152 



IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



weathered less, and now stand out in such bold relief 

 that they form the most prominent features in the 

 valley landscape, and have sometimes suggested 

 legendary action for their origin, as at Roche a 

 Bayard, two miles above Dinant, where the road 

 passes through an opening made in such a vertical 

 outlier. 



The sandstones seem very tough, as well as hard, 

 and these excellent qualities threaten to destroy some 

 of the loveliest scenery in the Ardennes. Extensive 

 quarries are opened where these strata crop up, and 

 what was once a green valley side is converted into a 

 rubbish heap. In the valley of the Ourthe, near 

 Ezneres and Comblain, we found these disfigurations 

 of the landscape all the way up the valley nearly to 

 Liege. The shales are partly metamorphosed, so that 

 few traces of fossils are visible. 



Walking along these pleasant meadows, or break- 

 ing occasionally through the copses, or keeping a 

 keen eye to the road-side, as a naturalist should — 



rocks are seen to be singularly contorted. Joining 

 the railway, at Lustin (where there is a bridge over 

 the river) we proceed to Dinant. The rock scenery 

 repeats itself endlessly after the patterns just given, 

 but the picturesque effect is heightened by the steep 

 limestone cliffs being crested with the ruins of ancient 

 castles, which give a very Rhine-like effect. The 

 railway station at Dinant is ordinary enough, and 

 the Hotel des Postes outside screens the town, 

 cliff, and church from our view. We pass along 

 till we come to the bridge close by, and then in- 

 voluntarily and suddenly stop. On the other side of 

 the placid but swift moving stream rises a rough 

 surfaced, contorted, perpendicular limestone rock, to 

 the height of three or four hundred feet, crowned 

 with a strong citadel. Jammed up against it is the 

 Cathedral, of Romanesque architecture, whose roof 

 and peculiar bulbous, slate-covered spire rises above 

 a cluster of undercut tall houses, yellow, green, and 

 red, with numerous irregular windows and high 



Fig. 105. — Prodnctus puncta- 

 tiis. Lower Carboniferous 

 formation. 



Fig. 106. — Terehratula 

 liasiata. Lower Car- 

 boniferous formation. 



Fig. 104. — Froductus gigantetis. 

 formation. 



Lower Carboniferous 



everywhere one is strongly reminded of the floral 

 identity of England with the Belgian part of the 

 Continent. It is comparatively recently that the 

 swampy plain now covered by the waters of the 

 German Ocean was depressed so as to convert England 

 into an island. If we had not received geological 

 evidence of such a recent occurrence, there would 

 have been more than abundant botanical and zoologi- 

 cal reasons adducible to prove it. Everywhere are 

 common and characteristic English flowers, insects, 

 and birds. Now and then we come across plants and 

 insects, which though found in Great Britain, are 

 more numerous hereabouts. Thus on the rocks 

 between Dave and Lustin, there grow numerous 

 patches of that singular (and with us, rare) plant the 

 Italian catch-fly {Sikne Italica). The sticky stems 

 of some of the plants, when examined with a strong 

 lens, are in places covered with minute black insects, 

 in every stage of decomposition. At Profondville 

 the river makes a sudden and picturesque loop, and 

 is temporarily imprisoned between high cliffs, whose 



pitched bellying roofs. The charming picturesque- 

 ness of this end of Dinant is well worth a visit to see. 



It was this striking transpontine view which 

 caused us to stay at the Hotel des Postes instead of 

 the Hotel d'Or. We found it was a mistake, 

 as the bad cooking was not compensated for by the 

 high charges. Pickled cold trout nearly as large as 

 sardines are dear at a franc each, which is what we 

 had to pay. 



The hardship only endured for a night, however, 

 for next morning we were early afoot. Passing 

 through the narrow picturesque streets, along the 

 duity river-side road, with lovely bits of scenery at 

 every step, we soon arrived at the much over-praised 

 Roche a Bayard, whose origin I have already 

 suggested. A few clusters of maiden pinks {Dianihus 

 ddtoides) were growing here and there in the clefts. 

 Higher up the hill we see the wall of weathered hme- 

 stone is perforated, and that the formation of another 

 Roche a Bayard has already commenced, for this 

 perforation will go on widening. 



Through Anseremme, and at last we reach a 

 beautiful spot where the waters of the Lesse join 

 those of the Meuse. An ancient stone bridge 

 over the former river adds to the picturesqueness 

 of the scene. Trout in abundance sport in the 



