Across Iceland - free ebook by W. (William) Bisiker

ACROSS ICELAND

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LIST OF MAPS

THE PARTY These notes, besides describing a journey made during the summer of 1900 across Central Iceland from the north-east to the south-west, give an account of further travels by land in the west, and by sea along the coast and into the fjords of the north-west, north and east coasts. The voyage to Iceland was made in one of the vessels owned by the United Steamship Company, a Danish company trading from Copenhagen to Leith, and thence to the Faroes and Iceland. We were six in all—a semi-sci

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CHAPTER I

One Saturday in June 1900 we embarked upon the steam-ship Ceres , and early in the afternoon set sail from Leith on our voyage North. All the morning the weather had been fine, and it promised to continue so before we started, but we had scarcely reached the open sea before we entered a fog, which increased in denseness as we progressed. As a consequence the steam-whistle was sounded every few minutes, much to the discomfiture of many of the passengers on board; but Miss Hastie seemed to rise ab

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CHAPTER II

THE FAROES The first sight of the Faroes was impressive. The bold outlines of the islands were well-marked features. The dip (or tilt) of the ancient lava flows could be traced from one island to another. A dome-shaped block, Lille Dimon, was the most striking island, while the almost perpendicular escarpments of Skuo stood as evidence of the power of the stormy Atlantic, whose seas continually beat at the base of the cliffs. Trangisvaag, in the island of Sudero, was the first port of call. In t

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CHAPTER III

THE FJORDS Next day rain, fog, and mist prevailed, so there was much whist-playing and smoking below, and much blowing of whistle above. Towards evening we were off the coast of Iceland; the land was not visible, for we were enveloped in fog, but there was no doubt about it, for we could hear that land was not far distant. It may seem strange, but it was a fact, we were really feeling our way along the coast by the aid of the steam-whistle. The land thereabouts rises abruptly from the sea, and t

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CHAPTER IV

AKUREYRI AT MIDNIGHT. Between the town of Akureyri and the basaltic mountains to the westward that rise to a considerable altitude, there is, filling the interval, a series of morainic hills, the material of which has come down the Eyjafjorthará valley, or from the mountains beside it. These hills present the appearance of a terrace partly worn down and scored by the action of water and melting snow. No doubt the basaltic mountains once formed the side of the fjord. An hour or so before midnight

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CHAPTER V

THE INTERIOR—TO HVERAVELLIR We were delayed for about two hours while waiting for the farmer to conduct us over the mountains; it was necessary to take a local guide, for none of our own men had ever been over the ground. When we did move on we tried to make up in pace for the delay; we made good time in ascending steadily from the valley over great accumulations of moraine matter and by ancient tracks through hummocky land. Riding through this hummocky ground sometimes requires the exercise of

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CHAPTER VI

Arrived at Strytur, another indescribable scene of desolation met our view. The lava was twisted and contorted in the wildest manner, and mixed in the utmost confusion. The volcano has two craters, inner and outer; the former rather more than three-eighths of a mile, and the latter nearly five-eighths in diameter. The two horns are of peculiar shape: the western horn being but an isolated pinnacle rising less than a hundred feet above its surroundings; the eastern horn is another isolated peak,

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CHAPTER VII

THE INTERIOR—KERLINGARFJÖLL A SURVEY PHOTOGRAPH (NO. 183) TAKEN FROM ☉ E LOOKING TOWARDS KERLINGARFJÖLL. When preparations had been completed, some of us started for the mountains of Kerlingarfjöll, where high up, among the snow and ice, there are hot springs, fumaroles, and solfataras. The party was a small one. Thomas, Hill, and I started with the conductor and two guides. Unfortunately Thomas's side was giving him "fits," and he had to return after going but a very short distance. We had a bi

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CHAPTER VIII

THE INTERIOR—HVITARVATN AND GULLFOSS I was early at work next morning, and did some plane-tabling at Gránanes before breakfast. Afterwards, when I had finished what I wanted to do at that station, Thomas and I, accompanied by Thorlakur, the guide, proceeded to Efriskutur, a mountain four or five miles distant, on the highest point of which I purposed making my sixth station. We rode down the river and along the ridge of a long stretch of moraine where there were some fine "erratics"; one very la

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CHAPTER IX

GEYSIR AND THINGVELLIR We were very near the margin of the desert interior, for within two or three miles we arrived at the farm-house of Bratholt, the first human habitation that we had seen for ten or twelve days. We had traversed the uninhabited country and were then entering upon the final stage of the journey across the island, where we expected to see some of the better class of farms and farmers. Bratholt farm-house seemed to be one of the superior kind—it was certainly the best that we h

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CHAPTER X

Reykjavik is not a very large town, as its population of about four thousand indicates. It is built on the coast and is a long, straggling place; and although just in the business quarter there are several streets running parallel or at right angles to one another, yet, with this exception, the houses are built along the main thoroughfare. The buildings for the most part are of wooden construction, with galvanised iron roofs, though here and there a turf-roofed shanty stands as a reminder that t

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CHAPTER XI

IN THE WEST—TO REYKHOLT We spent two days at Reykjavik before renewing our journeyings. We were a much reduced party, for instead of eleven persons in all, we only mustered five when, on the third day from our arrival at the capital, we set out once more. Miss Hastie and myself were all that remained of the old party, but we were joined by a young Icelandic medical student, Jón Rosenkranz, while we were accompanied by our old conductor as "guide, philosopher, and friend," and Hannes as guide. Jó

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CHAPTER XII

BARNAFOSS AND THE SURTSHELLIR CAVES The sun had crossed the meridian next day before we left Reykholt. We had coffee with the minister and his wife, from whom we parted on the best possible terms; they and their children waved their adieux to us as we proceeded on our way up Reykholtsdal. We struck across towards the Hvitá, and soon came in sight of that river, a swift-flowing stream whose milky-white colour denoted that its source must be up in the snow-and ice-fields of the Jökulls. Along the

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CHAPTER XIII

ROPY LAVA AT BARNAFOSS. On leaving Gilsbakki we proceeded down the valley of the Hvitá for a considerable distance on the right side of the river, where there are indications, which are quite as plain as those we saw on the other side, that the river was at one time very much wider, for there is much alluvial material, forming a series of river terraces one above another, and these are intersected by various streams from the mountains. While lunching at Sithumuli we saw great clouds of steam ris

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CHAPTER XIV

TO ELDBORG AND HELGAFELL Next day, before proceeding on the direct route, Miss Hastie and I, with a local guide, made a short detour up Hitadalr. At first we picked our way through the lava, and then went on by the side of a comparatively small stream, a branch of the Grjotá. A few miles up the valley we came upon what was left of several volcanic cones, the tuff remains of which were spread over the valley. At one of these about one-third of the lip of the crater still existed, having on it a q

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CHAPTER XV

STYKKISHOLM AND BERSERKJAHRAUN Stykkisholm is a very picturesque little town built in a valley and on the slopes of the enclosing hills. It is situated at the extreme end of the peninsula, overlooking Breithifjord and its branch, Hvammsfjord. In front of the town, the island of Sugandisey acts as a sort of breakwater, and affords shelter from storms to small craft. This island is composed of columnar basalt; it is a striking feature in the surrounding scenery, where hundreds of smaller islands d

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CHAPTER XVI

THE NORTH-WEST PENINSULA The Vesta set sail at about 1 p.m. , shaping a course northward in Breithifjord through a sea of small islands, which I thought to be the remains of old lava flows denuded and perhaps sunk below sea-level. I had no opportunity of examining them, but they are said to be "crater islets," most of them. The sea in Breithifjord is very shallow, and on the journey to the island of Flatey, and afterwards thence towards the open ocean, our course was anything but a straight one;

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CHAPTER XVII

On leaving Sautharkrokr and sailing two or three miles north into Skagafjord, Kolbeinsdalr opened out on the east side. This valley has been fairly well worn down: there is a mass of moraine matter on the sea front, which is cut through by a mountain stream from the Unadal and Myrkar Jökulls. Farther north the valleys of Deildardalr and Unadalr came into view. Then we passed between a tuff hill that almost hides Lake Hofthavatn, and Drangey Island, where an outlying Kerling rock (old woman) stan

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CHAPTER XVIII

ACROSS COUNTRY FROM AKUREYRI TO HUSAVIK The next port at which we touched was Akureyri in Eyjafjord, the place from which we had started several weeks before to cross the island. We arrived at about nine in the morning, and the vessel was timed to stay there two days before departing for Husavik. I had formed the plan that if we reached Akureyri in good time, I would make a two days' trip across country to Husavik, and there pick up the steamer again. Fortune favoured me, for on going on deck to

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CHAPTER XIX

THE EASTERN FJORDS The Vesta was late in arrival, and as the taking in of cargo occupied several hours, we did not get away from Husavik till the afternoon; we then headed straight for the Arctic Circle, passing the island of Lundey on the way out of Skjalfandi. When we entered within the Arctic Circle in the evening, the atmospheric conditions and the temperature were in keeping with our position on the earth's surface, for it was cold and bleak, and the night promised to be a dirty one; but th

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APPENDIX I

NOTES ON PLANTS COLLECTED IN THE FAROES AND ICELAND By A. W. HILL, M.A. The decumbent character of the vegetation and the practical absence of trees form the most striking features of the flora in both the Faroes and Iceland. In the Faroes the steep and rocky hillsides are very exposed and wind swept, and the vegetation is in consequence characteristically dwarfed, and most plants raise themselves but little above the general level of the grass. The dwarfed habit was well shown by some plants, s

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APPENDIX II

Akrafjall, 129 Akureyri, 24-32 , 50 , 109 , 196 , 211 , 218 , 224 Alftafjord, 168 , 170 Almanna-gjá, 107-109 Althing, 107 , 116 , 118 , 119 Arctic Circle, 8 , 24 , 207 Arhver, 134 Arnarfjord, 155 , 182 Arnarvatnsheithi, 122 , 143 Ásquidsá, 76 Athalmansvatn, 53 , 219 Athalmansvötn, 53 Audakilsá, 132 Barnafoss, 138-140 , 143 , 151 , 153-155 Bathstovukver, 203 , 204 Baula, 133 , 155 , 156 , 161 Baula, Little, 155 Beljandi, 56 Berserkjahraun, 172 , 176 , 178 Berufjord, 214 Biludalr, 182 Bláfell, 83

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