NOTES AND QUERIES. 



447 



The reason of this appears to be that south of TVeusleydale the upper " Scar- 

 limestones" thin out ; while the lower, which form the bed of the Eure, thicken 

 in proportion, thus creating a basin on which the upper group reposes, while 

 the passes to the south lie on the edge of this great basin, which may be traced 

 round by the line of the " Penine-fault," The grits of tlie upper group, 

 especially where the beds become obliterated, are friable and easily broken ; 

 hence the streams flow on the more compact lower strata, and find their way 

 from their springs on the edge of the basin into the hollow where the main 

 river runs, creatmg the lateral valleys which, from the enormous thickness of 

 the beds, and the greater strength of the limestone-bauds, is impossible on the 

 northern face of the main valley ; and the descent into the valleys south of 

 Wensleydale being from the edge of the basin through the steps of the great 

 homogenous lower " Scar-Umestone," which has few alternating grits and 

 " plates" to wear level, the roads, where there are any, are more impracticable. 



At Cray, the first hamlet in our descent from the pass, we found crossing 

 the road, a little above the inn, several highly fossiliferous beds, where the 

 Frodadm Scoticus is crowded together in the thin stratum which produces 

 the large slabs containing that fossil so common in our museums. It is as- 

 sociated with Lit host rot iou irrerjidare in very large lumps. A little above 

 tins are beds in which Turbinolia fuiigites is very common ; wliile higher, where 

 the waters form a series of cascades, the beds are full of Frodactiis g'ujantens. 



The descent from above Cray into Wharf edale is very steep ; and passing a 

 valley to the left, a view opens into the heart of Great Whernside, its rounded 

 top forming a promment object ; we soon came in sight of one of the marvels 

 of the dale — Kihisey Craj^, a magnificent scar, one hundred and sixty-five feet 

 perpendicular, and literally overhanging tlie road for half a mile. It is in the 

 the lower " scar-Hmestone," and one of the spurs of Hard-flask, a range of hills 

 stretching as far as Pen-y-geant ; and, lying in the northern line of the "Craven- 

 fault," probably owes its perpendicular character to the disturbances that pro- 

 duced the precipices of Malham Cove and the scars at Giggleswick. Prom 

 beneath it, as at Malham Cove, issues a clear stream of cold water, whence 

 Whittaker deduces the name of the crag itself, " Kilnsey" (written chilisie), that 

 is, " chiU water," a derivation almost too poetical to be correct. 



In the drive from Kilnsey the valley yields a succession of views of the most 

 romantic and ever -increasing beauty, until they culmmate in the rich woods and 

 savage moors by which Bolton Abbey is shut in. On the left, at the base of Whern- 

 side, the step-nke character of tlie " lower scar-limestone" is well exliibited. 



We did not foUow the road fuiiher than to a village called Linton, where 

 we turned off into a bye-road that led us into a little solitary basin among the 

 hiUs, where lies the hamlet of Thorpe, called in the old charters " Thorpe sub- 

 tus Montem," and truly it deserves t4ie name. It lies in a hollow of the lime- 

 stone, where the beds are broken up at the junction \nth the millstone-grit, 

 which frowns in castle-like " scars" from Burnsall and Barden Palls. The lime- 

 stone itself, after its disruption, has been worn into conical hiUs and lake-like 

 cavities, not dissimilar to the way in wliicli it has been denuded near Clitheroe ; 

 wliile the beautiful green herbage on the sugar-loaf hills presents a striking con- 

 trast to the brown rocks forming the edges of the miUstone-grit above them. 



Tliis limestone is most fossiliferous ; and contains very fine examples of many 

 species of Productus, Terebratula, Bhynchonella, and other bracliiopods, and 

 fewer, but equally well preserved specimens of Trilobites, Goniatites, Pectens, and 

 beautiful corals. We brought away with us, after a long day's work, a noble 

 series of fossils, many of which would grace the cabinets of the most fastidious, 

 A day at Thorpe w^ould well repay the collector of fossils; and Messrs, 

 Pindar, who were most obliging to us, would I am sure be most happy to 

 render any facilities. 



