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7Od VON TROIL’S LETTERS ON ICELAND.
places refemble the infide timber-work of a fhip; that is to fay, thefe pillars which moft
probably were quite ftrait at firft, in falling received this crooked inclination; nor were
it alone the joints of the outermoft or loweft fide which warped a little, but each ftone
was bent fingly. Fifthly, we found on the fhore at Hiftra, near Skallholt, a piece of
bafalt, with a piece of glafs flicking in it, in the fame manner as granate formed cryftals
are found in the bafalts at Bolfenna, which are like thofe that abound in the lava of Ice-
landand Italy. And laftly, a kind of ftone near Langarnas in Iceland, which was much
coarfer, and more glafly than the common bafalts, and evidently was lava burft into
polyedrous and regular figures, though not quite fo regular as the above-mentioned
pillars.
What I have here faid, might eafily induce one to imagine that the bafalt, after having
been melted, and was grown hard again, had been burft into fuch pillars. But two objec-
tions, which you raife againft this opinion, are difficult to be removed. Frit, this mat-
ter melts fo eafily, that it becomes glafs without difficulty, before the blow-pipe for
aflaying ; whence it feems that this mafs muft neceflarily have been changed to glafs, if
it had been expofed to fo a great fire as that ofan eruption. But may one fafely judge
of an experiment made in miniature before the blow-pipe of the workings of Nature at
large? Might not, perhaps, an addition we are unacquainted with, have prevented the
mais from becoming glafs, and caufe it to break into thefe regular figures though we
cannot now determine wherein this addition confilted ? Secondly, we find that the
trapp * in Weft-Gothland, which both in appearance and fubitance fo much refembles
bafalts, though it does not form itfelf into pillars, ftands on flate ; and how could this
trapp have been formed by the fire, without, at the fame time, kindling the bed, which
is of fo combuftible a nature? But fhould not, perhaps, the fire be able to form the
trapp into pillars? Perhaps all bafalt pillars may have been a mafs of trapp in the in-
fide of the earth, which, having been liquified during an eruption, was thrown up, and
{plit into pillars? But, Sir, I fear to fatigue you with my conjectures and queftions ; it
would, however, be very agreeable to me and other naturalifts, if you would kindly
communnicate to us your thoughts on this fubject. This would, no doubt, enable us
to judge with more certainty of bafalts, which at prefent engages the attention of the
curious in general, and all naturalifts in particular.
ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND OF STAFFA, COMMUNICATED BY JOSEPH BANKS, ESQ.
IN the found of Mull we came to anchor (Auguft 12, 1772) on the Morvern fide,
eppofite to a gentleman’s houfe called Drumnen: the owner of it, Mr. Maclean, hav-
ing found out who we were, very cordially afked us afhore, we accepted his invitation,
and arrived at his houfe; where we metan Englifh gentleman, Mr. Leach, who no
fooner faw us, than he told us, that about nine leagues from us was an ifland, where
he believed no one even in the highlands had been, on which were pillars like thofe of
the Giant’s Gaufeway : this was a great object to me who had wifhed to have feen the
caufeway itfelf, would time have allowed: I therefore refolved to proceed directly,
efpecially as it was jut in the way to the Columb-kill; accordingly having put up two
* A kind of ftone in Linn, Syft. Nat. Mineralogy.
8 days
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