362 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [April 8, 



of crystalline materials drifted from the north and impelled onwards 

 by powerful waves of translation, which rushing onwards above the 

 usual level of the sea, propelled and rolled on the subjacent detritus 

 in the manner suggested by Mr. Scott Russell, and under the geologi- 

 cal conditions suggested by Mr. Hopkins in reference to such agency 

 during former periods in our own country. By this operation the 

 exposed northern face as well as summit of the rock was, it is sup- 

 posed, worn down, polished, grooved and striated ; and the force of 

 the shock having been partially arrested, the drifted rollers were 

 then, it is imagined, shot over the natural escarpment at the south 

 end of the rock and lodged at its foot, there forming a bank of 

 gravel without wearing away the lee or protected face of the sub- 

 marine hillock. 



Fig. 4 marks the period, when the waves of translation having 

 subsided, the sea has resumed its ordinary level and a glacial or ice- 

 floating epoch has supervened, during which icebergs and ice-floes 

 transported large angular blocks, and deposited them, sometimes on 

 the surface of the denuded limestone and sometimes on the water- 

 worn gravel or Osar. 



Fig. 5 represents the Silurian limestone after it has been raised 

 above the level of the sea ; its surface (with the exception of having 

 parted with some of its loose materials) having preserved the same 

 general outline and covering which it had when beneath the sea. 



Fig. 6 exhibits the chief mass of the rock with the same terrestrial 

 features as in the preceding stage, but raised higher above the sea 

 level ; such elevation, it is supposed, having been brought about by 

 vibratory upheavals, the periods of tranquillity between which are 

 indicated by the successive terraces of horizontal shingle, in which 

 some crystalline materials of former Osar are mixed up with a great 

 proportion of local Silurian limestone. 



Fig. 7 shows the terrestrial mass in its present relations to the sea, 

 or raised to a still greater elevation during the modern period, the 

 shore terraces of former days being at some height above the waters ; 

 whilst the ground between the lowest of these terraces and the sea 

 is seen to consist of a long gradually sloping delta, which seems to 

 indicate a gradual uprising of the land. 



That this last operation has been going on in recent times is in- 

 deed borne out by tradition and local history. Between the cal- 

 careous ridges there are depressions, which, whether occupied by 

 water, marsh or bog, may still in some instances be traced almost 

 transversely across the isle, and of these the low grounds proceed- 

 ing from the north of Klinte on the west to Skarnsvik and Hellesvik 

 on the east are among the most remarkable ; others have all the 

 aspect of having been fiords, which if they did not traverse, at all 

 events penetrated deeply into the island. Not only, indeed, do the 

 inhabitants currently believe, that such depressions were occupied 

 by the sea during the early abode of man (when the famous sea- 

 kings of the North exerted their piratical sway), but Bishop Wallin 

 of Wisby, giving full credence to this tradition, copies it into his 

 learned work {Gothlandiska Samlingar, Stockholm, IV^Y), and cites 



