Rit (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.06.1936, Page 8

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the harbour of Hornafjörður to the southern edge of
Svínafellsjökull, and then on foot north along Svína-
fellsjökull to the north of Goðaborg, from whence we
went west to Kverkfjöll. The expedition then went south-
west from Kverkfjöll to the place where the eruption had
taken place, approaching it from the east and on foot
down into the fault-valley. From the eastern end of the
valley the expedition went west along the north side
of the valley and approached the craters from the
western end. On leaving the scene of the eruption we
kept to the north of Háabunga and Þórðarhyrna and
went south along the western side of Síðujökull between
Geirvörtur in the east and Hágöngur in the west, and
came down from the glacier a little to the south-east
of the latter.
Finally, it may be stated that the expedition of Dr.
Niels Nielsen in which the author took part in the spring
of 1934, chose practically the same route as that of the
first expedition to the scene of the eruption as described
above.
The equipment of all the expeditions was very similar.
Skis were used on the glaciers and the luggage drag-
ged on sledges by the men wherever possible. The surface
of Skeiðarárjökull was so full of crevices that it was not
possible to use sledges until the expedition had arrived
north of Grænafjall, nor was it possible to use sledges
on Svínafellsjökull except high up on the glacier. On
Skaptárjökull (in April 1934) it was possible to use
sledges immediately on reaching the edge of the glacier,
and they were used with little difficulty (in the be-
ginning of July 1935) south over Síðujökull and all the
way down to its edge.
While on the glaciers the expeditions slept in canvas
tents, either in special down sleeping-bags or in sheep-
-skins. The latter proved to be better, although they
weighed a little more. The skis which were used were
made either of ash or of hickory, and both kinds proved
equally good. The skis were waxed according to the