the Upper Districts of Aberdeenshire. 15 



pieces of quartz. In other places, the covering consists of frag- 

 ments intermixed with grit and sand ; and in others of tabular 

 fragments irregularly distributed, with very little grit in their iui^ 

 tervals. Rounded fragments, such as usually appear in diluvium 

 or alluvium, are no where to be seen. The grit and sand formerly 

 contained numerous crystals of quartz and rock crystal, which have 

 in a great measure been removed by persons who have searched 

 these mountains for them. Crystals still occur, and I found many 

 in the course of my excursions, as well as numerous fragments of 

 white quartz. The debris on the declivities is of the same gene- 

 ral nature. 



Numerous springs exist on the summits and sides. These form 

 riUs, which, enlarged by rains and the melting of the snow, carry 

 down the fragments. In the beds of the torrents we find the 

 blocks and stones worn and rounded. In those of the larger streams 

 at the bottom of the hills, and in the valleys, the blocks and stones 

 »re much whiter than on the mountains, the felspar having become 

 softer, and altered in colour. In many fragments I found it con- 

 verted into a substance resembling steatite, sometimes white, some^ 

 times red, green, and even black. 



In the large glens there are immense deposits of diluvium or al- 

 luvium. Hillocks of from ten to sixty or eighty feet occur abun- 

 dantly. These hillocks are generally of an oblong form, but hardly 

 present any appearance by which the direction of the currents that 

 had formed them could be decidedly inferred. Their general di- 

 rection is that of the valley, although they are also sometimes trans- 

 verse to it, and often rounded. Where the present streams have 

 cut through them, they present numerous irregular strata of sand, 

 gravel, pebbles, and rounded blocks. These blocks are generally 

 solid at their surface, and hardly ever present the crumbling ap- 

 pearance exhibited by the tabular fragments and the rocks of the 

 mountain-summits and precipices. Granite of the same kind as 

 that of the surrounding mountains forms exclusively the materials 

 jpf which these accumulations of debris are composed. There can 

 be no doubt, therefore, that they have been derived from the moun^ 

 tains. 



The view from the summits of these mountains extends in a 

 circle comprehending the wildest and most desolate scenery of Scot- 

 land. On all sides, to the verge of the horizon, are seen mountain 

 summits and ridges, with glimpses of the Moray Firth and Ger- 

 Iman Ocean. Small portions of the valleys of the Dee and Spey are 

 the only parts in which cultivation is seen. The murmur of the 

 ■distant torrents, the rushing of the winds, and the croak of the 

 ptarmigan, are the only sounds that are heard. The bare and 

 light-grey summits, the declivities furrowed with the reddish 

 streaks left by the torrents, the long strata of blue clouds resting 

 on the distant hills, and the white wreaths of thin vapour floating 

 over the ridges, form together a picture of grandeur and sterility. 



