THE SILURIAN SYSTEM. 



667 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE SILURIAN SYSTEM. 



NDEB this title a great scheme of deposits ia 

 classed, lying upon the sloping sides of the slates 

 of Wales, formerly included in the ill-defined 

 grauwacke group, and constituting the middle 

 division, of that series. By the careful re 

 searches of Sir B. Murchison these rocks have 

 been firmly established as an independent 

 system, having distinct physical features, litho- 

 logical structure, and organic remains. The 

 name is derived from the native denomination 

 of the British region, where the system is 

 developed in remarkable perfection. In the 

 country of the Silures, that brave and warlike tribe maintained 

 a desperate and frequently successful opposition to the military 

 ambition of Rome ; and even after the defeat and captivity of 

 their leader, the heroic and unfortunate Caradoc, the Carac- 

 tacus of history, whose unbroken spirit and noble demeanour in adversity commanded 

 the admiration of the Emperor Claudius, they rallied again to conquer, and were not 

 finally vanquished until the reign of Vespasian. 



" In ancient days, 



The Roman legions, and great Ccesar found 

 Our fathers no mean foes." 



Their territory embraced a considerable portion of South Wales, with parts of the 

 border counties of England, though its exact limits cannot now be defined. It had within 

 its bounds the counties of Radnor, Brecon, Hereford, and Monmouth, and probably ex- 



The Bone Well, Ludlow. 



Hills near Brecon. 



