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grandeur of which so much has been said ; and their height 

 being upwards of 600 feet, and springing sheer from the Atlantic 

 waves, he naturally anticipated being impressed with a feeling 

 of sublimity. The day was calm, and he was able to approach 

 the extreme edge at one of the little outlooks considerately 

 furnished by Mr. O'Brien, the owner of the place, and there to 

 make a careful drawing of the range of cliffs extending towards 

 Liscanor ; but the feeling he experienced was that of disap- 

 pointment and depression of spirits, instead of elevation. Instead 

 of the sensation being equal to that experienced at the Fair 

 Head, it seemed to be even less than one feels at the sight of 

 Pleaskin, which does not reach 400 feet. What can this mean ? 

 The explanation would seem to be this : — 



The Moher cliffs are composed of a vast mass of thin slate 

 beds, slightly tilted up towards the sea, of a dull, sooty tint in 

 general, and only relieved here and there by a little local colour 

 from lichens. The slaty structure can only be faintly seen in 

 the nearest cliff, at about 200 yards distance ; and those beyond 

 it show simply one uniform dark grey tint, and might be of sand- 

 stone or trap, for any external evidence to the contrary. In 

 short, what is wanting is a modulus or scale to give the eye 

 and mind a means of piling up the idea of height. 



Standing in a similar position at Pleaskin, Co. Antrim, how 

 different everything is found. 



Beginning at the sea level are beds of tabular trap and amyg- 

 daloids, separated by thin veins of red ochre — above these, the 

 stratum of red ochre, which forms such a striking feature in 

 other parts of the headlands, and is upwards of 25 feet thick — 

 above this rise the magnificent basaltic columns which are seen 

 at a glance to be not a whit less in bulk than those which can 

 be approached and handled at the Loom, or at the Giants' 

 Organ, and which are known to be at least 50 feet in height. 

 Resting on these pillars is a mass of basaltic rock, partly amor- 

 phous and partly prismatic, which the eye tells you is some- 

 what thicker than the range of columns ; and above this stands 

 a second tier of basaltic pillars even larger than the lower ones. 

 The upper portion of the cliff is composed of several strata of 



