CHAPTER XII.

Hills of Orkney--Their Geologic Composition--Scene of Scott's "Pirate"--Stromness--Geology of the District--"Seeking beasts"--Conglomerate in contact with Granite--A palaeozoic Hudson's Bay--Thickness of Conglomerate of Orkney--Oldest Vertebrate yet discovered in Orkney--Its Size--Figure of a characteristic plate of the Asterolepis--Peculiarity of Old Red Fishes--Length of the Asterolepis--A rich Ichthyolite Bed--Arrangement of the Layers--Queries as to the Cause of it--Minerals--An abandoned Mine--A lost Vessel--Kelp for Iodine--A dangerous Coast--Incidents of Shipwreck--Hospitality--Stromness Museum--Diplopterus mistaken for Dipterus--Their Resemblances and Differences--Visit to a remarkable Stack--Paring the Soil for Fuel, and consequent Barrenness--Description of the Stack--Wave-formed Caves--Height to which the Surf rises. 457