TRAVELS THROUGH ICELAND. 



75 



with holes, clefts, and caverns; some of them are used as shel- 

 ters for sheep ; and one of the caverns, situated near the fishery 

 of Oendvertnoeus, is considered unfathomable. On entering, it 

 forms a number of sinuosities, and doubtless extends as far as the 

 sea. It is certain that this, as well as the other caverns near it, 

 owe their origin to the cause already mentioned, namely, the 

 passage of burning lava. 



JOURNEY TO THE GLACIER. 



We at length, after much trouble, reached the Glacier on 

 horseback, and found that our barometer had already fallen two 

 inches. We continued our route for some time over tolerably 

 level ice; but at last it became lumpy, and we were obliged to 

 advance on foot. The farther we proceeded, the more irregu- 

 larity we observed in our compass ; insomuch, that we soon 

 found it could not be relied on. The weather was finer than we 

 expected, the air being calm and without fog, while the rays of 

 the suu were only intercepted by thin clouds. The ice did not 

 reflect like a mirror, and the cold was so severe, that the warmth 

 of the sun was imperceptible: the air became more and more 

 light; and, though the ascent was not very steep, we felt our- 

 selves oppressed. The mercury in our barometer at length fell 

 so low, that it began to flow out of the bowl, which was occa- 

 sioned, not only by the external air, but also by that contained 

 within the tube. 



After some difficulty in passing crevices and fractures in the 

 ice, we reached in safety the summit of the glacier: it forms three 

 peaks, each of which is about fifty fathoms in height. These 

 peaks appeared to be inaccessible, particularly as some snow had 

 lately fallen, and began to freeze; we nevertheless overcame these 

 obstacles, and escaladed the eastern peak, by means of our pointed 

 sticks and cutlasses, with which we made a path in the ice. We 

 could not carry the barometer, but on putting it down, we observed 

 that it had already fallen to three inches and nine lines ; as to the 

 thermometer and compass, we continued to convey them. It 

 was nine o'clock in the morning, and the sun shone in all its splen- 

 dour ; notwithstanding which, the cold was so excessive, that we 

 could scarcely resist it: the thermometer fell to the 24th degree; 

 it must be a very cold winter in Iceland to produce such an effect, 

 and it is, therefore, not surprizing that it should freeze with the 

 utmost severity on the glacier in that season, since it is so cold 

 there in summer. It would be superfluous to attribute the cause 

 of this severity to an abundance of nitrous particles, as many learned 

 men have already expatiated on the subject. 



The compass was uncommonly irregular : the needle did not 

 point to any particular part, but moved repeatedly from one side 



K 2 



