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The preparations for our departure were made the very next day after our arrival at Stapi; Hans now hired three Icelanders to take the place of the horses which could no longer carry our luggage. When, however, these worthy islanders had reached the bottom of the crater, they were to go back and leave us to ourselves. This point was settled before they would agree to start.
I had often heard of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, and of Fingal's Cave in one of the Hebrides, but the grand spectacle of a real basaltic formation had never yet come before my eyes. This at Stapi gave us an idea of one in all its wonderful beauty and grace. The wall of the fjord, like nearly the whole of the peninsula, consisted of a series of vertical columns, in height about thirty feet.
He tossed up his arms and seemed to defy it, and to declare, "There stands the giant that I shall conquer." After about four hours' walking the horses stopped of their own accord at the door of the priest's house at Stapi. Stapi is a village consisting of about thirty huts, built of lava, at the south side of the base of the volcano.
Now, the understanding was, that he was to take us to the village of Stapi, situated on the southern slope of the peninsula of Sneffels, at the very foot of the volcano. Hans, the guide, told us the distance was about twenty-two miles, a journey which my uncle supposed would take about two days.
This worthy couple were fleecing us just as a Swiss innkeeper might have done, and estimated their imperfect hospitality at the highest price. My uncle paid without a remark: a man who is starting for the centre of the earth need not be particular about a few rix dollars. This point being settled, Hans gave the signal, and we soon left Stapi behind us. Snæfell is 5,000 feet high.
I had heard of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, and Fingal's Cave in Staffa, one of the Hebrides; but I had never yet seen a basaltic formation. At Stapi I beheld this phenomenon in all its beauty. The wall that confined the fiord, like all the coast of the peninsula, was composed of a series of vertical columns thirty feet high.
The preparations for our departure were therefore made the very day after our arrival at Stapi. Hans hired the services of three Icelanders to do the duty of the horses in the transport of the burdens; but as soon as we had arrived at the crater these natives were to turn back and leave us to our own devices. This was to be clearly understood.
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