CHAP. III. FOSSIL WHALES NEAR STIRLING. 53 



At Cramond, at the month of the river Almond, above 

 Edinburgh, was Alaterva, the chief Eoman harbor on the 

 southern coast of the Forth, where numerous coins, urns, 

 sculj^tured stones, and the remnant of a harbor have been 

 detected. The old Roman quays built along what must then 

 have been the sea-margin have been found on what is now dry 

 land, and although some silt carried down in suspension b}'' 

 the waters of the Forth may account for a part of the gain 

 of low land, we yet require an upward movement of about 

 twenty feet to explain the growth of the dreary expanse of 

 mud now stretching along the shore and extending out- 

 wards, where it attains its greatest breadth, wellnigh two 

 miles, across which vessels, even of light burden, can now 

 only venture at full tide. Had these shoals existed eighteen 

 centuries ago, they would have prevented the Romans from 

 selecting this as their chief port; whereas, if the land were 

 now to sink twenty feet, Cramond would unquestionably be 

 the best natural harbor along the whole of the south side of 

 the Forth.* 



Corresponding in level with the raised beach at Leith, 

 above mentioned (or about twenty-five feet above high-water 

 mark), is the Carse of Stirling, a low tract of land consisting 

 of loamy and peaty beds, in which several skeletons of whales 

 of large size have been found. One of these was dug up 

 at Airthrie,f near Stirling, about a mile from the river, and 

 seven miles from the sea. Mr. Bald mentions that near it 

 were found two pieces of stag's horn, artificially cut, thi'ough 

 one of which a hole, about an inch in diameter, had been per- 

 forated. Another whale, eighty-five feet long, was found at 

 Dunmore, a few miles below Stirling,^ which, like that of 

 Airthrie, lay about twent}' feet above high-water mark. Three 



» Geikie, Edinb. New Phil. Journ. .Journal, i. p. 393; and Memoirs, 

 for July, 1861. Wernerian Society, iii. p. 327. 



t Bald, Edinburgh Philosophical X Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 



xi. pp. 220, 415. 



