Abstract
IN a recent number (vol. xii. p. 333) we published a letter from Mr. Watts announcing the important fact that he had succeeded in crossing the Vatna Jokull. So far as is known, this is the first time that this joküll (which means “glacier,” and is probably cognate with the latter part of our word ic-icle) has been crossed, and the fact is creditable to Mr. Watts's determination and perseverance. The little book before us contains a narrative of an unsuccessful attempt to accomplish the same object, made by Mr. Watts in the summer of 1874. We regret to have to say that the narrative is a disappointing one. It is in the form of a rough diary, which seems to have been sent to the press in its crude form and published with little or no revision. A large portion of the book is occupied with a statement of the many difficulties, petty and serious, which Mr. Watts and his party encountered in the journey from Reykjavik, by the Geysers, Hekla, and the Myrdals Jökull to the Vatna Jöskull, and there is really very little information about the region through which he passed. The entire narrative is extremely vague and unsatisfactory, and if Mr. Watts has any literary faculty, he certainly does not show it here; the reading of his narrative is a heavy task. Mr. Watts ought to know a great deal about the region with which this narrative is concerned, and especially about the jokulls in the south of Iceland, and we would advise him to put this information into a systematic form, make but little reference to the difficulties he encountered, obtain a few photographs on a much larger scale than the insignificant things which appear in the present work, and we have no doubt he would make a substantial contribution to our knowledge of Iceland. The party succeeded in getting only about half across the Vatna Jokull, when, from want of the necessary means to go further, they were compelled to turn back, after Mr. Watts had rather unnecessarily and sensationally planted the union jack at his furthest point. Mr. Watts's carelessness, to put it mildly, extends even to his use of language. The use of “laid” for “lay” mioht possibly be justified by eminent precedents; “peninsular of rock”maybe a misprint, but “pulverent” is unjustifiable, and “molusc” is shocking.
Snioland; or, Iceland, its Jökulls and Fjalls.
By William Lord Watts. (London: Longmans and Co., 1875.)
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[Book Reviews]. Nature 12, 453 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012453a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012453a0