1814.] M'meralogkal Ohservat'ions in Galloway. 425 



from the hill on the west through a deep ravine, and over a perpen- 

 dicular face of rock 18 feet high, forming a very beautiful and 

 interesting cascade ; and as it was within sight of the old road from 

 Newtonsicwart to New Galloway, it caught the attention of tra- 

 vellers, and usually got the name of the grey-mare's-tail. The 

 direction of the strata here is E. by N. ; dip 45° westerly : and 

 there is, in the perpendicular face over which the water falls, some- 

 thing like an immense globular concretion of very hard greywacke, 

 having a soft slaty rock both above and below it. 



Descending along this burn, which turns towards the south-east, 

 I soon came to two more waterfalls on it, equal in height and 

 beauty to the grey-mare's-tail. These are near to one another a 

 little way to the N. W. of Craigdews, or the Craig of Firs, as it 

 properly signifies in the Gaelic language ; for ghews is the name in 

 that language for fir. Craigdews is a beautiful dell at the bottom 

 of the steep and narrow ridge called the Saddle-loup, over which 

 in former times the high road passed from Ireland to Newgalloway. 

 There are fir trees of a great age growing at the bottom of this 

 hill, and hence probably the name of Craigdews, as there are no 

 other trees of the same sort, indeed scarcely any other wood at all 

 near this place. The rock is all greywacke or slate. The burn of 

 Pulmire after passing Craigdews flows along a valley of little de- 

 scent, on the west side of Cairnsmuir, and comes in contact with 

 the granite of that mountain about a mile below Craigdews. 



14. Here I took another observation, and found the stratified 

 rock running N. E. dipping north-westerly at an angle of 45°. 

 The grey wacke here appeared to me to come in contact with the 

 granite, and in some degree to alternate with it. If any thing like 

 compact gneiss intervenes here betwixt the greywacke and the 

 granite, it is very thin. I observed distinct greywacke within less 

 than. 10 feet of the granite. 1 traced the burn for a mile and a 

 half farther down, and could see in other places junctions of the 

 granite with the stratified rock, the strata all in the usual direction, 

 and dipping from the granite ; the inclination of the strata about 

 45 or 50. I regret that I had it not in my power to have pro- 

 ceeded farther on, as the track of this burn, which is of a con- 

 siderable line, (about the magnitude of the water of Leith,) seems 

 to keep in a great many places the line of the junction of ilic gra- 

 nite and shistose rock, and thereby present favourable opportunities 

 of observation. The scene is wild and sublime : for on the east 

 you have the granite mountain of Cairnsmuir rapidly rising to the 

 height of 1737 feet, and to the west the transition country, almost 

 crpially bold and precipitous. There are in the bed of the rivulet 

 many large rolled, granite, and other blocks; and it was, I believe, 

 in some of the former that Professor Jameson three years ago dis- 

 covered zircon. On a'^cending the granite mountain for a consi- 

 derable way, 1 found rolled pieces of greywacke nearly half a mile 

 up, and at least 200 feet above the level of the highest jxiint where 

 tiie two sorts of country join. 1 may here observe also, that 1 



