Fod sees en Hule i Havbrynet; den benævnes Klettshellir, 

 og er et af de mange Vidnesbyrd om Havets Virkninger 

 paa Rysterne, paa hvilke Færøernes og Islands Rlippe- 

 strande ere saa rige. Taagen ligger over Havet og stenger 

 Udsigten til Island selv, med de store Jøkler. 



Vende vi fra Ankerpladsen Blikket rundt; saa se vi 

 mod Syd eller Sydvest den lille, men regelmæssige. nu ud- 

 slukto Vulkan Helga/ett. Den 23de Juli 1876 gjorde jeg, 

 i. Følge med Distriktslægen, Tborsteinn Jonsson, en Tur 

 til Toppen af Helgafell. Vejen .mk forst over en udstrakt 

 Lava-Mark, "hraun", der skraaner nedad fra Vulkanens 

 Kegle. I denne Lava findes flere Huler. En af dem er 

 sine 20 Meter lang og 10 Meter bred: ovenfra kommer 

 man ned i den gjennem et lidet Hul, gjennem hvilket man 

 kan hoppe ned paa Bunden. I en Højde af omtrent 124 

 Meter over Havet ophørte Lavamarken og afløstes af den 

 øverste Vulkan- eller Aske-Regle. Denne bestaar af ud- 

 kastede løse Masser, tildels af større Dimensioner. som 

 Lavablokke af indtil 1 Meters Længde. men hovedsagelig 

 af mindre, aflangt runde, rødlige Slaggestene og endnu 

 mindre, mørke Smaasten og Sand. 



Paa Toppen af Helgafell er der en kraterformet For- 

 dybning. Den største Højde af Krater-Randen ligger mod 

 Sydost. den laveste mod Nordvest. Forskjel i Hojde c. 

 12 Meter. Kraterets Buud ligger igjen omtrent 12 Meter 

 lavere end Bandens laveste Parti. Reglens ydre Skraaning 

 har en Heldning af c. 35". Den er kortest paa Sydsiden, 

 hvor de lose Materialier ikke række saa langt ned som paa 

 Nordsiden, og fra hvilken Side derfor ogsaa Bestigniii^ni 

 er lettest. 



Hojden af det Punkt, hvor Reglen rækker længst ned 

 paa Nordsiden og hvor Lavamarken begynder, samt Hojden 

 af den højeste Ram paa Helgafells Rrater er beregnet elter 

 Observationer med Aneroidbarometer. Dette sammenligne- 

 des med Observationerne ombord (der udførtes hver Time), 

 idet jeg aflæste det ved Havfladen før og eiter Opstigningen. 

 Desuden anbragtes de ved Undersøgelsen paa det meteoro- 

 logiske Institut bestemte Correctioner for forskjellige Høj- 

 der. Luftens Temperatur maaltes med Slyngethermometer. 

 Ved Stranden var den 0.°2 til 0.°3 højere end ombord i 

 "Vøringen". De til Normalbarometer og Normalthermo- 

 nicter reducerede observerede Værdier vare: 



there at the summit the eve rests refreshed upon grassy 

 patches of the rich bright-green tint peculiar to the 

 island herbage of north-western Europe. At the foot of 

 the cliff we *see a cave, called Klettshellir : it is one of the 

 striking proofs given by the sea of its action on eoasts, of 

 which so many are to be met with along the rocky shores 

 of the Færoes and Iceland A mist lies over the ocean, 

 shutting out from view the main land of Iceland. with its 

 great glaciers. 



Bearing south, or rather south-west, from the anchor- 

 age, we have the small, but in form regular, and now ex- 

 tinct volcano Helgafell. On the 23rd of June. 1876. I 

 made an excursion to the top of this mountain, in com- 

 pany with the surgeon of the district, Mr. Thorsteinn Jons- 

 son. The way led at first over-, a tøroad expanse of lava. 

 hraun. shelving down from the cone of the volcano. In 

 the lava are a numher of caves. To one of these, measu- 

 ring 60 feet in length by 30 in width. access is gained 

 from above through a narrow opening, down which you 

 can leap to the bottom. The field of lava reaches about 

 370 feet above the sea. as far as the upper cone of the 

 volcano. This cone consists partly of loose ejected masses, 

 for instance blocks of lava measuring as mucli as 3 feet in 

 length. but chiefly of reddish oval-shaped cinders. aloiig 

 with dark-coloured pebbles and sand. 



At the summit of Mount Helgafell there is a crater- 

 like excavation. The height of the edge is greatest towards 

 the south-east. least towards the north-west, the difference 

 being about 40 feet. The bottom of the excavation lies 

 about 40 feet beneath the lowest part of the edge. The 

 outer slope of the cone inclines at an angle of circa 35°. 

 It is shortest mi the south-side, where the loose clebris do 

 not extend so far down as on the north, and up the southeru 

 acclivitv the ascent of the mountain is therefore easiest. 



The altitude of the lowest point to which the wall 

 of the cone descends on the north side, viz. where the field 

 of lava begins, as also of the loftiest ridge of the crater, 

 was computed from observations with the aneroid barometer. 

 The readings of the instrument at the le vel of the sea. 

 which I noted before and after the ascent, were compared 

 with the observations on board, tåken every hour. and the 

 corrections found at the Meteorological Institute for diffe- 

 rent altitudes duly applied. The temperature of the atmo- 

 sphere was tåken with the sling thermometer. Along the 

 shore it was from 0.°2 to 0.°3 higher than on board the 

 "Vøringen." The observed values reduced to those of the 

 standard barometer and standard thermometer, were as 

 folio ws : — 



1. Foden af Reglen (Foot of Cone) RI. 7* (i"' p. ni. 

 Havfladen (Sea-level) „ „ — 

 Resultat. Højde (Resalt. Hright ) = 124 Meter (Mestres). 



2. Toppen af Helgafell (Summit of EelgafeW) RI. 7 A 22™ p. m. 

 Eavftaden f SeaAevel I „ „ — 

 Resultat. Hojde (Rex alt. Height) ■-= 240.» Meter. (Metres). 



Bar. reduc. 736.'»"'7 



— 747. 9 



— — 726. 35 



— — 747. 9 



Temp. 8.° 5 C. 



— 9. 5 



— 6. 7 



— 9. 4 



