VOLCANOES. 
405 
of stones and rocks, which forced their way down¬ 
wards on the cessation of the eruption, when the 
subterraneous fires ceased to lend the earth un¬ 
natural strength. Many large masses of rock 
thrown from the volcano still hang upon the 
edges of the ravine, where they were cast by the 
eruption; but far greater heaps of melted and 
burnt substances are met with at the bottom of 
this singular and immense chasm.—Thus much 
for the general and exterior conformation of 
Hecla. The effects of its subterraneous fires, 
mischievous as they have been, are small com¬ 
pared to those of other mountains ; for which 
reason I shall proceed to a short description of 
two or three that have been the most remarkable 
in this respect. 
Krabla, in the north-eastern part of the island, 
vomited forth great rivers of burning and melted 
matter between the years 1724 and 1730, one 
of which was four miles and a half in width 
and nine in length; it flowed into the adjoining 
lake, Myvatn, where it continued to burn like 
oil for many days, filling the lake, drying up its 
waters, and destroying the whole of the fish. 
Another torrent overflowed the presbytery of 
Reykelid, which it so completely buried as not 
to have left a vestige of the place. These floods 
