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Article A DESCRIPTION OF ICELAND. Page 1 of 4 →
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A Description Of Iceland.
A DESCRIPTION OF ICELAND .
ICELAND is one of the largest islands in the world , being near A 180 leagues in length , and 80 in breadth , where broadest . It is encompassed on all sides with numbers of lesser isles , and abounds with rocks and mountains , covered with ice and perpetual snows these rocks are often torn from their seats b y the violence of the waters , and render the roads impracticable . Earthquakes are not so uncommon here as in other northern
countries ; since the island has its volcano , or burning mountain , ( Hecla ) which was believed the only one in those cold regions , till another was discovered , in 1732 , in the isle of May . The other mountains of the island seem to have been of the same kind , as almost all of them carry marks of combustions , which they had suffered in former a ° "es ; neither have they ) -et entirely changed their nature ; for , not above
25 years ago , a new volcano vomited out flames , and large fragments of rocks , towards Portland ' s Bay : the whole island was covered with the ashes that proceeded from its mouth , and even the sea was whitened with them for above 60 leagues along the shore . Hecla is every where known ; and , therefore , we shall only rela . te a curiosity which we learn from M . Anderson , who takes notice of a
burning lake , that sends forth gentle flames , pretty regularly , for 15 clays together , and that this paroxysm returns thrice a year . Volcanoes have a natural relation to hot baths . Thus Vesuvius had the Baiae of the ' . ancients in its neighbourhood ; and Iceland is full of springs , naturally very hot , bubbling up like a boiling pot , so that meat has been dressed therein . This mixture of hot watersand
, eternal snows , is very extraordinary . The most curious mineral of Iceland is its crystal , which has employed the greatest naturalists of tlie last age , Huygens and Newton . There is also jet , which is very hard , and strikes fire with the steel like agate ; it seems to be a vitrified substance , produced by the subterraneous fire of that island .
1 he ) 7 have sulphur , or brimssone , in abundance ; and they meet with lumps of virgin sulphur , as big as one ' s fist , in marshy places . This commodity might be made an article of commerce of tlie ' island since they send away near 300 tons of it , every year , to Copenhagen . But tlie peasants oppose these works , because they divert them tram better employmentand waste that time which should be spent onl
, y in their fishery : this is their husbandry ; as they draw their subsistence , not from the gifts of the earth , but from the bounty of the sea . Besides , they have an odd persuasion , that sulphur drives away the fish , and that they fly and avoid the very road that holds a shin laden with sulphur .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Description Of Iceland.
A DESCRIPTION OF ICELAND .
ICELAND is one of the largest islands in the world , being near A 180 leagues in length , and 80 in breadth , where broadest . It is encompassed on all sides with numbers of lesser isles , and abounds with rocks and mountains , covered with ice and perpetual snows these rocks are often torn from their seats b y the violence of the waters , and render the roads impracticable . Earthquakes are not so uncommon here as in other northern
countries ; since the island has its volcano , or burning mountain , ( Hecla ) which was believed the only one in those cold regions , till another was discovered , in 1732 , in the isle of May . The other mountains of the island seem to have been of the same kind , as almost all of them carry marks of combustions , which they had suffered in former a ° "es ; neither have they ) -et entirely changed their nature ; for , not above
25 years ago , a new volcano vomited out flames , and large fragments of rocks , towards Portland ' s Bay : the whole island was covered with the ashes that proceeded from its mouth , and even the sea was whitened with them for above 60 leagues along the shore . Hecla is every where known ; and , therefore , we shall only rela . te a curiosity which we learn from M . Anderson , who takes notice of a
burning lake , that sends forth gentle flames , pretty regularly , for 15 clays together , and that this paroxysm returns thrice a year . Volcanoes have a natural relation to hot baths . Thus Vesuvius had the Baiae of the ' . ancients in its neighbourhood ; and Iceland is full of springs , naturally very hot , bubbling up like a boiling pot , so that meat has been dressed therein . This mixture of hot watersand
, eternal snows , is very extraordinary . The most curious mineral of Iceland is its crystal , which has employed the greatest naturalists of tlie last age , Huygens and Newton . There is also jet , which is very hard , and strikes fire with the steel like agate ; it seems to be a vitrified substance , produced by the subterraneous fire of that island .
1 he ) 7 have sulphur , or brimssone , in abundance ; and they meet with lumps of virgin sulphur , as big as one ' s fist , in marshy places . This commodity might be made an article of commerce of tlie ' island since they send away near 300 tons of it , every year , to Copenhagen . But tlie peasants oppose these works , because they divert them tram better employmentand waste that time which should be spent onl
, y in their fishery : this is their husbandry ; as they draw their subsistence , not from the gifts of the earth , but from the bounty of the sea . Besides , they have an odd persuasion , that sulphur drives away the fish , and that they fly and avoid the very road that holds a shin laden with sulphur .