of the Island of Zante. 407 



of the secondary mountain range. The beds above described are conformable 

 throughout, and seem to pass downwards into the secondary limestone ; 

 whelher this is really the case, cannot, however, be determined from the 

 section before us, for the sequence is again interrupted by an extensive fault, 

 (seen at the left hand of Section 3). It is therefore possible, that the lime- 

 stone beds below the conglomerate may be considerably above the true base 

 of the tertiary series, and that an hiatus may exist between them and the real 

 secondary limestone, which they so much resemble A careful survey of the 

 line of junction between the secondary and tertiary formations throughout the 

 island, would perhaps solve the difficulties, presented by this section. 



§ 3. Mineral Springs. — The springs of bitumen, for which Zante has been 

 celebrated from the time of Herodotus, rise in the marsh at Port Cheri, (see 

 PI. XXXllL, Section 2.). The principal one is a well about five feet deep ; 

 the bitumen oozing up from the bottom; and above it the well is filled by 

 clear, cool, and tasteless water, which is probably only an accidental accom- 

 paniment of the bitumen. Some travellers (Walsh, Chandler, &c.,) state 

 that bubbles of gas are given out by the bitumen, but in two visits which I 

 made to the spot, nothing of the kind was observed. The produce has been 

 stated at forty barrels annually*. Bitumen also rises in the Bay of Cheri, 

 some hundred yards from the shore, (See Map.) This circumstance proves, 

 that the bitumen is not derived from the peaty soil of the marshy plain, and 

 there is nothing in the composition of the rocks around, to induce us to 

 refer its origin to them ; we must therefore suppose, that this substance is 

 derived from that region of volcanic action, which may be almost demon- 

 strated to underlie the Ionian Islands. This supposition derives farther pro- 

 bability from the fact before noticed, that the spot, where the bitumen rises, 

 has been the site of a vast dislocation. 



On the northern coast is another remarkable mineral spring, which seems 

 to have escaj)ed the notice of previous observers. It occurs about half a mile 

 to the north of the junction of the tertiary and secondary rocks shown at the 

 left hand of Section 3, PI. XXXIII. The Apennine limestone here forms a 

 low cliff descending abruptly to the sea. A spring of turbid water, resembling 

 diluted milk, gushes out at the foot of the cliff beneath the sea level, and rising 

 to the surface, from its less specific gravity, flows away above the sea-water 

 in a stratum a few inches thick ; flakes of a slimy white substance (probably 

 Glairine) abound in this water, and are seen in the surrounding sea for a 

 considerable distance; a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen is diffused 



* For further details relative to the " tar-springs," see Hawkins in Walpole's Travels in the 

 East, Chandler's Travels, vol. ii. ch. 79, &c. 



