Oti the Glaciers and Climate of Iceland. 293 



Currents of air whicli blow over the whole land, and over high 

 ranges of hills, and numerous fields of ice, would, therefore, 

 only tend to injure the climate of the south-western regions, 

 and to depress the mean temperature. Hence the above- 

 mentioned difi'erence between the temperatures of Reykjavik 

 and Akureyre cannot thus be explained. The weather, durmg 

 the spring and summer which we spent in Iceland, was so 

 extremely unfavourable for us, that it overthrew many of our 

 plans ; but the autumn was somewhat more favourable. 



It has already been remarked, by various other writers, 

 that the conditions of the weather in Iceland are entirely the 

 reverse of those in the European continent. The last few 

 years afford an interesting confirmation of this remark. The 

 winter of 1844-5 was, as is well known, extremely protracted 

 and severe on the Continent of Europe, while, on the con- 

 trary, it was unusually mild in Iceland. The summer of 

 1845 was dry and fine in Iceland, but rainy, and, with the 

 exception of a few days, cold in the middle of Europe. In 

 the last year, matters were entirely reversed. We had un- 

 interruptedly bad weather in Iceland, while, on the contrary, 

 in Europe, very unusual dryness and heat prevailed. 



Great changeableness of weather is a characteristic fea- 

 ture of the Icelandic climate. Rain alternates with sunshine 

 through the whole summer, as it does with us during the 

 months of March and April. Entirely tranquil, calm wea- 

 ther forms the exception ; while storms of the most terrific 

 character, and of fearfullv-devastating force, and which carry 

 everything before them, are very common. These often place 

 the traveller in very critical and dangerous positions, or at 

 least in circumstances accompanied with many hardships and 



difficulties. 



We experienced one of the most terrible of these storms 

 on the 8th of June, on the Hvalfiorder, at Thyrill, in a region 

 which is notorious for them, and which has already been 

 pointed out by Olafsen* as dangerous. The one which we 



* Reise durch Island, vol. i., § 4. Thyrill is a round, very high, steep, and 

 prominent hill-top, at the inner extremity of the inlet which has just been 

 mentioned. It is so named because the air frequently whirls around it, and 



