Within A Few More Days The Basin Of The Lake
Itself Was Completely Filled, And Having Separated Into
Two Streams,
The unexhausted torrent again recommenced
its march; in one direction overflowing soiree ancient
lava fields, - in the other, re-entering
The channel of
the Skapta, and leaping down the lofty cataract of
Stapafoss. But this was not all; while one lava flood
had chosen the Skapta for its bed, another, descending
in a different direction, was working like ruin within
and on either side the banks of the Hverfisfliot, rushing
into the plain, by all accounts, with even greater fury
and velocity. Whether the two issued from the same crater
it is impossible to say, as the sources of both were far
away within the heart of the unapproachable desert, and
even the extent of the lava flow can only be measured
from the spot where it entered the inhabited districts.
The stream which flowed down Skapta is calculated to be
about fifty miles in length by twelve or fifteen at its
greatest breadth; that which rolled down the Hverfisfliot,
at forty miles in length by seven in breadth. Where it
was imprisoned, between the high banks of Skapta, the
lava is five or six hundred feet thick; but as soon as
it spread out into the plain its depth never exceeded
one hundred feet. The eruption of sand, ashes, pumice,
and lava, continued till the end of August, when the
Plutonic drama concluded with a violent earthquake.
For a whole year a canopy of cinder-laden cloud hung over
the island.
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