OF THE FAROE ISLANDS. %65 



the rock, on which the action of the water had produced no 

 other effect, than displacing the soil, the course being simply 

 marked by it on each side ; and Landt informs us, that there is 

 no soil in any part of the country above three feet thick. 

 It would be curious to investigate, whether this smoothness 

 on the sides of the mountains could be traced to any external 

 cause, such as that which has been observed by Sir James 

 Hall, on Corstorphine Hill, and other parts of this country, 

 indicating the passage of heavy bodies along the surface. 

 Near Eide, I observed a very remarkable example of this 

 description. There the rock was scooped and scratched in a 

 very wonderful degree, not only on the horizontal surface, but 

 also on a vertical one, of thirty to forty feet high, which had 

 been opposed to the current, and presented the same scoop- 

 ed and polished appearance with the rest of the rock, both 

 above and below. 



Had any doubt respecting the igneous formation of trap 

 rocks remained upon my mind, previous to my visit to Faroe 5 

 it would have been completely removed, by the facts we 

 there met with, which have been so ably described by my fel- 

 low traveller. These we first observed in the Island of Nal- 

 soe, and afterwards at Eide, and at Waaij. The specimens 

 bearing marks of this phenomenon, which we brought home, 

 in order to present to the Society, will sufficiently convey the 

 same impression to all who examine them. No production of 

 a furnace can tell its tale in plainer language, nor any slag 

 bear more distinct marks of the effects of heat. 



In Nalsoe, it was only on the surface of one bed of amygda- 

 loid that we observed these marks of fusion. They were the 

 first I had seen, and of course created no small degree of sur- 

 prise. This was distinctly the upper surface of the bed, be- 



Vol. VII. L 1 ing 



