May, 1892. 
FIRST ASCENT OF THE ORiEFA JOKULL. 
103 
us glimpses of the vast snow wastes of the Vatna, or the 
interminable desert of the Skeidarar Sandr, but it was 
manifest that the sooner we were down the better. In 
fifteen minutes we left, and in an hour turned our faces west¬ 
ward as we quitted the main ridge. 
Thorlakur was in front now, and splendidly both he and 
Pall hurried along. Thorlakur’s sharp eyes were bent upon 
the track we had made in the ascent, our only guide through 
the labyrinth of crevasses. The footsteps were fast filling 
up with new snow, and right glad we were to step on to the 
rocks once more at 10 30, twelve and a half hours after we 
had quitted them. We had our share of the usual mishaps 
of a night descent, though nothing of any moment occurred, 
and at 1 30 on Tuesday morning we arrived at Sandfell. A 
hearty welcome from Sira Olavur Magnusson and a good hot 
supper awaited us. 
No better headquarters for a future ascent could be found 
than Sandfell. Pall will know better now than to steer for 
the so-called “Knappr,” and by avoiding it four hours may 
be saved. Still it will be well to strike up on to the main 
ridge, before turning north, so as to escape the tremendous 
crevasse system which lies above the ice-falls of the 
Hvannadal. Some of these, which feed the Fall Jokull, 
advance to the edge of precipices, over which the disjointed 
masses fall. As we camped in the Hvannadal in 1890, we 
heard the roar of their descent. 
Of the “ crater,” mentioned by Mr. Paulson, we saw as 
little as did Mr. Holland, although we must have been much 
nearer its presumed position. Whether a true crater or not, 
it is now, doubtless, buried deep under the snow. After a 
day’s rest we rode on through Svinafell, a tiny village two 
and a half miles north of Sandfell. Here our guides live, and 
with them we went four miles further toward Skaptafell to 
see an Icelandic raritj 7 —a little Skogar, or wood, on Hafrafell. 
The spot is really very pretty. A bright clear stream falls into 
a limpid pool; on the left are several birches, and a 
mountain ash or two, twenty to thirty feet in height, and on 
the right a tiny ravine with a few fern-clad ledges. There 
are some farms on Skaptafell, and one might well be chosen 
as a base from which to explore the peaks, passes, and 
glaciers, of the Jokulfell, and Kristinartindar. This Skaptafell, 
or Shaft-hill, probably takes its name from one of the rock- 
pillars forming the core of the mass. 
