chap. ix. Elevation of Valparaiso. 243 



down can be unequivocally shown to be in great part 

 formed from the debris of the sea animals. 1 



With respect to the position in which the shells lie, 

 I was repeatedly struck here, at Concepcion, and at 

 other places, with the frequency of their occurrence on 

 the summits and edges either of separate hills, or of 

 little flat headlands often terminating precipitously 

 over the sea. The several above-enumerated species of 

 Mollusca, which are found strewed on the surface of 

 the land from a few feet above the level of the sea up 

 to the height of 1,300 feet, all now live either on the 

 beach, or at only a few fathoms' depth : Mr. Edmonston, 

 in a letter to Prof. E. Forbes, states that in dredging 

 in the Bay of Valparaiso, he found the common species 

 of Concholepas, Fissurella, Trochus, Monoceros, Chi- 

 tons, &c. living in abundance from the beach to a depth 

 of seven fathoms ; and dead shells occurred only a few 

 fathoms deeper. The common Turritella cingulata 

 was dredged up living at even from ten to fifteen 

 fathoms ; but this is a species which I did not find here 

 amongst the upraised shells. Considering this fact of 

 the species being all littoral or sub-littoral, considering 

 their occurrence at various heights, their vast numbers, 

 and their generally comminuted state, there can be 

 little doubt that they were left on successive beach-lines 



1 In the ' Proceedings of the Geolog. Soc' vol. ii. p. 446, I have 

 given a brief account of the upraised shells on the coast of Chile, 

 and have there stated that the proofs of elevation are not satisfactory 

 above the height of 230 feet. I had at that time unfortunately over- 

 looked a separate page written during my second visit to Valparaiso, 

 describing the shells now in my possession from the 557 feet hill ; I 

 had not then unpacked my collections, and had not reconsidered 

 the obvious appearance of greater antiquity of the shells from the 

 greater heights, nor had I at that time discovered the marine origin of 

 the earth in which many of the shells are packed. Considering these 

 facts, I do not now feel a shadow of doubt that the shells, at the 

 height of 1,300 feet, have been upraised by natural causes into their 

 present position. 



