REPORT OP MEETINGS FOR 1904 113 



force a new course for itself in an unexpected direction ; the 

 other, to the weathering away of an igneous dyke of more 

 perishable material than the andesite which surrounded it. 

 Considerable mystery enshrouds its formation ; but the ancient 

 dwellers in that region, more concerned about personal 

 security than geological problems, instinctively realised its 

 strategical value, and on the precipitous elevation at its 

 Western extremity, now known as Harehope, raised a strong- 

 hold which, hidden amid the undulations of the encircling 

 lulls, afforded them a safe retreat, and a vantage-ground from 

 which to check any inroad from the East. Approaching it 

 from the North-west, the party had no difficulty in tracing 

 the broad and tortuous avenue, bordered on each side by 

 earthen ramparts, which leads from the low ground around 

 Akeld, and enters the walls of the camp obliquely, under the 

 protection of an inner guard-house. The fort itself forms 

 an irregular square with rounded angles, and is defended on 

 the West by three concentric circles of accumulated earth 

 and stones, still nearly entire. The walls rise to a height 

 of six feet or thereby, and can be easily distinguished, a 

 complete measurement of the interior having been made 

 since the Club's excursion by Mr Francis Lynn, F.8.A. 

 (Scot.), Galashiels, who has contributed a paper on the 

 subject, and illustrative charts, to this year's volume of the 

 Proceedings. In making this minute survey of the fort, one 

 was impressed by the details of the fortification, which clearly 

 demonstrate the ingenuity of its original engineers. A few 

 hut-circles occur within the lines of defence ; but the fort 

 seems primarily to have been intended as a place of retreat 

 and safety in times of invasion for the hillmen and their 

 cattle and sheep. On the East side there has been constructed 

 a narrow, depressed cart-track, which leads up the ravine to 

 an entrance on the South, which is strongly fortified, and in 

 winter it may have served the purposes of a moat, as during 

 heavy rains it must certainly have been filled with water. 

 Very little alteration has been made upon the camp outline 

 by later occupants, though here and there cross-walling 

 between the circles may be attributed to herdsmen of a 

 more modern time, 

 p 



