until they were close upon it; and in the hilly country the haze was so thick, that it almost entirely impeded the prospect. Such was the height to which, in the summer of 1783, the columns of smoke ascended, that they might be seen at the distance of thirty Danish (one hundred and twenty English) miles from the land, appearing like clouds in the air. The same thickness in the atmosphere continued until the middle of September in the same year; but, after that time, a prevalence of southerly winds happily brought with them a clearer air. It is remarkable, that in the summer of 1783, these winds had always been attended with the finest weather, contrary to what might have been expected, that northerly winds would have been required, to drive to sea and disperse the smoke arising from the southern side of the country; but at this time, although it is not to be denied that the southerly winds necessarily

I think, six weeks of each other, and about the middle of November. They approached so near to the earth, that I remember hearing a servant say, he stooped as one passed over him, fearful of being struck by it. They went with amazing velocity, and were soon out of sight."

impelled the smoke from the volcano into the interior of the country, yet they nevertheless were accompanied by a clear air and fine weather. The cause of so remarkable a phænomenon has been supposed to be a volcanic eruption arising from out of the sea, to the northward of Iceland, or, possibly, from the eastern bay of Greenland; since it has been observed, that the thickest darkness has uniformly been experienced, and the greatest quantity of ashes fallen, during the prevalence of northerly winds. How far this conjecture may or may not be well founded, I will not presume to say; for, although we see that some notice has been taken in the Berlin papers *, printed at Copenhagen, of a fire said to have arisen out of the sea, between Iceland and Greenland, yet that circumstance must for the present be reckoned among those which require farther confirmation. Nevertheless, I must acknowledge that it is not altogether destitute of probability; for, if the smoke which was spread over the country with northerly winds did not originate in a place

* For the year 1783, in No. 96, and others.

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