fme mass close to the water on the brink of the bason, and had not struck many blows with my hammer, when I heard a sound like the distant discharge of a piece of ordnance, and the ground shook under me. The sound was repeated irregularly and rapidly; and I had just given the alarm to my companions, when the water, after heaving several times, suddenly rose in a large column, accompanied by clouds of steam, from the middle of the bason, to the height of ten or twelve feet. The column seemed as if it burst, and sinking down, it produced a wave which caused the water to overflow the bason in considerable quantity. The water having reached my feet, 1 was under the necessity of retreating, but I kept my eye fixed on what was going on. After the first propulsion, the water was thrown up again to the height of about fifteen feet. There was now a succession of jets to the number of eighteen, none of which appeared to me to exceed fifty feet in height; they lasted about five minutes. Though the wind blew strongly, yet the clouds of vapour were so dense, that after the first two jets, I could only see the highest part of the spray, and some of it that was occasionally thrown out sideways. After the last jet, which was the most furious, the water suddenly left the bason, and sunk into a pipe in the centre. The heat of the bottom of the bason soon made it dry, and the wind blew aside the vapour almost immediately after the spouting ceased.-pared to the heads of cauliflowers. We lost no time in entering the bason to examine the pipe, into which the water had sunk about ten feet, and appeared to be rising slowly. The diameter of the pipe, or rather pit, is ten feet, but near the top it widens to sixteen feet. The section, which is taken across the longest diameter of the bason, gives a distinct idea of the whole structure of the external part of this wonderful apparatus.The perpendicular depth of the bason is three feet; that of the pipe being somewhat more than sixty feet, though there may be some inaccessible hollows which extend to a much greater depth.” Sir George saw another eruption and several of the New Geyser, which threw its waters to the height even of 70 feet. Scarcely less wonderful than the action'of these springsare the effects produced by their petrifying power, some of which are thus described. "We were occupied this morning in examining the environs of the Geysers; and at every step received some new gratification. Following the channel which has been formed by the water escaping from the great bason during the eruptions, we found some beautiful and delicate petrifactions. The leaves of birch and willow were seen converted into white stone, and in the most perfect state of preservation; every minute fibre being entire. Grass and rushes were in the same state, and also masses of peat. In order to preserve specimens so rare and elegant, we brought away large masses, and broke them up after our return to Britain; by which means we have formed very rich collections; though many fine specimens were destroyed in carrying them to Reikiavik. On the outside of the mount of the Geyser, the depositions, owing to the splashing of the water, are rough, and have been justly com They are of a yellowish brown colour, and are arranged round the mount somewhat like a circular flight of steps. The inside of the bason is comparatively smooth; and the matter forming it is more compact and dense than the exterior crust; and when polished, is not devoid of beauty, being of a grey colour, mottled The white incrustation formed by the water of the beautiful cavity before described, had taken a very curious form at the edge of the water, very much resembling the capital of a Gothic column. We were so rapacious here, that I believe we did not leave a single specimen which we could reach; and even scalded our fingers in our eagerness to obtain them. We found the process of petrifaction in all its stages; and procured some specimens in which the grass was yet alive and fresh, while the deposition of the silicious matter was going on around it. These were found in places at a little distance from the cavity, where the water running from it had become cold." with black and white spots and streaks.: a region, the desolation of which can scarcely be paralleled. Fantastic groups of hills, craters, and lava, leading the eye to distant snow-crowned Jokuls; the mist rising from a waterfall; lakes embosomed among bare bleak mountains; an awful profound silence; lowering clouds; marks all around of the furious action of the most destructive of elements; all combined to impress the soul with sensations of dread and wonder.—— The longer we contemplated this scene, horrible as it was, the more unable we were to turn our eyes from it; and a considerable time elapsed before we could bring ourselves to attend to the business which tempted us to enter so frightful a district of the country. Our discovery of obsidian afforded us very great pleasure, which can only be understood by zealous geologists; and we traversed an immense and rugged mass of that curious substance, with a high degree of satisfaction; though various circumstances prevented our tracing it so fully as we wished." One object only now remained to be explored; but that the most celebrated which Iceland presented. From -the Geysers, our travellers proceeded towards Mount Hekla, and ascended its highest pinnacle. The phenomena, however, which presented themselves, were not of so striking a nature as we might have been led to expect. The most important occurrence was, the discovery of a large mass of obsidian, in a situation throwing great light upon the origin of that substance. This discovery was most grateful; for it had been one of the chief objects which induced Sir George to undertake his present journey. There' is something very striking in the description of the scenery which surrounds this spot. "On ascending one of the abrupt pinnacles which rose out of this extraordinary mass of rock, we beheld The volcanic celebrity of Mount Hekla seems to have considerably exceeded its just pretensions. The eruptions, which have desolated Iceland, are not confined to any one spot. Beneath its whole surface, subterraneous fire seems to rage, and to break out at every opening. The great number of apertures which this element has formed for itself, prevents the discharge at any one point from being very considerable. The following is a list given of the number and local situation of the recorded eruptions. A 1 42 however, to which this article has reached, our limits merely allow us to indicate the valuable information contained in these chapters. The appendix is also valuable, and presents a view of thediseases of Iceland; the Flora of that island; a list of its minerais; a meteorological journal ; and several other miscellaneous articles of information. fac simile of Lekpreuik's edition, which is so rare, that no other copy is known. Some account of an ancient Ma New Works Published in Edinburgh. BREEFE Memoriall of the Life and Death of Dr James Spottiswood, Bishop of Clogher in Ireland, and of the Labyrinth of Troubles he fell into in that kingdom, and the manner of the unhappy accident which brought such troubles upon him. Published from a manuscript in the Auchinleck Library. Very neatly printed, in small quarto, price 10s. 6d. sewed. Of this interesting historical memoir a very limited number of copies have been printed. Heir followeth the Coppie of the Ressoning which was betwixt the Abbote of Crosraguell and John Knox, in Mayboill, concerning the Masse, in the year of God a thou: sand five hundred thre score and two yeires-Imprinted, at Edinburgh, by Robert Lekpreiuk, and are to be sold at his house, at the Netherbow. Cum priuilegio, 1563. Reprinted, 1812: Black Letter, from types cast on purpose at private expence. Small quarto, price 12s. sewed. The above very curious work is printed from the orginal copy in the Library at Auchinleck; it is a nuscript of Martial's Epigrams; illustrated by an engraving and occasional anecdotes of the Manners Dalyell, Esq. Octavo, price 15s. of the Romans. By John Graham boards. Of this tract only 30 copies have been printed, of which six are in vellum. Literary Intelligence. WORK will very speedily be published, which cannot fail at the present moment, to prove highly interesting. It is entitled, "A view of the political state of Scotland, at Michaelmas 1811." It will comprehend the rolls of Freeholders at that period, with a state of the votes at the last election for each county; an abstract of the setts for the royal burghs; with the names of the delegates from the burghs, and a state of the votes at the last election for each district. There There will be prefixed an account of the forms of procedure, at elections for the counties and burghs of Scotland. The late Mr Walter Nichol, so advantageously known by his publications of the "Gardeners Kalendar" "the Villa Garden Directory," &c. has left a posthumous work which will speedily make its appearance. It is entitled the Planter's Kalender; or, the Nurseryman and Forester's Guide, in the operations of the Nursery, the Forest, and the Grove. It has been edited and completed by Mr Edward Sang, Nurseryman. The Kalendar will be preceded by observations on the proper situations and soils for a Nursery; on the situations and soils fit for forest and grove plantations; on situations for woods and copses; on the kinds of trees to be cultivated in forests, groves, and woods, in the park, and in hedge-rows; and on the value of timber, and the advantages to be derived from planting. It will then exhibit the manner of raising all kinds of forest trees and hedge-plants from seeds; nursing and preparing them for planting out; the preparation of the ground in the forest, the grove, and the park, intended for planting; the manner of fencing these plantations; and the culture of fences in general; the mehods of planting, pruning, thinning, and otherwise cultivating your plan tations; the manner of thinning and reclaiming neglected plantations; and the method of forming new, and of cultivating old woods and copses; so as to form a complete assistant to the operative and patriotic planter. Robert Bell, Esq. who has been appointed Lecturer on Conveyancing by the Society of Writers to the Signet, will speedily publish a "Commentary on the election laws, as they relate to the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Bri tain and Ireland." Mr Bell is well known as the author of several elaborate and highly esteemed works; a "Treatise on forms of Deeds"; "Dictionary of the Law of Scotland," &c. A new edition of the three volumes already published, of Mr Jameson's celebrated and extensive "System of Mineralogy," will speedily make its appearance. They are in octavo, and contain numerous plates, illustrative of the various crystallizations that Occur in the mineral kingdom; of the structure of the earth; and of the form of the organic remains which it contains. Mr Patrick Neill, Secretary to the Wernerian Society, has completed the translation of a valuable Memoir by J. F. Daubuisson, member of the National Institute, upon the Basalt rocks of Saxony, accompanied by observations upon the origin of Basaltic rocks in general. Mr MacNeil will publish early next month a novel, in two volumes, entitled "the Scottish Adventurers." His object is to illustrate the good and bad effects of two opposite modes of education. Dr Brewster has in the press, and will speedily publish, in one volume 8vo. illustrated by numerous plates, a treatise containing the theory, description, and method of using a variety of new philosophical instruments, for various purposes in the arts and siences, viz. Astronomy, Optics, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Natural History, Meteorology, and Surveying, and for various Military and Naval purposes. The views of France relative to England, have lately been developed in a pamphlet of M. de Montgaillard, a member of the French government, and published under the auspices of the Emperor. A copy has reached London, and a translation will appear in a few days. Poetry. |