Moss — On the Exploration of Ballybetagh Bog. 551 



■wood, about 4 feet long and 18 inches in diameter, -was found, with 

 one end resting on the stones, and the other close under the turf. 

 This log was the only piece of wood foiind accompanying the bones in 

 any of the cuttings. Its decayed condition rendered identification a 

 matter of difficulty ; it most resembled oak. 



The next trench (fig. 2,/) was cut at the southern end of the first 

 excavation, for the pui-pose of ascertaining how far the brown clay in 

 which the bones were found extended towards the east. At the east 

 end of this cutting the granite rock was reached, after passing through 

 3 feet of granite sand, no brown clay having been encountered. A 

 little to the west of this spot a narrow tongue of brown clay protruded 

 into the sand, dividing it about equally into an upper and a lower 

 stratum. The lower stratum of sand thinned out towards the west, 

 being replaced by the brown clay. About the spot where the lower 

 stratum of granite sand disappeared, and the brown clay rested upon 

 the stony bottom of the trench, several long bones were found between 

 the granitic boulders. A little to the west of these bones we found a 

 head, with large antlers, in a good state of preservation. 



In none of these excavations did we find a true marl : the clays 

 which have been referred to were almost entirely free from calcium car- 

 bonate, and had every appearance of a granitic origin. jSTot many yards 

 north of the place where these clays were found, a light-coloured marl, 

 rich in calcium carbonate, makes its appearance, almost immediately 

 under the turf. A trench extending into this marl was opened at the 

 north end of the glen (fig. 2, g), about 300 yards south of Ballybetagh 

 House, and the same distance north of the other trenches. One end 

 of this cutting was at the very base of the hiR which flanks the east 

 side of the glen. Here granite boulders were met with immediately 

 under the surface, and as the excavation progressed, the bed of 

 boulders was found to dip towards the west to about the same extent 

 as the side of the adjoining hill. The turf varied from a few inches 

 to about 3 feet in depth, and lay upon a stratum of fine granitic sand, 

 traversed by occasional layers of coarse sand. Under the sand there 

 was a stratum of brown clay, about 2 feet deep at the west end of the 

 trench, and gradually thinning out towards the east end, where it 

 became sandy in character. In the sandy part of this brown clay 

 were found two fragments of bone, much decayed. Under the brown 

 clay lay the marl, containing a large C[uantity of vegetable matter, 

 but without any visible traces of shells. The marl, when examined 

 microscopically, was found to abound in diatoms, in which respect it 

 differed entirely from all the clays, as no diatoms could be detected in 

 any of them. At a depth of 10 feet, the marl continued unaltered in 

 character. The influx of water prevented the excavation firom being 

 conducted to a greater depth. It is noteworthy that the only frag- 

 ment of bone which this trench yielded was found in a clay corres- 

 ponding in appearance with that in which the bones were found at 

 the other end of the glen. In the latter case, however, the browu 



