THE LOWER NITH. 135 
The first or oldest portion remaining is that of Kirkconnel 
Moss. 
EXCAVATING THE BURIED VALLEY. 
Ever since the new Nith entered this old small valley with 
its buried bottom it has been seeking to adjust itself to its 
environment. From Kingholm onwards the valley is large 
enough to accommodate its captured river, but its silted floor 
is a serious obstacle to navigation. The entry of the Cargen 
Pow, Crook’s Pow, and other streams on the western side of 
the valley has destroyed the balance of power and driven the 
river Nith towards the eastern bank. In the work of down- 
ward erosion it has encountered the hard spurs of the Nether- 
wood and Chapelhill ridge. © In several places the river is 
resting upon a shelf in the eastern valley wall, particularly so 
at Kingholm Quay, where a continued elevation of land may 
in a few years hang up the dock beyond the reach of tides. 
Naturally the situation is at its worst at Kelton Ford, where 
the valley is at its widest. A comparison of the wide channel 
at Kelton and the narrower one at Glencaple is very sugges- 
tive. Not only must the channel be narrowed and so assisted 
to scour its own passage, but the entry of the tributaries must 
be regulated. They meander over a long flood plain of low 
gradient. They carry in suspension a very large amount of 
peaty material. | When entering the broad river, calmed 
down by the rising tide, the tributaries are unable to continue 
their load, and a deposit in the stream takes place. 
A REJUVENATED NITH. 
The capture of the Nith by the Glencaple river gives us 
the great practical advantage of a master stream in a valley 
of young and robust age. 
The legacy bequeathed us by the glaciers of the Ice Age 
is that of an elevated river to Dumfries, which implies a 
swifter passage from the burgh to the Solway. These are 
the great assets upon the right use of which depends our suc- 
cess or failure in the treatment of the noble stream. The 
present obstacles to its free, uninterrupted passage are of an 
accidental and temporary nature, and it rests upon the genius 
