528 [Proc. B.N.F.C., 



entirely confined to the surface, or to a depth to which in the 

 course of time the surface may have been broken up. 

 Yours very truly, &c., 



DANIEL M'KEE. 



Having been detained in Belfast, I arrived upon the ground 

 too late to take any part in the careful and systematic examina- 

 tion of the first site. 



At the second site I could not observe any flint flakes in the 

 gravel, except near the surface. Here the gravels, which are 

 rudely stratified, and which I would not be inclined to call 

 boulder drift, rest upon an estuarine clay, and it therefore 

 appears to me that the Curran gravels represent a raised sea- 

 beach or bar, such as would form near a river mouth ; or it 

 might have been formed under certain conditions by tidal 

 currents. 



W. H. PATTERSON. 



All the specimens picked up between the 3 feet 3 and the 7 

 feet levels were mere accidental chips of flint, such as are met 

 with in all flint gravels, having merely a resemblance to the 

 general form, but none of the characters of the implements 

 designedly made, and known as " flint flakes." 



The flake here picked up has so entirely the aspect of the 

 best specimens from the surface deposit that the question was 

 raised as to the probability of its having become detached from 

 the loose gravels of the upper zone and fallen into the excavation 

 then being made. It was not seen to fall from above, nor was 

 it noticed to be dug up at the 11^ feet level, but was first 

 observed when on the shovel of the workman. Though a keen 

 watch was maintained for further specimens, none were 

 forthcoming ; and the fact that eight feet of barren gravels had 

 been dug through, and that no corroboration of the evidence 

 was obtained, leads to the conclusion that the flint in question 

 was not in situ where found. 



