200 JOURNEY TO ACHARYN1E. CHAP. xiv. 



were, in my opinion, grand inlets to the sea long, long 

 after the hills of Caithness were up and out of it." 



Although Pick had been misled by the" reverend- 

 looking carle, and prevented seeing the sections of 

 boulder clay at Acharynie, Dallmore, and Cattack, on 

 his return from Dunbeath, he nevertheless resolved to 

 return for the purpose of inspecting them. He set out 

 on the 18th January. The weather was severe. Snow 

 covered the ground, but it was hard under foot. " It is 

 a glorious thing," he said, "to feel the keen bracing 

 January winds blowing against your cheek, while the 

 heart beats undaunted hi your bosom." 



He set out from Thurso about three o'clock in the 

 morning, and arrived at Acharynie a little after eight, 

 just as the day was breaking, bright and radiant. In the 

 course of his search he found the usual sea-shells in the 

 boulder clay of Acharynie broken fragments of Turri- 

 tella terebra, Cypriua, and the like. As he passed down 

 the river Thurso, he came to an interesting object 



" As I went down the river-side," he says, " I found 

 that the granite had at some period forced its way 

 through the clay slate; and the slate seems hardened 

 and turned in different directions. The river now 

 assumes a different appearance ; it goes tumbling and 

 plunging along. The bottom was rocky. By and by 

 I came to a place where a small wooden bridge is thrown 

 across, presenting quite an enticing scene for lovers of 

 the picturesque. The place is also well worthy of the 

 attention of the geologist. The granite is here piled in 

 rude shapeless masses ; and along the side of one mass. 



