134 On the Glaciers and Climate of Iceland. 



fiord, which is now filled up. At the bottom of this, on a 

 partly- destroyed lava, and at the lateral boundaries, in tra- 

 chytic rock, the smoothed surfaces are very characteristically 

 exhibited, and the direction of the marks, on the whole, cor- 

 responds with that of the valley. 



Since the same phenomenon is repeated around the whole 

 coast, it is evident that we should expect all the striae in 

 reality to lie directed towards the middle of the island, with- 

 out our being obliged to assume that a generally-extended 

 covering of glaciers has applied its destroying agency in va- 

 rious directions, radiating from the middle. 



Should we, however, adopt the supposition, that separate 

 glaciers have tilled all these fiords, some of which are very 

 deep, it would still remain inconceivable that the masses of 

 ice, descending fi'om the higher parts of the valleys, — masses 

 which, it is known, move only in summer, should not melt 

 away on coming into contact with the sea, as well as the whole 

 mountains of drift ice which, for months together, surround 

 the whole north and east coasts of Iceland. 



But how rocks, exposed to the open sea at the entrances 

 to fiords, often filled with water a thousand feet deep, and 

 sometimes extending ten miles into the interior, could be 

 scratched, where, in the nature of things, glaciers could never 

 reach, it is certainly impossible to understand or to explain 

 in a satisfactory manner. 



So far as Iceland is known, there is on the south coast only 

 a single narrow glacier at the foot of the Myrdal (Fall- Jbkull 

 or Skraid-Jokull) which extends down almost to the level of 

 the sea, and, at present, leaves only a somewhat narrow pas- 

 sage from the one side to the other. It has already been 

 contemplated in advance, to divide this region into two dis- 

 tricts under separate jurisdictions, if at any time the slowly- 

 advancing rampart of ice should cut off all communication 

 between the inhabitants dwelling on the two sides of the 

 glacier. 



No one will, however, be inclined to consider that a glacier 

 should be able here to protrude a pier or mound of ice out 

 into a sea, the mean temperature of which amounts at least 

 to five degrees Centigrade, in the same way as the lava stream 



