74 ICELAND. 



breadth was nearly twelve miles ; and in its course it dried up the ri- 

 ver Shaptaga, which in some places Is thirty, and in others six-and 

 thirty, feet deep." 



In the month of April, of the same year, a volcanic island arose out 

 of the sea, to the south of Iceland, which threw out fire from two of 

 its eminences, and continued to increase in size for some time, but 

 at length disappeared. 



Of the lakes of Iceland, that called Thingvalla Vatu,in the south- 

 west, said to be about forty miles in circuit, and Mv Vatu, in the op- 

 posite part of the island, appear to be the principal. The chief ri- 

 vers are the Skalfanda, the Oxarfird, and the Brua, which flow from 

 south to north. 



Minerals, fossils. ...No mines are worked in Iceland, though large 

 pieces of silver, copper, and iron ore, have been found on the surface 

 of the ground. The principal minerals are sulphur, pumice, zeolite, 

 calcedony, and malachite, or copper stalactites. The substance call- 

 ed surturbrand is a remarkable fossil : it is evidently wood, not quite 

 petrified, but indurated, which drops asunder as soon as exposed to 

 the air. It is found at a great depth, and indicates trees to have been 

 once much more plentiful in the island than they are at present. 



Climate, soil... .The temperature of the air in Iceland, in its or- 

 dinary state, is moderate : the cold of winter is not rigorous ; but the 

 weather in summer is subject to great inequalities ; and violent tem^ 

 pests, accompanied sometimes' with piercing cold, frequently destroy 

 the fruits of the earth. The soil is tolerably fruitful in grass but 

 differs according to different situations, being in some places sandy? 

 and in others a stiff clay. 



Vegetables, animals. ..Jn so rude a climate as that of this coun- 

 try, no species of corn can be cultivated with advantage ; and agricul- 

 ture is h-irdly known, except in the manuring of some pasture grounds, 

 and the planting of a few potatoes, turnips, and cabbages, that may be 

 found in five or six small gardens. 



Though there are indubitable proofs that Iceland formerly pro- 

 duced great quantities of timber, there are now very few trees to be 

 found on the whole island, and those of a very stinted growth. 



Iceland has no wild quadrupeds, except rats, wild cats, and white 

 and brown foxes. The horses are small, but 'stout and serviceable. 

 Birds are extremely numerous ; there are several kinds of falcons, 

 swans, and eiderducks, which furnish the inhabitants with eggs, and 

 a very valuable clown. 



Natural curiosities.. ..Among the curiosities of Iceland none are 

 more worthy of attention than the hot spouting-water springs with 

 which this island abounds. Some of these throw up columns of 

 water, of several feet in thickness, to the height, as many affirm, of 

 several hundred feet. They are of an unequal degree of heat. From 

 some the water flows gently, as from other springs, and it is then 

 called a bath : from others boiling water spouts with great noise, and 

 it is then called a kettle. Though the degree of heat is unequal, yet 

 Dr. Van Trail says that he does not remember ever to have observed 

 it under 188 of Fahrenheit's thermometer. At Geyser, Rceynum, and 

 Laugarvatu. he found it at 212 (the boiling heat) and in the last place, 

 in the ground, in a small hot current of water, at 213 degrees. It is 

 very common for some of the spouting-springs to cease, and others 

 to rise up in their stead. Frequent earthquakes, and subterranean 

 noises, heard at the time, cause great terror to the people who live 



