Page images
PDF
EPUB

On either side lay vast beds of sulphur, covered with a thin crust, containing innumerable small holes, through which the vapour was making its escape. In many parts the crust, which presented the most beautiful aluminous efflorescence, was not more than half an inch in thickness; and, on its being removed, a thick bed of pure sulphur appeared, through which the steam issued with a hissing noise. The sublimation of the sulphur is produced by the constant ascension of this vapour; and it is found to possess greater and less degrees of purity, in proportion as the soil is more or less poIn general, however, these mines are vastly superior to any other in Iceland, owing to the intense degree of subterraneous heat, and the very loose and porous nature of the earth at this place.

rous.

The sulphur mountain rises to a considerable height from the east side of the hollow in which these mines are situate. It does not exceed a mile in breadth, but is more than five miles in length, stretching from the east end of the lake in a northerly direction, between the volcanoes Krabla and Leirhnukr, where it joins the ridge by which these two mountains are connected. The surface is very uneven, consisting of immense banks of red bolus and sulphur, the crust of which is variegated with random mixtures of yellow, light blue, and white colours; and, in some places, a soft sandstone makes its appearance through the predominant mould. I could also observe holes, out of which the sulphur has been dug by the peasants, and which seemed to have been made with much prodigality: a consequence that must ever attend its being dug without any regular plan, by persons who do not possess skill sufficient to qualify them for the work. Instead of the mines being wrought under the inspection of an individual appointed for the purpose, the mode of collecting the sulphur is left entirely to the discretion of the peasants; who, in the earlier part of the summer, collect such quantities of it as will afford them a barter against the articles of foreign produce, which they may need for the

winter.

Ascending by the sides of the banks, the bolus of which

was very soft, and often took the horses more than mid-leg deep, we succeeded in gaining a narrow pass in the mountain, which opened into a vast level country, but terminated all at once in so abrupt and precipitous a descent, as to excite a momentary trepidation and awe. Yet I had scarcely recovered from my consternation, when a more terrific scene opened on my view. Almost directly below the brink on which I stood, at the depth of more than six hundred feet, lay a row of large caldrons of boiling mud, twelve in number, which were in full and constant action; roaring, splashing, and sending forth immense columns of dense vapour, that, rising and spreading in the atmosphere, in a great measure intercepted the rays of the sun, who stood high above the horizon in the same direction. The boldest strokes of poetic fiction would be utterly inadequate to a literal description of the awful realities of this place; nor can any ideas, formed by the strongest human imagination, reach half the grandeur, or the terrors, of the prospect. I stood for about a quarter of an hour as if I had been petrified, with my eyes intensely fixed on the dreadful operations that were going on in the abyss below me, when, turning to the left, I had a full view of the tremendous Krabla, the Obsidian Mountain, and two or three other volcanic mountains, whose names I could not learn with any certainty.

Leading our horses down the side of the mountain, in a zig-zag direction, we advanced towards the hverar; but, as the steeds grew rather restive, and the soil began to lose its firmness, we left them behind us, and proceeded, with wary step, amongst numerous burning quagmires, till we came close to the springs. Excepting two, which lie at the distance of twenty yards from the rest, they are all crowded together into one vast chasm of the lava. Some of them remain stationary within the crevice, but roar terribly, and emit much steam; others boil violently, and splash their black muddy contents round the orifice of the pit; while two or three jet, at intervals, to the height of four or five feet. The most remarkable, however, is that at the north, ern extremity of the chasm. Its smallest diameter, down at

the surface of the puddle, may be about fourteen feet, but it opens gradually to the edge, where the chasm is at least twenty feet across. The water, which was quite turbid and black, was comparatively quiet about two minutes, when it broke forth in a most furious manner, jetting to the height of between ten and fifteen feet, and splashing between the jets, in oblique directions, on every side, which rendered it dangerous to stand near the margin. What increased the danger, was the softness of the soil, which appeared to fill other chasms close to the great one, so that, on making a sudden leap, to escape being scalded, a person can hardly avoid plunging into semi-liquid beds of hot clay and sulphur, an alternative still more shocking. The jetting is accompanied with a harsh roar, and the escape of a vast quantity of vapour strongly impregnated with sulphur. It lasts four minutes, after which the liquid again subsides to its former state. The two apertures, that lay at a short distance from the rest, were filled with thick mud, which moved so sluggishly that it could scarcely be said to boil, but, as the surface was considerable, it puffed no small quantity of steam in a very amusing manner. To a considerable distance around these springs, and a long way up the mountain, the soil is extremely soft, and so hot, that you cannot hold your hand more than three inches below the surface; corresponding in every respect to that described by Milton:

"Till on dry land

He lights, if it were land that ever burn'd
With solid, as the lake with liquid fire:

And such appear'd in hue, as when the force
Of subterranean wind transports a hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the shatter'd side
Of thund'ring Etna, whose combustible
And fuel'd entrails thence conceiving fire,
Sublim'd with mineral fury, aid the winds,
And leave a singed bottom all involv'd

With stench and smoke: such resting found the sole
Of unbless'd feet!"-

Having again reached our horses, we were on the eve of setting off for the road, when, happening to turn towards Krabla, I descried a vast volume of smoke, rising at first perpendicularly, with amazing velocity, from a break, about two-thirds up the south-west side of the mountain; but, after gaining a considerable elevation, it struck off in a beautiful horizontal line towards the north-west; and as its regular intermission indicated that it proceeded from a boiling volcano, and I had yet the greatest part of the day before me, I resolved to ascend the mountain, and survey another of these terrible, but interesting scenes. It was with difficulty, however, that I could prevail on my guide to accom pany me. The region, he said, was wholly unexplored; and hidden pools of boiling clay were scattered so thick around the foot of the mountain, as to render it inaccessible; but, on offering to make him a trifling present, his fears began to leave him, and he at length engaged to conduct me as far as we could proceed with safety,

The path we pursued, lay along the eastern margin of a stream of lava, which appears to be of the same age with that at Reykiahlid, only it is, for the most part, covered with white pumice and volcanic sand. The side of a low mountain, to the right, which we skirted for some time, was par tially overgrown with grass, and now and then a few wil lows reared their dwarfy tops above the ridges of the lava. Passing a desolate farm, and keeping at a distance from the sulphur banks, which appeared in the face of a contiguous mountain, we succeeded in reaching the base of Krabla, without meeting with any of the pools so much dreaded by my guide; but here an obstacle presented itself, scarcely less formidable. Along the foot of the mountain ran a small rivulet, by which the ground had been hollowed out to a great depth; and, as there was nothing on either side but loose clay, it was some time before we could find a place, sufficiently indurated, to afford a solid footing for our horses, What increased the difficulty was, that the opposite bank, which is formed by the base of the mountain, was so high and steep, that at almost every step the surface gave way,

and we slid down again into the stream. After several reiterated attempts, we at length gained the summit of the bank, and proceeded upwards, but found the ascent very laborious and toilsome; the side of the mountain consisting of pumice, sand, and soft earth, and for the most part steep and slippery. Walking and riding by turns, in a curvilineal direction, we left several divisions behind us; and, from the apparent nearness of the smoke, and the loudness of the roaring which attended it, both being perceptible at intervals, we flattered ourselves with the hope that the hver lay behind the height immediately above us; but on reaching it, we found still another eminence to climb; till having been tantalized in this manner for near an hour, and almost completely out of breath, we ultimately came within sight of the object of attraction. As such, I certainly viewed it at a distance, when nothing was visible but the body of vapour; but the moment my eye took in the whole of the scene, I became conscious of sensations the most repulsive and abhorrent. At the bottom of a deep gulley, lay a circular pool of black liquid matter, at least three hundred feet in circumference, from the middle of which a vast column of the same black liquid was erupted, with a loud thundering noise; but being enveloped in smoke, till within about three feet of the surface of the pool, I could not form any idea of the height to which it rose.

From every circumstance connected with the vast hollow in which this pool is situated, I could not but regard it as the remains of the crater; which, after having vomited immense quantities of volcanic matter, has loosened the adjacent parts of the mountain to such a degree, that they have fallen in, and left nothing but the boiling caldron to mark its site, and perpetuate, in faint adumbrations, the awful terrors of the scene. The surface of the pool may be about seven hundred feet below what appeared to be the highest peak of Krabla, and about two hundred feet below the opposite height on which I stood.

Having continued some minutes to disgorge its muddy contents, the violent fury of the spring evidently began to

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »