298 RAMBLES OF A GEOLOGIST. 



to the lower ichthyolite beds of that system, with their nu- 

 merous extinct organisms. But its buried stones are fretted 

 with hieroglyphic inscriptions, in the form of strange scratch- 

 ings and polishings, grooves, ridges, and furrows, always 

 associated with the boulder-clays, which those of the more 

 ancient conglomerates want, and which, though difficult to 

 read, seem at length to be yielding up the story which they 

 record. Of this, however, more anon. Viewed by moon- 

 light, when the pale red of the clay where the beam falls di- 

 rect is relieved by the intense shadows, these excavations of 

 the valley of Rosemarkie form scenes of strange and ghostly 

 wildness : the projecting, buttress-like angles, the broken 

 walls, the curved inflections, the pointed pinnacles, the 

 turrets, with their masses of projecting coping, the utter 

 lack of vegetation, save where the heath and the furze rustle 

 far above, all combine to form assemblages of dreary ruins, 

 amid which, in the solitude of night, one almost expects to 

 see spirits walk. These excavations have been designated 

 from time immemorial, by the neighbouring town's-people, as 

 " the Danes ;" but whether the name be, as is most probable, 

 merely a corruption of an appropriate enough Saxon word, 

 " the dens," or derived, as a vague tradition is said to testify, 

 from the ages of Danish invasion, it is not quite the part of 

 the geologist to determine. It may be worth mentioning, 

 however, from its bearing on the point, that there are two 

 excavations in the boulder-clay near Cromarty, one of which 

 has been long known by the name of " the Morial's Den /' 

 while the other, greatly smaller in size, rejoices in the double 

 diminutive of " the Little Dennie." For an hour or so the 

 Danes proved agreeable though somewhat silent companions; 

 and then, climbing the opposite side of the valley, I gained 

 the high road, and, walking on to Cromarty, found myself 

 once more among "the old familiar faces." 



In a few days the storm blew by ; and as the prolonged 



