ON THE SHELL-BEARING DEPOSITS AT CLAVA, AND OTHER PLACES. 501 



less continuous covering of superficial deposits ; but in Hillhead Quarry, 

 near Dalcross station, the direction is N.B. ; and further on, at Kin- 

 steary, south of Nairn, from E. 5° N". to B. 17° S. (see list of striae). 



Proceeding northwards to the Black Isle the striated surfaces between 

 Beauly Firth and MunJochy Bay clearly prove that the trend of the ice- 

 flow varied from E. 12°-30° N. Near Avoch the direction of the ice- 

 markings is E. 3° N. ; while near Ethie, about three miles south of 

 <]romarty, it is E. 25° N. 



So far as the striae are concerned the evidence points to the conclusion 

 ■that the land ice that passed over Clava did not previously traverse the 

 Beauly or Moray Firths. It would appear that the ice which glaciated 

 that portion of the Nairn Valley came from the Great Glen, and from the 

 mountains to the S.E. of the loch towards the sources of the Findhorn, 

 and at some stage of the Ice-age may have traversed part of the bed of 

 Loch Ness in its onward march. 



Transport of Boulders. — In the reports of the Boulder Committee of 

 the Royal Society, Edinburgh, it is stated that boulders of the well- 

 known foliated granite of Dirriemore, west of Ben Wyvis, are ' scattered 

 abundantly all over the Black Isle.' They 'have been carried across, 

 not only the ridge of the Black Isle, but what is now the Moray Firth, 

 to beyond Elgin, and they may be seen on the coast between Burghead 

 .and Lossiemouth.' ^ They have been found near the Enzie post-oflBce, 

 but none so large as those dug out during the excavations for the Buckie 

 JHarbour.2 The fine-grained pinkish granite of Abriachan on the west 

 side of Loch Ness occurs in the gravel of Tomnahurich near the town 

 of Inverness, ' and eastwards of this point, on beyond Nairn and Forres, 

 it is found less in large boulders, though it occurs in considerable masses, 

 than as forming part of the gravel deposits which are so marked a 

 feature on the south shores of the Moray Firth.' ^ It is further stated 

 that boulders of the ' liver-coloured conglomerate,' which occurs in siht 

 between Inverfarigaig and Loch Duntelchaig, are distributed ' over the 

 ■country between Loch Ness and Lossiemouth.' Cumberland's Stone on 

 -Culloden Moor, the boulders named Tomriach on the bank of the Nairn, 

 near Cantraydoun, and Clach.na-Cailliche, near the top of the Hill 

 of Urchany, south of Nairn, are stated to have been derived from this 

 area, the general distribution of these conglomerate boulders being to 

 the N.E. of Caisteal-an-Duin-Riabhaich, near the junction of the Strath- 

 errick and Dores roads, onwards to Elgin."* The grey granite of 

 Stratherrick ' is found in blocks of different sizes, some of them large, 

 all over the country east towards Elgin, intermingled with the con- 

 glomerate just mentioned.' ' It is also found in blocks scattered on the 

 very top of the ridge of conglomerate between Loch Ceo-Glas and Loch 

 Ness.'* It is further recorded that boulders of the gneiss of Stratherrick 

 and the Monadhliath Mountains are found in Strathnairn, near the 

 Free Church of Farr, Farr House, near Flichity, and again further 

 down the valley below Daviot, not far from the mansion of Nairnside.® 



From the foregoing evidence it is inferred ' that the general direction 

 of movement of these blocks has been eastwards, but chiefly from S.W. 

 to N.E., parallel to the trend of the coast of the Moray Firth at this part.' " 



' See Fifth Report, pp. 68, 69. ^ see Sixth Report, p. 49. 



' See Fifth Report, p. 69. * Ibid., pp. 70, 71. 



« Hid., p. 72. « Ibid., pp. 72-74. 



' lUd., p. 75. 



