Detail from Henry Holiday's illustration to the back cover of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark (1876).

I don't unterstand this pattern (if it is a pattern).
Perhaps it is not meant to be understood. Or it is no "meaningful" pattern at all.

The pattern is clearly distinguishable from its environment. The letter-like shapes shown below the image are the result of very simple linear transformations using GIMP. Yet, I still can't say whether these are letters or just meaningless shapes.

Is there any meaning? Should the "letters" be rotated and/or mirrored again? Is there a word game ("Anne I" beside a buoy) related to Anne Boleyn? (In his illustrations, Holiday clearly alluded to other historical figures related to Anne Bolyen, e.g. Queen Elizabeth I.)