Proceedings of Irish Societies. 293 



Bei^fast Naturalists' Fiei.d Ci.ub. 



JuivY 6th. — The fourth summer excursion was held, when a party of 

 over fifty assembled at the Northern Counties Railway bound for Island- 

 magee and the Gobbins. Arriving at Ballycarry, the whole party walked 

 across the peninsula, and then the various sections took their several 

 ways, each intent on their particular pursuit. Several members took the 

 steep path to the " Black Cave" in the basalt, which proved, however, 

 less interesting than was expected, save for its historic association. The 

 cave extends i^iland a distance of over 100 feet, and is washed by the 

 tide. The remains of a wall extend across its mouth, so its uses have 

 been, doubtless, various— legitimate and illegitimate — the latter in the 

 " good old days " when it was quite respectable to rob the King of his 

 dues. The most of the party walked along the shore, where the great 

 blocks of Chalk and Greensand lying to a large extent on I/ias offer a 

 most tempting prospect. This series of sections and blocks extends for 

 about half a mile along the coast, until the basalt once more comes down 

 to the sea-level at the cliffs of the Gobbins. The basalt of this neigh- 

 bourhood is itself of more than usual interest, as it exhibits a curious 

 banded structure on a large scale, seen very well along the escarpment 

 facing the sea, and in one little quarry which was passed on the way the 

 amygdaloidal vesicles were very beautifully arranged in well-marked 

 bands, between which was the ordinary half-rotten basalt, without 

 amygdales. The Greensand was, however, the chief point of interest, 

 and numerous fossils were obtained, though many more had to be left 

 behind owing to the hardness of some of the blocks. Among the ])est 

 finds was one of the secretary of the geological section. Miss S. M. 

 Thompson, which was a perfect specimen of a fossil sponge ( Ventriculiies) 

 of unusually large size. Several other sponges of different genera and 

 species were secured, these being a class that are in want of working out, 

 as very little is known of the Irish ones. Other finds were numerous, 

 Cidaris spines, some small corals and br3-ozoa, and plenty of the ordinary 

 Greensand fossils, such as Rhynchonella, Spondylus, &c. The Lias was in 

 very bad order for working after the heavy rain, followed by the baking 

 sun, and few fossils were taken. Botanists did not get anything worth 

 speaking of, except the Adder's tongue {Ophioglossum), of which quite a 

 large patch was seen. Tea at 6.30 on the cliffs at Hill's Port was the 

 finale to a most delightful day's outing. Many thanks were due to Mr. 

 Wise, C.E., for his kindness and courtesy to his fellow-members in 

 making arrangements for this visit, and it was the only regret expressed 

 that he has not as yet succeeded in his laudable efforts in making the 

 path around the Gobbins. After tea, a pleasant walk through the 

 fragrant bean-fields of Islandmagee brought the party to Ballycarry and 

 home by train. 



July 29TH. — The sixth excursion was held to the Mourne Mountains 

 in conjunction with the London Geologists' Association, who were 

 visiting the North of Ireland. A party of about eighty arrived at New- 

 castle at 9.30, where breakfast was partaken of at Laurence's rooms at 

 the station. Breakfast finished, the brakes and cars were mounted, and 

 the road taken to the Trassey Bridge. Here the vehicles were left, and 

 the party proceeded up the valley to the Hare's Gap, close to which are 

 the Diamond Rocks. These are great masses of Mourne granite 

 containing very numerous drusy cavities, some of them of considerable 

 .size. So often have they been visited by geologists that parts of the 

 hillside bear quite a resemblance to a quarry. These cavities contain 

 large and well-formed crystals of smoky quartz, orthoclase, biotite, 

 albite, and less frequently of beryl, topaz, and microcline. Of all these 

 many capital specimens were taken by the members, the. topaz and beryl 

 crystals being very good, and some of exceptional size were ol^tained. 



