Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/617

 HECLA Of the 86 volcanic outbursts to which Iceland has been subjected since 874, Hecla has con- tributed 39, Katla 13, and the submarine vol- cano off Cape Reykjanes 12. The longest pe- riod of Hecla's inactivity has been 79 years, and the shortest 6 ; but the violence of the eruption bears no proportion to the preceding period of rest. The first recorded outbreak of Hecla occurred in 1004, the last in 1845. The most disastrous began on April 6, 1766, when enormous columns of ashes were discharged, accompanied with thunder and lightning, and in the space of two hours destroyed five farm houses in the valley of Kangadalr; scoriae of two feet in circumference were hurled two miles, large extents of birch copse were buried, and the pastures almost utterly ruined ; thick masses of slag and scoriae covered the surface of the distant Thjorsa and dammed up the Ranga river, causing the lowlands to be inun- dated ; and the prodigious quantities of loose volcanic matter which these rivers bore down to the sea hindered the prpgress of the fishing boats, and covered the southern coast for 20 miles, in some places to a depth of two feet. At noon of the first day a strong southerly wind carried these ashes toward the northern districts, turning the daylight into pitchy darkness, while deafening reports reverberated over the island. On April 9 a stream of lava poured down toward the southwest, issuing from two craters, one on the summit, and an- other toward the southwest. On the 21st the column of ashes from the main craters rose to a height of 17,000 ft. Continuous and disas- trous shocks of earthquake accompanied the eruption. Epidemics raged among human be- ings and cattle ; and great quantities of snow fell, accompanied by storms from the north- west, which lasted a week. The eruption of 1845 was preceded by unusual atmospheric conditions. The snow patches on Hecla's ridge had diminished in a marked way during the summer ; the hot springs to the southeast of the mountain had increased in numbers and activity. On the morning of Sept. 2 dull de- tonations were heard, and a slight vibration of the earth was perceptible, the summit of Hecla remaining shrouded in black clouds, which about noon spread over the whole sky, discharging a thick rain of yellowish gray, slaggy pieces. At noon it was dark as in the deepest winter night; then a dark, shining volcanic sand began to fall, lasting until noon on the 3d. Sounds as of cannonading were Heard at a great distance, and terrific crashes in the vicinity, which were succeeded by regular detonations, and then a violent rumbling noise. Exhalations, brightly illumined by the glowing mass in the crater, canopied the ridge, as if a steadily increasing sheet of flame shot out from the summit, amid which glowing masses of stone were continually hurled up and down. At nightfall on the 2d a lava stream issued from the N. W. side of Hecla ; the watercourses to the west were suddenly swollen by the melted HEDDING 603 snows, and carried down vast quantities of mud, earth, and stone. Ships in the neighbor- hood of the Faroes, the Shetlands, and the Orkneys were overtaken on the 2d and 3d by a shower of ashes coming from the northwest. The flow of lava continued with slight inter- missions till April 5, and on the following day the last column of ashes was discharged. As the lava only covered the track of former eruptions, no dwellings were destroyed. Sheep and cattle suffered severely from want of grass. The lava stream poured forth in 1845-'6 is 9 m. long, 2 m. broad in some places, and from 50 to 100 ft. high. HECTOR, a Trojan hero, and the noblest char- acter of the Iliad. He was the eldest son of Priam and Hecuba, the husband of Androm- ache, and the father of Astyanax. He disap- proved of the conduct of Paris, and advised the surrender of Helen to Menelaus ; but when his remonstrances and warnings were disregarded, he devoted all his energies to the service of his native city. After fighting some of the bravest of the Hellenic warriors, and among others slaying Patroclus, the friend of Achilles, he was at length vanquished and killed by the latter, who dragged his corpse to the Greek fleet, or according to later tradition thrice around the walls of Troy; but afterward relenting, he restored it for a ransom to Priam. HECUBA (Gr. 'E/cd/fy), a daughter of Dymas of Phrygia, or of Cisseus, king of Thrace, second wife of Priam, king of Troy, and the mother of Hector, Paris, Cassandra, Cretisa, and 15 other children. According to Euri- pides, she was enslaved by the Greeks after the capture of Troy, and carried to the Thra- cian Chersonesus, where she saw on the same day her daughter Polyxena sacrificed and the body of her youngest son Polydorus cast on the shore after he had been murdered by Poly- mestor, king of the Chersonesus. She deter- mined on revenge, and, sending for Polymes- tor and his two sons, under pretence of want- ing to inform them of hidden treasure, she slew the children on their arrival, and tore out the eyes of their father. According to other accounts, she became the slave of Ulysses, and in despair killed herself by leaping into the sea. BEDDING, Elijah, an American bishop, born at Pine Plains, N. Y., June 7, 1780, died in Poughkeepsie, April 9, 1852. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1798, and commenced his labors as an itinerant preacher on Essex circuit, Vermont. He was received into the New York annual conference in 1801, and sent to Plattsburgh. In 1802 he labored on the Fletcher circuit, Vermont, which then extended from the Onion river to 15 or 20 miles beyond the Canada line, including all the territory between the Green mountains and Lake Champlain. Here he was accustomed to travel 300 miles a month on horseback, to ford rivers, to sleep in log cabins, and to preach once and often two or three times daily. In 1803 he was sent to Bridge water circuit, New