228 F. R. Cowpcr Rccd — Corrics of Comeragh Mountains. 



west. It is situated only about one-third of a mile south of Crotty's 

 Lough, with the above described ravine of the Kiver Ire between 

 them. Tiie mouth of the corrie measures about 500-GOO yards 

 across, beiug narrowed by the approach of the enclosing spurs, but 

 towards its head it expands considerably, so that the opposing cliflfs 

 are as much as 1,100 yards apart, measured from edge to edge. The 

 lower half of the cliff at tlie head is composed of two successive 

 precipices, which descend almost vertically to the water's edge and 

 correspond to massive rock-beds. There is only a small talus slope 

 as the foot, and above the main precipices the cliff is composed of the 

 straightedges of many thinner beds of sandstone, which form a series 

 of small scars and ledges on which rest small grassy talus slopes. 

 The total height of this cliff in one place amounts to 1,288 feet in 

 a horizontal distance of 400 yards, giving a mean slope of 46^° 

 (Geol. Surv. Mem., p. G). To au^'oue standing at the mouth of the 

 corrie and looking west the cliffs appear nearly perpendicular, and 





244< 



«5S7' 



/?.Ire 



X 



Top of 

 loicest moraine^ 



Scale : 4 inches to 1 mile. 



XiS6' 



Fio. 6. — Sketch-map of Coumshingaun ami Lake. 



the beds, whose truncated edges form them, are seen to have a slight 

 dip to the south. The north and south sides of the corrie are only 

 precipitous in their middle or upper parts, all their lower half being 

 covered with steeply inclined grassy screes. The spur on the 

 southern side is prolonged eastwards as a narrow ridge with 

 regularly sloping sides, and has the typical appearance of a valley- 

 side plastered with lateral moraine. The norlhern spur is shorter 

 and rounded more abruptly, and the solid rock crops out in many 

 places on its surface. 



The level of the lake itself is 1,254 feet above the sea, and a small 

 clear stream issues from its southern coi-ner close under the southern 

 spur and finally joins the Kiver Ire after a course of about two miles. 

 The lake is of an elongated oval shape, with its longer axis running 

 the length of the corrie and measuring about 750 yards ; its breadth 

 near the middle is about 300 yards, and it practically covers the 



