of Edinburgh, Session 1872-73 143 
Fife, East Lothian, and Berwick, which must have come from the 
Scottish Highlands. But farther and more striking proofs of this 
great north-west movement are afforded by the large bouldt rs in 
the counties of Elgin, Nairn, and Ross-shire, of which accounts 
are given in the Appendix to this Report. From these, it appears 
that conglomerate boulders, from 30 to 50 tons in weight, now 
lying on the hill-sides and the plains of Elgin and Nairn, must 
have been somehow transported from the conglomerate hills of 
Cromarty, across what is now the Moray Firth ; and that granite 
boulders, very little smaller, and many of them angular, situated 
in the district between Tarbat Ness and Tain, at various levels up 
to 1200 feet above the sea, must have been transported from 
mountains far to the north-west. 
The non-occurrence of conglomerate boulders in this last-men- 
tioned district is also itself negative proof corroborative of the 
north-west movement; — there being no conglomerate hills to the 
north-west of the last-mentioned places. 
Whilst the existence of this north-west movement is indicated 
by the birth-places of the boulders, other circumstances confirm the 
conclusion. Thus, most of the boulders now referred to have their 
smoothest and sharpest ends towards the north-west; the scratches 
and ruts on their surfaces and sides point in the same direction ; 
and where there are striae on the rocks of the district near these 
boulders, these striae also, in nine cases out of ten, are parallel. 
It also deserves notice, that when boulders are on hills, they 
evidently indicate a preference for the sides of those hills having 
a north-west aspect, — a fact which seems to indicate the existence 
and prevalence of some transporting agent which could be more 
frequently and effectually stopped by the sides of hills facing the 
north-west. 
The facts reported from Elgin and Ross-shire bearing on this 
point are corroborated by the position of the boulders described 
as on the hill on the north side of the Linnhe Loch at Fort- 
William. 
But whilst there is strong evidence, so far as the Committee 
have proceeded in their inquiries, to show, that in a great part of 
the mainland of Scotland a general movement has prevailed from 
the north-west, some facts indicate a separate movement from 
VOL. VIII. 
