Miss E. Hodgson — The Oranite-drift of Furness. 337 



of a gneissose character, as in a fine hand-specimen obtained from 

 the late Mr, Charles Wright, of Keswick, the granite and " gneiss " 

 are shown in junction, and the specimen is so labelled : with, how- 

 ever, the addition " very rare." There is distinct lamination in the 

 dark-grey " gneiss " half of the specimen, and the parallelism is 

 extended, though very slightly, into the granite. The " gneiss " 

 appears to be identical with another I have from the same collector, 

 labelled "Gneiss from Skiddaw Crags." A third from Skiddaw 

 Forest he names " Hornblende Gneiss." 



Mr. Dickinson informs me he first saw the Glenderaterra or 

 Syning-gill granite when in company with Mr. Otley long years 

 ago. He considers that, though no great quantity of its recent 

 detritus may be visible in that steep-sided pass, there is sufficient in 

 the drift along the base of Lonscale Fell (see Sketch Map) and round 

 the south-western foot' of Skiddaw, to identify the apparent source, 

 and the character of it, with the Glenderaterra granite. Along 

 Bassenthwaite-side boulders occur resembling the above associated 

 metamorphic rocks j while those of granite extend away to the 

 north-west of the mountain, and thence mingle with the general 

 coastward flow. 



Thus, in delineating the downward passage of this alpine debris 

 towards the lowlands by the preserving and motive power of ice, it 

 becomes obvious that no difficulty or obstacle of any kind stands in 

 the way of an attempt to track even the most distant erratics back 

 to their source. 



Tile-clays. — " A considerable area of the western part of the county 

 supplies patches of tile-clays. They are at Threlkeld, Keswick, 

 Isel, Bassenthwaite, Bolton, Westward, Parkgate near Wigton,; 

 Seaton,' Mosser (exhausted), Cockermouth, Winscales, Dean Moor,, 

 Arlecdon, Sand with, Bigrigg (exhausted), Drigg, Bootle, Sylecroft, 

 and Holborn Hill. There are many intermediate clay-fields, but too 

 shallow to be worked with profit. They are very various jn colour 

 and tenacity ; yellow, blue, red, brown, grey, etc. ; unstratified in 

 general ; some within a few inches of the surface, others feet or 

 yards below. Many differences in colour and texture are found in 

 the same pit, with consequently great variation in quality. Some; 

 have layers of sand in parts, few have gravel. Some are more /or 

 less intermixed with rounded gravel ; others penetrated to some feet 

 in depth by decayed root fibres. These clays produce drain-tiles, 

 pipes, and common bricks, and almost invariably burn to a red* 

 colour, whilst the fire clays of the Coal-measures burn to shades of 

 yellow. No shells or other fossil-remains are known to occur in them. 



" The sea is making great inroads on the Boulder-clay of the Work- 

 ington coast. Within threescore years, nearly fifty acres have been 

 washed away. An under layer of fine blue clay may be seen a 

 few hundred yards to the south-west of the cliffs there ; it con- 

 tains the remains of a submerged forest. A similar forest is visible 

 a little southward of St. Bees during low tides." ^ 



1 Mr. Dickinson, MS. 



