23 



On 4th September to 



LARNE AND ISLANDMAGEE. 



The last excursion for the season took place on the above date, 

 when a party of about forty visited Larne and Islandmagee, arriv- 

 ing at Larne by rail. The party proceeded at once to examine the 

 flint-gravel or raised sea beach, of which the Curran is formed, and 

 which was accumulated probably at a time when the sea in what 

 is now Belfast Lough was connected with the water in Larne 

 Lough, and when Islandmagee was really an island, which it is not 

 at present. This flint gravel is remarkable also for the large quan- 

 tity of what are known as " flint flakes" which it contains. These 

 flakes are most interesting to antiquarians. The circumstances under 

 which they occur in England and the Continent are frequently 

 referred to, and considered by many sufficient to prove that man 

 must have existed many ages before the time of Adam. These 

 flakes occur very commonly throughout Ulster, particularly in the 

 counties of Antrim and Down, where they have been found in large 

 quantities by members of the Field Club. At Larne they occur 

 all over the surface of the gravel. The latter is some sixteen feet 

 deep, yet the flakes or wrought flints are never more than about 

 three feet deep, or to such a depth as they might have been con- 

 veyed by agricultural operations. They may have been the chips 

 or refuse from a manufactory of flint arrow-heads, so common in 

 this locality, or they may be even of a later date — the refuse from 

 gun-flint factories. At all events, they are here very abundant and 

 exactly similar to the forms found on the Continent, which have 

 given rise to the Pre-Adamite theory. Leaving the gravels, the 

 party crossed the ferry to Islandmagee, and proceeded to the 

 Cromlech, on the hill — a very good but small specimen of this class 

 of ancient monuments. It occupies a novel position, being quite 

 close to a gentleman's cottage. Here the usual field meeting was 

 held, and several new members elected. The Vice-President, 

 John Anderson, Esq., F.G.S., introduced Ralph Tate, Esq., F.G.S., 

 &c, to the meeting, and then, adjourning to the Iron Mine close 

 by, Mr. Tate gave a very interesting description of the Iron Mines 



