1898] THE ESKERS OF [RELAND 249 
college (which enclose on two sides the lawn or playground), and a 
series of immense mounds or hills to the south-east, east, and north- 
east. These sand-hills form a miniature mountain system with 
valleys, and some curious bowl-shaped depressions. Seen at a little 
distance, in the twilight they may easily be mistaken for a veritable 
mountain-chain with sierra-like crest. But there is no appearance 
of rock, the whole consisting of drift deposits, mainly limestone 
eravel and sands, with a surface which in a ‘ dropping’ (@.e. rainy) 
season supports a fairly good sheep pasture, and forms burrowing 
ground for myriads of rabbits. Apart from these ridges and sand- 
hills the country around is flat, and less than a century ago must have 
been almost entirely covered with deep bog, but most of ae has been 
cut away. There are some outliers, ad one long ridge, partly 
levelled and obliterated, may be traced along the Kingsland road as 
far as the outskirts of the town of Athenry, at one time the Anglo- 
Norman capital of the province of Connaught. 
Having spent a number of years in this peculiar locality, 1 have 
often seer how by any known agency of tide or current these 
ridges and sand-hills could be shaped as they are. While some 
features could be accounted for by marine action, others could not 
be brought within range. How could the ‘ flow-tide’ heap up two 
great parallel ridges within a stone’s cast of each other? If it is 
within the function of the tides to accomplish this, I am afraid 
we don’t quite understand the question of ways and means. By 
Hummel’s theory we get over the difficulty. There is remarkable 
parallelism among the asar of the Lake Malar district. And if 
there were no such difficulty in the way of the marine theory, there 
is a rather formidable one as regards the heaping up of a ridge so 
high and steep-sided in proportion to width at top. 
The eastern end of the more northern ridge has been cut away 
to make room for some of the buildings, and in this way is made a 
very good section, which, although partly obscured by a wall and by 
detritus at the base, affords the best view of the internal structure 
of an esker that I have anywhere seen. This section shows a curious 
alternation of sand and gravel beds with an occasional ‘leaf’ of clay, 
or rather lime-clay paste, but the dip is not quite so steep as the 
sides. Owing to the percolation of rain-water, there is matrix of 
calcareous matter which serves to bind the whole into a tolerably 
compact mass, which, however, readily yields to the pick-axe, and 
the loosened materials when screened, serve to mix with mortar for 
building, Over the sides and top there is, however, a deposit of 
aérial drift, in which the rabbits can work their way. Formerly, 
the peat closely surrounded both ridges. I have heard it stated 
that there is peat underneath the gravel. But 1 know that in the 
summer of 1897 a pump was sunk within two yards of the section 
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