CHAPTER XI.

Ascent of Mount Hekla—Preparations and “Victualing” for the Trip—Mountain Gorges—Hard Climbing for Ponies—Obliged to Dismount, and leave our Horses—Streams of Lava—Smoke and Fire—Variegated Appearance and Color of the Lava—Almost an Accident—Up, up the Mountain—Hard Climbing—A Lonely Flower on Mount Hekla—Beautiful Weather—Snow—Craters of the Late Eruption—Fire and Brimstone—Awful Scene, and Dangerous Traveling—Arrive on the Summit—An Elevated Dinner—Boundless View from the Top—Descent into the Large Crater—Ancient Snow-Banks—Descent of the Mountain, 132-146