THE GEYSERS. 39 



that seemed to contain a good deal of iron. No smoke then issued from 

 any part of the island, but wherever the visitors dug a little in the plane 

 a strong heat with smoke escaped. There remained, however, asraall lake, 

 the waters of which seemed, from the steam rising on the surface, to be still 

 boiling; these waters had changed their color from yellow to a brownish 

 black. In a few months this island had disappeared, and the sea 

 between Sciacca and Pantellaria was perfectly clear. 



THE GEYSERS, OR HOT SPRINGS OF ICELAND, 



NEAR to the Volcanic Mountains of Iceland, the traveller frequently 

 finds his course interrupted by frightful ruts in the earth, and deep 

 fissures in the lava. He treads upon ground which sounds hollow 

 beneath his feet, and then he frequently hears the rushing of water in 

 the chasms over which he is walking, and at other times, where aper- 

 tures occur on the thin crust of the earth, he sees steam issuing from the 

 subterranean conduits, and towering in the air. 



The volcanic fires which pour forth such terrific eruptions from 

 Mount Hecla. the yokuls and other craters, though, generally speaking, 

 they do not exert their fiery energies, except after intervals of years, are 

 not yet extinct, but burning, unseen, extend far from the craters them- 

 selves, and convert the waters that flow near them into boiling fluid, 

 and highly rarified vapour, which, at certain vents, maintain perennial 

 eruptions. Instead of fire, smoke, liquid lava, lapilla and ashes, those 

 vents, or aqueous craters, discharge columns of steam, and spouts of 

 boiling water, and instead of years, in most cases, only a few hours inter- 

 vene between the efforts. The most important of these issues is at Hanka- 

 dal, considerably in the rear of Hecla, whose three snow clad summits, 

 towering over a ridge of intervening hills, are, however, visible from the 

 spot. Here, within a very limited space, are some dozens of Geysers; 

 the clouds of vapour they are constantly emitting being visible at the 

 distance of several miles. The term " Geyser" is derived from the 

 Icelandic verb, " Geysa, to rage, to burst forth violently." The most 

 important of the fountains at Hankadal, is called the " Great Geyser." 

 It is surrounded by a large circular mound, formed by the earth and 

 matter it has ejected and deposited during the course of ages. Inter- 



