SCOTLAND. 



Statittio. this particular tract terminates. To the south, it 



s^-y-v' sketches along Loftiness, and chiefly on the eastern 



lJeolo,'y. side, win-re it .r- tin terminate; while on the other 



shore, a very scanty portion only is found. It is here 



well known for tin- v*-ry ^re.tt tract of conglomerate 



or pudding stone which !>:. >r,^s to it, and winch it a 



subject of remark to all travellers. 



Following this portion of sandstone still eastward, 

 we find one narrower region of it occupying a small 

 portion of A hcrdcenshire ; und with this may In- .-.-.id 

 to end all the sandstone of this character that belongs 

 to the Highland di.strict. 



\Ve tli us arrive at the most extensive tract of all, 

 namely, that which forms uii entire belt across the 

 island, nearly marking the separation between the 

 Highlands and Lowlands, and reaching from sea to 

 ea. The northern boundary of this is so nearly co 

 incident with the southern one of the slate belt for- 

 merly described, that what marks the one will define 

 the other. If for its breadth we commence on the 

 east coast, we may consider it as bounded by the Tay, 

 and thus extending in a very irregular line, much in- 

 terrupted, and covered by trap rocks in several places 

 till it reaches Cantyre, thus including Arran and Bute, 

 and skirting the southern shores of the Clyde beyond 

 Greenock, till it is also there obscured by the trap 

 rocks of that country. In Cantyre, it similarly ter- 

 minates in a few insulated portions, marking- an extent 

 of superficies once more considerable. 



In many parts of this tract quarries are wrought, 

 and they might be opened in many more by those 

 who are yet unaware of its immediate vicinity, and 

 thus send to distant quarries for what lies at their own 

 doors. The celebrated quarries of Kingudie lie in 

 this rock. We shall only here further remark, that it 

 varies much in its general character, being often grey 

 or white as well as red ; and it is equally variable in 

 hardness. 



If we now examine the south side of the Frith of 

 Forth, we find another considerable portion which 

 bounds with the slate of the Lammermuir, and reaches 

 towards Edinburgh, where it sinks beneath the coal 

 strata. This portion is very familiar at Dunbar. It 

 appears yet unsettled by geologists whether all the red 

 sandstone of Lanarkshire belongs to the superior strata, 

 or whether some may not belong to this, and thus for 

 the present it must remain. 



Equal disputes have existed respecting those por- 

 tions which appear in the south of Scotland ; but they 

 will probably be easily settled. On Mr. Bald's autho- 

 rity we have to state, that the red sandstone of Dum- 

 t'rres-shire is beneath the coal, and it must therefore be- 

 long to this rock. That in Eskdale is above it, and 

 belongs consequently to the red marl of England, as 

 must that of Roxburghshire, and probably of Ber- 

 wickshire, since coal has now been found beneath cer- 

 tain parts ot it. 



Coed strata. We thus arrive at the coal strata, which are, with 

 little exception, the uppermost of the stratified rocks 

 of Scotland. We nave already referred to Mr. Bald's 

 article for the minuter parts of this subject, and shall 

 therefore merely indicate the general places and extent 

 of these strata. 



The coal field of Sutherland is the most northern, 

 forming a very narrow belt along the shore at Brora. 

 It possesses this great singularity, that it lies almost 

 immediately on granite, and sometimes in absolute 

 contact. There are three beds of coal, of which one is 

 wrought; and except that it contains perhaps an 



VOL. XVII. PABT It. 



unutual proportion of limestone, it doet not 



rially diner in apparent character from other coal 

 fields. 



The next independent portion we shall notice it 

 that of Campbelltown, occupying a very small space 

 on the western shore, and containing one bed of very 

 indifferent coal. It appears to lie immediately on mica 

 slate, but displays no peculiarities which we can her* 

 ati'ord to detail. 



The mo.st troublesome and worthiest, yet perhaps 

 to a geologist the most interesting, it that collection of 

 coal strata which is dispersed through many of the 

 western islands, and for the minuter details of which 

 we must again refer to the work formerly mention- 

 ed. Th s it found in scattered fragments through 

 Sky, Ra-ay, the Shiant islet, Egg, Muck, Mull, and 

 Morven; but it no where produces workable coal, 

 though some trifling portion* have been raited in Sky 

 and Mull. It is by means partly of the trap rocks by 

 which it is overwhelmed and intersected, and partly 

 by its insular position, that its connexions become to 

 difficult to trace, and further, that whatever coal it 

 may contain is worthless. When the coal itself it not 

 found, this field is traced by the limestone beneath it 

 and in it, by its sandstones and slates, and occasionally 

 by the coal itself. Of this latter there are numerous 

 indication* in Sky as well as in Mull; and it also ap- 

 pears in Morven m the very singular situation as for- 

 merly mentioned, insulated as the summits of moun- 

 tains of gneiss. 



On these three latter, we must now, however, remark, 

 that we do not consider them as belonging to the proper 

 coal formation immediately to be described, but to be 

 situated in the strata above, instead of below the mtg 

 nesian limestone, and apparently in the lias, or some 

 analogous member of the oolithe series. Thu, accord- 

 ing to our views, they must be ranked with the lignite 

 formation, in which also we place that of Yorkshire, to 

 which they seem analogous. 



The great and valuable coal field of Scotland is that 

 which is well known for its workings. The northern 

 limit is also the boundary of the red sandstone already 

 described, and from this it crosses to the similar bound- 

 ary south of the Forth, though in many placet cover- 

 ed and obscured by ranged and hills of trap. From 

 Edinburgh, it proceeds partly to the south of the Pent- 

 land hills, where it terminates, and to the north of 

 these westward to Glasgow. Thence diverging into 

 Clydesdale, it is interrupted by the trap hills of Ren- 

 frew and Ayr, reappearing on the western shore, till 

 it terminates in the red sandstone and the slate of that 

 district. 



The last two portions are those already alluded to 

 as found in the south beneath the red marl, and at we 

 nerd take no further notice of these, so we shall say 

 no more of this formation than that some very trifling 

 portions of it are found in different places, at in Fife, 

 in Forfar, in Clydesdale, and very unexpectedly on 

 the north-western shore of the Highlands. In one or 

 two places alo, it is accompanied by equally minute 

 portions of the magnesian limestone. 



Thus we arrive at the last and uppermost of the 

 Scottish strata, though we ought here to remark what 

 we before omitted, namely, that in some places that 

 limestone which in England immediately follows the 

 red sandstone beneath the coal, also occurs in ScoU 

 land, though apparently less commonly. Thus, how- 

 ever, it may be seen to the south of Edinburgh, in 

 various parts of Fife, and in the west. 



