ant at the Round Tower at Copenhagen,
and receives a falary as firil obierver
in Iceland *. His obfervatory is
at Arnarhol near Re yka rwik; and
what is remarkable, he makes ufe o f
a telefcope of his own conilrudbion,
made o f the black Iceland agate, in-
flead o f coloured glafs.
Lightening and thunder ilorms are
rare, and both in fummer and winter
feldom happen any-where elfe but in
the neighbourhood o f volcanoes.
Northern lights frequently appear uncommonly
ilrong t* Sometimes a
kind o f the ignis fatuus is obferved
[Snod-lios and hrcevar-eldur) that attaches
itfelf to men and beails.
Among other aerial phenomena,
the lunar halo fofahaugur^ which
* This ingenious gentleman died in 1775, notrtiany
months iince the writing of this letter.
t T h e northern lights appear in Iceland in all the
different quarters o f the cor ,pafs, efpecially on the
foutherly horizon, where a darkiegment appears, from
whence ftrong columns o f light dart forth. They are
moft frequently feen in dry weather, though there are
inftances o f their appearance before, during, and after a
lliower of rain. T he lights are often feen tinged with
yellow, green, and purple. See Eggert OlafTen and
Biarne Povelfen’s Travels through Iceland, fee. 855,
prog-
;
I
prognoilicates bad weather, likewiic
deferves a place here, as well as par-
helions [hia folai') that appear fometimes
from one to nine in number *.
Fire-balls (called Viga Knottur) are
likewife obferved, and when they are
oval are named JViigahrandur ; and
lail o f all comets, or lialefiiernor,
which are often mentioned in their
chronicles.
The ebb and flood here, which the
Icelanders call flod and fiara, arc per-
feélly the fame as at other places : they
are fti'onger during the new and full
moon than at other times, and ftrongr
eil o f all about the equinoxes.
As 1 am here fpeaking of the nature
of the country, I cannot pafs over in
iilence the earthquakes that often happen,
particularly before volcanic eruptions.
In September, in the year
1755, fifteen violent fliocks were ob-
The parkelions are obferved in Iceland chiefly at
the approach of the Greenland ice, when an intenfe
degree of cold is produced, and the frozen vapours fill
the air ; there are many inftances which prove, that,
under fuch circumflances, the fun never appears without
fhewing one or feveral parhelions, and often a
rainbow on the oppofite fide.
D 4 ferved
' S’ " :