16 



OLAfSEN AND POVEI.SEn's 



to the other. Sometimes, instead of pointing to the north, it 

 turned to the west, and there remained motionless ; and if it wer€ 

 made to change by the finger, it quavered a little, and then set- 

 tled at a point directly opposite to that from which it had been 

 moved It, however, did not go beyond certain limits ; for it 

 remained in the northern semicircle, between the east and west, 

 but never removed to the south side. 



\S hat is properly called the Glacier has been melted on the 

 south side, and is full of crevices extending in a parallel direction; 

 we did not, however, observe any towards the west; but we saw 

 one which reached transversely to the summit, and had a horrible 

 aspect, on account of its depth, which made it appear entirelv 

 green. It is so extensive, that it seems to cut diametrically a 

 third of the mountain ; and its depth is so great, that we could 

 not discover the bottom. As far as we could see, we observed 

 many other crevices, extending longitudinally and perpendicularly, 

 but 'hey were all of a very inferior size to the one just described. 



The Glacier has evidently been the cause of the subterraneous 

 fire which has overthrown the promontory on all sides; its present 

 construction sufficiently proves this; for there may be seen in every 

 direction several vast spots, formed of scoria; while in others, 

 the soil is in some parts level, and occasionally exhibits banks 

 of sand, and white, red, and black pummiee-stone, mixed with 

 ashes and pebbles. 



R E TURN FROM THE GLACIER. 



There was ho bog on this part of the summit of the Glacier, 

 because it could not rise so high on account of the equilibrium of 

 the air. Having nothing more to excite our attention, we thought 

 of returning, as the fogs we should meet with below might be 

 dangerous, because we could not trust to our compass ; we were, 

 however, agreably disappointed, on finding but little fog as we 

 deeended, on account of some strong winds which arose and 

 dispersed them. 



The wind having changed to the N. E. and the Glacier becom- 

 ing enveloped in clouds, we accelerated our return, and towards 

 noon reached the bottom of the mountain, without the least acci- 

 dent. Towards evening, the weather having cleared up, we made 

 arrangements for measuring and ascertaining, as accurately as pos- 

 sible, its real height. For this purpose, we employed a chain 

 sixty feet in length, and an astrolabe divided into half degrees. 

 The result was, that we found it to be 6S6 Danish feet in perpen- 

 dicular height. If the state, nature, and weight of the air were 

 the same over the whole surface of the earth, so as to enable us 

 to draw a just and precise inference from the ascent and fall of 

 the mercury, it w ould, perhaps, appear, that the mountains in 

 ij-eland are not so high as has been hitherto supposed. 



