^ >lt *» IN THE FAROE ISLANDS. 217 



swollen by rain, are exceedingly picturesque. Many of them 

 fall from such a vast height, that they are completely disper- 

 sed into fine spray long before they reach half-way down the 

 precipice. 



The mountains present a variety of forms, but tend chiefly 

 to assume that of a cone at their summits, which are often very 

 sharp and rugged. The Northern Islands, Kalsoe, Kunoe, Bor- 

 doe, and Videroe, consist of long sharp ridges, the summits beino- 

 broken into many fantastic shapes. The highest land is in Stro- 

 ► moe and Osteroe, which are separated by a narrow channel, 

 -which in one place is scarcely a quarter of a mile bi-oad. 

 The state of the weather prevented our ascending the hio-hest 

 mountain, called Skellingfell, in Stromoe: but we succeed- 

 ed in reaching the summit of one of the highest mountains 

 in Osteroe, called Slatturtind, near the village of Eyde. By 

 barometrical obsei-vation, this appeared to be 2825 feet above 

 the sea. Skellingfell * cannot be less than 3000 feet high, 

 and is probably somewhat more. 



The western coast of Stromoe presents an extent of twelve 

 miles of the most sublime rock-scenery that can be conceived. *' 

 - -Every part of the Faroe group has its romantic beauties ; and 

 there is scarcely a promontory which does not exhibit a scene 

 calculated to excite the most lively admiration. The o-eneral 

 elevation of the precipices on the west side of Stromoe, varies 

 from 1000 to 2000 feet. There is a cliff called Kodlen', form- * 

 ing the north-west promontory of Osteroe, which did not strike 

 us so much by its elevation, (for it sunk far beneath the neigh- 

 bouring rocks of Stromoe), as by the circumstance of its befng 

 exactly perpendicular. Mr Allan measured its heieht bv 



Vol. VII. Ee «,. 



■^ ^ means 



* The name of this mountain, and some other names, are variously spell, 

 ed ; but the mode adopted in this memoir conveys the pronunciation. 





