Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-09

'hS the sunhitfs Ptateu n'o oSN"
launch at our service, and we spent
several hours in visiting the places OF
interest aboat the ford. Way up here
on the northeast coast Of Iceland we
were flying about in a graceful little
iron steamer, landing now and then
to visit some waterfall larger than the
rest, or climbing the slopes in search oil
the many varieties Of small flowers that
bloom here and there among the rocks.
At one side and at the end Of the ford
still remain the outlines of the founda-
tons and a few scattered fragments of
the afteen houses that were swept into
the water last February by an ava
lanche; and the twenty-four graves on
the hillside tell the story Of some Of
the many injured ones. Like catastro-
Plies have happened before on this very
spot, but the lapse Of years had made
men reckless, and they again placed
their houses at the foot Of this steep
slope only to be once more carried into
the sea.
At midnight we weighed anchor and
were off again, with fair prospects of
being in the Arctic ocean in twenty
four hours and thus getting a view Of
the midnight sun.
THE MIDNIGHT sun.
All this time we have been working
northward, and the belt Of twilight that
unites day with day has been growing
narrower and narrower until now it is
scarcely perceptible. To one who has
always lived in 9 country where night
and day perform their proper functions,
such strange antics Of those meteorolo-
gical phenomena are, to say the least,
decidedly novel.
One hardly knows when to go to
bed, and, indeed, |, 2, and 3 O'Clock
often finds us as wide awake as ever,
pscing the deck, while the sun, after
descending from the west and bowling
along the northern horizon for an hour
or more, is already mounting the
heavens with long, majestic, east
ward sweep. Even the cocks-those
two gay chandeliers who preside over
their respective harems on deck
seem to be utterly bewildered upon
the subject Of daybreak. l don't
believe the poor fellows have had an
hours peaceful sleep between them
since leaving the Fsroes A; and certain
il il that at least one Of them is always
awake and Growing Justify. 1t may be
sarcasm, but it sounds like a good,
honest crow. Saturday morning we
round the northernmost point of the
island, which extends less than a dozen
miles over the polar circle, and for a
short time are in the Arctic ocean,
though somewhat late to sec the mid
night sun in all his beauty. A
few miles to the nOrtheastward
we pass two large rocks, called
the Moon islands. These are
of a magnetic character and make all
our compasses vary several points
while we are in the neighborhOod. We
call at Husavik and then proceed to
Oefjord, on which is situated Akurejri,
next to Reykjayik, the most important
town on the island. A sail-boat is
put at the service Of my friends, while
90 ashore for a walk, which proves
to be quite voyage of discovery.
The town consists of perhaps two
hundred houses, stretched along a half
mile Of beach and clustered on rising
bank behind. l followed the beach to
where there were two oil-rendering
sheds, and there found as nice little
steam-engine as one would often see,
and perhaps the only one on the island.
It is horizontal, Of about eight-horse
power, and used for running the pumps
that lift the oil from one tank to an
other and for blowing the bellows of
neat little blacksmith's forge. Here,
too, saw four-wheeled wagon, drawn
by two ponies and used about the re-
fineries, it also being the only one in
Iceland.
IN HEARCTIC REGIONS.
On my way back to the town ! was
passing a house, when my attention
was attracted by an unmistakable
sound, and on entering found some
boys playing billiards, while several
men stood around watching the game,
Just as have seen in the smaller towns
of my own State.
Some of you perhaps have heard Of
the one tree in Iceland-a dwarfed
thing that the people wrap in cloths
each winter to protect it from the Sc
verify Of the frosts. | had often been
told and had read of this wonder, and
naturally was anxious to see it, but
to-day in this town | came upon three
as large and handsome mountain ash or
roam trees as | remember ever Of
seeing. Standing about twenty-five
feet in height, they spread their branches
over a large area, and are, to all ap-
healthy. ilourishing trees, Of
which the people take no more care
than we in our warmer climates do Of
ours. Here, too, | saw several people
to put up white awnings over
their doors and windows or building
cloth-covered bowers in their very
small gardens in which to spend the
long summer evenings when it is not
evening but broad daylight. At the
csfs, which one always finds in these
towns, | feasted on a cup Of good
chocolate and some tarts, and then
went back to the ship feeling a strong
desire to again visit this place by way
Of the interior from .Reykjsvik.
Leaving here Monday night we stop
at one or two places, and Wednesday
afternoon finds us again in the Arctics,
this time rounding Cape North, which
just touches the Polar circles. Some
times these steamers in making the cir
Gait of the island encounter large fields
Of ice on this north coast, and are OBJ
liged to turn back and go clear round
the island to reach a place per-
haps only few miles from where
they were. But we have not seen so
much a. an intimation of ice, and this
afternoon in the Arctics
we behave very much as we would in
lower climates. Reclining in steamer
shairs or rugs upon the deck, we spend
several hours in singing American stu
dent songs to the guitar accompani-
msnt. The ladies find the protection Of