THE WESTMAN ISLANDS. 



115 



of the summer, communication is impossible. It will now be understood why 

 tourists are so little inclined to visit the Westmans, despite the magnificence 

 of their coast scenery, for who has the patience to tarry in a miserable hut on 

 the opposite mainland till the cascade informs him that they are accessible, or 

 is inclined to run the risk of being detained by a sudden change of the weather 

 for weeks or even months on these solitary rocks ? 



Mr. Ross Browne thus describes the general aspect of the coast of Iceland : 

 "Nothing could surpass the desolate grandeur of the coast as we approached 

 the point of Reykjaness. It was of an almost infernal blackness. The whole 

 country seemed uptorn, rifted, shattered, and scattered about in a vast chaos 

 of ruin. Huge cliffs of lava split down to their bases toppled over the surf. 

 Rocks of every conceivable shape, scorched and blasted with fire, wrested 

 from the main and hurled into the sea, battled with the waves, their black 

 scraggy points piercing the mist like giant hands upthrown to smite or sink in 

 a fierce death-struggle. T.he wild havoc wrought in the conflict of elements 

 was appalling. Birds screamed over the fearful ,wreck of matter. The surf 

 from the inrolling waves broke against the charred and shattered desert of ruin 

 with a terrific roar. Columns of spray shot up over the blackened fragments 

 of lava, while in every opening the lashed waters, discolored by the collision, 

 seethed and surged as in a huge caldron." 



Of the Westman Islands, he says : " Towards noon we made the West- 

 man Isles, a small rocky group some ten miles distant from the main island. 

 A fishing and trading establishment, owned by a company of Danes, is located 



