FENNELL : SOME PHYSICAL FEATURES IX ICELAND. 453 
pressure of the frozen or freezing mass above, and like a moley- 
warp we shall find the accumulation on the surface commencing; 
the very fact of this surface covering being present tends to 
keep the frost from any crack formed, thus preserving the 
weakness of these points for further exudation of the under soil 
when the thaw sets in again. 
We thus gradually get the hump formed of fresh soil, and 
therefore, perhaps, particularly well suited to support whatever 
vegetation there is, generally only lichen and moss, and some- 
times rough grass, which in their turn tend to increase the size 
of the tussock. 
We must also remember that the fissures mentioned also 
act as ducts for the moisture from below, and help to support 
any vegetation in a dry time, when there is no surface moisture. 
3. — The Icelandic Puzzle or Stone Outlines. 
These curious markings are the sole cause of my promising 
to read a paper before this Society, owing to a selfish desire to 
hear the opinions of others expressed thereon. So far as 
I know, this is one of Nature's curiosities which has not been 
publicly noticed before. 
The diagram (pi. Ixvii.), so far as the foreground is concerned, 
represents a curious surface appearance on a plateau near Hafna 
Fjord in the West of Iceland, and not far from Reykjavik, the 
capital city. I also saw similar markings on a gentle slope at 
Stykkisholm, some 80 miles further north, but in this case they 
were not so distinct. 
I am sorry to say the diagram is sketched from memory, 
my camera having unknown to me been so shaken with 
a 75 mile ride on an Iceland pony that it never spoke again, 
although in my ignorance of the damage done I took a careful 
snap shot of this place and many others of equal interest. 
I must also add that if any of you go to Hafna Fjord 
you must not expect to see the background as depicted on the 
diagram. I have simply sketched that in to complete the picture, 
and also to give you an idea of a t}^ical Iceland scene. 
