1858.] JAMIESON PLEISTOCENE, ABERDEENSHTRE. 527 



could account for a lake at such a height ; no glacier descending from 

 Ben Aigan or any hill on the east side could have barred the valley 

 down here ; for there is no height on the opposite side that the icy 

 avalanche could have rested on. 



Thinking that the spirit-level I had used might be out of adjust- 

 ment, and consequently not trustworthy for a long sight, I procured 

 the loan of another good instrument made by Troughton and Simms, 

 which had been adjusted but a few days previously, and with it also I 

 found the Rothes bank to be considerably higher than Cairnty, and 

 also that terrace-like deposits, equal in height to that of Rothes, oc- 

 curred for some distance up the glen on the opposite side of the Spey. 

 Whether, therefore, the elevating power had increased towards the 

 interior, or whether it is that the strata in the lower part of the val- 

 ley have suffered more denudation, may be questioned ; yet the fact 

 remains, that these banks rise in height as we ascend the valley. 

 Those at Rothes are higher than those at Cairnty ; and similar ter- 

 races which I observed above Aberlour, and also opposite Ballin- 

 dalloch, seemed to me higher still ; but want of time compelled me to 

 leave their measurement unascertained. 



The best section of these masses is at Rothes, where the bank 

 that looks down upon the village, from an altitude of about 1 90 feet 

 above the stream, presents the following section at its highest part : — 



Feet. 



1 . Loose gravel, sand, and shingle, stratified 30 



2. Fine stratified sand and sandy mud, of a pale grey 



tint, containing no stones of any kind 45 



3. Gravel and fine sand interstratified 15 



4. Unstratified pebbly clay, some bands indistinctly 



seen here and there, colour dirty grey, somewhat 

 reddish, no large boulders 15 



5. Fine stratified sand and sandy mud, often rippled 



and waved, some seams containing a considerable 

 proportion of clay, colour pale-grey, occasionally 

 reddish. It contains no gravel, stones, nor peb- 

 bles of any kind 35 



6. Base of the bank descending to the edge of the 



river, concealed by loose debris 50 



In some parts of the bank the unstratified stony earth attains a 

 considerably greater thickness ; but at the time of my visit there was 

 a very clear section at the point described. The arrangement of the 

 beds was nearly horizontal. The stones and pebbles were of gneiss, 

 granite, quartz, and similar crystalline rocks. No large boulders 

 were seen ; and I was disappointed to find no fossil remains in these 

 beds, although a longer search might have been more successful. 



Standing on the top of these high banks, and looking down upon 

 the fertile lowlands of Moray, dotted with farms and thriving vil- 

 lages, I could not but picture to myself a time when the ocean rolled 

 over its plains, and threw its breakers ashore even at my feet ; here, 



