THE

FLOWERS

ΟΡ

MODERN TRAVĖLS.

SECTION I.

OF THE VOLCANOS IN ICELAND, AND PARTICULARLY MOUNT HECLA.

UPON our arrival in Iceland, on the 28th of August, 1772, we saw a prospect before us, which, though not pleasing, was uncommon and surprising. Whatever presented itself to our view bore the marks of devastation; and our eyes, accustomed to behold the pleasing coasts of England and Scotland, now saw only the vestiges of the operation of a fire heaven knows how ancient !

The description of a country, where, quite close to the sea, you perceive almost nothing but craggy cliffs vitrified by fire, and where the eye loses itself in high and rocky mountains, covered with eternal snow, cannot possibly produce such emotions, as at first sight might entirely prepossess the thinking spectator. It is true, beauty is pleasing both to our eyes and our thoughts, but wonderful nature often makes the most lasting impressions.

We cast anchor not far from the dwelling-place of the celebrated Sturleson, where we found two tracks of lava, of which the last in particular was remarkable, since we found there, besides a large field covered with lava, which must have been liquid in the

VOL. I.

B

highest degree, whole mountains of turf. Chance had directed us exactly to a spot, on which we could better than on any part of Iceland, consider the operations of a fire, which had laid waste a tract of sixty or seventy English miles. We spent several days here in examining every thing with so much the more pleasure, as we found ourselves, as it were, in a new world.

We had now seen almost all the effects of a voleano, except the crater from which the fire had proceeded. In order, therefore, to examine this likewise, we undertook a journey of twelve days, to mount Heela itself. We travelled about 300 miles over an uninterrupted track of lava, and gained the pleasure of being the first who ever reached the summit of this celebrated volcano. The cause that no one had been there before, is partly founded in *superstition, and partly in the extreme difficulty of the ascent, before the last eruption of fire. There was not one of our company who did not wish to have his clothes a little singed, only for the sake of seeing Hecla in a blaze; and we almost flattered ourselves with this hope, for the bishop of Shallholt had informed us by letter, in the night between the 5th and 6th of September, the day before our arrival, that flames had proceeded from it; but now the mountain was more quiet than we wished. We however passed our time very agreeably from one, o'clock in the morning till two in the afternoon, in visiting the mountain. We were even so happy, that the clouds, which covered the greatest part of it, dispersed towards the evening, and procured us the most extensive prospect imaginable.

The mountain is something above 5000 feet high, and separates at the top into three points, of which that in the middle is the highest. The most inconsiderable part of the mountain consists of lava, the rest is ashes, with hard solid stones thrown from the craters, together with some pomice-stones, of which we found only a small piece, with a little native sul

phur. A description of the various kinds of stones. to be found here would be too prolix, and partly unintelligible.

Amongst many other craters or openings, four were peculiarly remarkable; the first, the lava of which had taken the form of stacks of chimneys, half broken down; another from which water had streamed; a third, all the stones of which were red as brick; and lastly, one from which the lava had bust forth in a stream, and was divided at some distance into three arms.

I have said before, that we were not so happy as to see Hecla vomit fire. But there were sufficient traces of its burning inwardly for, on the upper half of it covered with snow four or five inches deep, we frequently observed spots without any snow; and on the highest point, where Farenheit's thermometer was 24° in the air, it rose to 153° when it was set down on the ground; and in some little holes it was so hot, that we could no longer observe the heat with a small pocket thermometer. It is not known whether, since the year 1693, Hecla has been burning, till 1776, when it began to vomit flames on the 1st of April, burnt for a long while, and destroyed the country many miles round. In December, 1771, some flames likewise proceeded from it; and the people in the neighborhood believe it will begin to burn again very soon, as they pretend to have observed that the rivers thereabouts are drying up. It is believed that this proceeds from the mountain's attracting the water, and is considered as a certain sign of an impending eruption. DR. TROIL.

SECT. H.

OF THE WARM BATHS AND HOT SPOUTING SPRINGS OF WATER IN ICELAND.

THESE waters have different degrees of warmth, and are, on that account,.divided by the inhabitants themselves into warm baths, and springs that throw

up the water to a considerable height. The first are found in several other parts of Europe, though I do not believe that they are employed to the same purposes in any other place; that is to say, the inhabitants do not bathe in them here merely for their health, but they are likewise the occasion for a scene of gallantry. Here poverty prevents the lover from making presents to his fair one, and nature presents no flowers of which garlands elsewhere are made. It is therefore customary, that instead of all this, the swain perfectly cleanses one of these baths, which is to be afterwards honoured with the visits of his bride.

The springs that throw up the water in the air deserve more attention. I have seen a great number of them, but will only say something of the two most remarkable. Near Laugervatan, a small lake of about a mile in circumference, which is two days journey distant from Hecla, I saw the first hot spouting springs; and I must confess, that it was one of the most beautiful sights 1 ever beheld. The morning was uncommonly clear, and the sun had already begun to gild the tops of the neighbouring mountains. It was so perfect a calm, that the lake, on which swans were swimming, was as smooth as a lookingglass, and round about it arose, in eight different places, the steam of the hot springs, which lost itself high in the air.

Water was spouting from all these springs; but one, in particular, continually threw up in the air a column from eighteen to twenty-four feet high, and from six to eight feet diameter. The water was extremely hot. A piece of mutton, and some salmontrouts, as also a ptarmigan, were almost boiled to pieces in six minutes, and tasted excellently. I wish it were in my power to give such a description of this place as it deserves; but I fear it would always remain inferior in point of expression: so much is certain at least, that nature never drew from any one a more cheerful homage to her great Creator, than I here paid him.

The description of the most remarkable water spout will appear almost incredible; but every part of it is perfectly true, for I would not aver any thing but what I have seen myself. At Gyser, not far from Shallholt, one of the episcopal sees in Iceland, a most extraordinary large spouting fountain is to be seen, with which the celebrated water-works at Marly and St. Cloud, and at Cassel, and Herrenhausen near Hanover, can hardly be compared. One sees here, within the circumference of three English miles, forty or fifty boiling springs together, which I believe, all proceed from one and the same reservoir. In some the water is perfecty clear, in others thick and clayey; in some, where it passes through a fine ochre, it is tinged red as scarlet; and in others, where it flows over a paler clay, it is white as milk.

The largest spring, which is in the middle, particularly engaged our attention the whole day that we spent here, from six in the morning till seven at night. The aperture through which the water arose, is nineteen feet in diameter; round the top of it is a bason, which, together with the pipe, has the form of a cauldron. The margin of the bason is upwards of nine feet higher than the conduit, and its diameter is fifty six feet. Here the water does not spout continually, but only by intervals several times a day; and as I was informed by the people in the neighborhood, in wet weather higher than at other times.

One day that we were there, the water spouted ten different times, between the hours of six and eleven in the morning, each time to the height of eight or ten fathoms. Till then the water had not risen above the margin of the pipe; but now it began by degrees to fill the upper bason, and at last it began to run over. The people who were with us, gave us to understand, that the water would soon spout out much higher than it had done till then, and this appeared very credible to us. To determine its height, therefore, with the utmost accuracy, Dr. Lind, who had