J. H. Cooke— The Pleistocene Beds of Malta. 205 



d. A light-grey loamy earth, structureless and slightly indurated. 



It contained a few decomposed fragments of limestone, and 

 two specimens of Helix piscina. Three feet in thickness. 



e. A layer of subangular fragments of the Lower Limestone, de- 



composing fragments of Globigerina Limestone, and a few 

 pieces of flint. All of the fragments lay with their flattened 

 sides in a horizontal direction. Eight inches thick. 



Layers b and d are very calcareous, and slightly plastic. They 

 are known among the native workmen by the name of " torba," 

 a kind of clayey earth which is used for making the roofs of houses 

 damp-proof. 



All of the layers are very homogeneous, and with the exception 

 of c, and e, none of them present any evidences of structure. Land- 

 shells (Helix pisana) in an entire and a broken condition occur at 

 intervals ; but besides these no other organic remains were met with. 



Layers b, c, and d, passed imperceptibly the one into the other ; 

 but the surface of layer b, was eroded into " pipes," all of which 

 were filled up with the alluvium of the layer a. Between layer 

 e, and the underlying rock the line of demarcation, though per- 

 ceptible, was not strongly marked owing to the decomposition which 

 the surface had undergone. 



Numerous other sections in the neighbourhood were also examined, 

 but the only differences consisted in the varying thicknesses of the 

 layers, and in the total absence of the ossiferous conglomerates. 



In none of the beds can it be said that the lines of stratification 

 were of a very pronounced character. In this respect the " torba " 

 layers were puzzling ; but when small cubes of these layers were 

 cut out they readily split along their bedding planes. From the 

 character and situation of these deposits, it seems probable that they 

 must have owed their origin to the flood waters which poured down 

 the gorges to which I have already referred. 



The traces of lamination which the "torba" beds exhibit show 

 that the periods of deposition had quiet and tranquil phases, just as 

 the coarser materials and the huge pot-hole on the opposite side of 

 the hill, in the garden of Villa Frere, demonstrate that they had 

 tumultuous ones. 



The Malalc Agglomerates. — The surfaces of the fault terraces at 

 Malak are enveloped with extensive accumulations of angular and 

 subangular boulders firmly embedded in a reddish-yellow loam. 

 These accumulations have been referred to by Dr. Leith Adams, but 

 no attempt was made to classify them. They admit of a tripartite 

 division. 



A. Yellowish clays containing small subangular fragments of rock, 

 but without any evidences of organic remains. These lie at 

 the base of the sea-cliffs at the sea-level, and they may be 

 traced from Eas-el-Hamra to Ras-el-Scuda. They lie un- 

 conformably on the Upper Coralline Limestone, which in this 

 part of the island has been depressed about 500 feet by the 

 Malak faults. 



