1

burning in that direction, it will not be easy to conceive whence it could proceed, unless it may be supposed that the columns before mentioned, as abundant in the district of Skaptefield, had, by southerly winds, been carried far away to the north, and were now driven back by the winds blowing from that quarter. When the winter of 1783 came on, the hazy weather was less perceptible, yet it was still observable for three days in November, and again once in December; on the 13th, the 29th, 30th, and 31st of January, 1784; then twice in February; as also in March and April, and in June, after which it prevailed almost daily in July, whilst I remained in the vicinity of the fire. Indeed, it could not well be otherwise, but that as soon as the thick vapors, arising from the districts filled by the lava, were dispersed by the winds, they must necessarily cause fogs and hazy weather in those places to which they were driven. After the prevalence of so thick an atmosphere as has been just described, it was remarked, at several periods during the following winter of 1784, that the surface of the snow was covered with very fine

dust or ashes. Nevertheless, this mist or fog brought with it no putrid air, subsequently to the close of the summer of 1783, with the single exception of two days in the month of April, 1784, when a very strong sulphureous smell was perceived even at the Bishop's residence at Skalholt, and at many places in the district of Aarnes. During the time I remained at Siden, in the month of July last, the air had a strong smell of sulphur as often as the winds were northerly, and this was particularly intolerable about sun-rise; so that I could then with difficulty draw my breath, whilst lying in my tent.

I have already hinted that the damage which the pastures have sustained from the torrents of rain are incalculable; for these, accompanied with continual lightning and with the most dreadful peals of thunder, have not only in many places rendered the surface of the earth for ever unproductive, by dislodging from the neighboring eminences great fragments of rock, but have elsewhere materially injured vegetation by covering the ground with black dust, mixed with the hair-like ravelings, ashes, sand, and sul

phur, thus poisoning the animals, and consequently cutting off the very life springs of the inhabitants. The feet of the poor cattle, and their heads, as far at least as their eyes, and the inside of their mouths, became changed, by their going into these pastures, especially such as are damp and marshy, to a sulphureous yellow color, and were filled with wounds and boils. The fire itself having much decreased since the beginning of the winter of 1783, the heavy squalls of rain became less frequent after that period, yet they nevertheless once or twice happened whilst I remained in the vicinity of the eruption. I shall never forget the last of these, which I witnessed while travelling with my companion in Skaptartungen. It was terrible in the extreme; and the rain fell, not in drops, but, as it were, in continued streams, accompanied with unceasing thunder and lightning; so that we were completely wet through in less than a quarter of an hour. We at length reached the parsonage-house of Eystri-Asar, which had been for more than a twelvemonth deserted, and there took shelter for an hour, till the tempest had subsided. Whilst

here, we examined the church, but could not perceive that it had sustained any damage from the convulsions of the earth *. When

we afterwards travelled across the heaths to the northward of this place, towards Svinedal, we noticed, with the greatest astonishment, that large lumps of ice, three inches in diameter, and one or two inches in thickness (which for the most part consisted of congealed hailstones), had fallen in various places during this dreadful rain. At but a short distance from the burnt districts, for instance, at Alptaveret, there was fine clear weather, so that these torrents of rain were only experienced in the immediate vicinity of the places just mentioned. I am therefore fully convinced that they were nothing more than the watery vapours which had arisen from the hot lava, and which (now that their weight overpowered the elasticity of the subjacent atmosphere) formed themselves into clouds and fell in torrents. It follows by the same mode of reasoning, that the rain will also tend to confirm the conjecture which I had long before expressed

* See Holm's Account of the Eruption, p. 21.

(§ XXVI.), that the smoke arising from the lava was only water, evaporated by excessive heat.

Effects of the Volcano on the Fisheries.

very

§ XXX.

The volcano likewise affected the fisheries in the year 1783; as the thick clouds of smoke and dust, which continually covered the land, rendered it too dangerous for the fishermen to put out to sea, and prevented their finding the proper fishing-stations. In consesequence of this the summer fishery proved inconsiderable. In the district of West Skaptefield the fire had a still greater and more destructive effect on the trout-fisheries, in the fresh-water lakes; for a larger quantity of volcanic ashes and sand had naturally fallen here than in other parts of the country, and these imparted an unusually blue color, sometimes tinged with yellow, to the waters, which at length became so foul and putrid, that great numbers of the fish were driven dead upon the beach. On the other hand, however, the drying up of the Skaptaa was of essential service to the inhabitants; because a number of large sal