11 
Proceeding onward we next come to the Old Red Sandstone at Boyce's 
Bay, near Porter's Gate, where it dips in perfect conformity under the 
Limestone of the Point. I "believe this to be the original section which 
gave rise to the opinion that the Old Red Sandstone should he grouped 
with the carboniferous series of rocks ; but I think something more than 
conformity of dip is required to render such an alteration in the long ac- 
cepted arrangement desirable. It is true that at this place the upper 
portion of the Old Red has some few fossils identical with those of the 
overlying Limestone, but when in other localities we come to the middle 
and lower beds, we find the types of life, fishes, mollusca, and crinoids, 
wholly different in character. 
At Boyce's Bay, in the upper stratum, I thought I could trace circular 
spots bearing some resemblance to plants, but the siliceous nature of the bed 
defied all attempts to remove them. This upper portion is the yellow sand- 
stone of Griffith. In some of the red sandstone strata, more to the west, 
and close under the limestone, I obtained a few teeth of fishes and de- 
tached portions of crinoid columns, similar to those which occur in the 
incumbent calcareous strata. 
From Boyce's Bay to Herrylock, which is situated between the Hook 
Point and Templetown Bay, an excellent type of the Old Red 
Sandstone may be seen, where the rock is exposed in the well- 
defined cliff-section and the base and summit are both clearly visible. 
Here the thickness is about 450 feet, but this thickness is small as com- 
pared with other localities ; for instance, in the county of Kilkenny it has 
been estimated at 1680 feet. In Boyce's Bay the average dip is about 13 Q 
South, while that of the underlying grey slates is 60° N.W. 
In a grey micaceous flaggy bed of the Old Red I obtained many im- 
perfect specimens of plants and also found several layers of anthracite. 
Not far from the cliff the apex of a mass of trap protrudes several feet 
above the beach, probably indicative of a large underlying mass. This trap 
is so hard and tough that it defied my chisel and hammer and I could 
only break off a very small portion. 
On this beach is also seen a singularly shaped detached mass of Old Red, 
which may be considered either as a token of extensive but gradual denu- 
dation, or of a mighty debacle that broke up and swept the whole of the 
sandstone from the cliffs above. Such a debacle did probably occur, for in 
the valley at Taylor's Town, situated several miles to the North-east, 
massive blocks of the Old Red Sandstone lie scattered in every direction 
on the alluvial deposit along the river side, proving that a general breaking 
