PREFACE. XIX 



unexpectedly, and resting apparently without any link or con- 

 nection whatever, immediately on the greywacke. Of these 

 rocks we shall give a very rapid sketch ; but previously to do- 

 ing so, it may perhaps be as well to diverge for a few moments 

 a very little towards the interior, to notice the Hill and Moor 

 of Lamberton, which commence less than half a mile from 

 Burnmouth, and which we remark as the last tract of any 

 consequence, in this direction, appertaining to the Transition 

 series. The high ground now noticed rises almost immediately 

 from the shore to the height of about 300 feet above the sea's 

 level. Generally speaking, it presents a smooth, green outline, 

 with very few projecting rocks. Several small streams produce 

 a variation on its surface, in some places forming narrow ra* 

 vines, in others marshes.* As far as a very moderate examina- 

 tion has gone, it seems fundamentally to be greywacke, with 

 subordinate beds of porphyry and transition granite or sienite ; 

 but from the thick verdure, and the want of naked rocks, it 

 would be very difficult, without most minute inspection, to 

 give any thing like a satisfactory account of the geology of this 

 hill. Looking from the slope of these heights, which overlooks 

 the ocean, we observe far below a broad flat terrace, or table- 

 land, presenting a very abrupt face to the sea. This is part of 

 the New Red Sandstone Formation, which, as we have already 

 said, extends along the whole coast from Burnmouth to Ber- 

 wick, a narrow- stripe at first, but gradually increasing in 



* RAY seems to have found Tofieldia palustris by the side of that stream 

 which rises on this hill, and runs by the Shields. The ravine above Burn- 

 mouth is one of the most interesting botanical resorts in the neighbourhood. 

 The hill itself is rich in plants ; and the vast profusion of Funaria hygrome- 

 trica and Didymodon purpureum in particular places, is worth remarking. 



