James Durham — The “Karnes” of Newport, Fife. 11 
It is evident from tke presence of tke raised gravel beaches pre- 
viously described that after tke final retreat of tke glaciers, tke land 
of tkis district must kave been submerged, or, wkick is muck less 
probable, kad risen as tke glacier withdrew towards tke mountains ; at 
any rate, wketker it went down mantled witk moraine matter and 
tken rose again, or simply rose out of tke sea after tke ice-slieet kad 
for ever witkdrawn from its skores, foot by foot every part of it 
would successively form tke sea-beack, at first or at last tke sea- 
beack of tke mainland, but for tke most part of an arckipelago of 
little islands tkrougk wkich the waves of tke Nortli Sea rolled to- 
wards tke kills of Angus and Pertkshire. We can readily imagine 
kow tkat old ocean would sweep tke stones left by tke ice against 
tke rocks and over eack otker, rolling tkein backwards and forwards 
over its ckanging beach, wearing and rounding tkem, and spreading 
tkem over its bed, tke ligkter fragments, the fine gravel and sand, 
away out in its motionless deptks, tke larger pieces being deposited 
nearer tke skore, wkile great boulders would scarcely be moved 
at all. 
Tkus, I tkink tke various peculiarities of tke construction of tke 
“ Karnes” may be accounted for. Tke great mounds of large unstrati- 
fied stones, tke “Castle Hill ” and neigkbouring keigkts, are close to 
tke skore of the islands represented by Newton and Wormit Hills, in 
a ckannel wkere tke waves of conflicting tides would toss tkem con- 
stantly to and fro, and so prevent anytkinglike orderly strati fication, 
just as we find to be tke case on tke beack of any exposed part of 
our coast. Leaving tkese keigkts in eitker direction, we descend into 
wkat was tke deptks of tkat sea, and find, as we would naturally 
expect, tkat in a general way tke furtker we recede from tke old 
sea-shore, tke finer are tke materials wkick composed its floor and 
tke more orderly tkeir arrangement. 
Having tkus explained tke source and arrangement of tke materials 
wkick form our Karnes, we naturally come to tke question of tkeir 
varied forms. How can we account for tke form of tke lofty “ Castle 
Hill ” ? round tke base of wkick, during tke construction of tke 
railway, were found traces of an artificial ditck containing' black 
eartk and fragments of human bones, pointing to bygone times and 
struggles wken its steep gravelly sides formed a strong position of 
defence. Wkat force moulded tkose billow-like ridges tkat roll 
round it on all sides as if mimicking tke waves of tke ocean. Or, 
more puzzling still, wkence tkis great flat-topped plateau witk its 
angular precipitous side, stretcking along tke valley like tke eartli- 
works of some race of giants ? A tolerably careful examination of 
many of tke slopes and hollows kas convinced me tkat tke only answer 
is, Kain and rivers kave skaped them all ! When tke land rose out 
of tke sea, tke re-arranged glacial moraine matter would form eitker 
a gentle seaward sloping plain from tke top of its kigkest ridge to 
the sea-level, or, wkat is more probable, it would form a series of 
successive terraces or Steps similar to wkat we find between Newport 
and Tayport. Tke moment eitker the wkole or part of it was exposed 
to atmospkeric influences, the wasting action would begin ; tke rain 
