MR MILNE ON THE PARALLEL ROADS OF I,OCHABER. 417 



the one about 78 feet, and the other 50 feet, above the channel of the united 

 streams of Don and Urie, which flow through the centre of the valley. The an- 

 cient bottom of the lake has been cut up by rivulets at the sides of the valley 

 into separate fragments, some of them of so unusual a form as to have suggested 

 a notion that they are artificial ; and, accordingly, in the guide-books, and even 

 in the recent statistical accounts of the parish, they are so described. Two of 

 these alleged remains of antiquity are known by the names of Bass and Konin 

 Hillock ; and are variously conjectured to have been formed for sepulchral or judi- 

 cial purposes. A similar mistake has been made with the hills of Dunipace. 

 near Falkirk, which are represented by historians as formed to celebrate and re- 

 cord a peace between the Romans and the natives of Scotland. They are detri- 

 tal remnants fashioned into conical shapes by the action of streams. 



( 7.) In the valley of the Leader (Berwickshire), there will be found terraces on 

 the hill sides, which clearly shew the action of water. Three very distinct mark- 

 ings of this nature are traceable near Dodds' MiU, at Hounslow, at Carfrae Mill, 

 and at Annfield near Channelkii'k. The terraces at these different places, judging 

 by the sjTupiesometer, seem to be all very nearly on a level ; and if, on a more 

 minute survey, they really prove to be so, it would follow, that the whole of Lau- 

 derdale had formerly been one vast lake, with a blockage at or near Chappel. 

 The height of these shelves is about 800 feet above the sea. 



It is scarcely necessary to advert to the inland situation, and otlier circum- 

 stances characteristic of the various beach-lines now mentioned, to shew that they 

 could not have been formed by the sea, but must have been produced by lakes 

 which filled the valleys, and which sunk at different periods, — in most cases, dis- 

 appearing altogether. 



If, then, the existence of lake-beaches be so common in the valleys of Scot- 

 land, there will be the less hesitation in ascribing the Lochaber shelves to the 

 same cause, — established as that cause has been separately by local evidence. 



That the occurrence of lake-beaches in the valleys of Scotland should be fre- 

 quent, is only what every geologist must be prepared to expect, who considers 

 the proofs which may be adduced, of the gradual emergence of the land out of 

 the sea. Some of these proofs, in so far as afforded by Scotland, I shall imme- 

 diately notice; but assuming that .Scotland was, to the depth of 130i> feet or 

 more, submerged beneath the waters of the ocean, — as it rose out, there would be 

 lakes in every inland hollow, each, of course, having its river to carry off to the 

 sea, the rain falling on its surface and that of the adjoining mountains. The 

 stream thus issuing, would gradually wear down the detritus which formed a bar- 

 rier at one end of the lake ; and the cutting power of the stream would be gra- 

 dually increased, as the elevation of the land proceeded ; so that in most cases 

 the blockage of lakes would, in the course of time, be extensively undermined 



