210 Mr. Bowman on the Natural Terraces 



would not affect the general truth of the formation of ter- 

 races by tidal action, to find occasional and slight inequalities 

 of level ; even if originally horizontal, such inequalities might 

 be easily produced in the process of upheaving ; and the real 

 ground of surprise is that they should retain the uniform and 

 perfect parallelism they do, as those of Glen Roy. But the 

 deflections and discrepancies I now speak of are relative to 

 the general surface of the terraces, and to each other, on the 

 detached portions where they occur; and therefore, admitting 

 them to have been sea-beaches, they must be occasioned by 

 slips from increase of gravity of the mass, when raised out of 

 the water. 



On reaching the summit of the hill, the terrace No. 1 seems 

 best developed on the S.S.E. side, and is extended into an 

 irregular shaped plateau, whose surface, though approaching 

 to a rude horizontality, is far too rounded and uneven to 

 have been formed by the action of water. In one place, 

 where the terrace can scarcely be traced, and where the defi- 

 ciency might be attributed to a subsequent slip, there is no 

 apparent accumulation below ; but, on the contrary, a hollow 

 or depression in the surface. On looking downwards on the 

 S.E. side of the hill, I could see no other terrace below it 



The upper terraces of the middle hill may be comprehended 

 in the above general description ; their surfaces have many 

 elevations and depressions, and for the most part slope out- 

 wards from the mountain. On both the hills, all that I ex- 

 amined consist of the same material, viz. a mass of angular 

 fragments of the red compact felspar rock from above, the 

 only difference being, that on the eastern hill they are mixed 

 with a stiff red clay and covered with vegetable sward, while 

 the upper ones of the middle hill have no such covering. I 

 looked carefully on both, wherever I had the opportunity, 

 for rounded pebbles, gravel, sand, or other drift, but with- 

 out seeing a vestige of either. In the sequel I shall again 

 allude to this peculiarity. 



Looking back upon the group of the Eildons from the road 

 between Melrose and Abbotsfcrd, and all the way to Gala- 

 shiels, several of the terraces on their northern face, which 

 rises above Melrose and the broad valley of the Tweed, may 

 be seen stretching in true horizontal lines of considerable 

 length, the minor inequalities of level being lost in the gene- 

 ral effect. This is an important fact in favour of their origin 

 from water. I looked in vain for similar appearances on the 

 opposite or north bank of the Tweed, on Cowden Knows, 

 and up the valley of the Leader, in all which places the hills 

 are lower and smoother, and for the most part covered with 



