of Edinburgh, Session 1883 - 84 . 
827 
less so free from any loose fragments on its surface, and the ends of 
the strata are often so rounded in outline as “ to raise a suspicion 
that some denuding agent bad flowed over it, at a period geologi- 
cally recent” {Lond. Geol. Soc. Proc., vol. xviii. p. 172). 
The following cases of boulders were reported by the Convener : — 
On the summit of the hills, at the head of Glen Roy (1320 feet 
above the sea), there are enormous granite boulders. “ Some rest on 
bare rock, but traces of clay and gravel in their vicinity suggest 
that they may originally have been embedded in drift, which has 
been since mostly washed away from under and about them ” {Edin. 
Roy. Soc. Trans., vol. xxvii. p. 639). 
The late Charles Darwin, who visited Lochaber, and wrote an 
instructive memoir on the “ Parallel Eoads ” question, refers to the 
Ben Erin hills, — their height reaching to 1600 feet above the sea. 
He says that “ on the mountains between Glen Eoy and Glen 
Glouy, on a hillock hT.IST.'W’. of the summit of Ben Erin, I found 
several masses of granite, one of which was 4 x 3 x 2 feet, resting on 
the surface of the gneiss. This hillock seemed to be entirely com- 
posed of the latter rock, and it was separated from all other hills by a 
valley. On the flanks of Ben Erin, at about the same level, there 
were several boulders of granite.” — “With respect to these Ben Erin 
boulders, they are completely cut off from every granite district by 
valleys, the highest point of which is 920 feet below a boidder, the 
altitude of which I measured ; that is, it would be impossible to 
walk from granite in situ, to these boulders, without ascending at 
least that number of feet” (Darwin, “On the Parallel Eoads of 
Glen Eoy,” Phil. Trans, of Roy. Soc.^of London, for 1839, page 69). 
Sir John Eamsden of Ardverikie (on Loch Laggan) informed 
Convener that on the top of two contiguous hills, forming part of 
his estate, east of Loch Laggan (one of these hills exceeding 3000 
feet in height), there are large granite boulders. 
Sir John Eamsden guided the Convener to the Wester Beinin Hill 
(situated on the west side of Loch Laggan) to see several grey 
granite boulders. The rocks of the hill are red granite. One of the 
boulders is on a shelf about 1516 feet above the sea, on the side 
of a hill sloping down to W.S.W. 
Facts bearing on the direction of boulder transport in Loch- 
aber have been noticed by several geologists. Thus, Mr Jamieson 
mentions that on the hilly ridge between Glen Spean and Glen 
3 I 
VOL. XII. 
