ANNIVEKSABY ADDRESS OF IHE PRESIDENT. 89 



inches downwards. A rather fissile structure may he noted parallel 

 with the handing, and the strike is roughly J^.W., with a high dip 

 (ahout 70°) on the eastern side. The resemblance of some of the 

 less fissile varieties to the moderately fine-grained Laurentian 

 gneisses of Canada is most remarkable. Gneisses of a similar cha- 

 racter, but, perhaps, slightly finer grained and with a rather com- 

 pressed aspect, continue for some distance on the Gairloch side of the 

 watershed, the strike becoming rather iS^.iS".W. These appear to 

 change gradually to a dark green, fine-grained, and rather fissile 

 hornblende-schist ; and this is the general character of the rock seen 

 by the roadside until we approach the straggling village of Gairloch, 

 except that in one place I noted a fine-grained, dark mica-schist. 

 About the new hotel at Gairloch and on the shore we find Torridon 

 sandstone. The lowest part of this is a breccia crowded with frag- 

 ments of crystalline rock, angular and subangular, the most abundant 

 being a hornblende-schist, practically identical with some of those 

 just mentioned, and a very fissile and fine-grained mica-schist, 

 though fragments of the gneisses are not wanting. On the shore 

 below the Pree Kirk both these schists may be seen in situ beneath the 

 breccia. Proceeding towards the bay, near the old burial-ground, 

 we pass fine-grained mica-schists with occasional garnets, and then 

 come, on the northern side, to a rather fine-grained micaceous gneiss, 

 followed by a dark green schist, and that by a fine-grained gneiss. 

 These rocks have a rather fissile structure, and the strike of it and 

 the foliation is between N.N.W. and N.W., with a high dip on the 

 western side. At a headland on the opposite side of the bay we 

 find, first, a fairly fine-grained micaceous gneiss passing into one 

 slightly darker and more hornblendic, followed by a very dark green, 

 almost black, hornblende-schist, and that by a variable darkish gneiss 

 of sHghtly porphyritic aspect, beyond which comes a rather coarser, 

 more felspathic gneiss. All these rocks are somewhat fissile, espe- 

 cially the last named, and this structure, which coincides with the 

 foliation, agrees with that at the last-named headland, striking about 

 K.W., with a high dip to S.W. Similar variability in mineral 

 character may be seen, and a similar structure noted, at other places 

 in this neighbourhood. On the road from Gairloch towards Talladale 

 we pass various rather fine-grained, dark, micaceous gneisses, or, 

 perhaps, occasionally strong mica-schists, the usual strike being 

 about N.W. and the foliation nearly vertical. Approaching the 

 Kerry Falls, we find variable fine-grained gneisses followed by less 

 fissile dark mica-gneiss, and that by a rather greener compact schist ; 

 and on the upland just above the Falls we find first a very fine- 

 grained mica-gneiss, followed by a similar mica-schist, and that by 

 a fine-grained hornblende- schist. The rocks about here exhibit a 

 marked flaggy structure like bedding. This has a N.W. strike, is 

 nearly vertical, and it is parallel with the microscopic foliation. 



An examination of this district leads, I think, to three con- 

 clusions : — (1) that the mineral changes in the rock are indicative 

 of some kind of stratification ; (2) that if the fissility (which is some- 

 times very marked) and the foliation be due to pressure, this has 



