This Parish Extends Over A Considerable Area, And
Is Not Thinly Inhabited.
My first care on my arrival was to beg the clergyman, Herr Jonas
Jonason, to procure for me, as expeditiously as possible, fresh
horses and a guide, in order that I might visit the springs.
He
promised to provide me with both within half an hour; and yet it was
not until three hours had been wasted, that, with infinite pains, I
saw my wish fulfilled. Throughout my stay in Iceland, nothing
annoyed me more than the slowness and unconcern displayed by the
inhabitants in all their undertakings. Every wish and every request
occupies a long time in its fulfilment. Had I not been continually
at the good pastor's side, I believe I should scarcely have attained
my object. At length every thing was ready, and the pastor himself
was kind enough to be my guide.
We rode about four miles through this beautiful vale, and in this
short distance were compelled at least six times to cross the river
Sidumule, which rolls its most tortuous course through the entire
valley. At length the first spring was reached; it emerges from a
rock about six feet in height, standing in the midst of a moor. The
upper cavity of the natural reservoir, in which the water
continually boils and seethes, is between two and three feet in
diameter. This spring never stops; the jet of water rises two, and
sometimes even four feet high, and is about eighteen inches thick.
It is possible to increase the volume of the jet for a few seconds,
by throwing large stones or lumps of earth into the opening, and
thus stirring up the spring. The stones are cast forcibly forth,
and the lumps of earth, dissolved by the action of the water, impart
to the latter a dingy colour.
Whoever has seen the jet of water at Carlsbad, in Bohemia, can well
imagine the appearance of this spring, which closely resembles that
of Carlsbad. {38}
In the immediate neighbourhood of the spring is an abyss, in which
water is continually seething, but never rises into the air. At a
little distance, on a high rock, rising out of the river Sidumule,
not far from the shore, are other springs. They are three in
number, each at a short distance from the next, and occupy nearly
the entire upper surface of the rock. Lower down we find a
reservoir of boiling water; and at the foot of the rock, and on the
nearest shore, are many more hot springs; but most of these are
inconsiderable. Many of these hot springs emerge almost from the
cold river itself.
The chief group, however, lies still farther off, on a rock which
may be about twenty feet in height, and fifty in length. It is
called Tunga Huer, and rises from the midst of a moor. On this rock
there are no less than sixteen springs, some emerging from its base,
others rather above the middle, but none from the top of the rock.
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