24 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



England they do not comprehend much more 

 than a hundredth part of the area of that country. 

 In Scotland the metamorphic rocks occupy nearly 

 half the surface, whereas in England they are only 

 about a hundredth part ; on the other hand, the 

 Oolitic system, and the formations more recent 

 than those of the Carboniferous era, constitute a 

 very insignificant part of Scotland, but extend 

 over two thirds of the area of England. This dis- 

 similarity, extending to the coasts of both divisions 

 of Britain, causes, it is obvious, a corresponding 

 general difference of character on their sea-shores, 

 a difference which becomes very striking if we 

 compare the northern and north-western coasts 

 of Scotland with the southern and eastern shores 

 of England. 



But to proceed with our expedition. Beyond 

 Berwick the Scottish coast is in many places very 

 precipitous. The cliffs are, in a few instances, 

 formed of granite, but in general are similar to the 

 strata forming the Lammermuir Hills. North- 

 wards from St. Abb's Head, the sea-shores are 

 skirted by rocks of the Devonian formation, ex- 

 tending to the valley of the Tyne, beyond which 

 groups of trap and porphyry extend along the 

 shores of the Firth of Forth to Aberlady Bay, 

 near which place limestone occurs in immediate 

 proximity to trap rocks, and the coal formation 

 is observed, which extends to within a short dis- 

 tance of Edinburgh, and thence across the whole 

 country to the shores of Ayrshire. The northern 

 shores of the Firth of Forth are in the highest 

 degree interesting to the geologist, exhibiting from 



