the greater part of the meadows and pasture-
lands, after having done much mischief to
the farms Heidi and Hunkurbacka, upon
Sida. These, however, are not so much
damaged, but that each is still capable of
supporting a family. The farm Holmar, in
Landbrot, was also somewhat injured, as it
was threatened on the north side by the approach
of the lava-stream, and on the opposite
one by the water which had been
impeded in its progress by the fire. At
length, on the 20th of July* the fire ceased
immediately west of an insulated rock,
called Systrastapi *, which lies, at the utmost,
one mile west of Kirkebai-cloister.
§ X III.
Another fire-stream Hitherto I have confined my
east o f th e former. a c c o u n |. m o s t m a t e r i a l
injuries that have been occasioned by the
great western fire-stream, or that which took
its course along the Skaptaa, and the destruction
caused by it in Medalland, and the
countries adjoining the Skaptaa, which lie
* Systrastapi has received its name from a traditionary
story about two sisters, who, it is said, were
discovered fighting on this rock.
to the west of the river Hverfisfliot. In
what I am now going to relate, it will be
seen that the fire, to the eastward, has raged
with a fury equal to that of the great western
stream, and exhibits a spectacle equally
melancholy and distressing.
The first scene was disclosed on the 2 8 th
of June, when a thick and black bank of
sand and smoke, proceeding from the place
of eruption, and driven by a strong breeze
from the north north-west, towards Fliots-
hversi, caused such a frightful state of darkness
over the whole of that district, as well
as over the eastern part of Sida, that, even
at noon, it was impossible in the houses to
distinguish a sheet of white paper from the
black walls. On the 1 4 th previous, indeed,
a degree of obscurity, equally uncommon, but
not so terrific, was experienced in the middle
of the day thoughout Sida: but it was
only during the present interval of darkness
that a number of red-hot flat stones, with
enormous quantities of sand and ashes, which
entirely burned up the grass in the pastures,
fell upon the whole of Fliotshverfet, the two
farms Nupstad and Raudabag only excepted;
VOL. II. l *