663 



faet that no Glacial Period destroyed the old plant-world of linse 

 islands. 



The flora of the Færoes, on the other hånd, was no donbl 

 utlerly destroyed during the Glacial Period, at l*';i s l as regards the 

 higher organized piants (vascular piants) and il is doubtful whether 

 any of the lower piants survived this on the highest mountain tops. 

 Al that time, il is hardly possible that any other piants occurred 

 there than such as we find growing at the present day on Ihe inland 

 ice of Greenland, and on the »everlasting« snow and ice fieids of 

 similar countries or mountains. 



According to the investigations of Helland and J. Geikie il 

 is most likely that the whole has been covered with ice 1 . 



The flora is then to be regarded as post-glacial 2 and it 

 must have immigrated from other countries alter the Ice Age. Its 

 flora! character shows whence it has immigrated, viz. from West 

 Europe, especially from Great Britain, the country which lics nearest 

 to the Færoes. How far soine of Ihe species which the Færoes 

 have in common with leeland, have immigrated from the latter 

 island, cannot be determined, at least not at the present time 3 . 



Il' we now ask: - - How did the flora immigrate? The an- 

 swers will be different; and even in this hook we lind the two 

 opinions expressed, Ostenfeld supporting the theory of an immi- 

 gration across land, viz. by means of a post-glacial land connec- 

 tion between the Færoes and great Britain, while Børgesen main- 

 lains that the llora migrated across the sea, especially by the agency 

 of the wind and hirds. Having previously (1887) considered the im- 



1 See Helland: »Om Færoernes Geologi'.. Geografisk Tidsskrift, vol. IV. 1880. 

 - .1. Geikie: Prehistoric Europe, 1881. In this work (p. 504) .1. Geikie writes: - 



Mr. Helland and 1 found that the Færoe Islands had been in like manner en- 

 veloped in glacier-ice. They supported an ice-sheet ol' their own, the upper sur- 

 face of which rose to a height in the northern islands of 1600 leet, and in Suderoe 

 of 1 tOO leet ahove what is now Ihe sea-level. Xot only so, but the iee was so 

 thick that it Biled up all Ihe fjords and sounds between the various islands of 

 the archipelago, thus forming one compact mer de glace which flowed outwards 

 in all directions from the dominant points, and discharged its icebergs into the 

 surrounding ocean.« 



2 See Ostenfeld, p. 112 above. — .1. Geikie (1. c. p. 519): — the flora of 

 the Færoe Islands is certainly of postglacial origin.« 



3 The question is one of long standing, and was put forward by Ch. Martins 

 as early as 1839 Voyage en Scandinavie, en Laponie. etc., vol. II : the result he 

 arrived at was that the range of islands: — the Shetlands, the Færoes, Iceland and 

 Greenland derived their vegetation both from east and west, »mais la migration 

 européenne est évidemment prédominante.« 



