326 MK MILNE ON THE MID-LOTHIAN AND EAST-LOTHIAN COAL-FIELDS. 



No. 1. is the existing soil. 



No. 2. is a covering of small gravel, being the deposit referred to in this part of the memoir. It 

 is, in the above section, from 3 to 5 feet thick. 



No. 3. is a bed of sand from 3 to 4 feet thick. 



No. 4. is a bed of black peat from I to 2 feet thick. How far it extends towards the right of the 

 figure I could not discover : on the left, it appears to have been destroyed by super- 

 vening causes, as it is there crushed, and a good deal mixed up with sand and gravel. 



No. 5. is boulder-clay, obviously belonging to the deposit previously described under that name. 

 The depth of the clay cannot be ascertained, but it is at least 8 or 10 feet thick. The 

 imbedded boulders are not large. The upper part is gravelly. 



In this last and lowest deposit are numerous roots of trees, which shoot dowTi 

 from the peat, but which do not rise to the surface of the peat. It is obvious 

 that the trees have grown in the clay, — if not before the peaty stratum was 

 formed, at aU events before the bed of sand and the layer of gravel were depo- 

 sited. The spot now referred to is about 520 feet above the sea. 



About a quarter of a mile above Straiton Mill, roots of large trees, apparently 

 hazel, are also to be seen in the boulder-clay, — covered by a deposit of yellow 

 gravel about 3 feet thick. This spot is 470 feet above the sea. 



With regard to the nature of this gi'avel, I may observe, that the fragments 

 are in general small and much rounded. They are seldom so large as a cocoa-nut. 

 They consist mostly of the debris of secondary rocks, such as sandstones and lime- 

 stones. I have found fragments of gi'eywacke also in them. The usual coloiu" of 

 the deposit is yellow, from a quantity of fenaiginous matter contained in it, and 

 which may be derived from the sandstone pebbles it contains. 



The depth of this deposit is in some places considerable. Near Carlops it is 10 

 feet thick. Near Carrington and Temple, it forms rounded hillocks from 20 to 50 

 feet high. It sometimes occurs also in the form of ridges, which are either straight 

 or circular. One of these ridges has frequently aiTcsted my attention, in travel- 

 ling along the road between Dunbar and Haddington. It is on the south side of 

 the road, and about three miles from Haddington. On the east side of the Dal- 

 keith and Edinburgh road, some remarkable ridges of this upper gravel make 

 their appearance. They there go by the name of Kaims, and are thought by 

 many to be artificial. They run for about a mile, and make a considerable bend 

 in their com-se. Their steepest side is towards the east. A somewhat similar 

 ridge I have noticed on the estate of Mr Dundas of Amiston, near Outerstown. 

 It is on one side (the north-east) about 40 feet above the adjoining plain, on the 

 other side about 20 feet ; and its width at the top is 30 feet. This ridge runs for 

 about a mile ; its direction is south-east and north-west, or parallel with the 

 Moorfoot Hills, which are distant fi-om it not more than half a mile. Similar 

 ridges occur at Fullai-ton and Monk-Loudon, — and are apparently continuations of 

 the Outerstown ridge just mentioned. They vary in height from 30 to 50 feet. 



