889 



and frost in winter, togelher with the plenleous inin, which lodges 

 in every depression, will considerably iiaslen the work of destruc- 

 tion. A part will also be taken by the lichens and mosses, which 

 thrive on the solid rock (e. g. Lec/c/ea-species, Placodwm and An- 

 rfreaea-species). 



Thus it is that the products of weathered basalt form the pri- 

 mary soils, in which piants settle and by their growth carry the 

 transformation to further stages. 



The calcareons nature of the soil is still further increased on 

 many parts of the coast by broken shells of Molluscs, fragments 



Fig. 169. Sandsbugt on Sando. Flat expanse of sand traversed \iy the stream in the foreground which 



bends and is seen again to the right ; the open sea in the distance, with a steamship at anchor. 



(From photo. by O. Eflfersoe). 



of Corallinaceæ, etc, which have drifted ashore. These fragments 

 may be present in such quantity, that they give the soil a whitish 

 tint; thus Hvidenæs (White Naze) a short distance north of Thors- 

 havn derives its name from the abundance of shells there. The 

 soil in piaces of this sort is naturally much more calcareous than 

 elsewhere. 



On the coast where the finer particles of the soil are washed 

 out, there remains a rather dark coarse-grained coast sand, which 

 is presumably less fitted for the nutrition of piants than the un- 

 washed soil; it never has, however, that white barren colour such 

 as one finds, say on the washed out quartz-sand on the west coast 

 of Denmark. 



Sand-strands are not common on the Færoes, yet may be found 

 over small areas in almost any fjord. The greatest accumulation 



