^42 Mr Kingston's Sketch of the 



schist. Its elevation decreases gradually in the same direction, 

 Cosson beacon, the highest point of Dartmoor, being 1792 feet 

 above the sea level ; whilst Rippon Tor, Brown Willy, Carn 

 Bee, and Cape Cornwall, the most prominent points on the 

 general line, in proceeding southwest towards the Land's End, 

 are 1549, 1368, 697, and 229 feet successively. With the 

 exception of the tors scattered over this formation, some 

 possessing a bold and massive character, others with broken 

 irregular outlines, not unlike castellated ruins, and all formed of 

 rhomboidal masses, more or less rounded at the edges, the 

 inequalities it presents are of an undulating and gradual cha- 

 racter, often forming more or less rounded hollows, or basins, 

 which retain water, and, as a consequence, have more or less 

 extensive beds of peat formed in them. The most elevated and 

 extensive deposit of this kind, is that of Craumere Pool, the 

 source of most of the principal streams of Devon, both on the 

 east and west sides. As it is not our present purpose to enter, 

 with any minuteness, into the peculiarities and mineral characters 

 of any of the formations, it will be sufficient to state, that the 

 texture of the granite rock is very various, as well as the relative 

 proportions and mode of arrangement of its different constituents : 

 sometimes their distribution is very equal and regular, sometimes 

 the reverse ; and sometimes it has a porphyritic character, from 

 the larger crystals of felspar dispersed through the mass ; and 

 at others it assumes the character of true porphyry. The colours 

 are red, gray, or rusty yellow, &c. ; and the major part of it, 

 near the surface, is of a coarse, open, decomposing character ; 

 its superincumbent soil, for the most part, sandy or peaty, or a 

 mixture of both, usually thin and poor ; and on the whole, the 

 tract included in this formation may be considered the least 

 favourable to vegetation in the district, though fertile and 

 sheltered vales, of considerable breadth and beauty, may occa- 

 sionally be met with in it. 



Under the general denomination of schist may be included 

 the formations incumbent on the granite, and surrounding 

 and sloping away on either side of it, with the same general 

 direction. Their highest elevations do not exceed 1200 feet, 

 and, for the most part, are not beyond 800 or 900 feet 

 above the sea level. They occupy a considerable portion of 

 the district, and are of very various character. Strictly speaking, 

 they are referable to two distinct formations, that nearest the 

 granite, and immediately incumbent on it, being primitive, and 

 the remainder, transition, or greywacke schist ; and, in a general 

 view, the former may be considered as the least, whilst the 

 latter is the most fertile. The South Hams on one side, and 

 the neighbourhood of Barnstaple on the other, are proofs of this 

 fact ; the formation at these places having a decomposing friable 

 texture, favourable to vegetation. There are, however, consider- 

 able anomalies and exceptions to this rule. Interposed between 



