Pliny Miles

“ We ascended the mountain from the west, but now we were north of the summit, and where most of the snow lay. Clouds now gathered round us, and we had to grope our way in the fog for some time. The ascent grew more precipitous, and the climbing was exceedingly toilsome. The earth and lava now appeared of a red color. We seemed to be approaching the region of fire. Sulphurous fumes saluted our nostrils; the weather cleared a little, and, suddenly, before us yawned a deep crater. What a horrible chasm! Indeed, it seemed like hell itself. Fire and brimstone literally. ”

“ The air was vocal with birds, that constantly flew about us. The mournful note of the plover, and the wild scream of the curlew, were constantly heard, as they rested on the signal-cairns by the way-side, or flew away towards a thicket. These birds, as well as the ptarmigan, are quite plentiful in Iceland, and all reckoned as game-birds.
A man could travel through Iceland in the summer, carrying a gun, a few loaves of bread, some tea, coffee, and sugar, get plenty of milk and cream at the farmers’ houses, and shoot game enough for his meat, without once leaving his horse. ”

“ To me, one of the most remarkable circumstances connected with Iceland is, the constant and regular supply of fire that keeps springs of water at a boiling heat, and sends forth fountains with a force beyond all human power, and with a constant and unceasing regularity, for hundreds, and, for aught we know to the contrary, for thousands of years. Whence is the supply of fuel? Why does it not all get consumed? But a child can ask a question that a man cannot answer. ”

“ Let gardeners and farmers blush or boast, neither nature nor cultivation has adorned our hills with one nor ten plants that look half so beautiful as the blooming heather that covers the hills of far-off northern Iceland. The same species that grows here, I have seen in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Holstein, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. ”

“ Loki’s two children were taken, and one changed to a wolf; and he immediately devoured the other.
The end of all material things is known as Ragnarök,—the twilight of the gods, and conflagration of the universe. The world becomes corrupt; a wolf devours the sun, and another wolf the moon; trees fall, and mountains tumble to pieces. The wolf Fenrir opens his enormous mouth, the lower jaw being on the earth, and the upper reaching to heaven; the Midgard serpent gains the land, and heaven is cleft in twain. The sons of Muspell ride through the breach, led by Surtur, in the midst of flaming fire. ”

“ The land over which we rode here was covered with lava and volcanic sand, and, what is seldom seen in such a situation, tufts of grass grew here and there. Heath is nearly the first vegetation that finds root on the lava. Here, in a pasture near a river, we saw a splendid lot of horses. What a wild, untamed look they had; sleek and fat, with long, flowing tails and manes! They appeared like the flock that crossed the path of Mazeppa. The Iceland farmers usually keep great numbers of horses, and there is no country in the world where they can be raised so cheaply. ”

“ Loki and Heimdall fight, and kill each other. This most terrible battle being over, Surtur darts fire and flame over the world, and the whole universe is consumed by it. A heaven, and many abodes, both good and bad, are supposed to exist after this; for the spirits of all who have lived are immortal. A new earth, most lovely and verdant, shall rise out of the sea, and grain shall grow unsown. ”

“ Of the several features which distinguish this remarkable period in the history of Iceland, the literary character of the people is doubtless the most extraordinary and peculiar. We require much evidence to convince us of the fact that a nation remote from the rest of Europe, dwelling on a soil so sterile, and beneath such inclement skies, should have sent forth men whose genius, taste, and acquirements did honor to their country, and to the times in which they lived. ”

“ The Thiorsá river, a stream larger than the Hudson or the Rhine, rises high up on the side of Skaptar Jokull, 3,000 feet above the level of the sea, and in a deep cañon in the lava, pours its resistless torrent down into the ocean. Its rapid and turbulent current may be imagined. These mountains in the interior of the country, the volcanic islands out at sea, the rapid and powerful rivers, the Geysers, and innumerable hot springs, along with the magnificent coast scenery, form the most prominent physical features of Iceland. ”

“ Touching the fish that swim hereabouts, and the so-called “sport” of angling, I am told that the Iceland trout and salmon show a most barbarous indifference to the attractive colors of all artificial flies that are ever thrown them by scientific piscators. Our clerical farmer-fisherman who hauls up the finny tribes in the Thingvalla vatn, uses no barbed piece of steel to tear their innocent gills—“a pole and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other”—but pulls them up in crowds with a net. ”

“ I can lay claim to some personal acquaintance with Skaptar Jokull. Standing on the summit of Hekla, I could look directly over nearly the entire surface of the mountain. It does not rise from all sides to one peak in the center, like Ætna, Stromboli, Hekla, and Vesuvius; but to the eye it presents the appearance of one vast, glittering plain of snow. The few travelers who have ascended the jokulls of Iceland, have described them as presenting immense cracks in the snow and ice; making their ascent more dangerous, in proportion to their height, than probably any other mountains in the world. ”

“ Most of the hot springs I have seen in Iceland are at the base of hills. The Geysers are on ground that is nearly level, sloping a little from the hill, and cover fifty acres or more. The springs are over one hundred in number, and of every size and form, some very large, others small, scarcely discharging any water at all. The Great Geyser—“the Geyser” par excellence—attracts by far the most attention, as from its great size, the quantity of water it discharges, and the magnitude and splendor of its eruptions, it stands unequaled in the world. ”

“ To the naturalist and the man of science, to the geologist, the botanist, and the ornithologist, it is probably less known than any equal tract of accessible country in the world. The burning chimnies of Ætna, Vesuvius, and Stromboli, have given inspiration to Horace and Virgil, and been minutely described by the pens of Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Pliny. Not so the region of Hekla and Skaptar Jokull. In the Mediterranean states, art and nature can both be studied; in Iceland, nature alone, but nature in her wildest moods. ”

“ A precipitous path leads to the top of the island, where the people, with their habitations, a few sheep, and their little church, remain two thousand feet above the ocean. The islands are basaltic, like Fingal’s Cave and the Giant’s Causeway; but, instead of being one or two hundred feet in height, rise like immense columns, nearly half a mile above the sea. The inhabitants draw their entire subsistence from the ocean and the cliffs, catching codfish and killing sea-birds, myriads of which haunt the rocks of their sea-girt shores. The sea-fowl furnish large quantities of feathers. ”

“ Though not active all at once, yet throughout the length and breadth of the land may be found smoking mountains, burning sulphur mines, hot springs that will boil an egg, and jets of blowing steam that keep up a roar like the whistle of a gigantic steam engine. The volcanic region of Iceland may be set down as covering an area of sixty thousand square miles; for volcanoes have repeatedly risen up from the sea near the coast, and sometimes as far as seventy miles from land. ”

“ There is no reason why the king of Denmark should not open the trade of Iceland equally to all nations. It is not a particle of pecuniary benefit to his kingdom, as there are no duties charged; but, by restricting the trade to Danish vessels, it is kept as a kind of monopoly by a few merchants of Copenhagen; while the poor Icelanders complain greatly of the oppression and hardship of being dependent for their foreign necessaries and luxuries, entirely on a few grasping speculators. Whenever the Iceland Althing passes an act opening their ports to all nations, the king vetoes the bill. ”

“ These gulls are not fond of fishing; they prefer that others should fish for them. When the great gull, or any other of the fishing-tribes, has got a load, and filled his stomach, neck, and bill, with fish, and is flying slowly and heavily away to his expectant brood, this arrant freebooter, the skua gull, dashes at the sober fisherman; and his only chance of life is to disgorge all he has, and the skua catches it in its fall, or picks it up from the surface of the water or land. ”

“ Nearly one half of Iceland is covered with heath, and some day it may be fertile enough to produce grass. I have been told more than once that this beautiful shrub will not grow in North America, but I cannot believe it. In Europe and the northern isles, and Africa and Madeira, there are over a hundred different varieties of heath. Why will not some horticulturists rear a good variety, and try them from various climes, Madeira, Scotland, and Iceland, and get some of them naturalized with us in America, that they might cover our barren hills and waysides, and adorn our gardens and fields? ”

“ Though we saw no crater, we had very direct evidence that we were in close proximity to volcanic fires. Little eminences of lava stood up around us, from which smoke issued; and the ground under our feet felt warm. On removing the earth to the depth of two or 140three inches, it felt hot; and on digging down anywhere to the depth of six inches, smoke would burst out. Six inches deeper, and no doubt a man might light a segar. I went close to a bank of snow—to have something to cool my punch—spread out my tartan plaid on a warm piece of lava, opened my knapsack, sat down and dined. ”

“ The great danger in approaching this almost inaccessible island, with the strong currents that run by it, and the wild nature of the bird, have, so far, defied the efforts of yachtsmen, travelers, hunters, and fishermen. The Icelander scarcely ever does any thing for the sport or adventure of the thing; and rarely will a large reward tempt him to go into any scene possessing much novelty or danger, unless his own direct duty lies in that direction. I have seen a water-color drawing of this bird, at a gentleman’s house at Reykjavik. ”

“ A man cannot carry a worse custom with him to a banquet, than that of drinking too much; the more the drunkard swallows the less is his wisdom, till he loses his reason. The bird of oblivion sings before those who inebriate themselves, and steals away their souls. ”

“ On the wing as well as 225in the water, the gannet is a powerful bird. With terrible impetuosity, they descend from a great height, and plunging into the water, seize and carry off their prey. Like all fishing birds, the gannet has a keen sight, keener probably than the eagle, for he can discern his prey in the water, while at a great height, and when the curl of the surface so scatters the light that human vision, aided by all the contrivances of science, cannot penetrate a single inch. How singular is nature in all her operations! ”

“ SCOTT. AFTER our sojourn of two days in explorations of Mount Hekla, we took leave of the farmer of Næfrholt and his family, and traveled towards the southwest coast, the Reykir Springs, and the Sulphur Mountains. There are some pleasing and original customs among the Icelanders; and with these are their ways of saluting, at meeting and parting. Young and old, male and female, have the same affectionate greeting and parting compliments. They first shake hands, then embrace with arms about each other’s necks, and then bring their lips in close contact. ”

“ Who has not seen the pretty “snow-bird” during a driving snow-storm, come round the barn for some hay-seed, or to the house for a crumb? But where do they go in summer? Why, they go to Iceland, and a nice time they have of it. They build their nests in the crags; and the male perches on some rock in the vicinity and sings all day long, while the female lays five small round eggs. The male bird takes his turn in sitting on the nest; and they feed on the seeds of grass, rushes, and other hardy northern plants. ”

“ At eight o’clock we arrived at the farm and church of Skarth, where we tarried all night. The clergyman of the parish does not live here, but the obliging farmer did every thing he could to make me comfortable. I think I stated that I had arrived at the dignity of sleeping under the bed. That is a luxury that until lately has only been accorded to princes. The eider-down bed, from the Iceland eider-duck, has long been noted for its lightness and softness. It is perhaps the greatest non-conductor of heat that can be used as a covering. It is altogether too warm. ”

“ As scanty as are the agricultural resources of Iceland, and as short as their seasons are, I am confident that this “art of arts” might be greatly advanced here. Plowing would, certainly, in many places, greatly improve their land, smooth the surface, and enable them to lay it down with a better quality of grass. Their seed would, the most of it, however, have to be brought from foreign countries. On seeing their fine meadows of “red top”—the kind of grass most prevalent,—I at once told them that the white, if not the red clover, would be much more productive than their native grasses. ”

“ In other and more favored climes, you find comfortable houses, and “fruits of fragrance blush on every tree;” here, not a fruit, save one small and tasteless berry, and not a single variety of grain, will ripen, and their houses are mere huts of lava and turf, looking as green as the meadows and pastures. In other lands, coal and wood fires enliven every hearth, and mines of iron, lead, copper, silver, and gold, reward the labor of the delver ”

“ OUR pleasant stay at the Geysers was finished, the last look taken; the last piece of bacon that we had boiled in Dame Nature’s cauldron, had disappeared; the farmer of Haukadalr had given us his good benediction and a hearty grip of the hand, while he pocketed the dollars that we gave him; and, our ponies being ready, we prepared to leave. The old raven, too,—for here in Iceland “the raven croaks him on the chimney top,” as he did when and where Richard the III. was born,—the old raven had croaked out his farewell. There is no blinking the matter; we have to face it. ”