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Through this wild gorge they made their way into the sheltered solitudes of the Almannajau, where they pitched their tents and held their feasts previous to their councils on the Logberg. Here passed the members of the Althing; here the victims of the Logberg never repassed again. There are various theories concerning the original formation of this wonderful fissure.
At the distance of about a mile up the "Jau" a river tumbles over the upper wall of lava, and rushes down the main fissure for a few hundred yards, when it suddenly diverges and breaks through a gap in the inferior wall, and comes down the valley on the outside toward the lake. During my stay at Thingvalla I walked up to this part of the Almannajau, and made a rough sketch of the waterfall.
Upon entering the gorge between the shattered walls of lava on either side, the trail makes a rapid descent of a few hundred yards till it strikes into the valley. I waited till my guide had descended with the horses, and then took a position a little below the entrance, so as to command a view out through the gorge and up the entire range of the Almannajau.
At twelve o'clock, when it ought to be midnight and the ghosts stirring about, I looked out, and it was broad day; at half past one I looked out again, and the sun was shining; at two I got up and tried to read some of the pastor's books, which were written in Icelandic, and therefore not very entertaining; at three I went to work and finished some of my sketches; and at four I gave up all farther hope of sleeping, and sallied forth to take another look at the Almannajau.
Presently we entered a great gap between two enormous cliffs of lava. "What's this, Zoega?" I asked. "Oh, this is the Almannajau." "What! the great Almannajau, where the Icelandic Parliament used to camp!" "Yes, sir; you see the exact spot down there below." And, in good truth, there it was, some hundreds of feet below, in a beautiful little green valley that lay at the bottom of the gap.
It is of volcanic formation throughout, and the rifts and fissures in the lava can be traced as far as it is practicable to see through the water. On passing out of the Almannajau near the lower fall, where the river breaks out into the main valley, the view toward the lake is extensive and imposing.
In addition to my rough ride from Reykjavik, and the various trying adventures on the way, I had walked over nearly the whole range of the Almannajau, sketched the principal points of interest, visited the Logberg, and made some sketches and diagrams of that, besides accomplishing a considerable amount of work about the premises of the good pastor, all of which is now submitted to the kind indulgence of the reader.
A toilsome ride of eight miles brought us to the edge of the Pass, which in point of rugged grandeur far surpasses the Almannajau, though it lacks the extent and symmetry which give the latter such a remarkable effect.
In front, a great black fissure stretched from the shores of the lake to the base of the mountains, presenting to the eye an impassable barrier. This was the famous Hrafnajau the uncouth and terrible twin-brother of the Almannajau.
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