the north western side of the promontory, ad

joining the sands of Castletown bay.

Here

we meet with a breccia, composed of rolled pieces of quartz in a siliceous base, resting on a glistening slate. Some of it approaches to horn porphyry.

The inland boundary of the lime-stone tract extends from the creek first mentioned to Balasalla, including that village; and thence, crossing the Castletown river, to Pool-vash bay. At Athol bridge, on the Castletown river, grey wacké-slate is found. Following the stream for a quarter of a mile we find lime-stone, and near it a quartzose rock, like that at Langness: but these are the only places where I have observed it. Continuing our descent, we find a small quantity of compact brown iron-stone, lying immediately under the breccia. It crosses the bed of the river near a mill. The breccia continues for about a hundred yards further, and then gives place to lime-stone.

Clay-slate appears again at Port le Murray bay, and is composed of very thin lamina with a silky gloss; and much traversed by veins of quartz. The surface of the layers has that

peculiar undulated appearance,

which was,

I believe, first noticed by Sir James Hall.

Clay-slate constitutes the upper rocky mineral to Spanish head; round, from thence, to Port Erin, and, with little interruption to Peel,

There is a quarry of a very tough clay-slate below high water mark at Spanish-head, which is raised in blocks, ten or twelve feet long, eight, ten, or twelve inches broad, and four, six, or eight inches thick. These are employed for purposes which, in other countries, are effected by beams of wood, as for gate-posts, and alpine bridges over streamlets.

The Calf of Man is a small island, separated from the main by a gut of about one hundred yards. The summit of this island is upwards of five hundred feet above the level of the sea; being nearly equal to the high land of Spanishhead. The strata consist entirely of a glossy bluish-grey clay-slate, more inclined to the east, and less regularly stratified than the slaterock on the main. I was told that marble was to be found in the Calf; but it proved to be whitish quartz, found sometimes in detached masses; and frequently forming veins in the slate. There

are several huge masses of slate rock separated from this island; one of which, the Borough, is perforated by a natural arch. The circuit of the Calf may be about five miles; its area, six hundred acres.

Between Port Erin and Kirk Arbory, near the latter place, and on the left hand side of the road, are the shafts of lead mines now deserted. Slate, slightly tinged with carbonat of copper, is to be seen amongst the rubbish: whence it is probable that copper ore was found along with the lead.

At Breda-head is a copper mine, chiefly of the sulphuret of copper. The miners being engaged in the more profitable employment of the herring fishery, I was unable to pay it my intended visit; as the way down the cliff to the entrance of the level is considered difficult and dangerous, and no one was willing to accompany me.

Between Castletown and St. John's, and within about two miles of the latter place, are the mines of Foxdale, now drowned. These mines were said to afford a considerable quantity of fine lead glance; and, according to report, would have yielded much profit to the

proprietors, had they been well managed. At present they are deserted. A large water-wheel, and the disjointed iron pipes, once used to drain them, lie scattered around. The rubbish from the shafts consists almost wholly of fragments of slate, mixed with pieces of brown blende, a little lead glance, and some sparry iron ore.

We find in the bottom of the valley, leading from St. John's to Peel, many marine exuviæ. Tradition says, that the tide once flowed up this valley, nearly to the base of Mount Kreevey; a circumstance which the appearance of the country and the shells found in the alluvial soil, render highly probable; and which is further strengthened by the discovery of three iron anchors, at a great distance from the present shore, embedded in the same alluvial repository with the shells. The shells are neither petrified nor incorporated with consolidated materials, but simply embedded in the clay and sand of the soil. Here also have been discovered horns of animals, apparently of the stag kind, the largest of which measure nine feet from tip to tip.

A little nearer to Peel than St. John's, we meet with a loose sandy soil, resting on grey wacke

1

slate. It stretches northward to Kirk Michael, forming a narrow slip of land, the higher parts being one hundred, or one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, bounded on the left by the ocean, and on the right by land of somewhat greater elevation, which consists chiefly wacké-slate sometimes covered by a bed

of grey
of common clay.

The sand is bounded on the south east by grey wacké-slate strata, which form the boundary of Peel valley in that direction. Peel castle stands on this rock.

The cliff at the northern part of Peel bay is a reddish brown sand-stone, much charged with clay and iron. It sometimes contains fragments of quartz, and assumes the appearance of a breccia. The finest part is used for building; and a quarry is worked at this place a little above high water mark. The softer parts of the coarsest sort, where washed by the waves, have left several deep caverns and grotesque figures in the harder rock. The creeks along the shore exhibit the sand lying upon the slate in every variation of thickness: sometimes, for a short space, it disappears altogether. The sand-stone, being found immediately over slate, is to be regarded as sand-stone of the oldest for