History of Animal Plagues. 515 



and pumice had totally destroyed the foce of vegetation ; where 

 a stinking and suffocating smoke^ accompanied by tempests, con- 

 tinual lightnings, thunder, and noises in the air, heavy subter- 

 raneous reports and dreadful shocks of earthquakes, obscured the 

 atmosphere; where a terrific stream of fire, a melted mass of 

 lava, had urged its impetuous course; in short, where all the 

 most fearful phenomena in nature had concentrated themselves, 

 as it were, in one spot, it was common to see the animals run- 

 ning about the pastures as if in a state of madness; and I am 

 credibly informed, that many of them, unable to find food, or 

 even shelter to defend themselves from the surroundinji horrors, 

 in a fit of desperation, plunged into the fire. The cows were in 

 many instances secured and fed in stalls, but the sheep and horses 

 were dispersed in such a manner, that scarcely half of the original 

 number could again be collected. All the quadrupeds of the 

 island had thriven wonderfully, and gained strength, during the 

 mild winter and beautiful spring of 1783, but this did not prevent 

 them from dyiner off in considerable numbers durino- the week or 



.0 O 



fortnight immediately subsequent to the eruption, with inflam- 

 matory diseases caused by the poisonous quality of the food. 

 Such was particularly the case with the sheep, of which, in the 

 district of Skaptefield, it was remarked that, whereas in Iceland 

 they generally walked facing the wind, they now regularly turned 

 away from it ; naturally anxious to avoid the strong sulphureous 

 smell, which the infected breezes brought along with them. 



'As the cold, too, at a distance from the fire, was unusually 

 piercing, they instinctively approached the current of lava, by 

 which many of them were overwhelmed and destroyed, in spite 

 of all the exertions that were made to save tliem. Nor was the 

 situation of the cows and horses much better; for, although the 

 disease was to them not equally fatal, yet they became excessively 

 lean, and, even in the best season of the year, the cows gave 

 scarcely any milk. It was the same beyond the West Skaptefield 

 district, and Indeed nearly throughout the whole island. It was 

 still further remarked in different parts of Iceland, during the 

 sunnner of 1783, that the sheep, in diixrt ()])p()siti()n to the ex- 

 perience of the inhabitants, and to the supposed natural pro- 

 pensity of the animals themselves, avoided the dry elevated places, 



