These substances poisoned the earth and
water, rendering them alike destructive both
to man and cattle, and threatened to set fire
to the houses themselves, whenever any of
the stones and ashes happened to fall upon
them.
§ XIV.
Hverfisfliot On the 3rd of August a great
disappears. smoke waSj for the first time, observed
to arise from the Hverfisfliot, and the
water was found to be excessively hot. This
river, it may here be proper to remark, was
equal in size to the Skaptaa, but infinitely
more dangerous to travellers, in consequence
of the rapidity of the current and the great
insecurity of the ground. Its heat continued
daily to increase, till, at the expiration of a
few days, the waters were entirely dried up.
This circumstance filled the inhabitants of the
district with the greatest fear and consternation,
who, already terrified at the mischief
that had been sustained by their neighbors,
after the drying up of the Skaptaa, anticipated
similar misfortunes, on observing the
disappearance of the Hverfisfliot. The result
convinced them that their fears were
well grounded, and proved to them, that in
this instance, also, the same phenomenon
produced an equal or even a greater degree
of danger.—Dreadful pillars of fire were seen
rising at a great distance among the mountains
in the north, on the morning of the 9th of
August. They appeared to approach nearer
each other, and at last to form, as it were,
a wall or lofty bank upon the earth. Continual
lightnings, with strong hollow sounds,
somewhat resembling thunder, were also
heard in the same direction. A foaming
fire-stream now broke down into the channel
of the Hverfisfliot, urging its course with
incredible and matchless fury. The stream
spread far and wide over the extensive tracts
of sand,, situated in the south, and in one
single evening overflowed more than four
miles of ground, in that direction from
Orustuhol (a hill so named from duels having
been formerly fought there), and entirely
blocked up the road between Fliots-
verfet and Sida.
Continual eruptions from the mountains
increased the extent of the tracts of lava,
so that, at the latter end of August, they