on the Eildon Hills. 



209 



of the whole group. The eastern hill is for the most part 

 covered with sward to the summit; so is the lower half of the 

 middle one, the upper portion being nearly all naked rock. 

 On the ascent to the uneven plain, or shoulder that connects 

 the eastern with the middle hill, above mid-height, I per- 

 ceived two or three of the terraces* upon the face of a great 

 spur that shoots out from the latter above the beautiful ruin 

 of Melrose Abbey. They seemed to range at about equal 

 distances from each other, and to be from 80 to 100 yards 

 wide; the upper being about three-fourths of a mile long, 

 and nearly of equal width throughout. As I successively 

 reached the level of each, I found the surface to be covered 

 with vegetation, and to be far too uneven to have been formed 

 or modelled by water. On attaining the plain or connecting 

 shoulder just alluded to (which I took to be No. 10 of Mr. 

 Kemp's series), I found the same inequality of surface, and 

 also an evident general slope, not outwards from the hill to- 

 wards the valley, but at right angles to that direction, and 

 from a horizontal line that would have formed the beach when 

 the water stood at that level. 



On ascending the eastern hill the terraces between it and 

 the middle hill were so obscure and broken up, and the inter- 

 mediate slopes so irregular, that I could not trace them for 

 any distance, or even in some places satisfy myself that they 

 existed at all. It appeared (admitting they had once been 

 there) that portions of them had subsequently slipped down, 

 dividing horizontally into two or three, and then had rested 

 in irregular and slanting positions on the intermediate spaces. 

 The average slope of the hill here was 30 to 35 degrees, and 

 the average deviation of the surfaces of these detached por- 

 tions from the horizontal line, about 5 degrees; but this de- 

 viation was sometimes in one direction and sometimes in 

 another; so that supposing a person were to walk along 

 them, he would sometimes ascend, and sometimes descend. 

 The diameter of the surface was also uneven, generally 

 sloping outwards, but in one place inwards, the width being 

 various, mostly from ten to twenty yards. In no one spot is 

 the surface horizontal ; yet, at the same time, it is necessary 

 to say that, viewing them as a whole, they seem too uniform 

 and regular to be accidental slips of detritus from above, and 

 at first sight appear more like the remains of rude earthen 

 entrenchments than the effect of any great natural cause. It 



* I adopt this word for the whole series, though some of them are more 

 properly shelves, or slight projections ; and are so obscure, that Mr. Kemp 

 told me he only discovered one half of them by turning the spirit level to 

 those places on the opposite hills where he expected to find them. 

 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Nov. 1 840. p 



