304 On the basaltic Surface of the Counties 



now sunk deep into the schistose substratum) has not left a 

 particle of its debris behind, nor is a single lump of white 

 limestone to be found, until we come to the quarries, that 

 is, to the edge of the solid, untouched stratum. 



Conclusions. 



The conclusions that unavoidably follow, from the con- 

 sideration of these facts, are, 



That the hills and mountains, in the district I have been 

 describing, were not raised up or formed as they now stand, 

 but that they are the undisturbed remains of strata that were 

 left behind, when stupendous operations carried away the 

 parts that were once contiguous to them. 



That the inequalities of this surface were all produced by 

 causes acting from above, and carrying off whatever they 

 touched, without in the least disturbing what was left be- 

 hind. 



Additional Evidences. Basaltic Hummocks* . 



The arguments on which I have founded my opinions 

 have hitherto been all taken from the hollows in our surface, 

 and the interruptions in our strata, both which, the con- 

 comitant circumstances have led me to cons-ider as so many 

 excavations ; but the lofty elevation's, and the abrupt pro- 

 minencies rising suddenly from our surface, when minutely 

 examined, lead us irresistibly to the very same conclusion. 



When you and I examined together the line of our north- 

 ern facades, we studiously sought for the points where na- 

 ture had made any change in her materials or their arrange- 

 ment, hoping that at the junctions of these little systems, 

 we should find some facts that would throw light on the 

 subject; but we generally failed ; want of perpendicularity, 

 or other local circumstances, impeding us at the most in- 

 teresting points. 



On the present occasion she has adopted an opposite line 

 of conduct, and in many of the steps she has taken, ob- 

 trudes upon us demonstration of what she has done. 



* Navigators use the word hummock to express circular and elevatj-d 

 mounts, appearing at a distance; I adopt the term from them. 



Whoever 



