716 REPORT—1868. 
depends. The mind is thus carried back to a remoteness of time for which 
an adequate expression has not yet been defined. The deposition of regu- 
larly stratified rocks over a large area of country exhibits proofs of gradual 
progress, extending over enormous periods of time. Midway in this vast 
period we find, in certain parts of the North of England, evidences of volcanic 
action, which has interposed basalt among the strata of sandstone, shale, and 
limestone. The results of this protrusion not only affect the subterranean 
operations in mines; they also appear prominently at the surface, and give 
rise to some remarkable features of the scenery. The “ Whin Sill,” as 
it is locally termed, interrupts the gradual flow of the river Tees by a 
barrier over which that river falls at High Force, near Middleton-in-Tees- 
dale, and it is the cause of the romantic cataract called the Caldron Snout, 
near the source of that river. Precipitous cliffs of basalt, near Holwick, 
were formerly connected by a chain bridge, one of the first, if not the earliest, 
of that construction in Europe. The same overflowing of basalt which oc- 
casions these and other striking features of landscape scenery in Tees- 
dale extends in a north-easterly direction, and occasionally forces itself on 
the attention by the manner in which it seems to have invited the erection 
of works of art: this rock by its greater hardness having withstood the 
abrading action which wore away the softer rocks, presents a firm foundation 
for buildings designed to be as strong as possible. Thus, for a considerable 
distance along the line of the Roman Wall, we find the direct course from 
Chesters to near Haltwhistle forsaken, and the wall built on the summit of 
precipitous crags of basalt. The pleasure-grounds of the Duke of Northum- 
berland at Ratcheugh, near Alnwick, afford an example of the protrusion of 
this rock. Dunstanborough Castle, Bamburgh Castle, and Holy Island 
Castle may be mentioned as interesting places on this account. But the 
underground occurrence of basalt concerns still more nearly the practical 
operations of the miner, and involves much costly labour. 
Old writers on mines and mining were seldom content to rest with a less 
remote antiquity than creation itself; and it curiously marks the state of 
geological science even so late as 1670, when Sir John Pettus wrote his 
‘ History, Laws, and Places of the Chief Mines and Mineral Works in Eng- 
land, Wales, and the English Pale in Ireland.’ The hills and dales were 
treated as having been watery billows formed by the breath of the Almighty 
into hills and valleys, which, says the writer, “‘ have ever since continued in 
these wonderful and pleasant dimensions.” The same quaint writer speaks 
of Adam not only as a miner, but also as a refiner, &c., and nothing, he adds, 
shows wisdom more than the getting of gold by proper courses. The allusions 
made by some of the early writers to the getting of gold, and the minute 
directions which they give for the washing of gold found on the surface, 
warrant a belief that that precious metal was formerly prevalent on the 
surface, and it is by no means unlikely that its greater abundance in ancient 
than in modern times was one of the attractions which led to the peopling of 
the island by strangers, and that Britain was in ancient times to Rome and 
other nations what California and Australia are in our day. Certain it is that 
gold and silver have from early times been specially reserved by the Crown, 
and some remains of this are still apparent in the state of the law relating 
to treasures of these metals found under the surface of the earth. 
From many circumstances, Alston Moor is best known as a lead-mining 
district from its having been open to public enterprise, and it forms a good 
type of the general condition of the lead-mining districts. Of its early 
history little is known. Its occupation by the Romans is attested by the 
