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belief are that they are apparently a continuation of the lower 

 triassic bed of sandstone that underlies Belfast ; that they are, 

 like nearly all the trias sandstones, levoid of fossils, and that 

 they appear to lie above the Carboniferous fragment of Castle 

 Espie. A geologist ot some standing in the party ventured to 

 question this general conclusion upon grounds which may be 

 briefly stated — viz., that the absence of fossils is of course in 

 in itself a purely negative piece of evidence ; that as the beds 

 are not continuous from the Antrim side of the lough and there 

 are numerous " faults" in the district, they may be of other age 

 besides Triassic — either Carboniferous or Permian — so long as 

 they are later than the Silurian ; that in their hardness, colour, 

 and general texture they more resemble the Carboniferous than 

 the softer and redder sandstones of the valley of the Lagan. 

 On the whole, however, most geologists will probably unite in 

 the conclusion that the officers of the Survey have followed the 

 weight of the evidence in placing these sandstones at the bottom 

 of the triassic rather than in the older formation. Descending 

 the hill, the large quarries on the Newtownards side were next 

 visited. These are at present only partially worked, though 

 some of them yield excellent stone. The most interesting 

 feature is the dykes by which they are pierced. In one case 

 the once molten lava has forced itself between the beds of the 

 stone, now showing of course as a horizontal bifurcated dyke. 

 Through this, the result of a volcanic outlet of a later period, 

 is to be seen a large dyke penetrating the earlier dykes and the 

 sandstone, impartially shattering and altering the texture of 

 both for some distance on either side. From the edge of the 

 quarry one looks out across the railway upon the latest of the 

 geologic changes, and one in which man has had a share — the 

 reclamation which has converted a strip of lough into fertile 

 fields, laid out in regular parallelograms, the name of the 

 " Scrabo Isles" alone surviving as a relic of the former tide- 

 covered stretch of mud and sand. The botanists of the party 

 did not find much to reward their search. A member exhi- 

 bited some fine specimens of a very rare fern, the variety 



