130 
ANIMAL LIFE ON THE 
of wings and the flat under-surface of their body, they are 
able to form a cavity which acts as a vacuum, and which 
often defies the strongest hook and line gear to unloose. 
Sir William's plan was to drop a heavy sharp-pointed iron 
weight, attached to a line, upon the animal's back ; but 
from the information of my late father, the plan was not a 
successful one, the weight being invariably carried off its 
mark by the current of the tide through which it had to 
travel. 
We have now reached the southern end of the bay, 
where the rocks of the district begin to protrude their 
rough forms. The largest one, which no doubt is in 
possession of a district cognomen, attracts our attention. 
From its approach we notice it is inaccessible during high 
tide, and when we get upon its top, we at once see it is a 
fine study for the geologist. From the depths of the sea 
the trap dyke rises like a wall, several feet in thickness; 
and the same arrangement prevails on the shoreside, en- 
closing within a conglomerate mass, mixed with pudding 
stones, black, brown, and grey, that had. been rolled 
smooth by the sea on some unknown shore thousands of 
years before ; and these, interspersed with nuts of jasper, 
rise to the very crown of the height. Being exposed to 
the action of the sea breaking over it, the whole mass 
presents an extremely aged appearance. 
The incoming tide now debars our further progress, and 
only leaves us time, before retreating, to note the objects of 
the surrounding scenery. From the south, the mountain 
range before us, stretching away inland, rises to the sky line 
in beautiful green knolls and pleasant braes. At their base 
lies the fertile valley of the Girvan, with the smoky 
chimneys of the dreamy old town on the verge of its bosom. 
Over the peaceful sea, far away in the western horizon, rise 
