1878-1879.] 337 



in their turn are overlaid by basalts and volcanic ashes, supposed 

 to be of the Miocene age, 



The party being again seated, the route was by Glengormley 

 and the old road to Templepatrick, through a richly cultivated 

 country. Roughfort was soon reached, after a pleasant drive. 

 This fort, which gives its' name to a quiet little village, is but one 

 of a series of earthen erections, about twenty of which are noted 

 on the six-inch map of the district. In a field a short distance 

 to the east of the fort is Carngraney, or more properly Cairn 

 Graine, a fine example of an entirely different type of erection, 

 known to archaeologists as Kistvaens, but more familiarly known 

 as giants' graves by the country people. These rude stone erec- 

 tions, like the cromlechs for which the North of Ireland is so 

 celebrated, are supposed to be ancient sepulchral monuments. 

 They are formed of large blocks of stone set on edge a few feet 

 apart, the spaces between which are spanned by other blocks, 

 thus forming a low chamber or series of chambers. The one 

 visited is in good preservation, and is constructed of about 37 

 large stones, forming a chamber of about 40 feet long, covered by 

 nine of the largest blocks. The various arguments regarding the 

 age and uses of these erections formed an animated theme of con- 

 versation, and the origin of the name came in for a fair share of 

 attention. By some authors it is conjectured to mean " the heap 

 of the sun." This, however, is a very far-fetched meaning ; more 

 probably it means the grave or cairn of Graine, an Irish proper 

 name formerly of common occurrence. 



Again mounting the cars, a visit was paid to Carnmoney 

 quarries, where a close search was made for the newly-discovered 

 mineral Rullite, of which a notice was brought before the late 

 meeting of the British Association. After a brief stay here, the 

 party scrambled to the hill above the quarry, on which is another 

 entrenched fort of a circular form in good preservation, the view 

 from which commands a wide expanse of country. The party then 



