104 T. ^MErLAED KEADE ON THE 



examination. It may, at all events, be averred that they are not 

 common in it *. 



At the cottage before mentioned, between Colwyn-Bay hotel and 

 Ehos, I noticed a large granite boulder on the shore, full of large 

 crystals of felspar, which looked uncommonly like grey Shap 

 granite. The crystals of felspar did not, however, form protuberant 

 knobs, as is often the case with boulders of Shap granite. It is 

 probable that it may be either Shap or Cairnsmore of Fleet granite t- 



On the foreshore opposite the Colwyn-Bay hotel, the character of 

 the stones contained in the Till may be readily studied. They are 

 mostly slaty rocks, flattish in form, and often rounded at the edges. 

 The Till being of a very tenacious nature, the stones remain firmly 

 fi^ed in it, though their upper surfaces and sides are exposed by the 

 denudation of the waves. The striations are distinctly to be seen 

 on most of the stones, though doubtless partly effaced by the attri- 

 tion of other boulders and shingle moved by the sea. 



It is really remarkable how they retain their ice-markings under 

 the circumstances. I looked for signs of striated pavements, but 

 could not find any : the boulders are fixed in the clay at different 

 angles, and the stones do not show striations in a parallel and uni- 

 form direction. 



2. Low-level Boulder-day and Sands (beds 3 & 4, fig. 1 ; & 3, 4, 

 5, & 6, fig. 2). — The Chester and Holyhead Eailway runs along 

 the top of the drift near to the edge of the clifi', so that in places 

 the railway company have made what formerly was cliff into 

 railway-bank, by sloping and grassing it over. For this reason 

 it is {iiflS.cult to see what the bank is composed of near Colwyn- 

 Bay station, but it appears to me to be a continuation of the 

 gravel, shingle, sand, and clay beds seen in the baUast-pit. 



If this be so, it gradually changes into the Low-level Boulder- 

 clay and sands which overlie the Blue Till over the whole of the 

 area described in this paper. 



This Low-level Boulder-clay and sands is evidently a marine 

 deposit, and contains shell fragments. There are very few boulders 

 in it ; but in places a great many beds of shingle and gravel, which 

 are, however, best displayed in the inland excavations, and at the 

 sides of the brooks which run from the hills through the drift and 

 across the railway to the bay. 



The clay is brown and decidedly sandy, and the sand-beds, often 

 displaying current bedding, are well developed, and form an im- 

 portant feature in the drift. I believe most of the erratics on the 

 shore come from this bed. Among the loose shingle on the shore 

 are to be observed many Eskdale and grey Scotch granites, which no 

 doubt have originally been derived from this group of beds. 



Inland Sectioiis. — Inland on the north side of the road, behind 

 the Hydropathic Establishment, is a large brick-pit in this clay, and 



* Mr. Mackintosh says he " dug out of the blue clay two pebbles of Eskdale 

 granite." ''Age of Floating Ice in Korth Wales," see Geol. Mag. 1872, p. 15. 



t See " Notes on Eock-fragments from the South of Scotland," Quart. Jotirn. 

 Geol. Soc. vol. 3d. pp. 270-272. 



