and the Phenomena accompanying their Elevation. 11 



marl or cretaceous limestone, very closely resembling some va- 

 rieties of chalk. It contains no beds either of compact limestone 

 or sandstone, and exhibits scarcely any traces of stratification ; 

 and with these characters it appears at intervals, where not co- 

 vered by debris, for several miles along the coast. It is here 

 overlaid by horizontal strata of a coarse conglomerate and sand- 

 stone. The former consists of large rolled fragments of lime- 

 stone and sandstone, with some pebbles of quartz, cemented to- 

 gether by a hard calcareous base. I found some shells in it, of 

 the genera Cardium and Pecten, and in one part of it, in which 

 there were scarcely any rolled pebbles, and which therefore con- 

 sisted chiefly of the calcareous matter which forms, the base, 

 there were numerous holes of lithodomi. These formations pre- 

 sent a steep face towards the sea, from which they are distant 

 about a quarter of a mile. They have an elevation of nearly 

 300 feet, and as soon as we attain their summit, we find them 

 o have a table form, which arises from the horizontal position 

 of the conglomerate, and to extend to a greater or less distance 

 inland, until they meet the higlier hills of limestone or dolomite. 



Dolomite//^/. 



Ji/i'l 



Coriplomevate j J I / 



I^avl 



Continuing our journey along the coast, we first met with the 

 great formation of sandstone near the river Pilato, a few miles 

 to the west of Cefalu, and which now occupies the whole coun- 

 try to the eastward, with some exceptions in the neighbourhood 

 of that place, which I shall first notice. The Castle-hill of 

 Cefalu is composed of limestone, which rises abruptly from the 

 sea, in bare precipices to the height of 123S feet * The lime- 

 stone has a grey colour, and exactly resembles that of the Pa- 

 lermo hills, to which formation it evidently belongs ; it con- 



• }^j the barometer. 



