573 



several detached hills rising through the alluvial matter, which con- 

 stitutes the central plain of tlie island. They have partaken of the same 

 elevation vvhich raised the limestone range, from which they dip away 

 regularly to the eastward. The uppermost strata resemble those which 

 occur near Lixouri in Cephalonia. In Zante, near the Castle-hill, they 

 consist of an aggregate of calcareous and arenaceous particles, form- 

 ing a pale yellow, porous stone, which is easily worked. Few fossils 

 are found except on the east coast, where numerous casts of Cerithia 

 and other MoUusca occur. These strata are succeeded by a thick de- 

 posit of blue clay and marl, containing Pectunculus auritus, Broch., 

 Buccinum semistriatum , Broch., and Natica glaucina, Lam. 



The gypseous beds which succeed the argillaceous at Lixouri, are 

 not here visible, but in the south coast of Zante they form the com- 

 mencement of a section which extends much further down in the 

 series than the lowermost beds examined at Lixouri. 



The strata above the gypsum clearly belong to the Pliocene epoch; 

 many of their fossils being identical with those of the subapennine 

 hills. Whether the strata which underlie the gypsum, in the section 

 on the north of the Bay of Cheri, belong to the same, or to an older 

 epoch, is not so clear. They contain but few fossils, as crushed 

 Echini and obscure bivalves ; but in one situation a bed of indurated 

 bluish marl contains great abundance of the shells of the two ge- 

 nera of pteropodous moUusca, Hyalea and Creseis, but the species 

 are larger than the Hyalea cornea, and Creseis spinifera, now living in 

 the Mediterranean. 



The argillaceous beds are succeeded by yellowish calcareous sand- 

 stone and loosely aggregated limestone, which dip 18° S.W., but no 

 traceable sequence could be observed, in consequence of a great sub- 

 sidence, which appears to have taken place between this point and the 

 range of secondary limestone forming the marshy plain of Port Cheri, 

 towards which the tertiary strata dip on both sides. Some of the 

 calcareous strata are fine-grained, and approach the texture of Port- 

 land-stone. iVIinute Foraminifera are abundant in it, and two small 

 species of Pecten were observed. 



On the west side of Port Cheri is a low cliff of blue marl and clay, 

 containing a few scales and vertebrae of fishes, and a few species of. 

 Vermicuium, Mont., (Quinqueloculina, D'Orbigny). This argillaceous 

 mass has probably been brought down from some higher part of the 

 tertiary series, by the subsidence which seems to have formed the valley 

 and bay of Port Cheri, and of which a striking proof may be seen in 

 a fault in the Apennine limestone, where a smooth surface of rock 

 descends to the sea, and which is scored with numerous parallel striae, 

 not perpendicular, but at an angle of 65° to the horizon. The enor- 

 mous friction and pressure of the descending mass, has imparted to 

 this surface of rock a remarkable degree of hardness, and a darker 

 colour. This change penetrates about two or three inches from the 

 surface; but at a greater depth the rock is softer and white, much 

 resembling the compact chalk of Yorkshire. 



3. Mineral Springs. — The sources of bitumen for which Zante has 

 been celebrated since the time of Herodotus, rise in the midst of the 

 marshy plain at Port Cheri. The principal is a well 5 feet deep ; and 



2 Y 2 



