RAISED BEACHES AND THEIR ORIGIN. 
175 
nautical miles lias been raised in mass, in some parts to a 
height of 400 feet, within the period of the existing sea-shells, 
as these are found sometimes on the surface of the terraces 
partially retaining their colours ! The uprising movement was 
interrupted at least eight times, during which the sea ate 
deeply back into the land, forming at successive levels, lines 
of cliff, or escarpments, which separate the different plains as 
they rise like steps one above the other. The lowest plain is 
ninety feet above the sea level, and the highest ascended by 
Mr. Darwin near the coast 950 feet, of which only relics are 
now left. The author to whom we are indebted for these 
details observes, that the elevatory movements and the erosive 
action of the sea during the periods of rest, have been equable 
over long lines of coast, for he found to his surprise, that the 
step-like plains stood at nearly corresponding heights at far 
distant points. 
These illustrations, drawn from both hemispheres of ancient 
sea margins and raised beaches, will probably suffice for the 
purpose of this paper, and there remains only one more 
subject of prominent interest to discuss, namely, the date of 
these elevations in regard to the age of man. That all the 
raised beaches we have been considering are extremely recent, 
geologically speaking, is proved by the fact of their containing 
shells of living species almost exclusively ; yet, it by no means 
follows that some of them are not of more ancient date than 
the appearance of the human race. On the other hand, others, 
as we have seen in the case of the laterite of Southern India, 
and the thirty-feet beach of Scotland, are more recent, as they 
contain works of art. The most recent instance, perhaps, of 
coast elevation is that of the Bay of Baise, which, as shown by 
Sir C. Lyell in his “ Principles of Geology,” has been partially 
submerged, and re-elevated within historic times. The Temple 
of Serapis was partially entombed in a beach now raised 
twenty-five feet above the sea, consisting of clay and volcanic 
matter, and containing pottery, portions of buildings, and 
numbers of shells of existing species in the bay. The 
emergence can be proved to have taken place since the 
beginning of the sixteenth century. 
The age of the most recent of the raised beaches of Scot- 
land, the thirty-feet beach, has occasioned a lively controversy. 
That it is more recent than the habitation of the country by 
the ancient Celtic tribes is attested by the canoes which have 
been found under the streets of Glasgow and further inland, 
imbedded in strata of sand, clay, and gravel, along* with 
remains of whales, seals, and porpoises ; but beyond all this it 
seems highly probable (if indeed not absolutely certain) that 
the elevation of this beach has taken place since the date of the 
