I Passed Fortunately Through
This Probation; And When We Reached The Other Shore, Herr Horfuson
Pointed Out To Me How Far The Current Had Carried Us Down The River.
The valley in which Salsun and the Hecla are situated is one of
those which are found only in Iceland.
It contains the greatest
contrasts. Here are charming fields covered with a rich green
carpet of softest grass, and there again hills of black, shining
lava; even the fertile plains are traversed by streams of lava and
spots of sand. Mount Hecla notoriously has the blackest lava and
the blackest sand; and it may be imagined how the country looks in
its immediate neighbourhood. One hill only to the left of Hecla is
reddish brown, and covered with sand and stones of a similar colour.
The centre is much depressed, and seems to form a large crater.
Mount Hecla is directly united with the lava-mountains piled round
it, and seems from the plain only as a higher point. It is
surrounded by several glaciers, whose dazzling fields of snow
descend far down, and whose brilliant plains have probably never
been trod by human feet; several of its sides were also covered with
snow. To the left of the valley near Salsun, and at the foot of a
lava-hill, lies a lovely lake, on whose shores a numerous flock of
sheep were grazing. Near it rises another beautiful hill, so
solitary and isolated, that it looks as if it had been cast out by
its neighbours and banished hither.
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