137 
of Edinburgh, Session 1878 - 79 . 
As the summit was approached, it was observed that the boulders 
became less in size and fewer in number. This is quite intelligible 
if all the country had been under the sea, and a current flowing from 
the W.N.W., as this valley, on account of its direction, would have 
no great force of current in it, and the passage would be too narrow 
for much ice to pass through it. 
At the summit level, a striated rock was observed, the strise 
running W.S.W., i.e., parallel with the general axis of the valley. 
2. At Ardvourlie there is a trainee of boulders extending for at 
least half a mile, running in a direction east by north. On examining 
several clusters of boulders, it became apparent that the boulders had 
come not from the east but from the west. 
Ardvourlie, to which this trainee reached, is close to the sea, viz., 
on a branch of Loch Seaforth, and the valley rises in a direction 
about west by south. In following with the eye the line of the 
trainee , it was seen to point towards a gap or depression in the 
range of hills at the west, distant about two miles. The Convener 
regretted very much that it was not in his power to follow this 
trainee and investigate the correctness of his conjecture — that the 
boulders may have come from the westward through the gap. 
3. Soval is a shooting lodge of Sir James Matheson, on the road 
to Stornoway, and about 12 miles from it. To the east of Soval 
there is a rocky ridge, distant about half a mile, and at a height of 
about 220 feet above the sea. 
On this rocky ridge the smooth faces of the rocks look towards the 
N.W. Indeed, in the whole of the district north of Ardvourlie, a 
distance of about 15 miles, this was the case with all the hills 
passed. 
On the ridge just mentioned there was a boulder close upon its 
edge, which gave clear indication of a N.W.. current. The rock 
forming the site of the boulder had been smoothed, and it sloped 
towards W.N.W. at an angle of from 20° to 25°. The boulder is 
in size 5J x 3J x 2 ft. The longer axis of the boulder is W.N.W., 
and its sharpest end is towards the west. It is shown in fig. 29. 
4. Lor 7 or 8 miles to the south of Stornoway, the district passed 
through by the high road from Tarbert, Ardvourlie, and Soval, 
consists of an extended plain covered by peat and coarse pasture. 
The height above the sea is from 200 to 230 feet. No hills or even 
