of the Diluvial Cun-ents in Yorkshire. 133 



land, and Lancashire, they are environed by high ground on 

 the south-east, south, and west sides : toward the north-east 

 and east are lower ranges of mountain-limestone ; beyond them 

 is spread the wide vale of Eden, and the distance is formed 

 by the long range of mountain-limestone which, from Ingle- 

 borough to Castle Carrock fell, presents to the west an escarp- 

 ment varying in height from 1500 to 1900 feet. Stainmoor 

 Forest, the lowest part of this great range, lying east of Shap 

 fells, is 1.500 feet above the sea. 



Shap fells, like all the contiguous mountain tracts, are com- 

 posed principally of various argillaceous slate rocks ; but on 

 the side of the Penrith and Kendal road appears a particular 

 kind of porphyritic granite, composed of light-coloured felspar, 

 grayish quartz, and dark mica, and inclosing abundance of 

 large well-defined crystals of red felspar. The aspect of the 

 rock is very characteristic, and its fragments are recognized at 

 first sight. 



No such granite is found m situ in any other part of the 

 Cumbrian lake district : and there is no danger of confounding 

 with it any Scotch granite, that I am acquainted with, except 

 some varieties that may be collected in Ben Nevis ; and these 

 may be distinguished on careful inspection. 



The granite of Shap fells seems therefore particularly 

 worthy of their attention, who would trace practically from 

 point to point the direction of diluvial currents. 



Last summer (1826) I observed large boulders of this gra- 

 nite in the low ground about a mile south of Carlisle, and on 

 an elevated red-sandstone fell north-west of Kirk Oswald. 

 Abundance of boulders of this granite, lie some miles north 

 of their native site, near the villages of Shap and Great Strick- 

 land. 



In a southern direction, such large boulders are seen lying 

 on the hills between Kendal and Sedbergh : they are common 

 in the vale of the Lune, with many pebbles seemingly derived 

 from the neighbouring hills of argillaceous slate ; and were 

 found of a ton weight in the vast heaps of diluvial matter cut 

 through in the canal south of Lancaster. 



Eastward from Shap fells, this granite has been rolled by 

 the towns of Orton and Brough toward the hollow in the great 

 summit ridge at Stainmoor, on the top of which pass the blocks 

 remain, to attest the direction and force of the transporting 

 waters. From this point the granitic boulders seem to have 

 been dispersed in diflerent directions ; as we find them in Tees- 

 dale, at CotherstoTie, below Barnard-castle near Greta Bridge, 

 and Darlington, at Scotton, south of llichmond, at Catterick, 

 and Leeming, at Stokesley, and Thirsk, and several places bc- 



T 2 low 



