oy 
» many square miles. 
the island. 
violent on record. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE. 
13 
FASCINTAIONS OF ICELAND. 
Former Manchester Teacher Writes of Visit to 
“Land of Heroic Scenery "’ the last Summer. 
BY W. S. C. RUSSELL. 
V 
We entered a great amphitheater bor- 
dered onall sides by high lava bluffs, 
black, red, gray and very ragged. ‘The 
one to the right is deep red, of compact 
jasper—like lava of recent eruption. We 
ascertained later that this terminated in a 
fissure rent in the side of the mountain 
along way below the summit. This is 
a weak area in the crust, and lava fre- 
quently pours out of this weak belt which 
surrounds the volcano. ‘The wall to the 
left is of ragged black lava of the most 
recent origin. It turned in front of us 
in along sweep to join the base of the 
above-mentioned cleft. Atfirst no visi- 
ble egress appeared fromthis formidable 
culde sac. We expected to leave the 
ponies here withthe ascent just begun, 
and climb this precipice and then have 
the major elevation of tangled lava ropes 
to scramble over as best we might. A 
mile further ona twist in the low, where 
the viscid lava rose in a billow and broke 
back upon itself made a precarious egress, 
which our ponies negotiated with the 
avility and surefootedness of mountain 
goats. Here there is a plot of grass, the 
last to be found upon the ascent of the 
mountain. While the faithful horses 
are partaking of a well-earned bit of 
forage we will recount a bit of Hekla’s 
history. 
Hekla in History. 
Hekla was in eruption many times 
prior to the settlement of the island. 
Since 1004 there have been 25 recorded 
eruptions of violence, besides innumer- 
_ able fissures that have opened from time 
to time to pour out more or less molten 
matter. [he periods of quiet have 
ranged from 6 to 75 years. The most 
impoitant of the eruptions are as follows: 
1294—Violent earthquakes throughout 
Great rifts were opened. 
Rivers were covered with pumice; many 
of them changed their courses. New 
hot springs came into existence; others 
vanished 
1300—July 13. One of the most 
Ashes were carried 
across the north country and covered 
Great earthquakes. 
Famine and great loss of life. 
1436—The 13th eruption of record. 
Many homesteads and much arable land 
_ destroyed. 
1510— Immense masses of ashes were 
hurled out. Blocks of lava were ejected, 
killing many people in their fall. 
1597 — Excessive in its violence. 
Thundering reports audible all over the 
the island. Reports continued for 12 
days. Eighteen columns of fire issued 
from the mountains. Earthquakes in 
many parts of the island during which 
many farmsteads caved in. 
1845—Began on September 2. Con- 
tinued for seven months. Ashes were 
carried to the Shetland islands and to 
Norway. The smoke and ashes as- 
cended several miles into the air, (esti- 
mated), 500 feet of the summit of the 
cone were blown off. 
With the exception of 1845, the 
above data are taken from Von Troll’s 
letters, Upsala, 1777. 
Hekla is situated about 30 miles from 
the southern coast. Its summit is divided 
into two peaks, craters. The ascent is 
made from. the northwest. ‘The base 
and the middle slopes are composed of 
twisted and tangled masses of lava flow- 
ing at different periods and adapting 
themselves to other and older ridges. 
The twisting and rolling ot these semi- 
fluid streams of rock, the terrible rough 
surface, the sharp ridges and deep fis- 
sures are better imagined than described. 
No adequate idea can be obtained until 
one has made the ascent,—till one has 
had many a fall, cut his hands upon the 
obsidian, scoured his boots on the che- 
veaux de frise of toothed Java, lost his 
breath and all but lost his temper; till 
then he will remain in ignorance of the 
true condition of Hekla’s horrent, man- 
tle. 
On the Way to the Crater. 
To return to the ponies. Little by 
little we climbed upward. Now and 
again a patch of loose sand gave respite 
to the sharp angular blocks of lava and 
obsidian that menaced a cut with every 
step of the horses. We followed the 
edge of a high bluff of ragged lava, wind- 
ing up to the summit of a steep ridge. 
From here an extensive panorama was 
spread out before us. ‘This view is well 
worth the labor of the ascent even though 
one goes no farther. Most people who 
‘“‘make the ascent’’ stop here, though it 
is only half way tothecrater. Descend- 
ing into an angle in the bend of the lava 
stream we tied the ponies in pairs head 
to tail. Here we left the poor beasts 
without food or water exposed to the 
wind for seven hours. ‘The faithful fel- 
lows deserved better treatment in recom- 
pense for bringing us thus far on this 
rugged ascent. 
Picking our way as best we could oyer 
a ridge of bristling lava for half an hour, 
we arrived at the snow which was in ex- 
ceptionally good condition for climbing. 
It covered all the irregularities and was 
firm enough to support our weight. In 
fact it was too firm in some places, es- 
pecially on the steepest slopes, and a 
patient climb was often basely rewarded 
by backward and ignominious slides. 
When we were two-thirds of the way to 
the summit, the cap of cloud was blown 
off and we saw that the long reach of 
snow which we had been using as a 
bridge over the edged and ragged pitfalls 
terminated in a sharp narrow and very 
steep ridge of sand and shingle leading to 
the top of the crater’s rim. This ridge 
is SO narrow and so precipitous on each 
side that a false step would surely cause a 
very uncomfortable tumble many rods 
below,—to the right down the crater’s 
slope,—to the left into the crater upon 
the overhanging shelf of snow. 
The View From Hekla. 
Space forbids a detailed description of 
the view from the summit of Mt. Hekla. 
This would require several columns and 
a good map of Iceland for an apprecia- 
tive understanding. A few of the more 
prominent features will suffice. First, 
the eye is arrested by the waste of lava, 
black and red, horrent and iil-boding, 
stretching 15 miles to the northeast, 
bisecting a fertile plain, and another 
reaching as far to the southwest. To 
the northwest the 40 miles of glacier- 
capped Lang Jokull glistens in its setting 
of black volcanic crags. The oval form 
of Hoff Jokull, like the frosted dome of 
a giant cake, is directly north, while to 
the northeast is spread out the vast un- 
explored expanse of Vatna Jokull,—the 
greatest glacier in Iceland, 100 miles 
long. 
Between these last mentioned glaciers 
and stretching away to Sprengisandur is 
the mighty desert entirely void of vege- 
tation, a dreary, desolate tract of black 
volcanic sand, wind driven and _ life-de- 
stroying. Nearer, in the fertile plain, 
flow the glacier born torrents, the Thjorsa 
and the Hvita. ‘To the south across the 
moors and sheep ranges, the north At- 
lantic, encircling the Westman islands, 
wreathes the weathered headlands with 
snow-white garlands. 
The crater is nearly filled with a mass 
of snow and ice. ‘The opposite side is 
nearly bare and in the center the cinders 
are red and dry, indicating that sufficient 
heat escapes to melt the snow. A slight 
vapor rises from this spot at the bottom 
of the deep crater. It mat be due to 
the evaporation of the snowin the depths, | 
or, it is possible that it is true steam slow- 
ly escaping from the heated substratum. 
I crawled down to the brink of the over- 
hanging snow arch and gazed into these 
giddy depths and thought of the strange 
contrast, fire and ice, opposing forces 
ever in combat in this strange land. 
Wherever one roams in Iceland some 
stage of this duel is in progress. 
_(From the Springfield Republican. ) 
To be continued next week. 
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