As the road had shewed itself at the entrance
of the cavern, so it continued throughout its whole extent. The
path consisted entirely of loose fragments of lava heaped one upon
the other, over which we had to clamber with great labour. None of
us could afford to help the others; each one was fully occupied with
himself. There was not a single spot to be seen on which we could
have stood without holding fast at the same time with our hands. We
were sometimes obliged to seat ourselves on a stone, and so to slide
down; at others, to take hands and pull one another to the top of
high blocks of stone.
We came to several immense basins, or craters, which opened above
our heads, but were inaccessible, the sides being too steep for us
to climb. The light which entered through these openings was
scarcely enough to illumine the principal path, much less the
numerous by-paths.
At Kalmannstunga I had endeavoured to procure torches, but was
obliged to consider myself fortunate in getting a few tapers. It is
necessary to provide oneself with torches at Reikjavik.
The parts of the cavern beneath the open craters were still covered
with a considerable quantity of snow, by which our progress was
rendered very dangerous. We frequently sunk in, and at other times
caught our feet between the stones, so that we could scarcely
maintain our balance.
