561 
The depression is the result of the immense quantity of soil carried 
away while the force lasted. Between BB, the centre of the slip, 
the author on sounding some of the water-filled gaps found them 
sixteen feet deep. 
At A, where the effects of the slip are first seen, the soil has 
fallen in irregular masses to the east. At the widest part, BB, that 
lying on the north has given way to the south, and that lying on 
the south has fallen to the north. The pressure on three sides has 
been towards the centre, where the depth is greatest. This, the author 
showed, seemed to indicate, that the force had first become active at 
that point, and to suggest the explanation of the movement. About 
forty years ago, the central part was known in the district as the 
t( blind loch ”* — water covered with reeds, rushes, &c. 
The movement of the soil began about seven a.m., 12th August 
1861. The author visited the locality a few days later. Heavy 
rains had fallen for some weeks. August 11th was one of the 
wettest days of the season, and the wind blew strongly from the west. 
Great quantities of water had got between the peat and the underly- 
ing clay, and had floated the lightest central part. Denser matter 
would then press in from the sides A and BB, and give greater im- 
petus to the floating mass. The slip, having carried away the 
