Mar., 1891. 
THE ARAN ISLANDS. 
51 
On some parts of the shore are found large accumulations 
of sand, which are drifted about by the winds, at one time 
being deposited in fresh places, covering gardens, &c., while 
at others old accumulations are carried away. 
Of course, situated as these islands are in the broad 
Atlantic, they feel the full force of the winds and waves; 
and often, when the sea looks as smooth as a millpond, the 
waters break on the cliffs with such force as to send up 
showers of spray fully 100 feet in height. In stormy weather 
the effect is magnificent. I saw great baulks of timber which 
had been thrown up on cliffs nearly 200 feet high, and here 
so much seaweed had been thrown up that men were collect¬ 
ing it for the purpose of burning into kelp. There was 
enough Laminaria or Tangle to repay their trouble. A place 
on the middle island was pointed out to me on which the 
body of a man had been thrown up on the cliffs quite as high 
as this, and left many yards inland ; and I was shown a place 
where a few years ago three men had been blown off the 
cliffs while fishing, and drowned. The most striking example 
I saw of the power which may be exerted by water driven by 
the wind was a block of stone, situated about half-tide mark, 
which, as shown by the grooves in the flat-topped rocks, had 
been moved between 50 and 100 feet. Here, as elsewhere in 
limestone formations, the rocks tend to assume the form of 
flat terraces. I measured this block roughly, and found it to 
contain about 48 cubic feet of stone. Mr. Nowers, however, 
measured it more exactly, and calculated that it weighed 
about 108 tons. 
The Land Fauna is a scanty one, as might be expected 
from its insular position and lack of trees and streams. 
There is one very curious fact in connection with the 
Fauna. The common banded snails Helix nemoralis and 
hortensis are of comparatively enormous size and great thick¬ 
ness, being quite double the size of ordinary specimens, while 
the flat Helix ericetorum has the shell much thinner than usual, 
a very remarkable contrast, considering that they both occur 
on the calcareous rocks. The Marine Fauna is no doubt a 
very rich one, but owing to the stormy character of the sea, 
not very easy to investigate. Foraminifera are thrown up on 
the strand in enormous numbers. The Flora is restricted in 
number of species, but interesting in many ways. I have 
already spoken of the ferns ; among other noticeable plants 
are Oentiana verna, Sea Kale growing among the loose stones 
of the shingle banks, and the common Ragwort, or Senecio 
Jacubcea; this is noticeable from the fact that in the majority 
of specimens the flowers are without the ordinary bright yellow 
