86 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Slieve Donard, the loftiest of the range, 2,796 feet 

 in height, flanked by Slieve Commedagh (2,512 feet). 

 At the back of these hills rise two streams, the 

 Annalong River and Kilkeel River, which flow 

 southward through deep and romantic valleys, and 

 divide this portion of the range into three more or 

 less parallel series of peaks, of which some of the 

 finest are Slieve Bearnagh (2,394 feet), Slieve Muck 

 (2,198 feet), Slieve Bingian (2,449 feet), and the two 

 Slieve Meels (2,310 and 2,237 feet). Several of the 

 eastern faces of the hills which overlook these 

 valleys are very precipitous, such as those of Slieve 

 Beg, Cove Mountain, and Bencrom ; and while the 

 majority of the mountain summits are rounded 

 and smooth, others, notably Slieve Bearnagh and 

 Slieve Bingian, are crowned with enormous crags 

 of granite. In every direction the slopes are steep, 

 but here and there a moraine-blocked hollow 

 occurs, filled with the waters of a brown tarn. One 

 road alone intersects the mountains ; elsewhere 

 loneliness reigns supreme, and the silence is only 

 broken by the distant murmer of the streams, and 

 the bleating of the sheep. 



The geologist will find much to interest him in 

 this district. The mountains are an old core of 

 granite, which has intruded through the Ordovician 

 grits that extend over co. Down and the land 

 to the eastward. The latter, indurated by contact, 

 lap round the flanks of the granite hills, rising on 

 Slieve Muck to over 2,000 feet, where they have 

 been carried up by the intrusive rock. Along the 

 eastern coastline a number of dykes are exposed, 

 famous as being one of the few British localities 

 for the rare rock variolite. (See Cole : " On the 

 Variolite of Annalong, co. Down." Sci. Proa, 

 Roy. Dublin Society, N.S., vol. 7, 1891.) At the 

 back of Slieve Commedagh, on the steep slope 

 overhanging the source of the Annalong River, 

 may be seen some beautiful examples of the 

 weathering of the granite into jointed columns. 

 This is well shown in the accompanying photo- 

 graph, which, like the other illustration to 

 the present sketch, is the work of my friend 

 Mr. Robert Welch, of Belfast, whose instruc- 

 tive series of geological photographs are already 

 well-known. (Catalogue of Geological Irish 

 Views, with condensed descriptive notes. Pub- 

 lished by the Author, 49, Lonsdale Street, 

 Belfast. Price 3d.) In other places, notably at 

 the Diamond Rocks on the southern slope of 

 Slieve-na-glough, the granite is filled with cavities 

 lined with crystals of smoky quartz, orthoclase, 

 mica, topaz, beryl and amethyst. The Ordovician 

 grits which lie to the northward contain many 

 graptolites and some other fossils, and the Carboni- 

 ferous limestone which occurs where the western 

 end of the Mournes is opposed by the rugged mass 

 of Carlingford Mountain (1,935 feet), with the deep 

 bay of Carlingford between, yields an abundant and 



characteristic fauna. Fine examples of terminal 

 moraines occur in several of the valleys, a particu- 

 larly striking one being that which dams the valley 

 of the Kilkeel River below Slieve Bingian. Ice- 

 modelling and ice-scratchings are seen to advantage 

 in many places. The drift deposits, which cover 

 the lower grounds, are fossiliferous in places, and 

 are well worthy of study. A fine raised beach, 

 containing marine shells, sweeps round from 

 Kilkeel westward, attaining an extensive develop- 

 ment on the long, low spit of Greenore. Further 

 to the westward and outside of the Mourne district 

 a series of igneous rocks of high interest extend 

 from Carlingford to Dundalk, and northward to 

 Slieve Gullion. 



The botany of the Mourne Mountains has 

 recently been worked out by Mr. S. A. Stewart and 

 the writer ("Report on the Botany of the Mourne 

 Mountains," Proc. Roy. Irish Academy, Third 

 Series, vol. ii, 1892), and while, in common with 

 other Irish mountain groups, alpine plants are 

 rare, the flora presents some points of interest. 

 Hawk weeds are abundant, numbering fifteen species, 

 among which Hieracium hibernicnm is known else- 

 where in only one Scotch and one other Irish 

 locality, while the fine variety Stewartii of H. 

 gothicum (so named by Mr. Hanbury after my 

 colleague) is confined to this district ; H. argenteum, 

 H. flocculosum, H. auratum are among the other 

 forms that occur. On the cliffs and rocky banks of 

 streams we find Thalictrum montanum, Meconopsis 

 cambrica, Saxifraga stellaris, Sedum rhodiola, Juniperus 

 nana, Hymenophyllum unilateral, Equisetum hyemale, 

 and high up, Saussurea alpina (one station), V actinium 

 vilis-idcea, Salix herbacea. The tarns all contain 

 Isoetes lacustris and Lobelia dortmanna. By the 

 river in Tollymore Park, Festuca sylvatica is plentiful. 

 On the Newcastle sandhills may be found Thalictrum 

 dunense, Viola curtisii, Erodium maritimum, Phleum 

 arenarium, Triticumjunceum ; on the coast line further 

 south, Erodium mosckatum, Mertensia maritimd, 

 A triplex littoralis, Polygonum rail, and in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Carlingford Lough, Stalice bahusiensis 

 and Atriplex portulacoides, while Barbarea intermedia, 

 Linaria repens, Lamium intermedium and other plants 

 inhabit the lower grounds around the mountains. 



The fox and the badger still haunt the rocks and 

 the glens of the Mournes, and the otter skulks 

 along the streams. The Irish stoat, which has 

 recently received the unexpected honour of specific 

 distinction at the hands of Mr. Oldfield Thomas, 

 is common here as elsewhere. The marten has 

 been occasionally trapped in the district. 



Among birds, the peregrine and raven hold sway on 

 the mountain cliffs ; the former breeds in a number 

 of places, and I have seen two broods of young on 

 the cliffs of Eagle Mountain at the one time, while 

 as regards the raven I have watched five splendid 

 birds in company on the rocks of Slieve Comme- 



