ABSTRACT
Copenhagen Sir! At the same Time I have the Pleasure of saluting You and paying my Compliments for your past Favours, I also send you with Mr. WolŠ 2 a Natural Curiosity from Iceland, consisting of two Samples of Wood, which in large Blocks is found pretty abundantly in the middle of Rocks and Mountains, especially near the Sea-Shores of the western Parts of that Island.3 This curious Phenomenon is without all Doubt produced by the Means of some
extraordinary Revolution of the Sea, and I guess, I dare say with the greatest Probability, that this Wood is from /any/ some Parts of America, as the Quarter of Iceland, where it is most plentifully found, faces the new World, and I do not nd, that any European Wood Bears Resemblance to it. All original Mountains in Iceland are, as the Norwegian and German Miners term
them, Flöte=Bjërge,4 for I have no where observed any Gang=Bjerg,5 and the Beds are distinctly separated, consisting of diŠerent kinds of Stones both in Regard to Colour and Texture. Below such Beds the mentioned Wood lays buried, but never many Fathoms above the Sea. The westerly Quarter of Iceland abounds with many Firths, being divided by some
Tracts of Land. The quantity of the /said/ subterranean Wood is so prodigious, that the
1After having decided to go to Iceland, Banks consulted Claus Heide, a Danish merchant resident in London, seeking information about what might be of interest to see in the island. Heide had recently received this letter from Andreas Holt, who visited Iceland in 1770 as the chairman of the Royal Commission of 1770 (Landsnef ndin fyrri), which travelled around Iceland that summer investigating the economic situation.
