the words of Dante, by reason of the greater
steepness of the ascent,
“ Tra le schegge, e tra’ rocchj dello scoglio
“ Lo pife sanza la man non si spedia, ”
so that we were compelled to make use
of our hands in addition to our feet, these
latter were sure of being annoyed by a
torrent of the sharp and angular stones
striking against them. At length, drenched
with perspiration from the violence of the
exercise, we reached a ridge of the mountain,
which led by a gradual ascent to the summit;
great masses of snow lying every where
scattered about its precipitous sides. No
sooner had we attained this ridge, than we
found ourselves on a sudden exposed to the
force of the wind, that, driving over some
distant snow-mountains, froze us with cold,
and at the same time, from its excessive
violence, made it prudent for us to sit down,
rather than stand, while we surveyed the
extensive tract of country that lay, like a
map, spread out beneath our feet. To the
north was a wilderness of mountains, many
of which far exceeded in height the one
upon which I stood, and most of them were
thickly clad with snow. In the north-west,
the most striking feature was Snoefel Jokul,
which, taking its rise near the sea, at the
western extremity of the syssel of that name,
towers to an elevation of not less than seven
thousand feet. Its distance from me was
between sixty and seventy miles, and I now,
almost for the first time, beheld entirely
free from clouds this immense rock, appearing
like a huge cone of solid snow. The
extensive Bay of Faxa-fiord was bounded on
the south by the narrow neck of land, called
Guldbringue Syssel, producing many mountains
of wild and singular forms, springing
from among its numerous beds of hraun.
The town of Reikevig was plainly to be
seen; as well as its harbor, spotted with the
vessels lying at anchor, and the numerous
little islands. In the south, the eye wandered
over a wide tract of rocky moor,
beyond which the distant Helgafel mountains
varied the line of the -horizon. We
had scarcely time sufficiently to admire this
scene, when, on looking upwards, we saw
approaching us a thick cloud, which, covering
the summit of Skoul-a-fiel, rolled
down the sides, accompanied by gusts of