120 Mr. Brvce o« the Geological Structure of Eoseneath. 



places high tides rise to the very edge of the terrace, but in general it is 

 from ten to twenty feet above the level of the tide ; and the cliffs show 

 evidences of the action of the waves to near their svunmits. On the 

 surface of the terrace, huge masses of slate rest in some places, being 

 portions of the original rock, which, from their extreme hardness and 

 toughness, have longer resisted, but bear obvious marks of the action of 

 the sea. The largest of these seems to be several hundred tons in 

 weight : it is situated in the townland of Alley, and is known over the 

 whole peninsula as the " Big Stane.'' The coast road is earned along 

 this terrace, and upon it here, as on all the shores of the Frith, the 

 coast residences are erected. Owing to its flatness and the high cliff 

 behind, it is often swampy and difficult to drain, and contains deposits of 

 peat with trees. In sinking for foundations it is very common to find 

 sand or clay mixed with sea-wom stones and sea-weed. 



In passing eastward from Kilcreggan and entering on the sandstone 

 district, the terrace is found to expand very much. It is from 200 to 

 400 yards wide in most places, and in some much more, as in the eastern 

 part, near Eoseneath castle, where it stretches out into a low, flat pro- 

 montory fully half a-mile in extent. Contracting northwards from this for 

 some distance, it again expands between the " Clachan " and the landing 

 pier, into a wide level tract, the outer part of which is a mass of fine 

 shingle cast up by the sea. In the western part, near Portkill, the 

 surface of the terrace consists of round sea-worn stones imbedded in 

 the scanty soil. These are aU masses of primary rocks; and the 

 immediate shore, which is here composed of sandstone, is strewed thickly 

 with the same. They consist of mica and clay slates, granite, quartz, 

 and porphyry, all of which exist only to the north-west of this point, and 

 whose transport hither must be referred to the long continued action 

 of tides and currents and prevailing winds. One mass of mica slate, 

 whose parent rock is at least two miles distant, seems too large to have 

 been thus transported, being upwards of twelve feet in each dimension. 

 Eastward these loose masses diminish, and the terrace to the east and 

 south-east of the castle consists chiefly of sand or sandstone. At Port- 

 kiU a bold precipice of conglomerate rises behind the teri'ace to the height 

 of nearly forty feet, and presents the most unequivocal evidence of the 

 former action of the sea. It is undermined in many places, and over- 

 hangs its base ; veins of red sand are washed away, and beds of hard 

 conglomerate project ; it is cut into grotesque forms, and hoUowed out 

 into considerable caves, which are large enough to afford residences to 

 families of gypsies, or troops of mussel-gatherers, for weeks together. 



These cliffs are succeeded towards the east by steep grassy slopes, 

 marking the boundary of the tei-race, and terminating in rich fields 

 descending to the edge of the water ; the whole presenting, with the 

 tasteful plantations, a most pleasing scene of pastoral beauty. To the 

 south-west and west of Roseneath house the cliff is resumed. Here, at 

 and on both sides of a spot called " Wallace's loup," the same evidences 



