James Durham — The “ Karnes ” of Newport, Fife. 
9 
railway affords convincing evidence that the gravels of which tliese 
Kanies are composed are not such as could have been formed in the 
neighbourhood, as they consist almost entirely of fragments of rocks 
only to be found far to the north or north-west. A very large pro- 
portion of the gravel is made up of the following rocks : Mica schist, 
gneiss, quartz, granite, Old Red Conglomerate, Old Red Sandstone, 
with a certain proportion of greenstone, basalt, and various “ tutfs ” ; 
while the rocks of the district consist of trap- rocks confusedly inter- 
bedded with impure sandstones, probably of Old Red Sandstone age. 
These cuttings further bring to light the important circumstance 
that, while the constituents of the loftier Kames, such as the “ Castle 
Hill,” are large and nearly devoid of stratification, those at lower 
levels either towards Wormit Bay on the one hand, or towards 
Straiton and St. Michael’s Inn on the other, show a gradual decrease 
in the size of the materials, and more and more distinct evidence of 
stratification. The long rampart-like Karne at Straiton, as far as 
can be ascertained from a few natural sections, is entirely com- 
posed of nearly horizontal layers of sand and fine gravel, though 
at its base the materials are larger and coarser. 
Though the Kames near Newport are by far the most remarkable in 
the district, numerous deposits of identical character and composition 
are found in every valley or hollow in the surrounding country, all 
agreeing in these important features with the mounds just described, 
namely, that the materials of which they are composed — the gravel 
and boulders — are not local stones, but have been brought from the 
north-west ; that in a general way the greater the distance from 
the hills, and the lower the levels at which these accumulations 
are found, the finer is the gravel and sand, and the more distinct 
is their stratification. 
It may not be out of place to remark here that there is a striking 
similarity between the arrangements of the materials composing 
these mounds and that of the Old Red Conglomerate exhibited in 
various cuttings in the neighbourhood of Blairgowrie. Proceeding 
from Rosemount through Blairgowrie and on towards Bridge of 
Cally, we find that while at Rosemount the proportion of pebbles 
enclosed in the rock is comparatively small, and the quantity of pure 
sandstone relatively large, as we proceed northward the proportions 
are gradually reversed, until, as we approach the Silurian hills 
which formed the shore of the inland sea, in which the Old Red 
System was laid down, the shingle and boulders which compose the 
conglomerate gradually increase in quantity and size ; and when we 
finally arrive at the close proximity of that ancient sea-shore, the 
conglomerate is represented by a mass of great rounded stones 
cemented together by a slight matrix of sandstone. 
The rounded and water-worn character of the stones which so 
largely compose the Kames readily suggests the sea as having 
played an important part in the formation of those interesting 
monuments of the past, and there are in the neighbourhood ample 
traces of old sea-levels, rnany of them far above the loftiest of the 
Kames. Along the hill-sides forming the bank of the estuary 
