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progress a gainst a strong gale of wind and snch a
heavy s e a ; and it was not, in fact, till the afternoon
of the following day th a t we approached our
port, and it was then so very foggy, notwithstanding
the wind was blowing a gale, that, confident as we
were of onr having run a direct course for the port,
we deemed it prudent to go about. In a little
time, however, the fog began to clear away, and
we were shortly enabled to enter the Bay of Reikiavik,
and take up our former anchorage immediately
in front of the town.
Our being compelled to return to Reikiavik,
without being able to effect a landing at Stappen,
was the more provoking, as the main object of the
trip had been that of inspecting those beautiful
specimens of basaltic rocks which front the whole
line of the coast of this part of the great bay,
forming a series of curious caves, the drawings
of which, made by Sir John Stanley and his
companions, were shown to me before I left
London. The roofs of these caverns, five or
six in succession, are supported by columns of
basalt, many of which are also found strewed
about, some lying horizontally in heaps with
their bases pointed to the sea, some standing
upright, and others inclined at different angles,
many of them curved, not merely at the joints
where the convex end of one piece is fitted into
the concave end of the other, but bent throughout
the whole length like some of those on the
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