56 Mr Menteath (yti the Geohg'y of' Nithsdale. 



stiff, tenacious clay, which may be probably owing to the num- 

 ber of streams constantly wearing away the greywacke moun- 

 tains, and carrying their debris into the basin. The soil on 

 some of the more level parts, as on the banks of the Annan, is a 

 fine rich alluvial loam, productive of all kinds of grain. 



To the south of the Manse of St Mungo, the lower basin of 

 the Annan commences, and expands itself a considerable way 

 towards the Solway Firth. On the west it unites itself to the 

 Basin of Dumfries ; and to the east, to the lower basin of the 

 Esk. The Milk and the Mein are the principal streams that 

 join the Annan in its course southwards. 



The sandstone which prevails is the neio red, which appears 

 nearly to cover all the other strata, except in some places, as at 

 Cove Quarry, on the banks of the Kirtle, where the light ochry 

 sandstone bursts up from under it. At Kilhead, the limestone, 

 being in some places overlaid by an impure limestone, of 80 feet 

 thick, and upwards, is quarried and burned. Its thickness is 

 about 30 feet, and it is said to yield 95 parts out of 100, of car- 

 bonate of lime. 



From several appearances of the strata, where sections can be 

 had (as in several places of the Kirtle, a beautiful wooded stream, 

 which flows into the Solway, more to the south than the Annan), 

 indicating strongly the presence of coal, it is probable that that 

 valuable mineral may be discovered ; but whether in beds of suf- 

 ficient thickness to repay the expence of working, cannot be as- 

 certained till farther trials be made; and, indeed, from late at- 

 tempts that have been undertaken in this quarter, it seems very 

 doubtful *. 



The soil of this lower basin of the Annan partakes very much 

 of the characters of that usually occyrring in coal districts. It 

 is a stiff, adhesive clay ; has great tendency, from its retentive- 

 ness of naoisture, to produce the rush ; but, as this basin abounds 

 in limestone, the means are at hand to obviate some of the de- 

 fects of a clay soil. 



Basin of the Esk. — The river Esk, in its course from its 

 source to the Solway Frith, flows through two basins, an upper 

 and a lower. It is difficult to distinguish the lower basin of the 

 Esk from that of the Annan. They run so much into one an- 



• From the favourable appearances, hoAvever, of the strata, it seems pro- 

 bable that coal may be found in the Springkell estate. 



