598 



NATURE 



{Oct, 3, 1878 



Two short accounts of the eruption have been pub- 

 lished in Icelandic, the one by Prof. Hallgrimson, the 

 other by Herr Nielsens. These have been translated for 

 me by Herr Matthias Jockumsson, of Reykjavik, to whom 

 I beg to express my acknowledgments. According to 

 Hallgrimson there are fourteen small craters situated in 

 a line passing from west-south-west to east-north-east, 

 which line, if prolonged, would pass through the centre of 

 the craters on the summit of Hekla. The distance be- 

 tween the extreme craters of February 27 is about 6,000 

 feet. The lava flowed more than a mile to the south of 

 the largest of the new craters, but the main stream 

 flowed to the north and north-east, and nearly reached 

 the Mountain Valaknukr, 



Nielsens approached the scene of the eruption, a 

 month after its commencement, from the north-west, and 

 passing between Valafell and Valaknukr, he went due 

 south to Krakatinkr, along the eastern edge of the new 

 lava. From the summit of Krakatinkr he looked down 

 into the principal crater, and saw that it opened towards 

 the east, and that its sides were almost perpendicular. 

 The lava within it was seen to be agitated by a wavy 

 motion like the billows of the sea, and a stream of glowing 

 lava was moving towards the south. A good deal of 

 vapour was apparent, and loud noises, as of the roaring 

 of the sea. The valley is most steep, in a line which 

 passes north-west and south-east from Raudfossafyall ; 

 here, consequently, was the greatest depth of lava. The 

 stream varies from 10 to 100 feet in thickness, and in 

 some places it has burrowed beneath the snow and ice. 

 The lava is almost black in colour, and closely resembles 

 the old Hekla lavas in texture ; as it cooled it split up 

 with great noise and commotion. 



Nielsens again visited the neighbourhood of the new 

 crater on June 9. The lava had not increased in quantity 

 since the beginning of April, but columns of vapour still 

 arose from it, and small quantities of ashes and of pumice 

 had fallen during April and May. He crossed the warm 

 lava and managed to ascend the largest crater, which 

 was found to be 90 feet in depth and about 100 feet in 

 circumference. 



Two days after our visit to the scene of the eruption of 

 February 27 we ascended Mount Hekla from the south- 

 west. The general details of the ascent I now copy from 

 my journal, hoping at some future time to produce them 

 in a less desultory form, and to give an account of the 

 analysis of some of the lavas of Hekla. 



We left Galtaloekr Farm at 9.40 A.M., taking with us G. 

 Zoega, a guide from Reykjavik, together with the occupant 

 of the Noefbolt Farm, on the flanks of Hekla. (Route b b 

 on the map). Having crossed the Vestri-Rdngd, we pro- 

 ceeded nearly due south, passed the Noefholt Farm, near 

 which we came upon the lava of 1845 ; and then passed 

 over some very rough lava- strewn ground covered with 

 volcanic ash, which concealed holes into which the 

 ponies sometimes stumbled and fell. The lava of 1845 

 is covered with the same moss which we noticed on the 

 old lava near the crater of 1878, which causes it to look 

 much older. When the ascent became greater, we left 

 the ponies. Distance to foot of steep incline about seven 

 miles from Galtaloekr. Followed the southern boundary 

 of the lava-field of 1845, until we reached a steep incline 

 which we ascended. Crossed a small portion of the old 

 lava field, then a tract covered with volcanic ashes, and 

 finally found ourselves at the bottom of a steep slope 

 covered with snow, beneath which water was heard 

 rushing downwards. The ascent of this slope without 

 alpenstocks was not easy. Several other snow slopes 

 were crossed, and we then found ourselves near the 

 crater of 1845 — the most westerly of the four craters on 

 the summit of Hekla. Above this we saw a crater with 

 a red smoking mound within it ; then in succession the 

 third and fourth craters, and beyond the most easterly 

 crater a nearly level snow-covered waste full of lava 



blocks. From the most easterly extremity of this, which 

 was reached at 2.30 p.m., we looked down upon the 

 principal crater of 1878. The summit of Hekla is covered 

 with much ash, sand, an:l red pumice, together with 

 lavas of every degree of compactness, from the most 

 vesicular up to obsidian. The descent over the snow- 

 slopes was troublesome, on account of their steepness 

 and the slipperiness of the snow, but we regained the 

 spot at which we had left the ponies at 5 P.M. 



Hekla was ascended for the first time in the year ITJO. 

 The difficulties of the ascent have been much exagge- 

 rated subsequently. Many travellers have made no 

 attempt to scale the mountain. Even the "American 

 in Iceland," who was in ^the neighbourhood of Hekla 

 only three years ago, asserts that " the obstacles, 

 real and imaginary, stated to be in the way, such as 

 tortuous and difficult paths, swollen rivers, depth of 

 snow, treacherous bogs, and the evident indisposition of 

 the guides, perhaps from superstitious fears, to make the 

 attempt, compelled us to turn our backs upon this snowy 

 monarch of Iceland." Other writers speak of the " fear- 

 ful precipices " and of places where "a slip would be to 

 roll to destruction." 



The fact is, it is quite an easy mountain to climb, in 

 witness whereof I may mention the very abnormal con- 

 ditions under which I ascended it. The day preceding 

 our ascent had been extremely wet, and there was at 

 least a possibility of a downpour on the day itself ; more- 

 over, there were streams to ford, and I had consequently 

 put on waterproof wading stockings, and the usual accom- 

 paniment of thick iron-clad wading clogs, which, although 

 the most cumbrous things in the world to walk in, are 

 well suited for riding in the humid cUmate of Iceland. 

 If the steepness and length of the ascent had required 

 it, of course I should have left these encumbrances with 

 the ponies, but it was quite unnecessary, and I accom- 

 plished the ascent without difficulty in this unwieldy 

 equipment. Surely a mountain of this height was never 

 before ascended in clogs and waders, and the fact of its 

 being possible to do so without inconvenience, is a suffi- 

 cient answer to those who would make the ascent of 

 Hekla a dangerous and difficult feat. 



G. F. RODWELL 



NOTES 



The moderation in tone of Viscount Cardwell's short address 

 at the opening of Owens College, makes his estimate of the 

 position of that institution all the more worthy of acceptance. 

 He is inclined to regard it as the most singular acquisition to the 

 academical strength of the county since the middle ages ; and 

 we venture to think that one chief reason why it occupies so 

 distinguished a position is the completeness, the all-roundness of 

 the education which it furnishes. There, science and letters are 

 on an equal footing, and it will only be when this is the case in 

 all our educational institutions that the educational apparatus of 

 the country will be thoroughly efficient. The fact that Owens 

 College now administers funds exceeding 400,000/., all obtained 

 from private sources, is one proof that it fills a great want. We 

 have on previous occasions spoken of its claims to be erected 

 into a university. The tone of Lord Carnarvon's address at 

 Saltaire, was in effect similar to that of Lord Cardwell ; educa- 

 tion is incomplete unless aU our faculties have equally fair play. 



According to the Naples correspondent of the Times, Prof. 

 Palmieri does not think there is any likelihood of a violent 

 eruption of Vesuvius. The mountain has been in an eruptive 

 state for two years ; the cup is fuU, and must run over, but will 

 probably do so quietly. The state of Vesuvius gives some m- 

 terest to the project of the construction of a railway intended to 

 conduct travellers from Naples to the margin of the crater. The 

 scheme, proposed by a Neapolitan banker, has just been adopted. 



