10 Address of the President. 



ing was far from promising ; biit, deeply in love with what 

 they expected to see and find, and seduced by occasional 

 glimpses of light, and blue sky the members pressed man- 

 fully on. Under conduct of Mr. S. Gordon, and in expecta- 

 tion of an improvement in the weather, the antiquities in the 

 vicinity of Castle-Douglas were first visited : among others 

 the Carlingwark Thorn, and the spot where Mons Meg is 

 reported to have been manufactured. 



A few bright openings in the sky, and a lull in the gale, 

 made Threave to be thought accessible ; and on they went. 

 On reaching the Dee it was found to be swollen, and had it 

 not been for confidence in the assurance of Mr. Eae's servant 

 that the ford was practicable, and the powerful appearance of 

 his horse, Threave must have for this time remained unvisited. 

 As it was, there was some demur, but the bolder spirits of the 

 Society took the first plunge and were forded safely over. The 

 more timid followed, and, jolted over the edges of the Silurian 

 beds which stand up almost erect, they were also landed. 



Threave was a fine fastness, beautiful and strong in its 

 site. The thick walls have been groiited with mortar, of 

 which sea-sand and shells formed a part. The tumbled- 

 down fragments show a concrete of this consistency as strong 

 as the stone itself Eeturned to Carlingwark Loch, an attempt 

 was made to find the lake buildings or driven piles mentioned 

 in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland ; but the rain and 

 gale had now increased, and althoiigh the attempt was made, 

 it was impossible under the circumstances to detect anything. 

 But even if fine, another cause would have prevented us : a 

 minute fresh-water Alga filled the whole water in immense 

 profusion, and was drifted and laid in a thin layer upon the 

 shores. Cattle could not have drunk in the loch without 

 swallowing thousands. The water was coloured a dull green, 

 and it would have been impossible to have examined the 

 bottom or to have seen any substance or erection a foot below 

 the surface. 



