Geological Changes in the South of Scotland. 33 



wore down, the fragmentary deposit behind becoming ex- 

 posed to the current would be partly carried away, rolling the 

 boulders further along, and finally leaving them upon the 

 surface. At the same time it must be understood that they are 

 not confined to the surface alone, as they are plentifully found 

 at various depths. 



Such is that part of the phsenomena in question, which is 

 the most obvious, and which has been so frequently treated of 

 by various writers ; but there are other appearances yet to be 

 noticed of an extremely interesting character, which, taken in 

 connection with the foregoing, seem to shed a ray of light 

 upon those long past revolutions of ancient time. In order to 

 point to those we must again ascend the hills, and draw atten- 

 tion to the deeply engraved characters upon their rocky 

 shoulders. We here in the first place allude to the terraces, 

 which in many places are so broad and well-defined upon the 

 hills in the district around Galashiels*. The writer has care- 

 fully taken the level of those various shelves from hill to hill, 

 across valleys, &c, over a wide district, and has ascertained 

 beyond a doubt that they are correctly level or parallel in 

 elevation throughout. 



The cause is very obvious why those terraces have remained 

 so long undiscovered ; their situation is very different from 

 those celebrated ones of Glen Roy ; at the latter place they are 

 visible to the spectator for many miles along the steep grassy 

 banks of that Highland glen. But here no such appearance 

 is presented to the eye, as we have no continued range of hills ; 

 the highest are only a few insulated peaks, overtopping a 

 number of rounded and irregular undulating hills; it is only 

 upon some of the sides and projecting shoulders of these that 

 those terraces are to be seen. He that would wish to survey 

 them, requires to provide himself with a proper levelling in- 

 strument, and to travel patiently from hill to hill, and then, 

 but only then, will he be satisfied with the truth of our as- 

 sertions : we proudly appeal to those faithful and enduring 

 witnesses, whether for or against us. 



These terraces are not a single range but a series, extend- 

 ing from the summit of the hill downward ; they average 54 

 feet in perpendicular height one above another, some less and 

 others more. We assume each of those to have been success- 

 ively the level of the ocean for an indefinite period of time. 

 We do not mean to state that the land had been raised 54- feet 

 at once by any sudden movement ; but that during its eleva- 



* For a more particular account of those terraces, see Chambers's 

 Edinburgh Journal, No. 444. 



Phil. Mag. S. 3. Vol. 23. No. 149. July 1843. D 



