Snioland, or, Iceland : its jokulls and fjalls

Preface

I HAVE three objects in publishing the few following pages : —

First — It is my wish to direct the attention of the travelling public to a land (but little beyond the beaten track of tourists, and within the limit of a six weeks' holiday) that abounds in natural phenomena of equal interest to the geologist and the physical geographer.

Secondly — To inform habitual travellers, many of whom have already visited Iceland^ that in that island are tracts of land and mountain solitudes which have never been explored; and to remind them that amongst these untrodden fastnesses have occurred some of the mightiest phenomena the world has ever witnessed, of which we know nothing certain, either of their birthplace or their character, and scarcely anything of their effects.

Thirdly — To take this opportunity of expressing my most earnest wish for more co-operation among travellers generally. I have no doubt there are many men who have the ability and the inclination to

PREFACE.

undertake the work of exploration I propose, and who yet feel that individually they have not sufficient means to carry out such an undertaking ; for the "sinews of war" are likewise the sinews of travel. If men of this class and disposition were to co-operate, much might be accomplished, and these lands of mystery be made known.

If I could meet with three men, who knew what they were going to undertake when they decided on attempting to make the exploration of Iceland, who felt themselves equal to the task^ and who would share the expense and co-operate loyally with me, I have no doubt that in three months we might throw great light upon these unknown tracts and mountains.

To those who wish for a simple vacation tour, a visit to Iceland recommends itself in many ways. The voyage is short and the climate is very healthy ; the visitor will enjoy a total change, utterly different from the frequented" track of continental travel, and will find in it an abundance of objects of fresh interest and research, which will well repay the efforts he may have made to reach them.

To men who have more leisure and means at their disposal, I would explain that the object of my next visit to Iceland will be the further investigation of Vatna JokuU, and the volcano upon the northern

PBEFACE.

side of it^ whose frequent eruptions have alone proclaimed its existence ; and the exploration of the Odatherhaun, with its surrounding mountains. If time allows, I hope to include an examination of the land between Vatna and Langs JokuU, together with Langs and Hofs JokuUs.

The Appendix of this little work affords information as to the cost and plan of operation. I merely add that if there are three men who may read this, and feel they have the power and the wish to join me^ I shall be happy to make their acquaintance through the Secretary of the Alpine Club.

In conclusion, I remark that this small volume does not pretend to be a treatise upon Iceland, but a

simple narrative of the travels of the Rev. J. W

and myself last year in that country, and as such is a genuine record of genuine facts."

I will take this opportunity of thanking the Rev. Martin Hart for his kindness in allowing me to use the photographs Nos. 3, 6 and 12, which were taken by him.

W. L. WATTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FACING

No. 1. Stroker, Frontispiece. page

No. 2. Almanna Gja . 14

No. 3. View of Almanna Gja, with Measure Stone, from

door of Church at Thingvellir . . . .40

No. 4. View of Logsberg from the back of farm at Thingvellir, with Arnann*s Fell in the distance . . 52

No. 5. Great Geyser in eruption 66

No. 6. Basin of Geyser when empty 78

No. 7. Encampment at Geyser (taken in 1871) . . . 92

No. 8. Hills behind Geyser 104

No. 9. View of Eiver Oxera 118

No. 10. Waterfall at Thingvellir 130

No. 11. Church and Farmhouse at Thingvellir . . . 144 No. 12. View of a Solfatara at Krisuvick . . . . 1 56 jSNIOLAND;

OR,

ICELAND, ITS JOKULLS AND FJALLS. ^

After lounging about for a week at Edinburgh, in June, 1874, we took our places on board the " Diana," in company with a lively party of Danes, who had, no doubt, been looking forward to the invasion of us Britishers. Having seen our twenty boxes^ with numerous other packages, portmanteaus, &c., carefully stowed away, I tried to find how many of the old faces I had become acquainted with in my former voyage of 1871 still remained. Among the passengers I was agreeably surprised to find Mr. Tompson, a Danish merchant of Eeykjavick. Upon leaving the Frith of Forth, the volcanic formation of the mountains in this part of Scotland is very apparent, especially when sailing in a NE. direction. The saddle-backed volcano, Arthur's ^ Seat, first comes prominently to view. There can be no doubt as to the force which created the surrounding mountains ; a survey of the continuous

B

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line of elevations, almost from the above-named mountain to the little conical hill upon the main land, opposite the Bass Rock, as well as the Bass Rock itself, confirms the opinion that they are of volcanic origin ; and the comparison of these mountains with those of the Faroe Isles and Iceland attests the truth of such a conclusion.

Upon rising next morning the appearance of the sky was anything but satisfactory ; the sunrise was brilliant, though the sky was greasy/^ and screwy pieces of cloud were dispersed throughout the heavens* The barometer, however, was high, and the wind NNW. Towards midday it blew half a gale, a heavy sea rose, and we were almost all seasick except the Dane&, who with few exceptions, I have often remarked, seldom suffer from that malady.

J une 4:th, — Wind and sea were unabated ; the wind had shifted to the east, and it was raining. The barometer fell half an inch. I felt unusually pugnacious with Dibdin and other writers who have advocated and sung the delights of life on the ocean wave, and a home on the rolling deep/' &c. In fact, the very attribute of rolling:, which seems to have delighted the poet, is the very thing I object to. The Diana is a gunboat which seems built with every facility for rolling, and after a short

THOnSRAVEN.

voyage in her, one feels very much as if one had been living in an American churn.

About 7 p. M. we reached Thorshaven, but it was impossible to land, owing to the tempest that was blowing. Two boats came off through the surf, and with excellent skill managed to hang on to leeward of us. A pilot came on board from tlie first boat, but as it was not possible to land or take in coal, we made for Kings' Haven, which is a much better harbour than that of Thorshaven. We were astonished to see how near the pilot and captain deemed it safe to approach the lee shore. Here, as around the Scottish isles, there is deep water quite close to the land ; the depth at this part, a mile from the shore, is 100 fathoms, while we anchored only 100 yards from land in twelve fathoms of water. I could not learn there had ever been any variation in the depth of any of these fjords, therefore the volcanic forces, among these islands at any rate, seem to be played out." This depth of water so close to land is, I believe, peculiar to^ many volcanic islands.

The Faroe Islands, which are about twenty in number, are entirely of volcanic formation, usually rising in terraces of basalt directly from the sea. The rocks abound in mineral specimens, principally of the zeolitic family; the ''noble" and ''fire" opal are also found here, though they are by no means

SNIOLANh, common. I tried to buy some specimens^ but none appeared to have been found very recently ; one of the Feroese merchants remarked that " he did not think it had been a good year for them," a way of putting it which seemed to imply that he considered them a species of vegetable, whose growth depended upon the nature of the season.

June 6th, — Still at anchor, with the wind blowing NNE., and a heavy leaden sky, through which the sun was struggling. The barometer had slightly risen. I had a long talk with our pilot, who informed me that the Feroe Eya (Feroe Islands) meant Sheep Islands ; that they possessed a very equable climate, and t at contrary to our experience in England, the month of May in this year had been a very fine month ; that he could see no difference in the climate now and fifty years ago^ and he considered the Islands were equally healthy during each season of the year. Indeed the climate must be the quintessence of all that is wholesome and invigorating, or the diseases arising from the worst possible sanitary arrangements would soon depopulate the Islands.

We were now lying in a sheltered fjord, the NE. banks of which rose in a series of basaltic terraces, capped to the NE. and NW. with hills where patches of snow were still lying in clefts and

THOBSHAVEN.

sheltered places. The largest mountain rises to a peak,

cleft in the centre, as my companion W said,

like Scuir-na-Gelean^ in the Island of Skye. Many of the passengers amused themselves with fishing over the stern of the vessel. Several small plaice and a large cod were caught ; in and on the latter we found a number of parasitic insects.

After lunch the captain made several soundings, and when the anchor was weighed, it brought up a lump of calcareous matter, principally composed of broken and partly-decomposed shells, black sand, and mud. The weather had now considerably moderated, and we steered for Thorshaven. TIpon leaving our shelter, we were surprised to see in how sinuous a harbour we had taken refuge : at its mouth we noticed the peculiar band of ruffled water, almost amounting to a bore, which is perceptible in places where the wind or tide meets any of the strong currents which occur in the waters around many of these islands ; these currents are sometimes so strong as to require eight men to pull a boat against them.

We were soon anchored in the Bay of Thorshaven, and we amused ourselves till midnight fishing over the ship's side. It was quite light throughout the night ; in these northern latitudes one is continually deceived as to time.

&mOLAND.

June 6th. — I started with C early in the

morning to cross the Island to the ruined Church of Kirkuboer upon the north side. After reaching the shore in a coaling boat, we passed through the town, and proceeded up a glen to the west, which nearly crosses the Island. It came on to rain heavily, and by the time we reached the ridge of hills which terminates the glen and divides it from the sea upon the west, we were nearly wet through. After ascending to the height of 600 feet, we crossed the mountain ridge, and descended to the sea, a mile and a half from the ruins of Kirkuboer. Our way then lay along the beach^ over an immense accumulation of kelp and other sea-weed, and we picked up a piece of sponge attached to a fragment of mussel-shell, a somewhat remarkable occurrence in these latitudes. We reached the church, and after inspecting the ruins, which are of the twelfth century^ at the request of the farmer, whose farm adjoins, we took some refreshment at his house. He was a fine specimen of a Feroese, being tall and well built. He welcomed us most cordially, and though he spoke no English, we managed to make him understand how much we appreciated his kindness. He ushered us into a cheerful little room looking out upon the narrow channel which divides the Island Stromoe from Kotta, and Hestoe from the neighbouring islands ; and pro-

AL.MANNA GJA.

THOESRAVEN, vided us with an ample repast of butter, Twae Bakka/*^ coffee and cigars. We showed him our telescope, aneroid, and compass^ which seemed greatly to interest him, and we departed speculating as to whether he was descended from the builders of the church, the ruins of which we had been admiring. "We visited the little church opposite, where at my last visit in 1871 I had seen some beautiful carving ; it was now undergoing repair, and the carving and a quaint old painting of the Lord's Supper, which had previously stood over the altar, were removed. I inquired about them, and the Feroese who were repairing the church at once set off to an outhouse to bring the carving and painting for our inspection. We could only determine who three of the figures were intended to represent, viz., Christ, St. John, and Judas with the bag. We pointed out that the painter had made but eleven apostles ; one of the men ingeniously attempted to explain matters by saying it was quite rights counting our Lord in to make the twelfth.

The weather having cleared^ we examined the basaltic cliffs behind the farm, collecting several fragments containing zeolites, principally natrolite and chabasite. There was a magnificent view of the surrounding hills, which here assume a variety of fantastic forms. Returning, we took a survey of the town of Thorshaven. Irregular and narrow streets of wooden houses, roofed with turf, are clustered together upon the hill-side in the NW. corner of the bay, built in defiance of every sanitary and architectural law ; that the inhabitants are not decimated by fever must be an additional proof as to the great salubrity of the climate.

We set sail about 6 p.m., passing through the beautiful islands to the west and north of Thorshaven. Sickness prevented me from noticing anything more^ except a specimen of chrysocoUite, shown me by a French gentleman ; this mineral abounds in some parts of these islands.

June 7th was therefore a blank. The next day repaid us for all our inconveniences : we woke to a beautiful view of Berufjorde, with the snow-capped hills around it, and the vessel lay in calm water. Before us were weird black mountains and conical hills, whose rugged outlines peering through the snow spoke plainly of ancient volcanic activity^ and of the grim agency which gave them birth. The season appeared late, for the snow was lying abundantly low down upon the sides of the mountains, and the cold wind which blew from the distant " JokuUs" froze the water that had been used to swab the decks. Depositing the mail and a lady passenger, we steamed out of the

THOBSHAVEN.

Ijord and along the coast towards Eeykjavick. The coast-line as seen from the sea appears a continuous chain of volcanic mountains, heavily capped with snow, from which glaciers sweep down to the plain beneath ; but the land intervening between the sea and the mountains is unobservable at the distance from which we viewed it. Having recovered from the mal de mer, I inquired whether there had been any variation in soundings along the coast, or in the coast-line ; I could not learn that there had been any alteration of either in the history of the navigation of this part. There is a tradition in one of the sagas concerning vessels entering various fjords and sailing where it would be now impossible to take anything larger than a fishing-boat ; but the ancient skj aid's ideas of a vessel and ours no doubt materially differ. Mr. Tompson told me that a tract of land which used to be fields near Erribakki is now covered with water, but this may result from some variation in the flow of the river Hvita, and not from any volcanic disturbance or encroachment of the sea. Several gentlemen on board who had witnessed the eruption of the unknown volcano in Yatna JokuU in 1873, while they were staying at Erribakki, described the smoke and reflection as being directly in a line with Hecla, and the appearance was such that when first

SNIOLAND.

observed the eruption was supposed to be from that mountain.

June 9th. — A gale compelled us to lie to, for we could not steam against the heavy wind.

June 10th. — We reached the Westerman Isles : they are even more grotesque in appearance than the Faroe, and their decidedly volcanic nature is still more marked. Every ledge was crowded with sea fowl, the cry of which when heard in the distance resembles that of a pack of hounds in full chase. Here and upon the west coast of Iceland the big brown gull is found.

We left the mail, and steamed away, wondering how the inhabitants managed to spend their time upon such outlandish and desolate spots, for the " Diana is often compelled to pass them by, in consequence of bad weather or fog. We had a fine view of Hecla, which was still covered with snow. About midday we lost sight of the Westermans, and rounded the Cape Reykjaness. Here we first saw lava streams. These had flowed down from several ancient volcanic vents, and formed, together with large masses of coloured tufa, a very weird and grand sight, and also one very peculiar in its character to Iceland.

By 8 P.M. we were entering the Bay of Reykjavick. The bright rays of the evening sun were

BEYKJAVICK.

illuminating the beautiful Mount Esjia still wrapped in its winter clothing, upon the NE. side of the Bay. A few fleecy evening clouds were collecting round its flattened summit, and creeping down its steep black sides, deepening the shadow on the side from which the sunlight had departed, and clinging like masses of wool to the sunlit summit, and the western face of the mountain. Far in the NW. horizon was the snowy pointed mass of Snsefells

JokuU.^' Upon the opposite side of the Bay lay the straggling capital of Iceland, Reykjavick, with its wooden houses and stores,^^ which brought vividly to remembrance the " frame houses which spring up with such mushroom-like growth in the frontier towns and upon the plains of NW. America; the main difference being that Reykjavick is as slow in its progression as America is rapid. The town was gay with flags, crowds clustered upon the wooden landing stages, and boat-loads of people were coming off to the ship. Several other craft were lying in the Bay, and as the "Diana" took up her place between a Danish and French man-of-war, which are stationed here to look after the fisheries ; a band upon the Danish vessel saluted us with a few popular national strains of welcome.

After the usual salutations from officials and a few friends, we supped ; fully appreciating the comfort

SNIOLAND.

of a vessel at anchor, instead of one rolling about as if trying every possible means of producing discomfort. It was broad daylight when we came out on deck ; at 12 p.m. the sun had scarcely sunk beneath the horizon, the western sky reflected a grandly- coloured brilliance, glowing with carmine, which passing through various gradations of colour and splendour, finally melted away in a wide-spread flood of pale yellowish green light, which lost itself in the deep blue of the sub- Arctic firmament. A bright spot high in the east told of fine weather for the day which was dawning, and warned us to seek the necessary rest to refresh us for the duties of the morrow.

June nth. — We landed at 10 a.m. and at once sought a place to pitch our tent, for one can always endure delay (which by the way is always an unpleasantly prominent feature of travel) better in camp than anywhere else. I suppose the reason why time passes the most easily when camping out is that full employment is found in doing so many things for oneself that would otherwise be done for one, and as we were under the necessity of waiting some time while a man was despatched into the country to purchase fifteen horses, we could not do better than avail ourselves of this agreeable mode of passing time. We decided on camping upon a piece of ground close to the sea shore, at the back of the

EEYKJAVICK, town ; it belonged to the governor, who kindly allowed us to pitch our tent there. After dining I took a turn round the town, and found but little alteration in it since 1871.

As usual the prevailing element was fish wherever one looked ; there were fish of all sorts, and all sizes, in all stages of salting and drying. Stacks of fish were piled up high and dry upon the beach ; thousands were lying out upon the rocks preparatory to being cured; men and horses were carrying fish about, and small armies of ponies were waiting patiently with great packages of fish on either side of them ready to convey this great necessary of life inland for home consumption. Ships were lying in the harbour to carry ofi" their share to other parts of the world, and boats were constantly coming in with fresh supplies. What the date is to the Arab, or the beefsteak to the Englishman, stockfish is to the Icelander. It is the one thing necessary for his food ; he eats it at all times ; he prefers it to everything else, and his nation's flag unfurled displays a stockfish as the emblem of its strength.

In the morning we saw a whale spouting in the sea in front of our encampment, but although whales often frequent the harbour of Reykjavick^ it is very seldom they are caught.

June Vltli, — We brought the remainder of our

SNIOLAND.

things on shore^ and made arrangements to engage an Icelander, Guthminder, as our guide, whom we despatched into the country to procure horses for us.

Our encampment was evidently the talk of the town, for at Reykjavick, as well as in other small places, anything out of the ordinary way, is sure to be a nine days'* wonder. In this remote little capital, where everything from time immemorial has gone on strictly according to old-fashioned routine, there is " a lion in the path'' against every infringement of rule or novelty of proceeding. It was astonishing to hear the puerile objections made to any mode of action out of the usual course. For instance, when we spoke to a man about camping by the shore^ he said we must not do so, as we should disturb the eider ducks. Now, as a number of men were engaged drying fish upon the beach exactly opposite to our proposed encampment, and people were constantly shooting along the shore, nothing could be more irrational, moreover the field was tenanted with cows, and I do not think there were any ducks there at all.

In the evening the son of the clergyman of Storruvellir — from whom I had received great kindness at my former sojourn on the island — paid us a visit. He was studying for the medical profession^ and we had a long talk about the tapeworm, which

EEYRJAVICK.

is very prevalent in Iceland. He remarked that it was only when an animal secreted the embryo form of the tapeworm that tapeworm was the result, and that when an animal secreted the tapeworm it produced the embryo form.

Jmie 13th, — The mail was made up, and for the first time I used the new Icelandic stamp ; for in consequence of its emancipation Iceland now has a stamp of her own; up to this time Danish stamps

only were in use. W visited Hafnarfjord and

brought back several specimens of Hafnarfjordite.^ As Reykjavick was no novelty to me, my time was chiefly spent in the tent, or walking amongst the great piles of fish, watching the landing of fishing boats. I had often noticed great rows and rings of fishes' heads upon the beach, looking all the more ghastly from being severed from the body, staring with their gr€at vacant eyes, reminding one of the pagan rite which required a string of human heads as a propitiation. I had long wondered what they were intended for, and upon inquiring was informed that they were the pay which the Icelanders from the country received for working the fisheries for the owners of the boats and nets. Even the backbones of the fish are preserved and dried for fuel. On the evening of the 14th I dined with the Bishop, and there met Dr. Hjaltalim. The latter gentleman told

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me that eruptions in Iceland are always preceded by fine weather, which is very remarkable, as one would expect them to occur most frequently when the atmosphere was the lightest ; that shocks of earthquake often precede eruptions, travelling from NE. to SW., or SW. to NE., and never in any other direction. The most terrible earthquake on record in this part of the world preceded the eruption from Kallugia in 1860. It thus seems that the primary cause of volcanic disturbances originates towards Jan Mayen and travels southward, or in the Azores and travels northward. Dr. H. also informed me that there formerly existed bays and fjords on the north and west coast which ships used to enter, but now are too shallow.

June 16th. — ^I took a walk along the coast, scrambling along the shore^ which immediately by Reykjavick is rendered very rocky by an ancient lava stream upon which the town stands. It is a compact basaltic lava, but the whole of the stream is now covered with alluvial deposit. I took the bearings of the last eruption in Yatna JokuU, as seen from Reykjavick : the line cut Mosfell.

June IWi. — Wandered towards the lime-kilns outside the town. Near them were several heaps of carbonate of lime, which is obtained in considerable quantities from a mine beneath Mount Esjia; it does

LAX A.

not, however, make very good lime, being of a very earthy character. The next day we paid a visit to the eider duck islands opposite Reykjavick. Here the ducks are greatly encouraged, and the owner of the farm receives as much as 600 or 800 dollars per annum from the sale of the eide^ down. In the evening we were plagued by a swarm of insects, half- gnat half-mosquitos. I afterwards saw a similar kind beneath Myrdals Jokull.

Jtme 22nd. — Our horses arrived, concerning which very ordinary batch of ponies little need be said, except that they cost us sixty dollars each, worked very fairly through the summer, and sold for about fifteen to twenty dollars each when we had done with them, a result better than many other travellers obtained. While the work of shoeing was proceeding, we prepared our pack-boxes, and on the morrow we removed our camp to the Lax A (Salmon River), some three miles from Reykjavick. The road lays over ancient lava fields, now scarcely discernible ; we camped upon a beautiful piece of turf beside the river. In the evening Mr. Tompson came to look at his salmon boxes, and we assisted him to take out the fish. These boxes are let into the middle of dams placed across the river, 80 that the whole of the water has to pass through the boxes, into which the fish can get, but are

c

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unable to escape. We took from tlie boxes 4501bs. of salmon, and a beautiful sight it was to see those silvery monsters all alive, and looking fit for the table of a king.

June 2^th. — It was not till 6 p. m. that the remainder of our chattels came from Reykjavick,

accompanied by W" and S , but as I knew

if we stayed where we were it would be the signal for our guide to take himself ofi" to the town^ from whence it would be hopeless to expect him for several hours in the morning, I decided, much

against his will, to go on. C and I walked, for we

agreed to give up our ponies for the present to carry baggage for the good of the community. One horse carried a sleigh I had brought from England for use upon the snows of Myrdals and Yatna Jokulls ; but I soon found it was impracticable to carry it upon horseback, it knocked against rocks, would not be adjusted, and finally seemed to bid fair altogether to upset the poor little pony that carried it.

We fell in with a party of Icelanders, who were going our way, many of them were drunk. I would here say a word about drunkenness in Iceland. When this vice has been observed by many of our countrymen, who have only gone the usual round from Eeykjavick, viz. ThiDgvellir, Geysire, and Hecla,

INTEMPEBANCE, they have come to the conchision that drunkenness is the Icelander's national failing. I am not going to say that I have not met a great number of drunken men in Iceland, still it is but fair to state that the Icelander in his home is not an habitual drunkard. When he gets intoxicated it is generally while he is on a journey, and consequently he is seen by all travellers ; in other countries drunkenness is more of a hole-and-corner offence. Again^ when Icelanders come to Reykjavick once or twice a year to trade^ they are easier victims of temptation than those who are daily exposed to it. Having done their trading they leave the town in company with their friends, drinking iEirst with one and then with another as they ride along ; perhaps some of them have already takeii more than was good for them before they started, and thus it is so many drunken men are met upon the roads immediately about Reykjavick. Granting all this, however, it is decidedly unfair and unjust to say that the Icelander, taking him all the year round in his own home, is an habitual drunkard.