122 



15 to 20, and thus the strata are " end on" to the granite. It is 

 strewn with granite blocks of moderate size. The N. and N.E. fronts 

 are very precipitous; the western part of the precipice is intersected 

 by a greenstone dike about fifteen feet broad, ranging 25 W. of N., 

 and inclined towards the E. at an angle of about 15. It forms a deep 

 chasm in the cliff, over which the sandstone rises in a lofty wall. 

 The amount of wearing here is prodigious, and we cannot conceive 

 how it can have been effected without the action of the sea. Yet 

 the place is many hundred feet higher than the ancient level, 

 indicated by the raised beach so often mentioned already. We 

 must, therefore, call in the agency of the sea, during the elevation of 

 the land at an earlier period. Through a narrow passage between 

 the dike and the sandstone wall, we can descend to the base of the 

 cliffs. A remarkable alteration is produced in the sandstone by 

 this great dike. 



In the broken ground in front of the cliffs a great bed of lime- 

 stone occurs ; it is similar to that at Corrie, with the same number of 

 integrant strata, each of which is, however, thinner than at Corrie, 

 and with the same assemblage of fossils. It has been already 

 noticed (Art. 52, p. 75), as probably an upthrow of the Corrie beds; 

 those in the woods N.W. of Brodick Castle may have the same 

 origin; there being thus, in all, four upthrows of this stratum, 

 separated by four great faults. Our reasons for doubting this view 

 have been stated already (Art. 52). 



There is little else worthy of notice here ; it is a wild bosky place, 

 encumbered with huge fallen masses of sandstone, and with granite 

 blocks, among which many pretty ferns and flowering plants find 

 suitable habitats. Before passing down to the high road, on his 

 way homeward, the geologist will do well to visit the interesting 

 junction in the bed of the White Water, near the fall at which the 

 burn issues from a wild corrie. The metamorphism here is very 

 remarkable ; the granite becomes a blue compact felspar or eurite ; 

 the narrow belt of slate is streaked with white veins, and contains 

 crystals of felspar; while from the slate to the sandstone there is a 

 similar passage, analogous to that which has been described already 

 as occurring in the west branch of the Cnocan burn. The student 

 must be prepared to encounter many difficulties in his ascent of the 

 channel ; and to submit, now and again, with the best grace he may, 

 to a shower-bath from the dashing spray as the water bounds from 

 ledge to ledge of the long fall. 



83. The largest boulder in the island is well deserving of a visit 

 before we pass down to the highway. It rests on the edge of the 



