MOUNT IIECLA. 25 



cinders, scoriae, pumice stone, and other volcanic results, whilst here 

 and there it rose into little hills and eminences, which were of greater 

 size in proportion to their vicinity to the base of the mountain. These 

 eminences, which were hollow within, were craters through which the 

 subterraneous fire had at different times run. The largest of them, 

 called Raud-Oldur, was described by Sir Joseph Banks, as a crater, 

 with an opening half a mile in circumference, and about one hundred 

 and forty feet deep, having its western side destroyed ; what remained 

 being entirely composed of ashes, cinders, and pieces of lava, in various 

 states. Near to this crater the party pitched their tents, in the midst of 

 a scene of almost inconceivable horror and desolation. 



When they continued their route, and came to the rampart already 

 described as surrounding the base of Hecla, they experienced considera- 

 ble difficulty in climbing and crossing it, for they frequently found the 

 lava lying in detached masses, with deep holes between them. Having 

 at length surmounted this difficulty, they found themselves on compara- 

 tively easy ground, and continued their ascent on their western side. 

 Soon, however, they were somewhat alarmed, by hearing a cracking 

 beneath their feet. On stooping to examine whence this proceeded, they 

 discovered that the whole mountain was composed of loose materials, 

 easily broken, of sand and pumice stone, lying in horizontal strata, 

 every where full of fissures. Still continuing their ascent, they passed 

 over a series of sloping terraces, and perceived that ihe sides of the 

 mountain, from its summit to its base, were deeply scarred with ravines, 

 formed originally by the descent of lava, but now serving as water 

 courses and beds for the winter torrents. It was night when they 

 gained the summit, and stood beside the great crater, on a spot covered 

 with ice and snow. The snows are not, however, of the nature of 

 glaciers, as, except such portions as lie in hollows and clefts, they 

 generally melt in the course of the summer. The cold at this time 

 (June) was so exceedingly severe, that the clothes of the travellers were 

 covered wiih ice, and as stiff as buckram ; the water which they carried 

 with them, was all frozen. Here and there on the mountain top, they 

 found great heat issuing from the ground, and melting the snow for a 

 little space round its vent. One of these spaces was so hot, from steam 

 and smoke, that they could not remain on it; but they nowhere saw 

 traces of the dangerous bogs, the water-falls, the hot springs shooting 

 in every direction, or the devouring flames which the natives had stated 

 to exist. 



The silence and the solitude of the spot were awful. It was midnight, 



