51 



or thirty ruiles distant from the principal, but are 

 connected with it by transverse ramifications, 

 apparently of" ihc same age and organization, 

 ahliougli their bases are more extensive and 

 variegated. F 'am the lateral ridges many other 

 branches extend outwardly, composed of small 

 mountains, occasionally running in different 

 directions. 



These external mountains, rs well as the 

 middle and maritime, are of a secondary 

 formation, and an order essentially diffeicnt. 

 Their summits are generally more rounded, and 

 they consist of horizontal strata cf various 

 substances and unequal tiiicknes.v, wuicli abound 

 with marine productions, and ofLen exhibit the 

 impressions of animals and vegetables. I have 

 observed both in excavations formed by the 

 water, and those made by the ipdia!)i(ants, that 

 the inferior stratum of these moiint;iins is gene- 

 rally a kind of whetstone, of a reddish colour 

 and a sandy grain, sometimes a quartzeous sand, 

 or a compact dark {!:rcv sandstoi'c ; this i-; 

 succeeded bv layers of clay^ marie, various kinds 

 of marble, schi^tus, spar, gvpsuu', and coal; 

 beneath the whole are found veins of ore, oc?ire, 

 quart/', gr;uiite, porphyry, tiaid, and rocks of 

 various degr':^e3 of hardness. 



The disposition of the strata varies very conu- 

 derably in different places, and in these derange- 

 ments the huvs of sTavitation are seldom ob- 



E 2 



