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362 ON THE HIGHLANDS. 



compose it, consist of quartzy mica-slate, with 

 limestone-beds, hornblende-slate, and sienite con- 

 taining mica. 



GLENTILT. 



The variety of rocky substances, found in Glen- 

 Tilt, and the peculiar appearances which they ex- 

 hibit, made me regret, that when I reached it, 

 the time which remained for the examination of 

 so interesting a tract, was extremely limited. In 

 the way of picturesque beauty, it possesses less 

 attraction, than many scenes to be met with in 

 the Highlands. But few districts of the same 

 extent, are more calculated to arrest the atten- 

 tion, and repay the labour, of the minera- 

 logist. 



In this direction, we remark as formerly, that 

 the whole range of alpine country, is a grand for- 

 mation of gneiss and mica-slate, to which all the 

 particular minerals now to be mentioned, are 

 subordinate. Accordingly, the lower part of Glen- 

 Tilt presents mica-slate, tending to -gneiss ; and 

 in many places, gneiss itself is also seen, passing 

 distinctly into mica-slate. This formation con- 

 tains repeated beds of limestone : and thin layers 

 of stratified quartz, alternating with those of the 

 mica-slate, cross the channel of the river, in the 

 common direction of south-west and north-east. 



