514 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Feb. 24, 



rather remarkable to me that I had never met with any of these 

 larger blocks imbedded in the gravel itself; nothing larger than 2 

 or 2\ feet in diameter has occurred to me. I have, however, been 

 informed by workmen that they do occasionally find boulders even 

 of very large size in the interior of these gravel-mounds. 



Reaching the estuary of the Ythan, we find the coast much 

 encumbered by great heaps of drifted sand ; and tradition relates 

 that a small parish, called Forvie, was here suddenly overwhelmed 

 by the sandy drift. Coarse gravel and stony earth generally cover 

 the surface, on piercing through which, however, the stratified beds 

 are often exposed at the lower levels. For instance, on the north 

 side of the estuary, at Westfield of Auchmacoy, the following section 

 has been laid open : — 



Feet. • 



1 . Gravel and coarse water-worn shingle 3 



2. Strata of fine clay, varying from red to pale grey, 



with occasional seams of fine sand 7 



3. A layer of gravel 0£ 



4. Pure red clay 2 



5. Gravel; depth unascertained. 



The bottom of this section is rather below high-water mark. 

 Fragments of shells occur occasionally in the sandy seams, chiefly 

 in No. 3.* Up beside the dwelling-house, at a level of probably 

 50 feet higher, in sinking a well, the layers passed through were — 



Feet. 



1 . Shingle and coarse gravel 3 



2. Coarse red clay, containing small fragments of stone 9 



3. Fine brownish sand, quite devoid of all stones or 



gravel 26 



The bottom of this sand was not reached ; and no water was got. 



Finely -laminated clay, I find, occurs up the valley of the Ythan for 

 some miles, but is seldom exposed to view. In sinking a well in 

 the village of Ellon, 4i miles inland, the beds exposed were — 



Feet. 



Coarse water-worn gravel 11 



Fine laminated clay, varying in colour from brick-red 

 to pale-greenish grey 33 



This clay was not passed through, so that its depth was not ascer- 

 tained ; and the bottom of the bore here would also be about as low 

 as the sea-level. 



Along the south bank of the Ythan, below Ellon, the same fine 

 stratified clay occurs, covered by masses of water-worn gravel, and 

 sometimes by a stratum of stony earth, full of boulders of all sizes, 



* Since the above was written, I have obtained the fragments of what seems 

 to be the skull of a Common Seal (Phoca Vitulina, Linn.), from the layer of red 

 clay No. 4.— October, 1858. T. F. J. 



