275 



The Rev. "W. S. Syraonds said that he had carefully considered the 

 matter, and he felt bound to suy also that the old views of geologists as t<S 

 the Malvern range being syenite and therefore igneous were erroneous, and 

 he considered that though the hills had been uplifted at varioas times, yet 

 that they were formed from deposited strata of very ancient date that had 

 been metamorphosed. He thouglit, therefore, that the views of Dr. HoU 

 ■Were substantially correct, though further proof was required of the exact 

 age of the metamorphosed rocks. 



The proceedings were next diversified by a little amu-sing coup de theatre 

 which filled up time while the party were still bound by the fickleness of the 

 ■Weather. Mr. E. Lees produced a rude driuking cup made of burnt clay, 

 with zig ZHg ornaments upon it, that had been buried with the ashes of a 

 Silurian chieftain on the summit of the Worcestershire Beacon, and there 

 discovered by the Ordnance surveyors a few years ago. Mr. Lees now presented 

 the cup to be drank out of by the Pi esidents of the Clubs present, after its 

 disuse for above two thousand years, for it had been examined by learned 

 antiquarians in London who had pronounced it to be an ancient British cup, 

 and nothing exactly similar had been met with except in a few barrows in 

 Wiltshire. The cup was examined with much curiosity, and many members as 

 well as the presidents drank out of it (see plate). 



Mr. W. PoNTiNG, of Worcester, had also by request, brought some 

 Saxon relics that had been exhumed last year at Upton Snodsbury, near 

 Worcester, consisting of a singular amber necklace, sword, fibulae, &c. These 

 ■were inspected with much interest, and it seemed curious for these ancient 

 objects, as far as man was concerned, to be brought in contact with nature's 

 stores belonging to a period of incalcuable antiquity — the products of a sea 

 on which no vessel had ever sailed, and a shore untouched by any human 

 foot. 



Dr. Grindeod, as a hospitable teetotaler, before the naturalists left 

 kindly proffered tea and coffee to his guests, which was partaken of with as 

 much relish as if all present had assembled at a Temperance banquet ; and 

 at length, when the rain had subsided, the word of command was given 

 to storm the heights of the North HUl. 



A new road has been recently formed for visitors, which now gives 

 comparatively easy access to the once formidable North Hill at Malvern, and 

 along this easy ascent the naturalists proceeded, and for a brief period 

 transient gleams lit up the extensive landscape, and tho pure air was fragrant 

 and exciting. This gave spirit to the geologists, who brandished their hammers 

 and cracked jokes and rocks at the same time, and trapped specimens of 

 trap, with energy equal to the occasion. When the apex of the hill was 

 reached Mr. Symonds, the President of the Malvern Club, with his usual 

 energetic eloquence, discoursed for a short time on the aspect of the country 

 before them in the glacial period, and adverted to the fossil remains ot 



