432 Mr. W. Ferguson on the occurrence of Chalk Flints 



. estate of Kinmundy. The ridge of hill on which they occur 

 here trends to the north, coming round again towards the 

 west, so as to expose to the south a bay-like hollow. The 

 hill is covered with moss and heather, part of which has been 

 planted. The south face of the hill has, however, been under 

 cultivation during the last twenty- five or thirty years. The 

 flints are seen on the surface, commencing pretty far up on 

 the east side of the hollow, and following at the same height 

 the form of the bay, disappearing among the heather, which 

 has not yet been removed on the extreme west. They are in 

 great abundance, covering a space of some twelve to twenty 

 yards in breadth. 



About 1830, in cutting a ditch to carry off the surface-water 

 from the garden of the farmhouse of Bogingarry, the bed of 

 flints was come upon, and found to be of considerable thickness. 

 The ditch ran from south-west to north-east, traversing the 

 flint bed, and a short cross one lay in the line of the bed. 



When I saw the ditch first, about 1839, it had become partly 

 filled up and had a most singular appearance. It was crossed 

 by the road to the house, and the water-way of the bridge 

 was quite choked with rounded flints of all sizes. Above the 

 bridge, the bottom of the ditch was quite covered with rounded 

 flints brought down by torrents. As you ascended the burn 

 you could see the nature of the ground. The layer of soil 

 was extremely thin, and below it the ditch was cut through a 

 stiff yellow clayey gravel, so hard as to be pierced with ex- 

 treme difficulty. Until you reach the bed itself, very few 

 flints are to be seen among the clay. The top end of the 

 ditch and the cross one are in the bed. The flints lie closely 

 packed together, imbedded in the already mentioned clayey 

 matrix. They contain numerous organic remains. 



Near Peterhead there have been found considerable varieties 

 of the Echini family, occasionally entire, but more generally 

 only small portions of the impressions of these shells are found. 

 Single spines frequently occur, and are distinctly marked. 

 The Inoceramus, Pecten and Terebratula, are very abundant. 



Flints are also found on the surface, on the adjoining hill 

 of Skelmuir. South-westward they are found again on the 

 hill of Dudwick in the parish of Ellon. This seems to be 

 their southernmost limit. In some of the localities they are 

 shivered to atoms, retaining their sharp fracture; and this so 

 universally in these places, that an unbroken one is scarcely 

 to be seen. 



Mr. Christie of Banff, in the paper already referred to, 

 states that they occur at Boyndie Bay in that shire ; and also 

 in a mass of diluvium covering the high grounds between 



