108 Mr. Moore's Remarks on the Origin of Rock-basins ; 



On the whole, therefore, I am still inclined, for the reasons 

 now adduced, to retain my original opinion, that the rock- 

 basins properly so called, and distinguished from other irre- 

 gular cavities in the rocks, are artificial. At the same time 

 I am not disposed to lay any undue stress on this opinion, and 

 have undertaken the defence of it with reluctance. One or two 

 other facts, however, in support of it, may be added. The 

 rock-basins in Devonshire," Mr. Burt*, who was well ac- 

 quainted with Dartmoor, has observed, " are always on the 

 verge of the rock." What reason can be assigned for this, if 

 these cavities are the result of the chemical operation of the 

 elements? Does not such a position indicate some design in 

 their formation ? They are also comparatively few in num- 

 ber, for among the numberless rocks and tors on Dartmoor 

 by far the greater part are without this distinction: and why 

 should not rock-basins be found upon rocks and tors of the 

 same texture generally, if formed by some natural process by 

 which all are liable to be affected ? They are, moreover, some- 

 times found singly, where there is no other derangement of 

 the surface; and generally in the vicinity of other British 

 remains. Cornwall, which abounds most with the latter, ex- 

 hibits also, it seems, the greatest number of the former. All 

 these circumstances serve to strengthen the belief of the arti- 

 ficial origin of these singular cavities. Nor is there any evi- 

 dence, from time immemorial, of their increase either in size or 

 number. 



At the same time, I am contending only that their origin is 

 artificial. By whom or for what purpose they were formed 

 is not known ; nor is it my intention to hazard any conjecture 

 on the subject. They are of two kinds ; one, simple cavities 



at the side of it, at the foot of a steep hill, the side of which is covered 

 with blocks of granite of different sizes, and has every appearance of hav- 

 ing rolled or slidden down the declivity with many other blocks, which lie 

 on the banks and in the bed of the river, and of having rested and poised 

 itself upon a slight elevation of a low rock beneath. Or if this were not 

 the case, the fissure between itself and the rock on which it rests may have 

 been worn larger than it was originally by the current, which is here very 

 rapid, leaving a fulcrum near the centre on which it moves. It is now 

 moved with difficulty, and could never have oscillated more than an inch 

 or two. Its form moreover does not approximate to the spheroidal. I have 

 seen in some publication, the title of which I do not now recollect, what 

 was intended for a view of it, and in that view the form, indeed, that was 

 given to it, was spheroidal : but it is no more like the real Logan than an 

 apple to a cube. The true form of it is intended to be given in a future 

 number of" The History and Topography of Devonshire," and a near re- 

 semblance to it may be now seen with the ornamented letter at the begin- 

 ning of Book II. of that work. 

 * Notes to Carrington's " Dartmoor," p. 196. 



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