566 D. Mackintosh — Dispersion of Granite-blocks — 



Criffell, they must have radiated S., S.E., and E.^ I have not yet 

 ascertained if they were distributed in other directions. The greatest 

 height at which I have found them is between 350 and 400 feet 

 above the sea, at Parsonby and Nether Welton.* 



Supposed Dispersion of Granite from Skiddaw. — The very limited 

 exposures of granite in the Skiddaw area, and these chiefly at or 

 near the bottoms of valleys or gills, would lead one to expect to 

 find comparatively few indications of an exodus of granite from this 

 area. The absence of granite from the district around Cockermouth 

 (as I have had many opportunities of ascertaining), from the dis- 

 tricts intervening between Cockermouth and Bassenthwaite, and 

 between Bassenthwaite and the extreme south-east boundary of the 

 granitic-drift area, shows that there has been no exodus of Syning 

 Gill granite by way of Keswick and Bassenthwaite into north-west 

 Cumberland ; and I have not seen a bit of Syning Gill Granite in 

 any part of the drift-area under consideration. The exodus of 

 Skiddaw granite by way of Mosedale would likewise appear to 

 have been very limited. I have not seen much granite to the north 

 of Hesket New Market but what might have come from the Scottish 

 coast. There is little or no granite strictly so called (so far as I 

 could ascertain) in Caldbeck valley. 



Dispersion of Porphyry, etc., from the CaldbecTc and Garroch Fells. — 

 From observations made since my last article was written, I have 

 traced much of the North Cumberland drift to its source in these moun- 

 tains. Felspathic trap, porphyry, and syenite have found their way S.E. 

 andE.S.E. farther than the E. Eamont and Penrith; E. in the direc- 

 tion of Plump ton; N.E. and N. as far at least as the E. Eden; N.W. 

 and W. as far as the sea-coast. Erratics from these hills have been 

 carried across the Caldbeck valley and lodged on Brocklebank ridge 

 up to a height of at least 950 feet above the sea. N., N.W., and W., 

 they have become interwoven with the granite and whinstone drift 

 from Scotland. In the neighbourhood of the Caldbeck Fells the 

 most conspicuous erratic is what may be called tesselated porphyritic 

 claystone. The porphyritic and granitic erratics are both a part of 

 the boulder-clay deposits of the plain of Cumberland which extend 

 from the mountains to the sea-coast. The lower boulder-clay pre- 

 ponderates, but upper boulder-clay may here and there be traced, 

 especially towards the sea-coast. At Abbey Town, 50 feet above the 

 sea-level, the upper boulder-clay contains numerous rounded and 

 subangular stones, very much striated. As proved by well-sinkings, 

 it is underlain by sand and gravel. 



Interweaving of Drifts. — The above-mentioned, and other drifts, 

 have not only been dispersed from centres in various directions in a 

 manner quite inexplicable to me by glaciers or streams of land- 



1 Mr. Eccleston, of the Fawcett Schools, Carlisle, informs me that he has found 

 houlders of Criffell granite as far east as Gillsland, and as far south as Whit beck, 

 near Bootle. If I recollect rightly, there are numbers of them in the "West-Mid- 

 land counties. 



^ I have to thank the Messrs. Newall, of the Craig Nair (Dalbeattie) Granite 

 Works, for corroborating my views, founded on Professor Sedgwick's theory, relative 

 to the derivation of the Cumberland boulders. 



