112 
LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 
the approach of the fiery intruder. Within a few more 
days the basin of the lake itself was completely filled, 
and having separated into two streams, the unexhausted 
torrent again recommenced its march; in one direction 
overflowing some ancient lava fields,—in the other, re¬ 
entering the channel of the Skapta, and leaping down 
the lofty cataract of Stapafoss. But this was not all; 
while one lava flood had chosen the Skapta for its bed, 
another, descending in a different direction, was work¬ 
ing like ruin within and on either side the banks of the 
Hverfisfliot, rushing into the plain, by all accounts, 
with even greater fury and velocity. Whether the 
two issued from the same crater it is impossible to say, 
as the sources of both were far away within the heart 
of the unapproachable desert, and even the extent of 
the lava flow can only be measured from the spot where 
it entered the inhabited districts. The stream which 
flowed down Skapta is calculated to be about fifty miles 
in length by twelve or fifteen at its greatest breadth ; 
that which rolled down the Hverfisfliot, at forty miles 
in length by seven in breadth. Where it was impri¬ 
soned, between the high banks of Skapta, the lava is five 
or six hundred feet thick; but as soon as it spread out 
