204 THE CRUISE OF THE BETSEY; OR, 



shire, Stirling, and Ayr ; or the Lower Old Red formation, 

 that of the Coccosteus, as developed in Caithness, Cromarty, 

 Inverness, and Banff shires, and in so many different locali- 

 ties in Moray. The sandstones at Scat-Craig belong to the 

 grayish-red base of the Upper Old Red formation. They lie 

 about five miles south of Elgin, not far distant from where 

 the palaeozoic deposits of the coast-side lean against the great 

 primary nucleus of the interior. We pass from the town, 

 through deep rich fields, carefully cultivated and well inclos- 

 ed : the country, as we advance on the moorlands, becomes 

 more open ; the homely cottage takes the place of the neat 

 villa ; the brown heath, of the grassy lea ; and unfenced 

 patches of corn here and there alternate with plantings of dark 

 sombre firs, in their mediocre youth. At length we near the 

 southern boundary of the landscape, an undulating moory 

 ridge, partially planted ; and see where a deep gap in the out- 

 line opens a way to the upland districts of the province, a 

 lively hill-stream descending towards the east through the bed 

 which it has scooped out for itself in a soft red conglomerate. 

 The section we have come to explore lies along its course : it 

 has been the grand excavator in the densely occupied burial- 

 ground over which it flows ; but its labours have produced 

 but a shallow scratch after all, a mere ditch, some ten or 

 twelve feet deep, in a deposit the entire depth of which is 

 supposed greatly to exceed a hundred fathoms. The shallow 

 section, however, has been well wrought ; and its suit of fos- 

 sils is one of the finest, both from the great specific variety 

 which they exhibit, and their excellent state of keeping, that 

 the Upper Old Red Sandstone has anywhere furnished. 



So great is the incoherency of the matrix, that we can dig 

 into it with our chisels, unassisted by the hammer. It re- 

 minds us of the loose gravelly soil of an ancient grave-yard, 

 partially consolidated by a night's frost, a resemblance still 

 further borne out by the condition and appearance of its or- 



