La Cueva de la Nieve or del Hielo. (Humboldt, _Travels to the
Equinoctial Regions_, 1814, vol. I., pages 154, 156. C. Piazzi Smyth,
_Teneriffe, an Astronomer's Experiment_, 1858, page 348.)--La Cueva de
la Nieve lies at an altitude of 3267 meters in the Malpays on the Peak
of Teneriffe, just below the snow line. It is in obsidian. The entrance
is 3.6 meters high and 2.7 meters broad. The grotto is 36 meters long,
6 meters wide, and 4 meters high. The descent into the cave is so steep
that it is necessary to be lowered by ropes. Professor Smyth found in
July an ice floor about 60 centimeters thick which was covered with
water. A good deal of snow was lying near the mouth of the cave. The
walls were covered with ice and icicles and a few small ice cones rose
on the ice floor.
ICELAND.
The Surtshellir or Cave of Surtur. (Olafsen and Povelsen, _Voyage en
Islande_, Paris, 1802. Henderson, _Iceland_, 1819, 2d ed., page 420.
Guimard, _Voyage en Islande_, page 481.)--The Surtshellir lies in the
volcanic waste of Westisland, and is in lava which has flowed from the
Bald Jokul. The approach is through an open chasm. The length of the
cave is 1534 meters, with an average width of from 15 meters to 17
meters, and a nearly uniform height of from 9 meters to 11 meters. In
four places the roof is broken and allows daylight to enter. A great
deal of ice is sometimes found in the cave, in the shape of an ice
floor, transparent icy pillars, hanging icy pendants, and columns and
arches of ice along the walls. Some of the pillars have been found 2.50
meters high.
Kutlagaya. (A. Winchel, _Walks and Talks_, 1898, page 122.)--"In
1860 the crater of the mountain Kutlagaya, in Iceland, hurled out
simultaneously into the air lumps of lava and ice, all intermingled
together."
SCANDINAVIA.
Ice in the Mines of Nordmark. (Jars, _Voyages Métallurgiques_, 1774,
page 105.)--13 kilometers north of Philipstadt, Wermeland, Sweden, a
number of holes were dug, some to a depth of 120 meters. Ice of some
thickness formed in some of these towards the end of winter, and lasted
until about September, despite the fires of the workmen.
Persberg Iron Mines, Sweden. (J. Prestwich, _Collected papers_, etc.,
on page 206, quotes Dr. Clark's _Travels in Scandinavia._)--Ice is said
to have been found on the sides and bottom of the mine to a depth of
about 135 meters.
Ice Caves Reported in Norway.--I was told in Norway that some of the
caves in the mountains near the Swartisen ice field contained ice, but
I do not know whether this is true. I suspect that there are glacier
ice caves which have given rise to this report.
ENGLAND.
Helvellyn, Cumberland. (Wordsworth, _Fidelity_.)--The following verses
were pointed out to me by Mr. Bunford Samuel. As far as I know they are
the only poetry about glacières:--
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