air, lost his splendor, and was shorn of his
beams : indeed, it was very seldom that
he was at all visible; and, when he was
so, he appeared as a ball of glowing metal.
The smoke covered the whole face of the
island * for weeks and months together, so
that seamen could not get sight of the coast
* This dismal atmosphere was not confined to Iceland
; an obscurity in the air, and an unusual redness
of the sun, were remarked also in England. In a copy
of Horrebow’s History of Iceland, now before me, is
the following marginal note written by Mr. Sparrow
of Worlingham Hall, a gentleman to whom I am happy
in thus having the opportunity of acknowledging the
obligations I feel myself under, for the ready access
he has granted me to his invaluable library, and especially
for the use of some scarce works relative to
Icelandic History.—“ An eruption of Hecla (as it was
for a long time supposed to be) broke out again in
the spring o f the year 1783. In the month of May,
of that year, I was in Holland, where the sun appeared
for a great length of time to be enveloped and obscured
in a thick dry mist; the cause of which was
not then known. About the end of the year, two
very large and luminous meteors astonished the world j
they took a south-westerly direction, and were seen,
apparently at the same elevation, and nearly at the
same-point of time, in the eastern parts of England,
and the southern parts of Europe. They were remarked
about seven or eight o’clock in the evening, within,
until they were close upon i t ; and in the hilly
country the haze was so thick, that it almost
entirely impeded the prospect. Such was the
height to which, in the summer of 1783, the
columns of smoke ascended, that they might
be seen at the distance of thirty Danish (one
hundred and twenty English) miles from
the land, appearing like clouds in the air.
The same thickness in the atmosphere continued
until the middle of September in the
same year; but, after that time, a prevalence
of southerly winds happily brought with
them a clearer air. It is remarkable, that
in the summer of 1,783, these winds had
always been attended with the finest weather,
contrary to what might have been expected,
that northerly winds would have been required,
to drive to sea and disperse the smoke
arising from the southern side of the country;
but at this time, although it is not to be
denied that the southerly winds necessarily
I thlbk, six weeks of each other, and about the
middle of November. They approached so near to
the earth, that I remember hearing a servant say, he
stooped as one passed over him, fearful of being struck
by it. They went with amazing velocity, and were
soon out of sight.”