of Devonshire and Cormvall. 119 



Kit-hill is vsituated farther in the interior of the country than the 

 small hill above Ivy-Bridge. The distance of the latter from the 

 coast is, in a direct line, scarcely nine miles, M^hereas Kit- hill is at 

 least thirteen. 



In proportion as the valley of the Erme rises, it continues to open, 

 insomuch, that at three miles and some furlongs from Ivy-Bridge 

 northvirard, the river is no longer confined in a narrow channel, but 

 ' flows over a plain gently inclined towards the south. 



This mountain plain, at Harford church, which is six hundred 

 and fifty- eight feet above the sea, is entirely granitic. We leave 

 the grauwacke behind, about half a mile nearer the sea, and in 

 ascending the valley of the Erme, the point of termination is very 

 distinctly seen, particularly on the left bank. At the junction, 

 there are veins or shoots of granite of different lengths and breadth, 

 and they appear to penetrate into the grauwacke. The two rocks 

 are certainly contiguous, and in immediate contact the one with the 

 other. 



The grauwacke near its termination loses its slaty character, as 

 may be seen on the sides of the hill above Ivy-Bridge, where it 

 attains nearly the same height as in the last mentioned place. 



The primitive rock of this district is a true granite, composed of 

 felspar, quartz, and mica, and the crystals of felspar are sometimes 

 two or three inches long. 



From Harford church the country assumes quite a bare and al- 

 pine appearance, presenting a vast plain extending beyond the 



quently with shrubs or brushwood. These rounded tops being contiguous and in fre- 

 quent succession, have on the great scale, the appearance of a thick fleece, or of one of 

 those wigs which are called moittonnees. The mountains which assume that form are 

 almost always composed of primitive rocks, or are at least steatitic; mountains of lime- 

 stone or slate have never that appearance. Voyages dans Ics Alpes, § 1061. 



