snow remained on the
ground, and the thermometer stood at one degree of cold.

In a little while the clear blue sky once more was visible, and the sun
again shone over us. I remained on the top till the clouds had separated
beneath us, and afforded me a better distant view over the country.

My pen is unfortunately too feeble to bring vividly before my readers the
picture such as I beheld it here, and to describe to them the desolation,
the extent and height of these lava-masses. I seemed to stand in a
crater, and the whole country appeared only a burnt-out fire. Here lava
was piled up in steep inaccessible mountains; there stony rivers, whose
length and breadth seemed immeasurable, filled the once-verdant fields.
Every thing was jumbled together, and yet the course of the last eruption
could be distinctly traced.

I stood there, in the centre of horrible precipices, caves, streams,
valleys, and mountains, and scarcely comprehended how it was possible to
penetrate so far, and was overcome with terror at the thought which
involuntarily obtruded itself--the possibility of never finding my way
again out of these terrible labyrinths.

Here, from the top of Mount Hecla, I could see far into the uninhabited
country, the picture of a petrified creation, dead and motionless, and
yet magnificent,--a picture which once seen can never again fade from the
memory, and which alone amply compensates for all the previous troubles
and dangers. A whole world of glaciers, lava-mountains, snow and
ice-fields, rivers and lakes, into which no human foot has ever ventured
to penetrate. How nature must have laboured and raged till these forms
were created! And is it over now? Has the destroying element exhausted
itself; or does it only rest, like the hundred-headed Hydra, to break
forth with renewed strength, and desolate those regions which, pushed to
the verge of the sea-shore, encircle the sterile interior as a modest
wreath? I thank God that he has permitted me to behold this chaos in his
creation; but I thank him more heartily that he has placed me to dwell in
regions where the sun does more than merely give light; where it inspires
and fertilises animals and plants, and fills the human heart with joy and
thankfulness towards its Creator. {43}

The Westmann Isles, which are said to be visible from the top of Hecla, I
could not see; they were probably covered by clouds.

During the ascent of the Hecla I had frequently touched