NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
15 
FASCINATIONS OF ICELAND. 
Former Maschester Teacher Writes of Visit to 
“Land of Heroic Scenery "’ the last Summer. 
BY W. S. C. RUSSELL. 
IIT 
Our trail crossed the Raven’s Rift, 
wound up the volcano’s side, crossed the 
crater and descended the shingly slopes 
of the Kalfstindar. A few hours’ ride 
across the plain and along the shore of 
Laugarvatu, (Hot-Spring-Lake), which 
is bordered with hot springs, and across 
the torrential Bruara, brought us to Gey- 
sir. Geysir isan Islandic term signify- 
ing ‘“Gusher.’’ It is the name applied 
to the locality abounding in hot springs 
and geysers. The steam vents, boiling 
springs and geysers number hundreds 
and coyer several acres atthe base of 
Laugafjall, Hot-Spring-Mountain. The 
entire region is intensely heated below 
the surface and at first gives one the im- 
pression of insecurity and danger, es- 
pecially when one seeks his slumber in 
the midst of these plutonic boilers. 
A brief description of Geysir, the larg- 
est geyser in the.world, must suffice for 
this locality. Its basin is of its own build- 
ing, composed of siliceous matter con- 
tained in the ejected water. It is ele- 
vated 60 feet above the plain, is 70 feet 
in diameter at the rim and slopes inward 
at an angle of 30 degrees to the central 
shaft, which is 16 feet in diameter and 
84 feet deep. Pen cannot portray the 
awe and magnificence of an eruption. 
A heavy rumble that causes the ground 
to vibrate precedes the explosion. ‘The 
water in the basin is soon violently agi- 
tated. Fountains of steam and foam 
spurt upward from the surface. Then 
follows a mighty eruption in which a 
solid column of boiling water, the dia- 
meter of thetube, is projected from 100 
to 125 feet intheair. Explosion follows 
explosion in constant succession with a 
dull and heavy booming. The column 
is maintained in the air from eight to 10 
minutes while a virtual river of hissing, 
steaming water falls around the rim of 
the basin, plunges in a white cascade in- 
to the ravine and flows down the plain 
enveloped in a dense cloud of vapor. 
The steam escaping from such a volume 
of superheated water so suddenly ex 
panded in the cool air shuts out the view 
of the heavens and obscures the sun. 
The last explosion is over. The boil- 
ing water is rolling down the serrated 
slope of Geysir’s cone. With heavy 
boots as a protection werush up the side 
of the cone, enter the basin and creep 
cautiously down to the edge of the tube. 
We gaze with awe and fear into those 
depths which a few moments before dis- 
played such energy. What is below? 
No man knows. No one can descend 
to ascertain. This much is clear. Far 
down beneath this hissing, siliceous tube 
there is intense heat. For ages the ther- 
mal capacity of this place has been suffic- 
ient to eject unnumbered tons of boiling 
water at frequent and quite regular in- 
tervals from these Plutonic safety valves. 
Remember that Geysir is not the sole 
claimant for honors. Scores of mighty 
boilers are around it. 
Slowly the tube fills. It overflows into 
the basin. Dense masses of suds-like 
foam burst from its surface. Step by 
step we retreat. ‘The basin is full and 
overflows a constant stream sufficient to 
fill an 18-inch pipe and so continues un- 
til the next eruption. Standing on the 
rim of the basin and gazing upon the 
placid azure surface of the water, the 
peacefulness belies the turbulance of the 
hour before. In the distance the glacier 
of Lang Jokul glistens in the brilliant 
‘sunshine albeit it is 10 at night. Yonder, 
across the Hvita, cloud-capped and snow- 
mantled Hecla rises grand and lonely 
above its lava-strewn plain. What a 
contrast! Plutonic fire and Arctic ice 
battling as they have done for ages for 
supremacy in this strange and distant 
land,—and the conflict still wages. The 
Icelanders have a saying which they have 
revered for centuries: ‘‘Island er hinn 
besta land sem solinn skinnar uppa.’”’ 
[“‘Iceland is the best land on which the 
sun shines.’’] If by ‘‘besta’’ they mean 
wonderful, their saying is correct. Loth 
are we to turn from the manifestation of 
power and imposing grandeur of Geysir; 
but Gullfoss lies beyond, the Thjorsa 
must be forded, Hecla challenges from 
midst of his desolation, the peaceful rural 
plains to the south are calling, the weird 
and frightful sulphur fountain of Krus- 
ivik entice—and we must saddle and 
away. 
We were loth to leave Geysir. There 
is a fascination in this heated area that 
charms like the syrens in Ulysses tale. 
We mounted the ponies beside the Little 
Geysir, which had been spouting con- 
tinously for three hours. It was in viol- 
entaction when we descended the bank 
to ford the Tungufjot. This rapid river 
drains the southern end of Lang Jokull 
and its three great arms spread down- 
ward through the plains, a mighty trident 
of power thrust outward from the glaci- 
ers during the continuous shine of the 
summer sun. ‘There are also several 
smaller tributaries, all of which had to 
be forded. We had become accus- 
tomed to the methods of the ponies in 
these turbulent waters and fearlessly made 
crossing this day that we would not have 
ventured upon the first day of the ride. 
We crossed the bog, climbed the ridge 
and soon reached the canyon of the 
Hvita and heard the mighty roar of the 
Gullfoss a mile up the valley. Sudden- 
ly the full glory of the Golden falls burst 
upon us fesplendent from a clearing 
shower in the midst of a lava desolation. 
Leaving the ponies to graze by the brink 
of a chasm, we descended the crumbling 
basalt precipice to a triangle of project- 
ing rock within the canyon which is level 
with the top of the final plunge of the 
cataract. [he upper end of the canyon 
begins at the foot of the lower fall. 
Above this there is a lava pillar dividing 
the river into two arms, each of which 
is at least 100 feet in width and 80 feet 
deep. 
It is from this point that Rider Hag- 
gard makes his hero, Eric Brighteyes, 
plunge into the canyon to swim to its 
lower end that he may thus win the hand 
of Gudruda the Fair. Of all the wild 
and imaginative tales told by Haggard 
this is the most improbable. Above this 
rock, the river, 600 feet broad, drops 
over a cliff 40 fone high. * ** a 
The river above the upper falls widens 
to 1500 feet where it runs broad and 
deep, with troubled surface, impatient 
for the approaching plunge into the 
abysmal depths of the lava rift. From 
the figures given it will be seen that an 
enormous volume of water thus con- 
verges into a V-shaped cleft. At this 
point the water pours into the gorge from 
both sides of the V. The depth of the 
water on the brink of the fall is 80 feet. 
What a water-power! and no syndicate 
to control it. The canyon itself is only 
50 feet wide atthe top and it is estimated 
to be only 10 feet wide at the bottom. 
The depth of the canyon is over 200 
feet. 
It must now be plain to the readers 
that a measureless volume of water falls 
into a deep and narrow rift, the walls of 
which rise at least 200 feet above the 
projecting ledge upon which the observ- 
er stands. Above him the palisaded but- 
tresses, drenched with spray, glisten in 
the morning sun and hanging over the 
abyss frown upon the torrent below 
threatening to prevent its escape. The 
imprisoned waters foam and plunge with 
frothy rage, impatient of their restriction, 
anxious to escape to the rural calmness 
of the southern plains. So mighty is the 
mass of water, so narrow are the depths 
into which it hurls itself that one must 
believe that subterranean passages exist 
orthe lava rift would quickly fill and 
choke itself to overflowing. Possibly 
these hidden rifts supply the water for 
the hot springs far away. Perhaps the 
ramifications of great Geysir’s tube reach 
even to the foot of this canyon, even as 
one end of the drinking horn, which 
Thor drank out of in the halls of Utgard- 
Loki, was placed in the sea, so that 
Thor lost his wager by being unable to 
empty the horn at one draft. 
(From the Springfield Republican. ) 
To be continued next week. 
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