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



steep path to the " Black Cave" in the basalt, which proved, 

 however, less interesting than was expected, save for its historic 

 association. Here it was that Lieutenant Moses Hill, the head 

 of the now great house of Downshire, lay concealed for a 

 considerable time in 1588, after the disastrous affray with 

 MacDonnell at Altfracken, when the Scot put to flight the 

 soldiers from Carrickfergus, and Sir John Chichester lost his 

 head. The cave extends inland a distance of over 100 feet, and 

 is washed by the tide. The remains of a wall extend across its 

 mouth, so its uses have been, doubtless, various — legitimate and 

 illegitimate — the latter in the " good old days " when it was 

 quite respectable to rob the King of his dues. The most of the 

 party walked along the shore, where the great blocks of chalk 

 and greensand lying to a large extent on lias offer a most 

 tempting prospect to the knight of the hammer. This series of 

 sections and blocks extends for about half a mile along the 

 coast, until the basalt once more comes down to the sea level at 

 the cliffs of the Gobbins. The basalt of this neighbourhood is 

 itself of more than usual interest, as it exhibits a curious banded 

 structure on a large scale, seen very well along the escarpment 

 facing the sea and in one little quarry which was passed on the 

 way the amygdaloidal vesicles were very beautifully arranged 

 in well-marked bands, between which was the ordinary half- 

 rotten basalt, without amygdales. The Greensand was, however, 

 the chief point of interest, and numerous fossils were obtained, 

 though many more had to be left behind owing to the hardness 

 of some of the blocks. Among the best finds was one of the 

 energetic secretary of the geological section, Miss S. M. 

 Thompson, which was a perfect specimen of a fossil sponge 

 {Ventriculites) of unusually large size. Several other sponges of 

 different genera and species were secured, these being a class 

 that are in want of working out, as very little is known of the 

 Irish ones. Other finds were numerous, Cidaris spines, some 

 small corals and Bryozoa, and plenty of the ordinary greensand 

 and fossils, such as Rhynchonella, Spondylus, etc. The Lias was 

 in very bad order for working after the heavy rain followed by 



