Mr Milne 09i the Parallel Boads of Locuaber, 357 



so that, if the Lake in Glen Roy was dammed hack by a terminal 



moraine, that moraine could not have rested on Moeldhu, at the 

 foot of Glen Roy, but must have been pushed up that valley, before 

 the Ben Nevis glacier, 2 miles farther, — ^an operation which the 

 levels, distance, and direction of that valley would have rendered 

 impossible. 



In the second place, the shelves do not, as M. Agassiz says, *' ter- 

 minate at the same point," — viz., at Moeldhu, where he supposes the 

 terminal moraine of the Nevis glacier to have been. The t^wo upper- 

 most shelves (as just stated) do not come within two miles of this 

 point ; and the lowermost shelf, instead of terminating there, runs, 

 as formerly explained, several miles northwards, on both sides of the 

 valley towards Unachan, where they are 4 miles apart. It is scarcely 

 necessary to say, that a moraine in this low district, which is not con- 

 nected with any Ben Nevis valley, and considering its required height 

 and length, is inconceivable. 



In the third place, as to the existence of transverse scratches on 

 the rocks in Glen Spean, which are said to indicate the movement of 

 some body from Lo:;h Treig, I could see no such scratches, though I 

 twice surveyed the ground, and narrowly inspected the rocks, espe- 

 cially at the outlet from Loch Treig. Indeed, the supposition that 

 any glacier flowed out of Loch Treig, seems to be almost excluded 

 by the fact, that a shelf, perfectly horizontal, exists on both sides of 

 the narrow outlet from Loch Treig, and continuously into Glen Spean 

 Such a shelf could not have been formed, and would have been obli- 

 terated by any glacier moving out of Loch Treig. 



(2.) But assuming all these facts to be as M. Agassiz states them, 

 do they present unequivocal proofs of the movement of glaciers, and 

 the formation of moraines \ Scratches on polished rocks may be made 

 by various causes ; and if a moraine existed on Moeldhu, surely some 

 trace of it, or of the great blocks which generally accompany moraines, 

 would have been particularly observable there ; — whereas there is 

 scarcely a block or a patch of gravel to be seen in that part of the valley. 



Farther, I would observe, that the valley supposed to have been 

 the birth-place of the glacier which produced this Moeldhu moraine, 

 is about two miles distant from Moeldhu, with an undulating country 

 between them, which is most unlikely to have formed the channel or 

 bed of 9, glacier, Dr Buckland and M, Agassiz speak of this glen as 

 connected with Ben Nevis. But here, again, there is apparently 

 some mistake. The valley in question is Larich Leachich, and runs 

 up, not in a NW. direction towards Ben Nevis, but in a S\V^. direc- 

 tion towards the head of Loch Treig. It is an extremely short glen, 

 and rises to no great height. 



Finally, supposing that if, in spite of all these objections, it were 

 allowed that a glacier had moved down this little valley, and across 

 the very uneven country to Moeldhu, so as to block up Glen Roy and 

 Glen Spean, it would still remain to explain the blockage of Glen 



