324 Proceedings of the Boyal Physical Society. 



the general trend now described. On the top of the cliff, 

 near Skirsa Head, Mr Jamieson noted strise pointing W. 

 25° K ; in the bed of the Freswick burn, K 35° to 40° W. ; 

 and at Keiss, K 35° to 40° W. Numerous examples are met 

 with in the neighbourhood of Wick, varying from N. 15° W. 

 to N.W. One of the best instances occurs on the cliff top 

 opposite the Old Man of Wick, which is specially note- 

 worthy, inasmuch as it presents certain appearances which 

 could only have been produced by ice coming from the south- 

 east. At this locality the flagstones dip inland (N. 30° W.) 

 at a gentle angle, thereby forming tiny escarpments along 

 the outcrops of the successive beds. On the dip slopes the 

 strise point K 10° to 20° W., but opposite each small escarp- 

 ment they are deflected, the trend being still more northerly, 

 while in the succeeding dip slope the normal direction is 

 resumed. The slight deflections observable in these small 

 escarpments point to an agent moving inland from the south- 

 east. 



A more striking example, in proof of the ice having moved 

 inland from the North Sea, is to be met with in a goe between 

 ■Dunbeatli and Latheron, close by Latheronwheel. On the 

 north side of a narrow inlet, which is about 100 feet in 

 depth, the face of the cliff is finely polished and striated ; the 

 striae beginning near the water-level, and ascending the cliff 

 obliquely. It ought to be borne in mind that there has 

 been a large amount of denudation along that rocky coast- 

 line since glacial times, which is greatly accelerated by the 

 system of jointing so characteristic of the Caithness flag- 

 stones. These cliffs usually present clean-cut faces, owing 

 to the removal of huge slices of rock along the joints by the 

 combined action of the sea and atmospheric influences. 

 Hence it is difficult to find instances of striated surfaces 

 rising from underneath the water-level. Moreover, in the 

 bays at Freswick, Wick, Lybster, Latheronwheel, and Dun- 

 beath, the boulder clay descends to the shore, thus indicating 

 that the streams had cut down to the present sea-level, and 

 probably below it in pre-glacial times. 



From the foregoing examples, it is evident that all over 

 the broad flats of Caithness the general trend of the ice- 



