GLACIERS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 139 



which occur at Penrith and Windermere. It appears to 

 me, however, that Dr. Buckland has extended the glacial 

 theory frequently beyond its true limits, and has mistaken, 

 in the valley of the Eden, Walney Island, and elsewhere, 

 remarkable forms of drift gravel and boulders for glacial 

 moraines ; and I must altogether dissent from the as- 

 tounding supposition that a glacier stretched from the 

 skirts of Shap Fell across the valley of the Eden,* by 

 means of which the granite blocks were distributed over 

 the high table-land of Stainmoor Forest and the valley of 

 the Tees. 



After a personal examination of a large portion of the 

 Lake district, last summer, the details of which I have 

 elsewhere recorded,t I shall endeavour to present a short 

 outline of the glacial phenomena of this district. The 

 watershed of the country crosses from Bow Fell on the 

 west to Shap Fell on the east; and from this, branch off 

 to the north and to the south a number of deep gorges 

 which unite into larger valleys at some distance from the 

 central ridge. The bottoms and flanks of nearly all these 

 valleys present the usual striations, ranging parallel to 

 their directions ; and the rocks are frequently worn into 

 Toches moutonnees up to certain heights, well-defined along 

 the sides. There are many interesting examples of perched 

 blocks, such as at Stickle Tarn, where a boulder rests on a 

 rounded boss rising slightly above the surface of the lake. 

 In the lower and larger portions of the valleys we seldom 

 find examples of true moraines, these being nearly confined 

 to the higher portions near the central heights, as in the 

 case of the two Langdales, Stockdale, Easedale, and the 

 Stake Pass at the head of Borrowdale. Generally, the 



* Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 348. Mr. 

 Bryce also notices the striated and polished surfaces of the rocks near 

 Kendal, but refers them to the action of "waves and currents charged with 

 detritus." — Re^. British Association, vol. xix. 



t Edinburgh Neic PMIosojyhical Journal, vol. xi. p. 3 1 . 



