Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian NorthPfeiffer, Ida
History
Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North
Pfeiffer, Ida
Iceland -- Description and travel; Old Norse poetry -- History and criticism; Scandinavia -- Description and travel
At half-past eight in the evening I had the good fortune to see one of
these eruptions, and needed not, as I had done at the great Geyser, to
bivouac near it for days and nights. The eruption lasted some time, and
was tolerably equable; only sometimes the column of water sank a little,
to rise to its former height with renewed force. After forty minutes it
fell quite down into the basin again. The stones we threw in, it
rejected at once, or in a few seconds, shivered into pieces, to a height
of about 12 to 15 feet. Its bulk must have been 1 to 1.5 feet in
diameter. My guide assured me that this spring generally plays only
twice, rarely thrice, in twenty-four hours, and not, as I have seen it
stated, every six minutes. I remained near it till midnight, but saw no
other eruption.
This spring very much resembles the Strukker near the great Geyser, the
only difference being that the water sinks much lower in the latter.
The second of the two remarkable springs, the arched spring, is situated
near the little Geyser, on the declivity of a hill. I had never seen
such a curious formation for the bed of a spring as this is. It has no
basin, but lies half open at your feet, in a little grotto, which is
separated into various cavities and holes, and which is half-surrounded
by a wall of rock bending over it slightly at a height of about 2 feet,
and then rises 10 to 12 feet higher. This spring never is at rest more
than a minute; then it begins to rise and boil quickly, and emits a
voluminous column, which, striking against the projecting rock, is
flattened by it, and rises thence like an arched fan. The height of this
peculiarly-spread jet of water may be about 12 feet, the arch it
describes 15 to 20 feet, and its breadth 3 to 8 feet. The time of
eruption is often longer than that of repose. After an eruption the
water always sinks a few feet into the cave, and for 15 or 20 seconds
admits of a glance into this wonderful grotto. But it rises again
immediately, fills the grotto and the basin, which is only a continuation
of the grotto, and springs again.
I watched this miraculous play of nature for more than an hour, and could
not tear myself from it. This spring, which is certainly the only one of
its kind, gratified me much more than the little Geyser.
There is another spring called the roaring Geyser; but it is nothing more
than a misshapen hole, in which one hears the water boil, but cannot see
it. The noise is, also, not at all considerable.
July 3d.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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