphur deposit . It is a signi ficant fact that the Ice

l a ndi c langu age in dicates sulphur as the burn ing-ston e, Br enn i

s tei nn ,un like the Dani sh S c ovel, which is obviously derived from

S u lp h u r , L at .

Mr VinCen t’

s theory that su l phur is produced by the action

of water on pyr ites, though having some elements of probabil ity

in it, is nevertheless entirely unproven in the presen t state ofscience

,and it is most unfortunate that throughout his paper,

theory a nd fact are mingled in equal proportions, each beingindependen t of the other. T a n t p i s pou r lesfa i ts .

”

It was left for Captain Burton to point ou t that the testimony

of Commander C ommerell, wh i ch appears in Mr Vin cent’

s paper

to make the transit from Kr isu vik to H a fn a rfj'

OrCr a real path of


roses,did not actually speak with such unqualified enthusiasm.

Commander C ommerell says

A tramway might also be laid down,but as there are two

h i ll s to cross, with other difficulties, I could not positively statewhether this were possible or not.”

An other objection by Captain Burton appears to be of greaterforce . It is alleged that the Kr i su vik deposits extend over anarea of twen ty-five mi les . N O precise geological map is givenof the locality

,a nd it is most significant that when Captain

Burton and Mr Chapman rode from Kr isa’

s Bay, eastward tothe Little Geysir

,a nd although they looked anxiously for the

en ormous area theoretically assigned'

to the sulphur-formation,

they failed to see a ny S ign of it . The sulphur,like the Spani sh

fleet,was not in sight ; and the absence of the Palagon ite, whi ch

is invariably in other Icelandic localities foun d in juxtaposition

with the sulphur,ough t to hin t to geologists the true state of

the case .The Danish Government were not slow to perceive

,and have

on numerous occasions en deavoured to attract atten tion to,their

valuable min eral products . Mr Lock,an Englishman

,some

years ago petitioned the Dan ish Government,and expressed h i s

wish to take a lease of the sulphur min es at M yva tn . A c om

mi ttee was elected by the Icelandic Al thing to report upon thi ssubject. This report, which is dated the 14th August 1 869,exhibits the utmost timidity in permitting a n alien to acquirerights over the min eral products of Iceland. It is given at fulllength in the termin al notes to this paper.

It is not here necessary to narrate the circumstan ces underwhich the Dan ish Government declin ed to adopt the localrecommendation . It will suffice to say that on the 1 3th April1 872, a con tract was sign ed between Alfred G. Lock of Londona nd the Dan ish Mini ster of Justice, Andreas Frederik Krieger,on the part of the Dani sh Government. This con tract will befound in full in Note N o. 1 . The lease lasts for fifty years

,a nd

the terms,although costly to the English con cessionaire

,were

satisfactory to the Dan ish Government. The greatest possibleirritation has consequently been produced among a very smallsection of Home Rul e ” Icelanders

,who objected to the work



2d. Th e S u lph u r Ba nks, or Fields— The gases before men tionedescaping in to the air conden se a nd deposit sulphur, whi ch, werethe atmosphere always calm

,would be precipitated in regular

banks,but owing to the con stant

'

shifting of the wind it is blowni n all direction s

,forming layers varying from a few in ches to

several feet in th i ckn ess,a nd exten ding over vast areas of the

surface of the surroundin g ground .

3d. S u lph u r Qu a r r i es— In these localities the accumulation of

su lphur has ceased, a nd when on ce extracted is n ot replaced ;

they are therefore called dead .

” The sulphur is foun d im

bedded i n,and mixed with

,lime

,clay

,etc . , a n d nearly all the

sulphur exported from Sicily is Obtain ed from this descriptionOf sulphur-bearing strata.The same kind of strata exists in the Romagna in Italy

,a nd in

some di stricts of Spain,but in the Romagn a the deposit is 390 feet

below the surface,a nd on ly yields, in the furn aces, 1 5 per cent .

of sulphur,while the best of those in Spain are from forty to

sixty feet below the surface,a nd contain a varying quantity of

sulphur of from 2 1 to 36 per cen t — the'

poorest strata being n earest the surface— whi lst these (in Iceland) are upon the surface ;a nd Henderson ,

the mission ary,a most trustworthy authority

,

describes a valley Ch e mile wide a nd five miles long in th e

neighbourh ood of Krabla , the surface of which is very uneven,

a nd con sists of immense banks of red bolus and sulphur,with

mixtures of yellow,light-blue

,and white coloured earth.

Forbes foun d similar clays to con tain,the white from 30 to

40 per cen t,and the red a nd blue clays abou t 1 6 per cen t. of

sulphur.

The plans made by J F. JOh n str u p, Professor of Min eralogyat the Un iversity of Copenhagen

,by order of the Dan ish Govern

men t, a nd attached to the leasing con tract, a copy of which willbe found in the Appendix

, Show the solfataras, or living sulphurfields to extend over a district Of more than S Ix SQUARE MILES ,Vi z

A cres . Sq. miles . Acres.No . 2 . Kr abla -namar

,about 1 998 3 78

No . 3 . R eykja h li d-namar, 1 068 15 1 08

No. 4 . Fremr i -namar, 808 14 8

A SUMMER IN IC ELAND . 375

As a gauge of the value of the Icelandic sulphur-h elds we

have been describing,it would be well to compare them with

those of other countries . To arrive at this resu l t,we shall give

a comparison of the estimated cost of Sicilian and Spani sh su l

phur, and contrast it with that derived from Iceland.

C OST OF THE SIC ILIAN AND SPANISH SULPHUR COMPAREDWITH THAT OF THE ICELANDIC .

Cost of S ici li an su l phur,according to Signor Pa rodi ’s Report

to the Italian Government,vouch ed by English engineers

,viz.

Excava tion of min era l,Oi l a nd tools,Extraction of mineral,Pumping

,

Fu sion ,Gen eral cha rges a nd taxes

,

Carriage from mines to port,

Ren t to proprietor of soil,

96 1 6 1 0

TO ENGLAND .

Freight,Export duty,Port charges, commi ssion , et c .

,

In sur an ce, brokerage, etc . ,

2 0 6

Cost of S i c i li a n su lph u r , per ton , £5 1 7 4

E stima ted c ost of Sp a n i sh su lp h u r , from a Report .by

Sopwith to the Helli n Sulphur Company

T h e fir st t in con ta in s 21 per cen t. of su lphu r.secon d 36

thi rd 28

It takes six ton s of Spa n ish ore to ma ke one ton of sulphu r.


Cost,Carriage to railway station ,Railway carr iage to Cartagen a ,Loading, et c . ,

Freight from Cartagen a to England,Royalty to Governmen t,In su ran ce

,

E stima ted cost of Sp a n ish su lph u r , £4 1 1 0

This sulphur Shou l d be worth, either in England or Mar

seill es,from £6 to £7 per ton .

Flowers of sulphur wou l d cost £6 per ton, and their valuewou l d be £1 0 .

E stima ted C ost of I cela ndi c S u lph u r .

Al though from the fact of the deposits of the sulphur pro

du c ing clay, sand, ashes,etc. , in Iceland being on the surface,

the working expen ses of excavation (and from the closerproximity to the c oalfields of England

,the cost of extraction)

must be far less than those of Sicily,yet it has been thought

advisable to be on the safe S ide by taking the costs of excavation , extraction, and fusion, to be in each case the same .The expenses of bringing the su l phur to country will

then be

Excava t ion of mineral,Oil a nd tools,Extraction of mineral,Fusion ,Carriage to port of shipment,Freight to Un ited Kingdom,

in clu ding in su ra n ce,E stima ted cost of I cela ndi c su lph u r , £2 1 8 4

1 These two items a re calcu lated at excessive a nd extravagan t rates. T h e firstitem (1 58 . per ton ) was supplied by a n eminen t shipown er, a nd th e amou n t offreight is also oversta ted .

Per ton of su lphu r.d .

0

4

6

6

0

8

0

1

1

£

2

0

0

0

0

0

0


378 ULTIMA THUL E ; OR,

NOTE I . TO SECTION V.

(T r a nsla ti on )

LEAS ING CONTRAC T.

The undersigned,Andreas Frederik Krieger

,His Majesty the

King of Denmark’s Min ister of J u sti c e/ C omma nder of the

Dann ebrog a nd D a nn ebrogsma nd, Commander of the Order ofthe North Star

,in virtue of the authority given h im by a Royal

Resolution of the 9th March 1 872, hereby gran ts to Alfred G.

L ook,of London

,a lease of the sulphur min es belonging to the

State,situated in the Thing Syssel in the North a nd East

Provinces of Iceland,on the following conditions

I . Exclusive right to work the above-mention ed mines is

gi ven to the lessee for the duration of the lease they con sist ofthe so-called R eykja h l ida r , Kr abla , a nd Fremr i -Namar ; on theother han d

,the presen t con tract gives the lessee n o right to the

use of,or to the possession of the land around the min es

,which

groun d does not belong to the State . It must be remarked thatthe mines on the church lands at T h ei st a reykir are not in cludedin this leasing.

II . The lease is given for fifty years,reckoned from the 1 st

September 1 872 to the 31 st'

A u gu st 1 922, without either of thecon tracting parties having the right to withdraw from it. Liberty,however

,is con ceded to Al fred G. Lock to withdraw from the

contract at any time before the 31 st August thi s year, datein clusive .The lessee can make over his rights acquired by this presentcon tract

,together with his obligations

,to other parties

,against

whose respectabil ity a nd solven cy n o reasonable objection canbe made

,but he shall nevertheless be bound to communicate

such transfer to the Min istry of Justice. His rights likewiseshall at his death be tran smitted to his heirs.III . Full liberty is given to the lessee as regards the working

of the mines . The sulphur,however

,must n ot be washed in

runni ng waters which have their outlet in the sea,nor in fish ing

A SUMM ER IN ICELAND . 379

waters, and as a matter of course the su lphur beds or minesmust not be destroyed

,with respect to which it is remarked that

the earth during th e diggings must not be trodden down in to the

warm beds, which are design ated by a green colour in the mapsattached to the con tract

,which in the year 1 871 were made

by J . F. J oh n stru p, Professor of Mineralogy at the CopenhagenUniversity.

On the delivering over of the min es a survey will take place,at which the maps in question will be used as gu i des . On thedelivering back of the min es a survey shall likewise take place .

IV. Neither the lessee nor the workmen he employs at themines shall be subject to a ny extraordin ary taxes or imposts bythe State or the mun icipality

,other than those imposed on the

other inh abitan ts of the islan d ; and he shall i n this respectenjoy the same rights as natives ; but, on the other han d, he

shall not be exempted from the ordinary taxes a nd chargesimposed by the gen eral laws of the land .

V. The lessee shall be boun d to allow the State authorities

to in spect the min es when ever they may think fit to do so .

VI . The lessee shall pay an annual rental of £50 for the firstyear ; £60 for the second year ; £70 for the third year ; £80 for

the fourth year £90 for the fifth year ; and £1 00 for the sixth

a nd for each of the succeeding forty-four years .The ren tal shall be paid i n a dva n ce to the Min ister of Justice

in Copenhagen in two half-yearly payments— viz. , on the 1 st

S eptember and 1 st March, each time with the half part of the

yearly amoun t . The first time on the 1 st September 1 872, with

£25, for the half-year from that day to the 28th February 1 873 .

T h e lessee shall, on the S ign ing of this presen t contract, as

security for the due payment of the rental and the proper work

ing and redelivery of the min es in an uninjured condition,

deposit a sum of 5000 r ixdolla rs in the private bank of Copen

hagen,in such manner that the Minister of Justice retains the

certificate of deposit in -his possession,and can

,without trial or

senten ce,and without the lessee’ s authority

,take them ou t of

the private bank,wh i ch institution shall be forbidden to return

them to the lessee or others without the Justice Minister’ s permission .


As long as the above-mentioned amount is deposited in theprivate bank the interest of the sum may, without let or hindrance from the Mini ster Of Justice

,be pa id

'

to the lessee or hisrepresen tatives .On the expiry of this leasing c on tr a c t a nd the redelivery of

the sulphur mines in an uninjured state,the Min ister of Justice

Shall be bound to retu r n the certificate of deposit to the lesseeor other duly authorised person s .VII . Should the ren tal not be paid at the proper times, andshould the lessee destroy the mi nes

,he (the lessee) shall lose the

rights conceded to him by this con tract,a nd the Min ister of

Justice shall in such case be empowered to take from him thelease (ej ect him from the min es), and the deposit mon ey be forfei ted to the Iceland Land Fund (State Fund) . Sh ou l d, h ow

ever, a breach of con tract take place only through omission topay the ren tal

,and the collective amount of the ren tals still to

be paid be less than the deposit,th e Minister of Justicew ill

refund the difference .VIII: Should the lessee not have removed

,within two years

from the expiry of this con tract, or from the date of its annu lment (see all bu i ldings

,mach i nery

,and the like put up at

the mines,they shall become the property Of the State without

indemn ity.

IX. Disputes a r i smg as to whether the lessee’

s treatment of

the min es is destructive to them,shall be settled by arbitration,

each of the contracting parties choosing on e ma n ,and these

latter in case of di sagreemen t to choose an umpire . If from anycause an arbitration cannot be obtained

,the parties at issue are

empowered to appeal to the law courts ; as likewise in a ll otherdisputes arising ou t of this contract

,in which cases the Royal

Supreme Court of Copenhagen shall be the proper tribunal ; forwhi ch reason the lessee

, on signi ng this con tract, shall appoint aCopenhagen resident

,wh o on his behalf Shall receive summonses

for his appearance . Should the Minister of Justice thi nk fit totake law proceedings against him in Iceland

,he (the lessee) shal l

be bound to receive summonses at the sulphur mines for h i sappearan ce at the Iceland courts .X. The expense of drawing up th i s contract

,with the stamped



1 . How the matter'

now stan ds with the sulphur mmes inquest ion .

2 . What right the Governmen t has to lease out these mi neswithout in curring some obn oxious con sequen ces to the leaseholder, or to other parties con cern ed .

The sulphur min es that are at the disposal of the Government 1

are those of R eykja h lid,”Krafla -n amar (the min es of the

Kr afla moun tain ) , a nd Fremr i -namar (the min es farthest fromthe coast) , but

“ T h ei sta reykja -namar (the min es of T h ei st a

reykir) have n ever been Government property,although they

apparen tly are lying in the tract of which the above-men tion edMr Lock has wished to take leaseA S it is well kn own

,from the excellent essay by the Right

Reverend Hann es Finn son,Bishop of Icelan d (see Rit hins

i slendska l aerdOmsl i st a -fela gs— the Works of the Icelandic

Society of Learn ing a nd Arts—vol . iv. ,p . Mr Pau l S t igsson ,

superin tendent or govern or of Iceland, bought of the Thorstein sson s

,so called

,in the presence of Mr Han s Nilsson a nd Mr

Han s L a u r i t sson,on the behalf of his Majesty Frederik II .

,th e

min es of which there is n o question here,with the exception of

the T h ei sta reykja min es, or more properly speaking, the right of

digging sulphur in these mines . This bargain was made atE yja fjord on the 1 5th of August 1 563

,and the said Thorsteins

son s gave up the sulphur-diggings in Fremr i -n amar,”Krafla

n amar,

”a nd Heidar-2 (heath) n amar but i t

'

is nowhere on

record,that a ny lan d or ground for house-building and road

making has been comprised in this bargain . As it appears, theGovernmen t of his Majesty Frederik II . has thought it su fl‘i c i en t

to acquire the mon opoly of the sulphur that was to be foun dthere

,for, as it appears, there has, as a rule, never been lack of

person s wi lling to dig ou t the sulphur and to carry it, like oth ermer ch a ndi se

,down to the sea—coast .

1 A certain Hr T h or laku r O . JOh n sen ,whom I met in Iceland, wrote to t h e

S ta nda r d (Nov. 1 6 , a nd asserted my en tire ign oran ce con cern ing I c eland gen erally, a nd t h e relati on ship between Denmark a nd Iceland i n particular.What his ign oran ce, or rather dishon esty, must be, is eviden t when h e states alittle further on As to t h e so-called wisdom of t h e Dan ish Governmen t in leasi ng th e min es to strangers, there c a n be only on e reply, that a ll th e mi n es inI cela nd

, wh eth er of su lph u r or oth er miner a ls, belong to I cela nd a nd not to

D enma rk.

”— R . F . B .

2 I presume this to be a clerica l error for H li5a rn ama r (Ledge-springs).

A SUMM ER IN ICELAND. 383

In this manner the above-mention ed mi nes were worked inthe time of h i s Majesty Frederik II . ,

and a great quantity of

su l phur was dug up there . It is said that the profit has some

times,in the said period

,amoun ted to r ixdoll a rs (or

upwards of and that the total export of su lphur has gone

up to about 200 commercial lasts (or 400 tons) a year.. I h the time of Christian IV. the working of the mi n es, which

had answered so well in the time of his father,was almost dis

con tinued ; and the attempts of th i s king to let the mines, for a

period of fifteen years,to Mr Jorgen Broc h enh u u s, ofWolder slev,

and Mr Svabe,proved a complete failure . Thus, in the time of

Christian IV.,the mines were of li ttle consequence for the

Government and the country. This,the Right Reverend

Hann es Finn son says,was a great dr awback for the Dan es, as it

caused the scarcity of powder,which was on e of the reasons

why the Danes were defeated by the Swedes in Holstein in1 644 .

Shortlyafter the middl e of the seventeenth century,or in the year

1 6 65,a certain assessor

,

” Gabriel M a rsili u s by name,acquir ed

a con cession of digging su l phur a nd exporting it from Icelan d ;and it is said that he has exported from here a very great

quantity of sulphur with considerable profit . Since that time,or S ince 1 676 , little is said of the su l phu r -minin g in Iceland

until the first part of the eighteenth cen tu r y ; then, in 1 724 , two

foreigners,Mr S ec hma nn a nd Mr Holtzmann

,acqui red a conces

sion of exporting su l phur from Icelan d ; and it is said that theyexported a great quantity of sulphur for a period of five years

but this export was again discon tinued, owing to the death of

Mr Holtzmann, wh o was the leader of the business, and to theappa rent unwillingn ess ofMr S ec hma nn to repair to Iceland.

I n the year 1 753 the sulphur-mini ng was recommenced in

Iceland by the Governmen t. First it was commenced in the south,

and afterwards,or in 1 76 1 , in the north (see

“ Ept irmaeli 1 8 aldar”

Review of the Even ts of the Eighteenth ,Century The

author of th i s work, the late Mr Stephensen , says, that both the

mi nes,the southern and northern, have beenworked with consider

able profi t,adding

,that the produce of the mi nes has amoun ted

to 1400 r ixdolla rs (or u pwards of £155) a year ; and in 1 772


the profit of the sulphur mi nes in the north, according to thesame author

,was estimated at 1 260 r ixdoll a r s (or about

After 1 806 the Dan ish Governmen t leased ou t the sulphurmin es in the n orth to some merchan ts there for a trifling yearlyren t

,which in n o way was a sufficien t indemn ity for the deter i

oration Of the mines during the time of the lease .For ten years ago it was a gen eral Opin ion that the brimstone

in the Icelandic su l phur mines for the most part was embedded

in the layer that covers the “ live min es,

” and which must becon sidered a sublimate product of the SO-called sulphur pits

or caldrons ; it had, however, been Observed that in the Fremr i

namar,

” so call ed,dead min es also existed where the sulphu r

stratum sometimes wa s a foot thick. The su lphur digging at

Kr i su vik last year has proved that these strata c a n be a gooddeal thicker

,as it h a s also been ascertained that most sulphur

mountain s con tain a considerable quantity of sulphur earth,clayish a nd ferrugin ous su l phur ; all of which might yield from

twen ty-five to fifty per cent. of clean su l phur,if man aged . in the

right mann er.When the th r ee naturalists

,Mr S teen stru p, Mr S c h yt h e, and

Jonas H a llgr imson ,travelled through Iceland in 1 840

,they

calcu l ated that the sulphur mi nes in the north might yi eld

r ixdolla rs a year ; but Dr H ja lta lin ,who

,ten years later

,

was sent to examine these min es,disavows this statement

,add

ing that the min es, as the matter then stood, could by no meansyield so much

,for the “ live min es ” were then in a state of

deterioration,and that it would be impossible exactly to say

h ow many dead mi nes were t o be found till it is ascertainedby successive examination s ; on the other hand, he is convincedthat the mines of Kr i su vik mi ght be able to yield 1 00 commer

c i a l lasts (or 200 ton s) of clean sulphur a year, a nd the experience of the recent time has proved this to be no exaggeration ;for during the last win ter (1 868-69) about 250 commercial lasts

(or 500 tons) of raw sulphur have been dug up, whichmust makea good deal more than 1 00 lasts of clean sulphur a t least ; fu r ther,Dr H ja lta li n Observes, that C opper ore of rather a good qualityis to be found there, a nd a more recent experience has renderedit li kely that there is a considerable quantity of th i s mineral.



The population of Iceland is,as it is well known, con stantly

increasing,but several bran ches of trade are rather in a state of

decaden ce . Nothing c ou l d, therefore, be more beneficial to thiscountry

,than if here were to be foun d profitable mines

,in which

labourers might work in all sorts of weather,and thi s may be

don e in su l phur a nd other min es, as the experien ce Showed at

Kr i su vik last winter ; ten7a nd sometimes upwards of twen ty

labour ers were at work there, almost the whole winter, earn ing

good daily wages . There is nevertheless no security to be had,that the inhabitants shall be able to benefit by this

,if the

mines are made over to strangers, neither can it be con trolledthat they shall not destr oy the .mines altogether

,and ren der them

c ompletely

'

u seless after a lapse of some years .The Icelandi c sulphur 'mines are in such a condition as not to

be worse for waiting, on the con trary they will improve by .i t

,

and it wou l d be greatly beneficial to them,not to be worked for

the present.The sulphu r mi ni ng at Kr i su vik has Shown that these mi nes

are better and richer than had been expected ; a nd this may bethe case too with the mines in the north, which have most frequen tly been deemed richer a nd more extensive than those of

Kri su vik.

When sulphur trade has been carried on in this country, bothin past cen tu ries a nd at present, the mode Of p roceeding hasbeen very inappropriate a nd unpractical, for partly the sulphurhas been carried, with all the dross in it (which often goes upto forty per cent. or more) , down to the sea-coast, and from thereto Copenhagen ; partly the method of cleaning has been so u nsatisfactory and i nappropriate

,as to render the cost of clean ing

the double ofwhat is n eedful. It appears from the writings of thelate Bishop Hannes Fin sson , that in the time ofKing Frederick II.

,

the su lphur was cleaned by mean s of train-Oil,and this method

has been con tinued down to the mi ddl e of the present century .

This was Sheer in san ity, as it made the clean ing many timesmore expen sive than was necessary

,and than it was at the same

time in other coun tries,where sulphur was then clean ed by

means of sublimation. But thiswa s n ot all, the greasemoreoverthat got into the sulphur

,rendered it unfit for powder manu


factu re, as may be seen from the writings of Mr JOn E irfksson

and others . Of late a new method has been hit upon in Fran ce,

namely, to clean the sulphur by conden sing hot steam,and as

hot sprin gs are to be found in the neighbourhood of a ll theIcelandi c sulphur min es

,this might now be turned to a good

account for the sulphur trade ; besides it woul d make the costof transport by far less heavy, if the sulphur cou l d be carrieddown to the sea-coast and marketed in a clean state.It results from all th i s that Mr Lock’s offer is by no mean sso acceptable as some might suppose

,for the local governmen t

(when established here) might, with the greatest facility, makethe min es in the north many times more profitable than they

wou l d be if Mr Lock’s offer were to be accepted ; moreover, themines being at the disposal of the said governmen t, a sufficien tcontrol may be had that they Shall n ot be overworked or

destroyed .

Were the Danish Government,therefore

,to gran t the request

of the memorialist,as it is framed

,th i s might easily

,as the

matter now stands,lead to su i ts of law between the Government

itself a nd h im, on the on e hand,a nd between the said Govern

men t and some private landowner,on the other ; for it is quite

certain that the Governmen t has n o right whatever over thesulphur trade in all the localities poin ted ou t by the memorialist.

As clearly evin ced by the late Bishop Hannes Fi n sson,the

su lphur trade in Iceland can, in no way, be con sidered as a

regale ; a nd,accordingly

,the Government ought to be very

circumspect in this matter,lest it hurt the right of private land

owners .From the above-men tioned motives, it seems to the Committeethat it is un advisable to accept the offer of the memorialist

,and

,

consequently,submits to the honourable “ Al thing ” to di ssuade

the Governmen t altogether from granting the concession re

quested by M r Lock .

But as some members of the Committee h ave uttered the

opinion that it might be considered as partiality, altogether toexclude foreigners from the sulphur trade in Iceland

,provi ded

that it coul d be sufficiently controll ed, that this shou l d neitherbe detrimental to the country in general, or to the mines in


special,the Commi ttee has thought it its duty

,if this considera

tion should prevail in the hon ourable assembly,to submit a

secondary or modified prOposa l , to th e effect that it shall be re

quested of'

the Governmen t to make the concession dependenton the following condition s1 . The memoriali st shall himself make the necessary arrange

men ts with the parties concern ed concerning pieces,lots

,

a nd parcels of'

land,which he may be in n eed of

,for the

cleaning a nd tran sport of the su l phur,and wh i ch are not

at the di sposal of the Governmen t.2 . The memoriali st shall have commenced the working of the

mines with i n a year from the day on which the licence ishanded over to him .

3 . The memorialist shall always give the n atives of Icelandopportun ity to work by halves at the clean ing a nd transport of the su l phur

,and he shall not

,for th i s purpose

,

employ foreign ers more than by halves at most,as far as

he offers the same condition s to the natives as to the

foreigners,and these conditions shall be acceded to by

the former.4 . The Government Shall be authorised

,at the cost of the

memorialist a nd its own ,to be paid by halves

,to appoin t

a ma n for the purpose of controlling, that the leaseholdershal l not destroy the min es for ever by his method Of

working them.

5 . The memorialist Shall pay a rent of £1 00 sterling for thefirst year ; for the next two years, £200 ; for the n ext twoyears thereon

,£300 a nd for the last five years

, £400 a year ;a nd the concession shall expire after a lapse of ten years.

6 . The memorialist shall, on receipt of the licence, deposit asum of £5000 as a security for the fulfilmen t of thesecondi tion s

,but it shall be returned to h im at the end Of

the ten y ears, during which he shall have made use of

the concession as far as he Shall have ful filled all thecondition s that have been stipu lated ; but otherwise h eis to forfeit both the con cession and security-moneyif he shall have in fringed a ny of the above condi tions,excepting only if this infringement be caused by di ffi



SECTION VL

SULPHUR IN SIC ILY.

The kindness of Mr Consul Dennis of Palermo en ables me toOffer the following Sketch of sulphur in Sicily.

Sulphur,it is well kn own

,forms the most important . branch

of Sicilian Commerce a nd exporta tion . Found,as in Iceland

,in

the blue marl which covers the cen tral a nd the southern partsof the island

,its area extends over 2600 square miles ; fresh

mi n es are always being discovered,and there is n o symptom

of exhaustion . In 1 864 Sicily worked about 1 50 distinctdiggings, whose annual yield exceeded tons ; in 1 872these figures rose to 550 a nd nearly of quin tals

, or

cantars . The latter con tain s 1 00 rotoli (each 0 7934 kilogr ammes1 72 lb . E ng . avoir) , or 79 342 kilogrammes 1 75 lbs . Eng.

avoir. T h e richest in 1 864 were those of Ga lli z z e,S omma t in e

,

and Favara : their respective yearly production showeda nd quin tals .

The visitor to a sulphur mi n e,says Mr Goodwin

,late H .M .

’

s

Consul, Palermo, usually descends by a . plan e or staircase of

high in clination to the first level,where he finds the half-n aked

min er picking su lph irr from the rock . with a huge. and heavytool ; boys gathering the lumps together, a nd carrying them to

the surface ; and if water be there, the pump-men at work draini ng the mine . A similar scene, meets his eye in the lower orsecond level. Above ground the sulphur is heaped up in piles

,

or fusing in kilns .” This passage well shows the superior facili tyof collecting sulphur in Icelan d

,where, i t lies in profusion . upon

the surface .

The ore thus obtained by fusion,after harden ing into cakes; is

carried to the coast . by mules and asses,or . by carts where there

are roads. Whenthe n ew network of railways covers the island,of course there will be greater facility for tran sport

,bu t the

expen se will in crease with equal proportion .

The number of hands in 1 844 was estimated at 44001 300 pick -men, 2600 boys, 300 burners, and 200 clerks and


others, to whom must be added 2600 carters, and 1 000 wharf

ingers, raising the total to 8000, ou t of a population (January 1 ,1 862) of inhabiting an area of square miles .The following tran slation

,or rather an abbreviation of a n

article,Lo Zolfo

,in the journ al I l C ommer c i o S i c i li a no (March

4 gives the latest statisticsThe Committee of In dustrial Inqu i ry, during its recent

sessions at Palermo,Messina

,and Catan ia

,has collected valu

able information upon the general condi tions of the island, andupon its principal articles of commerce.We will begin with the ch i ef bran ch

,sulphur

,whose exporta

tion in the raw state during the last decade is Shown by thesefigures :

In 1 862, qu in ta ls E ng. lbs. a voir. , orton s of 2000 lbs .

(estima ted) .

Sicily may be con sidered the monopolist of the trade innatural su lphur. Other solfataras exist in Croatia, Ga lli c i a , andPolan d ; at Vaucluse in Fran ce, at Murcia in Spain, a nd in

Egypt on the Red Sea ; 1 but the production may be con sideredun importan t. Even the Zolfare of the Romagn a cannot be compared with those of Sicily, as we see by the foll owing figures of

exportation

In 1 862, 22,057 quintals.

1 863,

1 864,

1 865,

1 866,

1 867,

1 Icelan d is here ign ored, perhaps from th e jealousy which foresees a fortu na terival.


The annual production of the Romagna mines reaches onlyquin tals

,in cludi ng the less important diggings of Latera

S c rofa ro, Volterra, Grosseto, a nd Avellin o . Su lphurous earthcovers a ll the Sicili an provin ces of Caltan issetta (Kal

’ at el Nisa,the fort of women) a nd Girgen ti,

2a nd a part of Catan ia ; whil st

there are two isolated ridges (lembi) at Lercara de’ Freddi of

Palermo,a nd at Ghibellin a of Trapani . Those actually worked

exceed 550 .

Experts greatly differ in opinion con cern ing the supply stillremain ing for exportation ; we have determin ed that the di ggingsat the actual rate of exportation may last another hundredyears . 3

Mini ng property, according to Sicilian law,belongs to the

soil ; a nd public opinion, as well as vested interests, would

strenuously Oppose the legislation which prevails in upper Italy.

Yet the presen t condition s are highly unsatisfactory . Working

upon a small scale in fraction ary estates has dimini shed profits,a nd in many cases has caused mines to be abandoned. And theevil is ever increasing with the greater depths of the diggings

1 These immen se fluctu ation s in th e market a re probably caused by th e Ph ylloxer a va sta tr i ec n ow devastating th e Con tin en t. Trieste alon e, for in stan ce, has oflate years imported as much as twen ty cargoes of 200 ton s each (a total of 4000)per annum ; a nd th e ungroun d sulphur sells at about £7, 1 03 . per ton as inE ngland. T h e spread of th e disease is likely to cause a n in creased demand .

2 In 1 864, according to Mr Con sul Denn is, t h e author of Murray ’s “ H andbook Of Sicily, ” th e two most importan t min es of Girgen ti were L a C roc ella

a nd “M a u da r a zz i n ear C omi t in e, belonging to D on Ign az io Genu sa rdi . They

yielded annually qu in tals ton s,worth about a nd

gave con stan t employment to 700 hands (chiefly from th e Opposite town of Arragon a), at th e daily cost of about £60 . T h e produce was Shipped at t h e Mole ofGirgen ti, a nd th e road was thronged day a nd n ight at certain season s with loadedcarts a nd beasts of burden ,

chiefly mu l es .Caltan issetta, Serra di Falco, on Mon te Caran o, a nd St Ca taldo a r e villages in

th e heart of th e sul hur district . T h e scen ery is wild a nd stern . T h e mountain s a re of rounde forms, always bare, here craggy, there brown ed with scorchedherbage, a nd in parts ti nged with red, yellow,

a nd grey, by th e heaps of ore a nddross at th e mouths . Corn will n ot thrive in th e fumes of sulphu r what littlecultivation is to be seen is gen erally i n th e bottoms of th e valleys . T h e hillsaround St C u t a ldo a re burrowed with sulphur min es . ”

3 In a recent report to th e Italian Governmen t,Sig . Parodi es tima tes that

Sicilian sulphu r will be exhau sted in fifty to sixty yea rs .


394 UL TIMA THULE ; OR,

Several of the most important diggings have been let to Frenchand English companies .

Nothing can be ruder than the mode of working. Where theusual outward sign s of su lphur present themselves

,steeply in

c li ned gall eries called Bu ch i a S c a le are driven, and the ore isbrought to grass, without any Of those preparatory measureswhich deman d time a nd mon ey

,but which afterwards yield so

well. The underground works are longitudinal tunnels followi ng the inclination of the su l phur bank

,a nd so cut by cross

galleries that the prospect suggests a cavern supported by stalactite column s . The metal

,detached with picks

,is carried up the

rude fli ghts of stairs by children whose ages vary from seven tofifteen

,a nd it is disposed about the pit mouth in a peculiar way,

so as to facili tate measuremen t and distribution.

Wh en the bank is exhausted,the pill ars are attacked

,a nd thus

the abandoned portion s readily fall in . Accidents at times occurfrom the pressu re of the ground, and these have often caused

loss of life ; they usually result from the negligence and ignorance of the overseers (C ap ima estr i) , men who ignore everythingbut r u le of thumb .

’ The Mini stry of Agricu l ture and C ommerce has wisely drawn ou t a proj ect of min ing laws, intendedto secure the safety of the workmen by giving information tothe directors

,and by facilitating works of common interest to

those con cern ed . It is eviden t that the State can remove theobstacles of sub-divided property, and that its duty is to lookafter the condition and the health of its subjects wh o are work

i ng 80 to 1 00 metres underground . Al ready the mi nistry h asfounded a superior school of mines at Palermo

,and a second at

the Zolfare of Caltani ssetta. Let us hope that its term of officemay last long enough for carrying ou t the instruction whichalone can develop the su l phur supply Of Sicily.

Here,as elsewhere

,the miners ’ deadl iest enemy is water. Of

the various draining systems applied to the tunn els, the favouriteis a long cut through the gallery

,carried to the surface ; and its

principal merit is the saving of labour where wages a re, as inthis island

,unusually high. But as the disposition of the ground

often causes drain s to become long a nd expen sive works, thereis a general use of pumps . The latter, till th e la st few years,


were made of wood,a nd worked by hand ; meta l has become

more common, but steam mach inery is almost confined to theforeign concessions . As regards hau l ing up

,shafts

,or vertical

wells, are almost unknown, although they have been stronglyrecommended for mines which have reached 50 metres

,and

a maj or i for those 1 00 metres deep .

“ The metal,when brought to grass

,is freed from its earthy

matters principally by fusion ; the system being founded uponthe different degrees of caloric required to liquefy ore and dross .The operation most in vogue is that call ed dei C a lc a r on i : theheaps are covered with a layer of earth

,a nd the heat is kept u p

chiefly by burni ng the su lphur itself. As those kiln s are builtupon inclined surfaces

,the melted matter flows into wooden

forms,where it cools and solidi fies . The great loss, calculated

at about on e-third, has led to a variety Of improvements ; many

have been adopted by private cultivators,few have been more

extensively applied,a nd non e can boast of complete success .

The best hitherto produced is the SO-called vapour-fusion ’

inven ted by a certain Sig. Thomas, and paten ted to the S oc i etd

p r ivi legi a ta p er la fu si one dello Zolfo i n I ta li a , an an onymous

body,whose headquarters are at Mil an . The essen tial part of

the process is to separate the ore by ordin ary fuel,using for the

tr a n smI S S IOn of caloric water-steam at the ten sion correspond

ing with the temperatu re which fuses su l phur . The Societyestablished its apparatus at several mi nes

,which pa id a propor

ti on of raw sulphur as bonus to the patentees the remain der

went to the cultivator as remuneration for the mineral whi ch

he provided . Many were disused after a few months, the reason

alleged being that they were of use only when applied to poor

ores and gypseous gangues . Lercara is the only place wh i chstill works by vapour-fusion .

’

The sulphur is exported either in lumps (ba lla te1) , as it comes

from the moul ds,or it is refined to suit the intended Object.

That used for vin es is ground before exportation ; there a re

mills at a ll the ports, and the expense per qu i ntal reaches onlya few centimes . The powder is stored in sacks .

1 Ea ch ba lla ta weighs 70 rotoli 1 22% lbs . a voir. , a nd two a re a mu le-loa d .


Sicilian sulphur is sufficien tly pure,as a rule

, . to be di rectlyadopted in many chemical a nd industrial processes . For thepharmacy

,however

,for gunpowder

,a nd for other specialties of

techn ology,further refini ng is necessary. This operation is

limi ted on the island by the high price of fuel ; there are onlytwo or three u si nes at Catan ia and at . Porto E u rpedoc h ; more

over, these work irregularly, a nd on a small Scale . T hus therefin ery of Sicil ian and Romagn a sulphurs is carried on almostexclusively abroad .

The prin cipal exporting places are Catan ia,Licata

,Palermo

,

Porto E u rpedoc h ,Terran ova

,a nd Messin a . The following are

the approximate figures of the respective harbours

Catan ia ships quin tals .Licata 46O, 000

Messin aPalermo 78 ,000

Porto E u rpedoc h 9 1 7, 000

Terran ova 200,000

Palermo offers great advantages of freight by mean s of returncoll iers

,but the distan ce of land transport is fatal to all but the

sulphur of Lercara .

1 Messina exports only to the United States ;sulphur forms the heavy cargo, the li ghter being composed of

rags,oi l, a nd a gr umi (sour fruits, lemon s, But if there is

little Shipping of the mineral at Messina,she may be called the

h eadquarters Of the sulphur trade . Embarkation takes place atother harbours

,though there are Often badly protected roads ;

the on ly reason being their n eighbourhood to the min es . Messin a 2 urged upon the Commi ttee a reduction of tariffs on therailways which conn ect it with Catania a nd Leon forte but itwould be hardly fair thus to protect one city when its rivals

,

besides bein g favoured by topographical position,are industri

ou sly/

improving their mean s, of embarkation ,

and are makingefforts to protect Shipping during winter.

“At all the harbours there are merchan ts who make the exporttheir specialty ; they buy up the produce of the smaller mines

,

1 On th e n orthern flank of th e range,which

,runn ing from n orth-n orth-east to

south-south-west, n early bisects th e island . It is a mean town in th e mou n tain s .Licata, t h e southern port, is n earest to th e c en tr a l mines .2 H er chief exports a re fruit

, Oi l, a nd silk .



upon this subject. Wh i le some fear that ou r mineral may besuperseded by other substances

,others hope that the reduced

cost of Sicili an sulphur may enable it to serve the purposes for

which pyrites are n ow generally used.

An attentive examin ation of the question proves that, in thea ctual state of industry, sulphur

‘and pyrites h ave nothing to fear

from each other.Several in dustries, especially the manufactures of sulphuric

acid,do not require pure sulphur in the free state they find it

more econ omical to extract that contained in metallic su lph u res ,especiall y in iron pyrites . On the other han d, it is well known thatextracting pure su lphur from the su lph u res a nd manufacturingsulphuric acid from pure sulphur are practically impossible the

former cou l d never contend again st the Sicili an mines,nor c an

the latter rival the cheap produce of pyrites . As the uses ofthe two are different

,so will be their sources Of supply ; and it

is hard to believe that any change of price can cause con cu r r en cebetween the two .

1

“ A fair proof is the concurrent development of both articles .Between 1 832 a nd 1 872 the produce of the Sicilian mi n es has

quadrupled ; and this was , exactly the time when pyrites beganto be used, and successfully took their place in the manufactureof sulphuric acid.

“These con siderations should S ilence the arguments whi ch contend for the abolition of export duties upon sulphur

,in order to

make it compete with pyrites . The State draws an annualrevenue of some two milli on lire francsand it cannot be expected to yield so legitimate a source of

income,unti l at least assured by competent persons that the

impost is a weight upon,and a damage to, Italian indu stry ,a nd

commerce .”

T o thi s very fair report Mr Consul Denni s adds I have no

notion that the supply of Sicili an sul phur is nearly exhaustedmore deposits are kn own than can be worked. There are manyspots in the heart of the island which abound in the mineral

,but it

1 It would be better to state that sulphur costing above £5 per ton cannot atpresen t compete with pyr ites sold below that price it wou ld soon drive its rivalou t of th e market .


mu st li e useless, for as yet there are n o means of conveying itto the coast for shipmen t. The export Of sulphur has beenincreasing greatly, it is true, from tons in1 855 to in 1 871 , but the export is regula ted rather by the demand in foreign markets thanby the supply .

T h e la rge qu a n ti ty ma defr om i r on pyr i tes of la te yea r s i n ma nyE u r op ea n cou n tr i es h a s

, of cou r se,mu ch lower ed th e dema nd on

S i c i ly. In 1 871 the quantities fell to ton s

but in 1 872 they ralli ed to tons . Thi s qu an tity wasthus distributed

Great Britain a nd h er colon ies took ton s . 1Fran ce

,

Un ited States,Germany a nd Austria

,

Italy a nd th e East,Russia

,

Spain a nd Portugal,

Oth er coun tries,

Grand total, 1 92, 241

I should remark that the quantities stated above are from theofficial returns of the custom-house ; they are probably under

stated to the extent of 25 to 50 per cen t,few exporters dec la r

ing the fu l l quantity or value, a nd the Doganieri having scan tinterest to verify the declarations . The amoun t exported lastyear (1 873) was probably not much under ton s .The great rise of prices in the necessaries of life of late years

,

and the in creased demand for labour, consequent on the c on

struction of railways, harbours, and other public works, havedoubled the price of su lphur in Sicily. But when the networkof railways with which it is proposed to in tersect the island iscompleted

,when the country roads are laid ou t to feed them

,

and when the ports of Girgen ti, Licata, and Catani a, are en

la rged and deepened, so as to accommodate vessels of large size,then it will soon be ascertain ed what treasures of sulphur S icily

still contains .”

1 Brimston e in th e M in ing J ou r na l (September 19, 1 874) made Englandimport i n 1 872 a tota l of ton s bu t in 1 873 on ly tone


In conclusion I would observe that th i s age of national armiesand bloated armamen ts is n ot likely to allow declin e in the use

and the value of sulphur,a nd that nothing can be more unwise

than to rely upon a single source of supply,Sicily

,wh i ch might

at a ny time be closed to us by a Continental war.

RICHARD F. BURTON.

NOTE ON THE COMPAGNIE SOUFRIERE OF THE R ED S EA .

S chwein furth Heart ofAfrica wh en passing down the RedSea

,speaks of the Su lphur Company at Gu ir sa h . Its conces

sion extends over 1 60 miles of coast southwards from CapeSeid. The ore is obtained

'

from gypseous schiste ; and all the

fresh water for the workmen, ofwhom there are Over 300, must

be brought from the Nile .I need hardly remark that if sulphur is found to pay un derthese circumstances, we may expect great things from Iceland.

SECTION VII.

SULPHUR IN TRANSYLVANIA.

According to Mr Charles Boner (p. 312, Transylvaniaits Products and its People

,

” London : L ongma n s, th e

whole district round Bii d'

Os con tai n s rich deposits of su lphur ;a nd yet Hungary draws her supplies from the Papal Statesa nd Sicily ; yielding, as the latter has h i therto don e, a mill iona nd a half hundredweights per annum. So with sulphuric acid

which has played so importan t a part in raising the industryof Europe to its presen t state . A single commercial housein Kron stadt employs nearly 300 cwts .

,and would probably

use more were its price not so high. The sulphuric acid factory at Hermann stadt

,the only on e in the province, uses 300

to 400 cwts . annually. The custom hou se returns for Tran



The district whence the earth was taken is a space of

square fathoms. Allowing for interruptions in thedeposits

,and taki ng these at an average thickness Of three

in ches instead of nine,200 lbs . of sulphur might be Obtained

from every square fathom, even if we suppose the earth to contain only 50 per cent. of the mineral . But we have seen thatit has 6 1 per cent , and, in some cases, nearly 64 per cent. ofsulphur. Con tinuing the calculation

,the district would contain

cwts . Of the precious commodity. Ten years ago,raw su lphur from S icily a nd the Papal States (vid Trieste) cost,i n Hermannstadt

,9—1 flor in s per cwt. Competen t authorities are

of Opinion that it might be produced here for 5 flor in s per cwt. ,inclusive of the carriage from Bi

'

IdOS to Kronstadt . Sulphurcosts more than this in the places where it is produced inPoland, Slavon ia, and Bohemia. Every year the demand forthe article in creases

,for almost “ each year brings with it new

applian ces,a nd Shows how indispen sably necessary it is in the

daily life of civil ised commun ities . We all know what are theprofits arising from chemi cal fabrications ; and I think the factshere given will hardl y fail to attract the attention of those whoare willing to turn their knowledge and spirit of enterprise to

account. For'

IT a n sylva n i a at large, but for Kronstadt especially,it would be of the greatest advan tage to Obtain the article inquestion at a cheaper rate ; for not only might undertakings,wh ich

,as yet

,are but projects

,be call ed into exi stence

,but

others already thriving be considerably enlarged .

SECTION VIII.

EXTRAC TED FROM ADVENTURES AND RESEARCHES AMONG THEANDAMAN ISLANDER S . By FREDERIC J. MOUAT, M.D . ,

E T C . ,E T C . ,

E T C . Hurst Blackett,Publishers,

London,1 863 .

The sulphur on the top of the cone occurs in such quantity int h e cracks and fissures

,often lining them to the thickness of

A SUMMER IN IC ELAND. 403

more than half a n -inch,that the question naturally arises

whether the sulphur cou l d not be worked with advantage .Although in the immediate n eighbourhood of the crater,

where the fissures are numerous,the ground seems to be com

pletely pen etrated with sulphur ; this is so evi dent in otherparts, on ly a few feet lower, where the surface is unbroken .

There are,however

,some reasons which seem to promise that

a search might be successful . In eruptive con es,like that of

Barren Island,there is always a cen tral tube or passage, con

n ec ting the ven t in the crater with the volcani c action in the

interior. In this tube the sulphur,generally in combin ation

with hydrogen,rises in company with the watery vapour, a nd

is partly deposited in the fissures and interstices of the earth

near the vent,the remainder escaping through the apertures .

If in the present case we admit the sensible heat of theground of the upper third of the cone to be principally due to

the conden sation of steam— a process of which we have abun

dant eviden ce in the stream of hot water rush i ng ou t from

underneath the cold lava— i t is not improbable that the wholeof the upper part of the interior of the con e is intersected withspaces a nd fissures fill ed with steam a nd sulphurous vapour,these being sufficiently n ear the surface to permit the heat to

pen etrate . It is therefore n ot un likely that at a moderate depthwe Should find sulphur saturating the volcan ic sand that covers

the outside of the con e .I onl y speak of the outside, as we may con clude from the

eviden ce we have in the rocks of lava in the crater, a nd those

bulging ou t on the side,that the structure of the cone is sup

ported by solid rock nearly to its summit,the ashes covering it

only superficially.

From what has been said above,the probability of sulphur

being found n ear the surface, disposed in such a way as to allow

of its being profitably exhausted, will depend on the foll owing

condi tion s :First

,That the communication of the central canal, through

which the vapours rise, with its outlets, be effected not through

a few large but through many and smaller passages, di stributedthroughout the th i ckness of the upper part of the cone .

404 ULTIMA THULE .

Second,That some of these passages communi cate with the

loose cover of ashes and ston es which envelops the rocky sup

port of the con e .Although I have mention ed some facts which seem to indicate the existen ce of such favourable con ditions

,a nd which are

moreover strengthened by an observation by Captain Campbell,who saw vapour issuing

,a nd sulphur being deposited near

a rocky shoulder,abou t two-thirds of the height

,on the eastern

descen t of the con e ; still their presen ce c a n on ly be ascertainedsatisfactorily by experimen tal

.

digging.

If a prelimin ary experimen t should make it appear a dva n

t ageou s to work the con e regularly, the material about the apex,after being exhausted of the sulphur that is presen t

,could

,by

blasting a nd other operation s,be disposed i n such a way as to

direct the jets of vapour in the most convenien t man n er throughun ch arged portions of ground. If the sulphur should aggregate

in periods of n ot too long duration ,itWould be possible to carry

on the work of filli ng up n ew ground on on e side,a nd taking

away saturated earth on the other at the same time— so that,

after working roun d the whole cir cumferen ce,the earth that had

been first put on wou l d be ready to be taken away.

If the periods should prove too long to allow the work per

ma n en tly to be carried on ,an in terval of time might be allowed

to pass before resumi ng operations .

Water for the labourers could always be Obtained from thewarm spr Ing at the en tran ce of the island .

The distilling,or melting

,of sulphur

,to separate it from

adheren t ea rth,is a matter of comparatively little expen se or

trouble . If the sulphur be abundant,it might be effected as in

Sicily, by using a part of it as fuel . It is not necessary to do iton the spot ; it might be done at any place where bricks andfuel are cheap .


406

Farm-hou se, a, i. 1 45 a rou gh, 11 . 288 .

F inan ce of Icelan d, i . 1 1 0-1 1 2 .

Fish diet for brain -workers,i . 1 90.

Fisheries, 1. 1 89-1 98 .

FjOrS S , th e, popular theory about, i . 49 .

Flora of Iceland, 1. 1 75-1 79.Fox

, t h e, i . 1 70 .

Foula, t h e island of, i. 22, 309 .

Funeral customs,i . 372 .

Gare-fowl, th e, ii . 228 .

Gen esis a nd geology, i . 35 .

Geysir, th e, i . 55, 31 9, ii. 1 69 ; Bunsen on , 1 77 ; Wern er a nd BaringGould on , 1 78 ; decline of th e, 1 83 ;description of, i n eruption

,1 84-1 91 ;

a new Geysir, 222 .

Gran ton , i . 26 9 ; compared with R eykj avik, 269 ; th e cen tral qu ay, 269 ;farewell to group of friends, 26 9 .

Guide,t h e pretty

,ii . 27 ; gu ides, 29 ;

a bad, 21 4 .

Gulf Stream, th e, i . 56 .

H a fn a fj or if, 11 . 87-89 .

Hakon of Norway a nd th e liberty ofIceland

,i . 98 .

Hay-harvest,th e, 11 . 245 .

H a y-making

,i . 1 48 .

Hekla,i . 3 1 5 exaggeration of former

travellers,ii . 1 6 1 ; ascen t of, 1 62 ;

sayings about,1 64 .

H el-viti,gate of

,ii . 1 6 4 .

H erii u brei d, view of, from n orth, 11 . 305 ;volcan o of

, 308 ; ascen t of, gi ven u p,31 1 .

H en c h el’

s report on th e Icelandic sulphur min es, ii . 329-3 43 .

H igh school,deficien cy of education in ,

ii . 5 ; method of teaching, 6 ; theological school, 7 .

H indfi s, faith of th e, i . 93.

Historical n otes, i . 78 .

H ja lt a li n , JOn A . , on th e Dan ish c h ron icles, i . 83 ; on fin an ce, 1 1 0 .

H orse, u se of, by Ic elanders, ii . 33 .

H uman a nd other remain s in Icela nd,paper on , ii . 21 2-220 .

Hydrograph y, i . 53 ; n ames of riversa nd lakes, 54, 55 .

In c h kei th , i . 270 .

Intermarriage, i . 1 35 .

Iron -ore, presen ce of, i . 205 .

Itinerary from R eykj avikt o Hekla a ndth e Geysir, ii . 201 -21 1 ; from Berufj6r5 to M y-vatn , 271 .

John ston , Mr Keith, on volcan ic c ru pti on s, i . 44.

INDEX.

Napoleon , Prin ce, his expedition toIceland

,i . 38 .

Newspapers in Icela nd, 11 . 1 .

John o ’ Groats, i . 275.

JOku lsa River, t h e, ii . 268 ; view of,from H er5u brei5 , 3 09 .

J udi cial procedure,i . 1 20 .

Kergu elen on th e trade of Iceland, 1. 228 .

Kin cardin eshire,coast of, i . 272 .

Ki rkju bae, ruin s of, i . 298 .

Kirkwall visited, i . 282 .

Kissing, th e custom of, i .Kr isu vik sulphur diggings

,t h e

, 1 1 . 1 33

1 35 ; paper on , by C . W . Vin cen t,1 35-1 53 .

L andnamabOk, th e, i . 27 extractsfrom, 78, 79, ii . 50 .

Laug, th e, or reeking spring,Lakes, th e, of Icela nd, i . 54.

L aw, mean ing of, i . 27 1 .

Ledge-springs, th e, ii . 294.

L ei rh nfikr , su lphur springs at, 11 . 282 .

Lempriere on Thule, i . 1 0 .

Leprosy, prevalen ce of, i . 1 53 .

Lerwick, i . 28 1 .

Lich-gate, th e, i . 349 .

L iterature on Iceland, i . 235-260 ; inIcelan d, ii . 2 .

Little H ell,ii . 283 .

L ivingston e familiarly kn own in I c e

land, i . 367 .

Lock,A . G. , a nd th e su lphur diggings,

ii . 297 .

Lord Ki lgobbin , description ofmoors a nd bogs in , i . 293 .

Macculloch on Palagon ite, i . 38 .

Magn us,Cathedral of St, i . 282 .

Magnusson on human remain s in I c eland, i i . 2 18 .

Maori proverb, a, u . 288.

Maps of Icelan d,i. 252 .

Marriage,a check to

,i . 1 48 ; cu stoms

at feast,ii . 31 4

,3 1 5 .

Medicin e,th e study of

,II . 6 .

Mela on Thule, i . 7 .

Merchan t, th e gen eral stock kept by,. i . 233 .

Millenary Festival, th e, i . 1 09 .

Model farm, a, ii. 266 .

Mon ths, n ames of th e, i n Iceland, i . 71 .

Moss,Iceland, i . 203, ii . 75 .

Moun tain s of Iceland,altitude of th e,

i . 41 , 42 .

Mud-springs,1 1 . 296 .

M y-vatn , th e solfatara of, 11 . 279 sportat, 280 .

INDEX .

Nort hmen , cha ra cter of th e, i . 1 38 .

Norwegian s, th e, peopling of Iceland by,

i . 88 .

Obsidian , where found, 1 1 . 285.

Old M a n of Hoy, t h e, i . 280 .

Orcadian min ister, prayer by, i . 279 .

Palagon ite, th e, of Iceland, i . 35-38 .

Papac , th e, i . 27 D a sen t’

s rema rkson

,28 , ii . 31 0 .

Peat a nd coal,i . 294.

Peewits, i i . 46 .

Pen tlan d Skerries, th e, i . 276 F irth,t h e

, 276 .

Person al appea ran ce of Icelanders, i .

Physical geography of Iceland, i. 35.

Picture,a n Icelandic, described, ii . 1 6 .

Piracy,th e practice of, i . 89 .

Pliny on Th ule, i . 8 .

Political geography, i . 1 1 3 .

Popu l ation of Icelan d, i . 1 1 5, 1 24-1 29 .

Pon ies,export of th e, i . 224, ii. 30 ;

prices of th e, 31 method of riding,37 difficulties i n shoeing, 39

method of putting on board, 44.

Postal arrangemen ts, i . 200 , 201 , 223 .

Prin ting presses, n umber of th e, ii . 2 .

Profession s, i . 1 62-1 69 .

Pruden tius Aurelius on Thu le, i . 3 .

Ptolemy on Thule, i . 9 .

Radical Road (Arthur ’s Seat), i . 270 .

Raven , th e, ii . 243 .

Reformation , th e, its effect on th e

n ation al mind, i . 238, 374, 375 .

Reindeer, th e, i. 1 70 .

Reykholt Kirk, Inven tory of, ii . 70 .

Reykir, ii . 1 57 .

R eykja nes , i . 31 8 , 322, 323 .

R eykj a h l i ti Church, ii . 286 .

Reykjavik, i . 59 appearan ce of, fromt h e sea , 325 ; description of, 326-380S u nday i n ,

348, 357 trades a nd profession s, 363 riding saddles, ii . 41fishermen of, 44 th e pier, 45.

Road-making in Iceland, i . 52 .

Roc, th e, ii. 228 .

Roman s,th e, their kn owledge of I c e

land , 1. 21 remain s of, 30.R on a ldsh aw,

i . 278 .

Run ic writing, i . 288 ; alphabet, ex

plan ation of, 288 .

agas, th e, 1 . 95, 1 31 ; a Saga hero

realised, 1 1 . 325 .

Salmon fishing, th e, i . 1 94, 1 97 salmon grou nd, 11 . 59 .

407

Scandinavian curse, a, 11 . 1 05 sa vagepun ishmen ts by, 1 06 .

a nd pillars, ii. 270c h ools i n Iceland, 1 1 . 4.

Seal, t h e, ii. 242 .

Sen eca on Thule, i 2 .

Servius on Thule, I. 2 .

Shaffn er, Colon el, a nd Atlantic telea h ii . 73 .

S hgarklzal

t

dead, ii . 237.

Shark-hun ting,ii . 236 .

Sheep,i . 1 86 .

Shetland, life in ,i. 295 ; Shetlanders,

personal appearan ce of th e, 295 .

Sibbald,Sir Robert

,on Thule a part

of Great Britain , i . 1 1 .

Simpson , Sir James, his archaeologicalresearches, i . 279 .

Skalds, th e, i . 97 poetry of, 237 .

Ska ptarjOku ll , eruption of th e, i . 46 .

Sledging, ii. 260 .

Smallpox, ravages of th e, i . 1 52 .

Smoking, in a nd ou t of fashion ,i . 362 .

Sh ae-land, on th e mean ing of, i. 76 .

S n aefell, i . 323 , ii . 78, 96 .

Sn akes,on th e absen ce of, from I c e

land,i . 1 73 .

Snuff boxes, t h e manufacture of, 11 . 1 6 .

Society, i . 1 41 -1 48 .

Solan goose,t h e, i . 31 7 .

Spinn ing, i . 1 98 .

ton eh enge, a theorycon cern ing, 11 . 1 06 .

tone of Iceland,i . 51 .

tone implemen ts found i n Iceland,ii . 20 .

Ston e weapon s,l l . 20 .

Store,t h e

,i . 225 .

Strabo on Thule, i . 3 .

S t rokkr, th e, ii . 1 81 .

Stromness, museum at, i . 290 .

S tykki sh é lm, climate of, i . 63, 11 . 1 01 .

Sulphur, i . 1 71 ; diggings, th e, 1 71 ; atKr i su vi k, ii . 133, 1 35 disused, 292mou n tain , 295 pure, 295 commerc i a l value of, 296 diggings leased byMr Lock, 297 importation of

,299 ;

prospects of trade in , 300 .

u lph u r in Iceland, ii. 329 min es atKr i su vik

,329 at My-vatn , 335

at H li tia rnama r , 340 T h eyst a r

reykj a mines, 340 ; refin ing of t h esulphur, 342 ; Sir G. S . Macken z ieon , 344 Con sul Crowe’s report on ,

345 ; Captain Bu rton ’s n otes on MrVin cen t ’s aper on , 348 C. C . Blakeon

,352 easing con tract for, 378

report of t h e Althing on,381 ; i n

Sicily, 390 ; on R ed S ea , 400 ; in

Tran sylvan ia, 400 in AndamanIslands, 402 .

408 INDEX .

Su nday in Iceland, i . 348 .

Service i n chur ch, i . 352 , 353, 357 .

Swan ,song of th e, ii . 31 3 .

Taxation ,i . 1 1 9, 209 , 21 5 .

Taylor ’s Etruscan Researches oritic i sed, 1 1 . 1 07 .

T elegr a ph y, ,i i . 73 .

Ten ts for travel, ii . 43 .

Theology, t h e stu dy of, 11 . 7 .

Things,th e, i . 90-92 .

T h ingva l la va tn Lake, 11 . .1 93 .

Thor a nd Christ, i . 94 .

Thorvaldsen a n Icelander, i . 350, 351 .

Thule,of

,i . 1 prin cess of, a nd king

of,1 political a nd rhetorical, 1 , 2

Strabo,Mela, Pliny, a nd Ptolemy

on ,3-1 1 part of Great Britain

,

1 1 -23 ; as Scandia, 23-25 ; a s I c e

l a nd, 25-32 ; etymology of, 32.

Tom Noddy, th e, i . 31 6 .

Trades in Iceland, i . 1 25 .

Trout fishing,abou t

,i . 1 97 .

Tyndall,Professor, on Palagon ite, i . 37

on th e M er de Glace, 43 ; on a ctivevolcan oes, 49 .

OF VOL . I I .

M‘Fa r la ne dc E r skine, Pr i n ter s , E di nbu rgh .

Va tn a j oku ll , crossing Of th e, 11 . 231 ;view of t h e, 258 su dden fogs on

th e, 31 5.

Vesu viu s, eru ption of, i . 47 .

Virgil on Thule, i, 2 .

Volcan ic ashes,i . 50 .

Wallace, th e, of Iceland, 11 . 1 24.

Waterproof for Iceland,n ote, i . 26 1 .

Watts, Mr, on t h e Va tnajOku ll , II.

2 32 .

Weaving, i . 1 98 .

Weights a nd measu res, th e n a tion al,i . -21 8 .

Wild oats,story regarding

, in Iceland,ii . 296 .

Windmill, a, ii. 233 .

Yankee traveller, th e, i . 356 .

Zoological n otes a nd sport, i . 1 69-1 75 .

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