The Mud of Montr ose. 251 



recent fresh-water and marine ostracoda and forami- 

 nifera. Early next morning, looking out at our 

 bedroom window and seeing the Montrose basin, a 

 large flat extent of soft mud, laid bare, I made all 

 haste to get to it. On reaching the edge near the 

 bridge, I saw that nothing could be done with my 

 boots on. However, that difficulty was easily over- 

 come. I found the mud very tenacious and difficult 

 to lessen in bulk, but with washing and splashing I 

 got two bags filled. I may mention that the bags 

 were about nine inches long and six broad, and would 

 hold near a stone (eight pounds) of wet mud. If I 

 was badly spattered the night before, I was not 

 much better now, and the two bags were even more 

 detestable looking, being covered all over with the 

 soft black shiny mud. I got them laid beside the 

 other bags as quickly as possible. 



" We had now got over with the post-tertiary 

 deposits of the district, and I was anxious to have a 

 haul with the dredge before we left. A boat and 

 men were difficult to get, but at last I got a boat and 

 two strong fishermen, for nothing less would do, as 

 the tide there ran very strong, they said, at the rate 

 of eight miles an hour. With much hard pulling we 

 got about a mile or so out from the harbour, where 

 we threw the dredge and brought up nothing but 

 clean small gravel without a vestige of life among it. 

 Two hauls more were the same. We said that it was 

 no use trying more there. The men told us that 

 sometimes there were only six or seven fathoms of 

 water in this place, at other times fifteen fathoms, 

 that it depended much on the direction in which wind 



