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sand was occasioned by the pulling of bent, broom, and 

 juniper. This was the immediate cause of the drifting of 

 the loose sand, but where the sand came from that formed 

 the original sand hills is another question. All sand, in 

 the first place, is formed and accumulated by the action 

 of water. We see sand hills anywhere. No matter how 

 far inland, or what elevation above the sea, we find 

 accumulations of sand. Very recently, when the workmen 

 were employed digging for the foundation of the fine block 

 of buildings in Commerce Street, Elgin, we had a favour- 

 able opportunity of seeiug an accumulation of stratified 

 sand, evidently placed there by aqueous agencies. The 

 present Sand Hills of Culbiu are, for the most part, what 

 is called the subaerial formation. Hugh Miller gives us 

 the following peculiarities of this formation at Culbin : — 

 " In some of the abrupter sections laid open by the winds, 

 tufts of the bent-grass (arwndo arenaria, common here, 

 as in all sandy wastes), that had been buried up where 

 they grew, might be distinctly traced, each upright in 

 itself, but rising tuft above tuft in the steep angle of the 

 hillock ^which they had originally covered. And though 

 from their dark colour, relieved against the lighter hue of 

 the sand, they reminded me of the carbonaceous markings 

 of sandstone of the coal measures, I recognised at least 

 their arrangement as unique. It seems to be such an 

 arrangement, sloping in the general line, but upright in 

 each of the tufts, as could take place in only a sub-aerial 

 formation. I observed further, that, in frequent instances, 

 there occurred in the surface of the sand, around decaying 

 tufts of the bent-grass, deeply marked circles, as if drawn 

 by a pair of compasses or a trainer, effects apparently of 

 eddy winds whirling round, as on a pivot, the decayed 

 plants." 



Those present here who saw the sand hillock at 



