Height of terrace in feet from east (high) to west (low): Terrace F. 364 Terrace E. 302 Terrace D. shown dotted, height not given. Terrace C. 120 Terrace B. 70 Terrace A. 25 sloping down to level of sea at Town of Coquimbo.) The narrow coast-plain sends, as before stated, an arm, or more correctly a fringe, on both sides, but chiefly on the southern side, several miles up the valley. These fringes are worn into steps or terraces, which present a most remarkable appearance, and have been compared (though not very correctly) by Captain Basil Hall, to the parallel roads of Glen Roy in Scotland: their origin has been ably discussed by Mr. Lyell. (“Principles of Geology” 1st edition volume 3 page 131.) The first section which I will give (Figure 9), is not drawn across the valley, but in an east and west line at its mouth, where the step-formed terraces debouch and present their very gently inclined surfaces towards the Pacific. The bottom plain (A) is about a mile in width, and rises quite insensibly from the beach to a height of twenty-five feet at the foot of the next plain; it is sandy, and abundantly strewed with shells. Plain or terrace B is of small extent, and is almost concealed by the houses of the town, as is likewise the escarpment of terrace C. On both sides of a ravine, two miles south of the town, there are two little terraces, one above the other, evidently corresponding with B and C; and on them marine remains of the species already enumerated were plentiful. Terrace E is very narrow, but quite distinct and level; a little southward of the town there were traces of a terrace D intermediate between E and C. Terrace F is part of the fringe-like plain, which stretches for the eleven miles along the coast; it is here composed of shingle, and is 100 feet higher than where composed of calcareous matter. This greater height is obviously due to the quantity of shingle, which at some former period has been brought down the great valley of Coquimbo.