1890-91-] 2 ^9 



out, an example of the common practice in primitive times of 

 considering the physical features of the landscape in relation to 

 sites for sepulchral monuments. The opportunity was taken to 

 visit the cottagers in the glen and on the mountain slope, when 

 the folk-lore of the locality was freely recited, with graphic 

 tales of giants and fairies. The sites and ruins of two cromlechs 

 were also inspected, and the party were sorry to hear of the 

 destruction of ancient structures within the memory of some of 

 the " ould people." Assembling once again at the hotel, an 

 examination of the specimens, geological and botanical, brought 

 to a conclusion the day's work, which, despite the rain, was 

 voted to have been highly enjoyable. 



Next morning the sun had not long risen in a cloudless sky 

 before some energetic members sallied forth for a swim in the 

 clear waters of the bay. Punctually at seven o'clock the 

 secretary's whistle called the party together, and met with a 

 prompt response, and the route was taken to the seashore south 

 of Limerick Port, a spot noted for the occurrence of jasper. 

 The whole neighbourhood around Cushendall is of high geo- 

 logical interest, and it was a matter of regret to many of the 

 party that the time at their disposal for geological exploration 

 was so limited. To the southward may be seen splendid sections 

 of the trappean plateau of Antrim, and the highly fossiliferous 

 formations that underlie it. The flat elevated table-lands which 

 extend inward from Lurigethan and Garron Point, bounded by 

 steep escarpments along which the level sheets of dark volcanic 

 rock may be traced for miles, are eminently characteristic of the 

 basaltic formation, and suggestive of the manner in which it has 

 been formed. Buried below the superincumbent mass, and thus 

 protected from the ravages of time, lie the Chalk, Greensand, and 

 Lias, full of the remains of the strange fauna which inhabited 

 the ancient seas in which these rocks were deposited. Below the 

 Lias come the thick beds of the New Red Sandstone. Looking 

 northward from Cushendall, however, all is different. The 

 prevailing rock is mica slate, which extends over a large area in 

 highly foliated and contorted beds — a formation which takes 



