I$0 On Bajultes, 



ing the Northern Coall of the County of Antrim," l*j*fa 

 liave fo mueh merit, as mult greatly aggravate our conceni 

 for his untimely fate *. 



It will alio, no doubt, afford great pleafure, both to philo- 

 fophers and men of talk*, to learn that a ve"ry exact delinea- 

 tion of this great natural eurioiity, painted in a capital ttyfc^ 

 has been fihiihed by Mr. Thomas Kpbinfbn, now in Belfatt^ 

 whofe iine piclure of the battle of Bath nahineh, at prefent 

 in pofTeflion of the marquis of Hertford, was fo much ad- 

 mired. In this picture of the Giants' Caivieway, Mr. Ko- 

 binfon has not only done jultiee to its picturefque and ilu- 

 pendous forms, but has paid particular attention to fome" 

 linking peculiarities in its liructure, dcierving the notice of 

 men of fcience. 



To the following remarks I (hall prefix extracts from the 

 account or description given by Dr. Hamilton in his Letters^ 

 part ii. p. 26 : 



u The Giants' Caufeway is generally defcribed as a mole 

 or quay, projecting from the bate of a lteep promontory fome 

 hundred feet into the fea, and is formed of perpendicular pil- 

 lars of bafaltes, which ftand in contact with each other, ex- 

 hibiting a fort of polygon pavement, fomewhat refetnbling 

 the appearance of a folic! honeycomb. The pillars are irre- 

 gular prifms of various denominations, from three to eight 

 tides f; but the hexagonal columns are as numerous as all 

 the others put together. 



" On a minute infpeclion, every pillar is found to be fe- 

 parable into feveral joints, whole articulation is neat and 

 compact: beyond expreifion, the convex termination of one 

 joint always meeting a concave focket in the next ; befides 

 which, the angles of one frequently fhoot over thofe of the 

 other, fo that they are completely locked together, and oan 

 never be feparated without a fracture of thefe parts. 



" The fides of each column are unequal among themfelves, 

 but the contiguous fides of adjoining columns are always of 

 equal dimensions, fo as to touch in all their parts. 



" But it is not here that our admiration fhould ceafe : 

 whatever the procefs was by which Nature produced that 

 beautiful and curious arrangement of pillars fo conlpicuous 

 about the Giants' Caufeway, the caufe, far from being limited 

 to that fpot alone, appears to have extended itfelf through a 

 large tract of country in every direction -, infomuch that many 



* He was murdered by a mob of all^Hms in 1797, with circuiultimees 

 of uncommon cruelty. 



f S;nce Dr. Hamilton wrote, a few column* have been found of even 



pine iidvs. 



of 



