30 Mr. W. Kemp's Observations on the latest 



are such as naturally arose from oft- repeated visits to the 

 various localities, and from a careful examination of their posi- 

 tion, formation, and general and particular features. Many 

 hasty ideas had to be rejected as subsequent investigation 

 proved them to be erroneous, and consulting writers was oft- 

 times rather a stumbling-block than a furtherance. However, 

 several writers of late seem clearly to have pointed towards 

 the truth, though they commonly appear to impute too much 

 to any one cause. The following are the deductions which the 

 writer feels at present warranted to make from his own per- 

 sonal investigations. 



Previous to the emerging of this island out of the bosom of 

 the ocean, of course the greater portion of its surface would 

 be bare rock, most likely strewed over with a considerable 

 accumulation of stony debris; and whatever may have been the 

 cause of the denudation, or scooping out of the lower valleys, 

 it is evident that it must have been going on previous to, or at 

 the time the higher hills were emerging above the surface of 

 the water, for it is clearly evinced by the fact that the sub- 

 sequent debris of the hills rests upon these lower tracks. Long 

 before the emerging of the land, volcanic action had been 

 very prevalent, as is shown by the numerous ridges and co- 

 nical hills of trap, which have all been thrown up under a deep 

 sea ; indeed there is no evidence of any one in all Britain 

 having burst forth in the open air. But after these subma- 

 rine eruptions had ceased, that mignty internal power which 

 occasioned them was still in existence, and as its expansive 

 force was no longer relieved by bursting through the surface, 

 it seems to have acted in another manner and elevated simul- 

 taneously the whole island. However, from various appear- 

 ances we are enabled to conclude, that this elevation was not 

 accomplished by a few overwhelming convulsions, but by slow 

 degrees through the lapse of ages ; and indeed for anything 

 we can know it may be still slowly progressing. 



The most striking peculiarity, and one which is very ob- 

 vious to all observers, is that of oceanic currents having swept 

 the detritus of the rising heights from west to east, so that it is 

 universally seen flanking the eastern declivities of the hills, 

 distinguished by that peculiarity of form known by the desig- 

 nation of crag and tail. Such peculiarly formed accumula- 

 tions are spread out in many places to a great extent and 

 thickness; we have examined places where water has worn it 

 down for about 100 feet deep in ravines, and along the sides of 

 the valleys. It is the opinion of some eminent geologists that 

 this boulder clay is of various ages, arising from a difference in 

 the appearance of the mass j to this we give assent so far, that 



