8 



Captain Spratfc thus groups the strata in descen- 

 ding order: 1 Coral Limestone: 2 Yellow Sandstone and 

 Blue Clay: 3 Freestone: 4 Semi-crystalline Limestone: 

 whilst Dr. Adams has five divisions thus: 1 Upper 

 Limestone: 2 Sand: 3 Marl: 4 Calcareous Sandstone: 

 5 Lower Limestone. 



The Upper or Coral Limestone (A) which is 

 in some places 250 feet in depth " consists of a 

 reddish-brown or whitish calcareous rock which is 

 mostly of a compact, hard and almost flinty texture. 

 It contains cretaceous nodules, and is sometimes 

 interstratified with soft calcareous sandstone. " It 

 covers almost the entire S. W. and N. W. portions 

 of Malta. The island of Comino with its cliifs rising 

 more than 200 feet above sea-level is almost entirely 

 composed of it, and it forms a capping to nearly 

 all the isolated hills of Gozo, from which however 

 t has been much denuded. "Near Casal Garbo, 

 towards the N. W. angle of Gozo, the only remains 

 of the coral limestone, which originally formed a 

 continuous upper crust over that part of the island, 

 are detached masses of this deposit lying on the 

 surface of denuded freestone. Similar masses are 

 seen in other parts of the island. Some of these 

 fragments at Casal Garbo are variegated with yellow 

 and white, and are used for ornamental work under the 

 name of "Gozo Marble/" It abounds in fossils, amongst 

 which molluscs and echinse are numerous with some 

 remains of sea-weeds, but traces of the higher animals 



