102 



LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 



[VIII. 



deed, until within these last few years, the passage, I believe, 

 was altogether impracticable, in consequence of the con- 

 tinuous fields of ice which used to drift down the narrow 

 channel between the frozen continent and the northern ex- 

 tremity of the island. Lately, some great change seems to 

 have taken place in the lie of the Greenland ice; and during 

 the summer-time you can pass through, though late in the 

 year a solid belt binds the two shores together. 



REMAINS OF BASALTIC DYKES. 



But in a historical and scientific point of view, the whole 

 country lying about the basanite roots of Snaefell is most 

 interesting. At the feet of its southern slopes are to be 

 seen wonderful ranges of columnar basalt, prismatic caverns, 

 ancient craters, and specimens of almost every formation 

 that can result from the agency of subterranean fires ; while 

 each glen, and bay, and headland, in the neighbourhood, 

 teems with traditionary lore. On the north-western side of 

 the mountain stretches the famous Eyrbiggja district, the 



