shelves and drawers of a cabinet, nor even in the ponderous blocks daily exhumed by the quarryman, but along some surf-beaten cliff-line or down some precipitous ravine where the rock for centuries has been exposed to the wear and tear of the elements. Limestones and other calcareous formations are liable to more than ordinary decay, for, as we have seen above, percolating rain-water constantly carries away mineral matter from their subterranean portions. Accordingly, in some parts of the country, as for instance in Yorkshire, the interior of such rocks has been eaten away into great caverns by this form of decomposition. Some remarkable examples occur in the island of Raasay, one of the north-eastern Hebrides. Its eastern margin shoots up from the sea to a height of over 900 feet, the cliff-line being formed of a calcareous grit as perpendicular as a wall, and fissured by deep chasms and rents. The narrow table-land between the edges of this cliff and an abrupt ridge that rises behind, is perforated by innumerable holes and clefts, into which if a stone be thrown it may be heard for several seconds rumbling far below. The edges of these pitfalls are often fringed with ferns, rushes, and long grass, so as to be nearly hidden, and it requires no little caution to traverse this elevated region in safety. Innumerable sheep have been lost by falling into the subterranean abysses, and even the wary natives seem to have sometimes lost their footing. A story is told of a woman who had crossed to the other side of the island for the purchase of some commodities, and returning by the high grounds had got nearly within sight of her own cottage, when by some unlucky accident she took a false step and instantly disappeared. Unfortunately her errand had been performed alone, so that some time elapsed ere she was missed. The search continued unremitting for two days, but no trace of the missing traveller could be found. At last on the third day her figure was seen creeping slowly along the road not many hundred yards from her own door. It appeared that she had first slid down a sheer height of about fifty feet, when her further passage was intercepted by the sides of the fissure. During the earlier part of her confinement she strove hard to re-ascend the chasm, and it was not until, the effort seeming fruitless, she had begun to resign herself to despair, that a glimmering of light from below induced her to attempt a descent. This proved no easy matter, and occupied many weary hours of labour and suspense; but at length she succeeded in worming herself to the bottom, and crawled out more dead than alive only a little way from her home. There still stand perched on some of these precipitous cliffs the remains of a few villages, the inhabitants of which were accustomed to tether their children to the soil, whence one of the hamlets received in Gaelic the soubriquet of Tethertown. Many a valuable commodity disappeared by rolling over the cliff, and