XV

XV

SNAEFELLS IS 5,000 FEET high. Its double cone is the end of a trachytic stratum that stands out from the mountain system of the island. From our point of departure we could see the two peaks boldly projected against the dark grey sky; I noticed an enormous cap of snow drawn down low on the giant’s brow.

We walked in single file, headed by the hunter, who ascended on narrow tracks where two could not have gone side by side. Conversation was therefore almost impossible.

After we had passed the basaltic wall of the Stapi fjord we passed first over a grassy, fibrous peat soil, left from the ancient vegetation of this peninsula. The vast quantity of this unused fuel would be sufficient to warm the whole population of Iceland for a century; this vast peat bog was up to seventy feet deep when measured from the bottom of certain ravines, and consisted of layers of carbonized vegetation residues alternating with thinner layers of tufaceous pumice.

As a true nephew of professor Lidenbrock, and in spite of my dismal prospects, I could not help observing with interest the mineralogical curiosities which lay about me as in a vast museum, and I constructed for myself a complete geological account of Iceland.

This most interesting island has evidently been pushed up from the bottom of the sea at a comparatively recent date. Possibly, it is still subject to gradual elevation. If this is so, its origin may well be attributed to subterranean fires. In that case, Sir Humphry Davy’s theory, Saknussemm’s document, and my uncle’s claims would all go up in smoke. This hypothesis led me to examine the appearance of the surface with more attention, and I soon arrived at a conclusion as to the nature of the forces which presided at its creation.

Iceland, which is entirely devoid of alluvial soil, is wholly composed of volcanic tuff, that is to say, an agglomeration of porous rocks and stones. Before the volcanoes erupted, it consisted of trapp rocks slowly raised to sea level by the action of central forces. The interior fires had not yet forced their way through.

But at a later period a wide chasm opened up diagonally from the south-west to the north-east of the island, through which the trachytic mass was gradually squeezed out. No violence accompanied this change; the quantity of ejected matter was vast, and the molten substances oozing out from the bowels of the earth slowly spread over extensive plains or in hillocky masses. In this period feldspar, syenites, and porphyries appeared.

But with the help of this outflow the thickness of the crust of the island increased materially, and therefore also its powers of resistance. It may easily be conceived what vast quantities of elastic gases, what masses of molten matter accumulated beneath its solid surface while no exit was practicable after the cooling of the trachytic crust. Therefore a moment came when the mechanical force of these gases was such that it lifted up the heavy crust and forced their way out through tall chimneys. Hence the volcano created by pushing up the crust, then the crater suddenly formed at the summit of the volcano.

Eruptive phenomena were succeeded by volcanic phenomena. Through the newly created outlets, basalt residues were first ejected, of which the plain we were crossing offered the most wonderful specimens. We walked over heavy rocks of a dark grey color, which the cool-down had shaped into hexagonal prisms. In the distance we could see a large number of flattened cones that were once fire-spitting mouths.

Then, after the basalt eruption had exhausted itself, the volcano, whose power increased through the extinction of the lesser craters, provided a passage for lava and tuff of ashes and scoriae, whose scattered streams I noticed on the mountain sides like abundant hair.

This was the succession of phenomena that produced Iceland, all deriving from the action of interior fire. To suppose that the mass within was not still in a state of liquid incandescence was madness. Madness above all trying to reach the earth’s center.

So I felt a little comforted as we advanced to the assault of Snaefells.

The path grew more and more arduous, the ascent steeper and steeper; loose fragments of rock trembled beneath us, and utmost care was needed to avoid dangerous falls.

Hans continued on as calmly as if he were on level ground; sometimes he disappeared behind huge blocks, and we momentarily lost sight of him; then a shrill whistle from his lips would indicate the direction we should follow. Often he would stop, pick up a few bits of stone, stack them up into a recognizable shape, and thereby create landmarks to guide us on our way back. A wise precaution in itself, but as things turned out, quite useless.

We could see the two peaks boldly projected against the dark grey sky.

Three exhausting hours of walking had only brought us to the base of the mountain. There Hans signaled to us to stop, and a hasty breakfast was divided up among us. My uncle swallowed two mouthfuls at a time to get on faster. But whether he liked it or not, this was a rest as well as a breakfast hour, and he had to wait until it pleased our guide to move on, he gave the signal for departure after an hour. The three Icelanders, just as taciturn as their comrade the hunter, did not say a single word and ate soberly.

We were now beginning to scale the steep sides of Snaefells. Through an optical illusion that occurs frequently in the mountains, its snowy summit appeared very close; and yet, how many long hours it took to reach! And above all, what exhaustion! The rocks, not tied together by any connection of soil or plants, rolled away from under our feet and lost themselves in the plain with the speed of an avalanche.

In some places the flanks of the mountain formed an angle of at least 36 degrees with the horizon; it was impossible to climb them, and we had to walk around these stony slopes, not without difficulty. We helped each other with our sticks.

I must admit that my uncle kept as close to me as he could; he never lost sight of me, and on many occasions his arm provided me with powerful support. He himself seemed to possess an innate sense of balance, for he never stumbled. The Icelanders, though they were burdened, climbed with the agility of mountaineers.

Judging by the distant appearance of the summit of Snaefells, it seemed impossible to me to reach it from on our side, if the angle of the slopes did not diminish. Fortunately, after an hour of exhaustion and exertions, a kind of staircase appeared unexpectedly in the midst of the vast snow cover on the back of the volcano, which greatly facilitated our ascent. It originated from one of those torrents of stones thrown up by eruptions that are called ‘stinâ’ by the Icelanders. If this torrent had not been checked in its fall by the shape of the mountain sides, it would have fallen into the sea and formed new islands.

Such as it was, it served us well. The steepness increased, but these stone steps allowed us to climb up easily, and even so quickly that, having rested for a moment while my companions continued their ascent, I perceived them already reduced to microscopic dimensions by the distance.

At seven in the evening, we had ascended the two thousand steps of this grand staircase, and we had attained a bulge in the mountain, a kind of bed on which the cone proper of the crater rested.

Three thousand two hundred feet below us stretched the sea. We had passed the limit of eternal snow, which is not very high up in Iceland because of the constant humidity of the climate. It was savagely cold. The wind blew powerfully. I was exhausted. The professor saw that my legs completely refused to do their duty, and in spite of his impatience he decided to stop. He therefore spoke to the hunter, who shook his head saying:

“Ofvanför.”

“It seems we must go higher,” said my uncle.

Then he asked Hans for his reason.

“Mistour,” replied the guide.

“Ja Mistour,” said one of the Icelanders in a tone of alarm.

“What does that word mean?” I asked uneasily.

“Look!” said my uncle.

I looked down on the plain. An immense column of pulverized pumice, sand and dust was rising up with a whirling circular motion like a waterspout; the wind was lashing it on to that side of Snaefells where we were holding on; this dense veil, hung across the sun, threw a deep shadow over the mountain. If this tornado leaned over, it would sweep us up into its whirlwinds. This phenomenon, which is not infrequent when the wind blows from the glaciers, is called in Icelandic ‘mistour.’

“Hastigt! hastigt!” exclaimed our guide.

Without knowing Danish I understood at once that we must follow Hans at top speed. He began to circle round the cone of the crater, but in a diagonal direction so as to facilitate our progress. Presently the dust storm fell on the mountain, which quivered under the shock; the loose stones, caught in the blasts of wind, flew about in a hail as in an eruption. Fortunately we were on the opposite side, and sheltered from all harm. Without the guide’s precaution, our torn-up bodies, shattered to smithereens, would have fallen down in the distance like the residue of an unknown meteor.

Yet Hans did not think it prudent to spend the night on the sides of the cone. We continued our zigzag climb. The fifteen hundred remaining feet took us five hours to clear; the circuitous route, the diagonal and the counter marches, must have measured at least three leagues. I could not go on; I succumbed to hunger and cold. The slightly thinner air was not enough for my lungs.

At last, at eleven o’clock, we reached the summit of Snaefells in darkness, and before going into the crater for shelter, I had time to observe the midnight sun, at its lowest point, casting its pale beams on the island sleeping at my feet.