32 Charles Maclaren, Esq., on the Existence of 



45 or 50 feet higher (that is, the land stood so much lower) 

 than it now does. Small portions of an ancient sea-beach 

 or bottom, at an elevation of 40 or 45 feet, are visible also 

 at Greenock and Gourock ; and I have seen them at Bunaw 

 and Connel Ferries on Loch Etive, as well as other parts of 

 the west coast. The traces of these, however, are neither so 

 well marked nor so numerous as those of the 30 feet beach, 

 which I have met with at nearly every part of the east and 

 west coast I have examined. If the action of the tides at an 

 elevation of more than 40 feet above the present level, en- 

 dured for a long period, it must have greatly changed the 

 form of the gravel bank at Row. Supposing that the glacier 

 retreated gradually, and formed a succession of narrow ter- 

 minal moraines one behind another, they might merge into 

 a single broad one under the continued action of the tides. 

 There were probably other moraines at x (fig. 5), where the 

 sea is only 2 or 3 fathoms deep at low water. 



Boulders, 



A great number of boulders are scattered over the surface, 

 as indicated by dots on the figure. They are partly rounded, 

 partly angular, and of all sizes up to 15 cubic yards, or 30 

 tons weight. They are chiefly of the mica-slate and chlori- 

 tic rocks of the district, but mingled with them are some of 

 granite, syenite, and greenstone. Of granite I saw about a 

 hundred, of eighteen inches or more in breadth, including 

 thirty, each of which measured a cubic yard or more. The 

 highest of them were at an elevation of 600 feet above the 

 loch. Of mica-slate boulders, there is one on the beach op- 

 posite Mr Napier's gate, 14 feet in height, measuring about 

 40 cubic yards, and weighing consequently 80 tons. Another, 

 near the farm of Blairnig, is 15 feet long, 10 broad, 4 thick 

 at the one end, and 2J at the other, measuring about 15 

 cubic yards. It lies on an extensive tract of level ground 

 about 400 feet above the loch. A great proportion of the 

 boulders do not rest upon the rock, but upon the clay or 

 gravel which covers it. Blocks of eight or ten cubic yards 

 are seen sticking in the terraces, with soil below them. 



The boulders are not found in lines, but scattered irregu- 



