Connecticut western news., 1875-10-29
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 THE VOLCANOES OF ICELAND.

THE VOLCANOES OF ICELAND.
 Wonders of the Valley of the SkIalfandRfl q
 iOt--Colamns of smoke from Twent,
 Craters--FOuntnins of Fire Lishtins UI I the Night. I MT. W. l.. Watts sends from Leith
 Scotland, the following graphic aceoun
 of grand eruption witnessed by him il
 Iceland last August: When on my way
 from Husavik, in the north of Iceland,
 stopped on Sunday, Aug. 15, at Storavel
 lis, in the valley of Skjalfandafijot, where
 l received the intelligence that ashes had
 fallen, that morning at an adjacent farm.
 During the previous night a man had
 arrived from Grimstathis, farm upon
 the eastern and opposite side of the l Myvatns Or1f. He reported that be-
 tween ten and eleven o'clock on Sunday
 morning, Aug. 15, smart shock of I earthquake was felt at Grimstathis, trav-
 cling from northeast to southwest. Al
 most simultaneously, columns of smoke
 were seen upon the plain of Myvatns
 Or0h, and forthwith an eruption com
 menced from the same place as last spring. Upon Aug. 15, accompanied by farmer from Granavatn, I set out for the eruption. Upon entering Q valley
 through the mountains of Myvatn, by
 which we intended to gain access to the
 Myvatns Oruh, a few columns of smoke in the distance warned us that the erup-
 tionlay before us. Upon emerging from
 the glen, line of some twenty columns
 of smoke burst upon our view, at the
 northern end of which lay two clusters
 of black mounds, in close proximity.
 hn ok of
 two columns of dense black smoke,
 beaten back to earth again by the wind in foul, heavy mist, which spread itself out for miles over the lava streams, both old and new, which lay to the eastward, cGnging to the higher crags in dark, ominous masses, and obscuring large patches of the more level plain. From its neighbor to the north, high column of stones, ashes and dust proclaimed the principal volcano vent. ' Id 41 'sfa. s
 Suddenly, with roar, every particle seemed on fire, explosion after explo- sion casting the larger fragments to height beyond our view in the dense canopy of vapor which hung over us, making the ground upon which we stood and the rocks round us tremble. Lava then poured over it's more mortimer. ly side, the large column of fire sank, and stones and cinders were alone eject ed. This column of debris continually varied both in size and volume, some times clustering "hke large swarm of bees in the smoke, apparently scarcely one hundred feet above the crater and other times it shot up in Q large column with explosive violence, the masses of scorise shrieking in their passage through the air. Then came calm, and with rending sound 8 new crater opened in the north side of the mound, from which Q stream of white hot lava tumbled in cascade of fiery froth upon the old lava stream of last spring, where a dense smoke and the sound of splitting rocks marked it's progress, till it oozed in bright red viscid masses through tic in terstices, of the older lava, forming pools which glowed for a moment, and turned black beyond the limit of the elder stream. .'E
 It was now dim twilight, though only five P. M. We stopped amid patch of wild oats, which grow pro- fusely upon many parts of these sands, leaving our horses to feed while we took | our evening meal upon a sand bank | commanding full view of the eruption, now little more than a mile away. Our horses did not appear particularly frightened at the eruption, but for half an hour stood quietly looking at it, and then took quietly to grazing. Upon ap. preaching the volcano as closely as the heated lava would allow, I found it to consist of cluster of black mounds, which together described an irregular cone, in the center of which, probably toward the termination of the eruption of last spring, large crater had been formed a little more than mile in cir the north wall of which had been broken down. ..rs ........ .....s
 From the center of this rose the conf cal walls of the crater that was now 'erupting." In the north side of this was likewise @ breach, through which, from time to time, the lava poured. From this cone 8 dense column of white hot atoms and fiery fragments was being elected to the height of perhaps three or four hundred feet. Very little smoke was emitted from the cone, and the many cracks nits sides enabled the glow rom the intense fire within to shine through with such brilliancy that it gave the cone the appearance of being wrapped in flames. Two smaller craters were now visible-one in the north base of the mound, and one a short distance n the lava itself still further north. They were burning with brilliant white fight, emitting rending, crushing sound, but at this period they were ' erupting" with little violence. From ;hese two craters tho principal lava streams were flowing, which now ad- 7anced with considerable rapidity, en- ,ircling from time to time patches of the Incient lava and sand which form the plain, and finally overwhelming them in ts fiery embrace. Night had now closed n, and as, heated lava and the noxious yases from it prevented me getting any learer than few. hundred yards from he principal crater, lit my pipe at the nearest lava, and returned to camp. There, sitting by my tent upon the high ,ank of volcanic sand, for long time I ] at gazing at the grand, glorious spec acle of the vast fountains of fire that in continuous stream assailed the sky.
 The Village Newspaper.