232 ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SOUTH OF SCOTLAND. 



wider in the former, and more wooded in the latter, although in all places there 

 is scarcely any natural wood, and little cultivation, the unfavourable nature of 

 the soil and the want of lime rendering the latter unprofitable. The 6ame 

 rounded hills present themselves, with the same smooth slopes, covered with 

 green grass, intermixed with Heath and Fern. The rock, wherever it appears, 

 exhibits the same characters, although on a low hill near Atterstane there is an 

 extensive quarry of clay-slate, scarcely distinguishable from that of Luss, Dun- 

 keld, and Foudland, but softer, more fissile, and much less durable. 



Excepting the beautiful curve of the river at Nedpath Castle, and the wooded 

 nook there, nothing of any interest occurs along the Tweed until we arrive at 

 Peebles. Here the valley is wider, better cultivated, and partially adorned with 

 plantations. The river flows with a uniform current of considerable rapidity, 

 preserving nearly the same breadth, but hardly anywhere remarkable for the 

 beauty of its marginal scenery. The enclosing mountains, though lower than 

 those in the upper part of Tweeddale, are of considerable elevation, uniform in 

 aspect, with gentle and unbroken slopes, and sinuous outline. The very little 

 natural wood that occurs always consists of Coryllus avellana, Mespilus oxya- 

 cantha, Fraxinus excelsior, Alnus glutinom, Quercus robur, and Ulmus mon- 

 tana, with the Sloe, and a few Willows. 



At Innerleithen the scenery is not destitute of beauty, there being a fine val- 

 ley, bounded by high hills, and partially covered with plantations. From thence 

 to Whitebanklee, the valley is narrow, more destitute of wood, and less culti- 

 vated. The rock protrudes more frequently, affording opportunities of examining 

 the geological nature of the district, although still nothing is to be seen but grey- 

 wacke and slate. Tolerable clay-slate is quarried in two places, one on the south 

 side of the river, above Innerleithen, the other below Caberston. 



The grey-wacke is usually small-grained, of a bluish-grey colour, and consist- 

 ing of quartz of various tints, felspar, and calcareous spar, with occasional frag- 

 ments of clay-slate. It is intersected by small veins or threads of calcareous spar 

 and quartz. Sometimes, but rarely, it is large-grained, in which case the quartz 

 fragments predominate, and are usually coloured red, resembling jasper. When 

 very small-grained, it becomes slaty, and usually of a blueish-grey colour ; and 

 when still finer in the grain, it presents the appearance of roofing-slate, which 

 can be slit into sufficiently thin plates. The common tint of the roofing-slate 

 is bluish-grey, sometimes greenish, and occasionally purplish or reddish. The 

 strata are generally very much inclined, but in a few places I found them nearly 

 horizontal. Grey-wacke, grey-wacke-slate, clay-slate, and slate-clay or shale, 

 often alternate repeatedly in strata varying from an inch or less to a foot or 

 more ; but when the rock is grey-wacke alone, the stratification is often obscure, 

 and the mass resembles trap in appearance. The slate and shale strata are often 



