ue arch of the firmament. On her elevated
watchtower stood the adventurous traveller, till the clouds, passing
away, opened up to her wondering gaze the glorious view--glorious, yet
terrible! It seemed as if the ruins of a burned-up world lay all around:
the wastes were strewn with masses of lava; of life not a sign was
visible; blocks of barren lava were piled upon one another in chaotic
confusion; and vast streams of indurated volcanic matter choked up every
valley.

"Here, on the topmost peak of Hekla," writes Madame Pfeiffer, "I could
look down far and wide upon the uninhabited land, the image of a torpid
nature, passionless, inanimate, and yet sublime,--an image which, once
seen, can never be forgotten, and the remembrance of which will
compensate me amply for all the toils and difficulties I have endured. A
whole world of glaciers, lava-peaks, fields of snow and ice, rivers and
miniature lakes, were comprehended in that magnificent prospect; and the
foot of man had never yet ventured within these regions of gloom and
solitude. How terrible must have been the resistless fury of the element
which has produced all these changes! And is its rage now silenced for
ever? Will it be satisfied with the ruin it has wrought? Or does it
slumber only to break forth again with renewed strength, and lay waste
those few cultivated spots which are scattered so sparingly throughout
the land? I thank God that he has allowed me to see this chaos of his
creation; and I doubly thank him that my lot was cast in these fair
plains where the sun does more than divide the day from the night; where
it warms and animates plant-life and animal-life; where it awakens in the
heart of man the deepest feelings of gratitude towards his Maker."

On her way down our traveller discovered that the snow had not melted for
the first five or six hundred feet. Below that distance the mountain-
sides were enveloped in a shroud of vapour. That glossy, coal-black,
shining lava, which is never porous, can be found only at Hekla and in
its immediate vicinity; but the other varieties, jagged, porous, and
vitrified, are also met with, though they are invariably black, as is the
sand which covers the side of the mountain. As the distance from the
volcano increases, the lava loses its jet-black colour, and fades into an
iron-gray.

After an absence of twelve hours, Madame Pfeiffer reached Salsun in
safety.

Six-and-twenty eruptions of Hekla have been