is >... NORTH SHORE BREEZE. 
13 
FASCINTAIONS OF ICELAND. 
Former Manchester Teacher Writes of Visit to 
“Land of Heroic Scenery " the last Summer. 
BY -W. SS: C.. RUSSELL. 
vl 
Unfurling the flag of the Arctic club 
of America,—the stars and stripes in the 
upper left corner of a green field,— 
which had been presented to me for this 
occasion, I photographed it and have 
every reason to believe that it is the first 
time that the American flag ever floated 
above a volcano in Iceland. The read- 
ing of the thermometer in the air was 
zero centigrade. ‘The indication of the 
pocket barometer, carefully compared 
with a standard at Reykjavik before start- 
ing and corrected by the same instrument 
for the same hour, when I returned, gave 
on computation 5050 feet as the altitude 
of Hekla. Hekla was true to its tradi- 
tion. The cloud enveloped it after a 
half-hour of sunshine. The driving 
wind wreathed us in fantastic swirls of 
condensing vapor and the snowflakes fell 
thickly as if the traditional demon of the 
mountain would obliterate all traces of 
our desecrating footprints. 
The descent of the semiglacial snow 
was made in recordtime. We loosened 
many a block of lava and sent them chas- 
ing each other down half a mile of the 
snow-encrusted cone to dash in frag- 
ments against the lava wall which defines 
its boundaries. Many a slip and tumble 
added zest to the descent for every slide 
was so much gained and we laughed at 
the brevity of the steps in our upward 
trail. 
A Dangerous Crossing. 
A journey of two days through the lava 
sands skirting the base of Hekla brought 
us to Eyrarbakki, (Beach-bank), a small 
trading village. Though there is not a 
tree in Iceland I found that prime Nor- 
way spruce could be obtained here at 
two-thirds of the cost of an inferior grade 
in Springfield. Here we crossed the 
Olfusa, a very dangerous stream. As at 
the crossing of the Thjorsa so here, we 
placed all the luggage and saddles in a 
boat. But we did not drive the ponies 
in ahead of us. Asmallcord was fast- 
ened around the lower jaw and the guide 
sat in the stern of the boat and held the 
eight cords. The crossing is made ata 
point over half a mile wide and the icy 
waters run swiftly out tosea. The open 
sea is by the spit of sand on which the 
landing is made. Great care is necessary 
not to be taken out to sea, so the cross- 
ing is begun half a mile above in order 
that this point may be reached on ac- 
count of the swiftness of the current. 
The boat was very leaky. The bag- 
gage was piled high and we were seated 
upon the top. The packing cases 
were nearly submerged in the sloshing 
water in the bottom of the boat. The 
poor ponies struggled for life, for the 
swim isalong one. Several times they 
went down, one at a time and often two 
or three at once. With the cord the 
guide pulled their heads above the water 
and with lips upturned to throw back the 
water from their nostrils and eyes, wild 
and bloodshot, bulging from their sockets, 
they made a new effort. Around us the 
seal bobbed up their heads, curious to 
learn the cause of the disturbance. Many 
horses have been drowned or swept out 
to seain this passage. Our guide, Johan- 
nes Zoega, lost two the last time he 
made this crossing. A sigh of relief was 
given by one member of the party when 
we reached the shore. ‘The ponies 
shivering and exhausted staggered to the 
beach. 
From there to Krisuvik is an easy jour- 
ney of twodays. It canbe made in one, 
but we desired to spend a portion of this 
time in the home of atypical Icelander 
and observe the methods of curing and 
harvesting the hay. Here also we gained 
a clear vision of the inner home life for 
we had learned how to win confidence. 
I spent one half day in the hayfield at 
work with primitive implements and com- 
paring the utility with those of New Eng- 
land. Butthis is another story which 
space forbids at this writing. 
The trail from Hlidarendi to Krisuvik 
leads over the twisted, contorted and 
blistered Java, which recently poured 
over the high basalt bluffs several hundreds 
of feet high, covering miles of elevated 
sea beach, thence dipping into the sea. 
If we had reason to trust our horses in 
the gorges of the Hvita, to confide in 
them on the steep escarpments of Hekla, 
our admiration was unbounded when we 
observed their sagacity in picking their 
unguided way over this pathless, rough 
and forbidding tract. A chapter is nec- 
essary to describe this remarkable forma- 
tion. In all lava districts there is noth- 
ing to compare with it in utter desolation 
and grim, fantastic forms of the most 
frightful aspect. 
A Great Safety Valve. 
The region between Krisuvik and 
Thingvellir, which includes Mount Hen- 
gill, is a vast area of boiling springs and 
hot sulphur deposits. At the base and 
on the slopes of the lava cones surround - 
ing Krisuvik are large solfataras. One 
of these covers an area of several acres. 
The jets of steam issuing from the red 
hot strata below bring up great volumes 
of sulphur vapor which sublimes in the 
cooler clay at the surface; these clay 
banks are very hot and unsafe to walk 
over. In traversing a ridge between two 
deposits of sulphur, without warning, [ 
slumped to my knees into a mass of gold- 
en sulphur crystals. Our riding boots 
were transformed by an incrustation of 
sparkling jewels. We will say nothing 
about the smell. A student of chem- 
istry will understand that great volumes 
of sulphur dioxid and hydrogen sulphid 
produce a sensation in the nostrils far 
different froma field of blooming clover. 
High up the side of the ridge a jet of 
steam, mingled with various sulphur 
compounds, issues from a crevice with 
such violence as to produce a_ heavy 
sonorous whistle audible for several 
miles. We slept that night four miles 
from it, and our dreams of lava scram- 
bles and myriads of screeching sea birds 
were punctuated with this whistle. It is 
sounding now as it hassounded for cen- 
turies, a sound of peace to the few with- 
in its area for itis the safety valve of a 
tremendous pent up power. Below this 
jet thousands of tons of sulphur sublimed 
in Nature’s furnace slope downwards to 
the plain awaiting the coming of some 
genius of industry backed with a little 
capital. Nearby great pools of mud, 
(sulphids of various ores precipitated in 
the water), black and viscid, boil and 
seeth with all the pentup fury of the 
nether world. 
Ascending the rim of the great crater 
above, a panorama of surprising - grand- 
eur was spread out before us. Below, — 
the great yellow mounds sent up clouds 
of odorous steam filling the air with 
weird, continuous roars; beyond, the 
tranquil sea in azure blue mirrored 10,000 
water fowl on its burnished surface; to 
the west, Mount Hengill arrests the eye, 
its summit wrapped in a hazy. mantle of 
vapor issuing in violent jets from its en- 
circling springs and fumaroles; nearer, 
the deep cerulean waters of the crater 
lakes, the home of wild swan and duck, 
throw back the smiles of heaven; south- 
west, Reykjavik stands white against the 
black and beetling crags of Esja; south- 
ward, Faxa Fiord, dotted by  hun- 
dreds of fishing craft, and beyond great 
Snaefell Jokull projects its cones of sparkl- 
ing ice6000 feet where the north Atlantic 
mingles with the ice-laden waters of 
the Aretic sea. 
PRESIDENT Tart said in his first mes- 
sage to Congress, Tuesday, that his sec- 
ond year in office will cost $94,000,000 
less than this one; that he favors old age 
pensions for Government employes; 
that his tariff board are looking into the 
new tariff to see if it works properly. 
He suggested the text of a law to hurry 
delayed casesin courts; favoreda higher 
postage on magazines and periodicals 
(not newspapers), and said the. tariff is 
notthe reason for the high cost of living, 
and asserted that the country is on the 
eve of a great business expansion. 
All subscriptions to the Breeze taken 
this month or next will be dated Jan. 1, 
1910. Have you noticed our combina- 
tion offers yet? ed ACY 
