The Statesman.
London, England, 1821-07-24 00:00:00

CUlllOts GE91.1,61C.1b

The following curious fact is stated in an account of
the quarries of marble, where the blocks are takes' for
the construdion cf the Plyttsoeth breakwater:—
•• The gurrficA are skeeter! at Oreston, ea the east-
ern side of Catty:der : they lie ender a sedate (preheat
25 at rcs, and were Itorebus,d from the I take of Heart/rot
tor 10,1100/. They colisi-t of ..ne vast m. 0.% of roil,-
/mt.!, fluto...orraiare marble, wally sited:nen- of a hich
are beautifully variepted ; of day, however,
are ii.tersperxed through the rods, in which there are
' also large rarities, souse entry. and others partially-
tilled *ids clay. In one of these CAverit4 is the twilit!
rock, 13 feet wide, 45 feet long, and 12 feet deep.
tilled 'toady with cootegtatt clay, %%err found ittewded
Muds helutogingt i the a hi i:1111*1 rll4, being por-
tiout Gf the Ad, Lou* of three diet-, tent atti-nal,, all al,

To BUCK'S 11. M.CA EMT. Esq., Le. Le. &e.
/to) al Dublin slociety llousr. July In. Mel.
Cott—hi compliance with toe teptest of the Soya!
Dublin ociety, conveyed to me by your letter of tat
12th iac.tut, I have visited the usoving Box 111
: and finding, on my return to ihat:lo,
to4lav, that very enrolments mutton% respecting its
osagnittrle and destrurti•e rlfeets„ have been en-
tertained, 1 think it toy doer immediately to comm.•
nieate to von, for the istfureseation of the So..lety,
some account. of the nature and extent of this once
alarming phenomenon.
The Bog of Kiltualeady, front whence the erup-
tion broke out, situated about two miles to the
north of the village of Clara, in the King's County,
is of • gnsiderablo extent ; it may probably contain
oboe! 500 acres : in many parts it is forty feet in
the depth, awl it is considered to be the wett.-st flog in
country. It is b.otnded on all titles, except the
sonth, by steep rilges of high land, which are com-
p:sr.!. a: the top, of limestone gravel, and b.fteolg,
of raverttous littoestott.! rink, containiair subterra-
nean streant•: hut the suatheru face of the flog ••••
open too a awry valley, about a tittart•-r of a utile in
breadth, which, for nearly half a toile in I atzth.
takes a suushern direction in the lands of Lisauetki,
an.l then Innis at rigiot aneles to the west, awl con-
tinues grAlually widening for upwards of two miles.
t:4e centre ol this valley tIUTS a stream
about twelve feet in breadth, which s -reel, as a dis-
ellarp . for the waters front t!:e Box and the surron.td-
ing conntry. and finally joins the river Drustta above
the ht i Le of Balivrtmther.

l'he Bog of Kilts2.&•ady, lap all ott.r, &pp sail
wrt Bogs, is compost-11, for t!se first ei,;!st or ten
is et fro a t;:e sorisee downward, of a r.-,!dish !worn,
,µnogy form:A of the still nntleessuipneed
ti irc of the Bog mues, (Spit•lpt If al 'Sire) • wfile:l,
by r.sisilisey attraction, absorbs %slater is great
quantity. Beneath this ti;srous 11.45% the ltoz
dually becomes pulpy, tiii, kortls. toward,: she
button', it assorn.os the appearance, awl, when eka:hi ord,
the consisteare of a bLic.:: toad, r•tisi-r heal icr tis.in
%rater.

1 hr surfice of the Bug of Killtalealy wallelecati
upwarta of (twenty feet &lat.:. lew,•l of tip. (-Ai Lev,
Gout which it rose at a very steep an4le, and Es exter-
nal face, awing to the nut:omit: tiry!teSS of tii
sen-
rn::, being :tuck firwer than ugual, the inhabitants of
the vicinity were viahled to sink their turf-hole', and
rut t,u f at a depth of at lea 4 tel fret beneath the
surface of the vality, and, in I.et, twit they r•achef!
tti btu: ttlitch f rots ITC 3117AT:turn o:the


Thus, the faces of many of the turf-banks reached the
usual height of 30 feet perpehdicular ; when, at length.
on the 19th of June. the lo*er pulpy and muddy part
of the bog, which possessed little cohesion, being,ne.
able to resist the great pressure of water from %whin!).
gave way, and being once set in motion, floated tie
upper part of the Bog. and continued to move *lticas-
tonishing velocity along the valley to the eouthlrarel.
fureing before it not only did clamps of turf on the
edge of the bog, but even patches of the moor" mea-
dows, to the depth of several feet, the grassy surface
of which heaved and turned over almost like the wares
of the ocean ; so that in a very short space of limo
the whole valley, for the breadth of about a quarto,
'of a mile between the hog edge and the base of the hill
of Lisanisky, was covered with bog to a depth of from
right to ten feet, and appeared every where studded
with green patches of moors wade*.
The hill of Lisanisky retao‘J. the progress of the
bug fur sonic time, but at length it began to flow at
right angles to its first course along the valley, where
it turns to the west, and eontinned with unabated es-
pidity till it readied the bog road of Kilbride, (which
runs directly across the valley, and is elevated fire or
six fret 'bole it.) and clanked up the bridge tlarnork
which the %voters of the stream pass. This harrier re-
tarded the progress of the bog for tire tlays; at Cie
end of that time, the accumulation was such, front the
still moving bug and the watets of the stream, that it
flowed over the road, and covered time valley to the
smith of it for about half a mile, flowing %mitts varied
velocity, till it was again stopped, fur a few hours, as
I tindertand, by a second road across the val:ev, lead-
ing from Clera to Woodfield; having also overeome
this obstacle, it proceeded slowly westward, and if itY
progres, had not been checked by the very jutlicien:
weans that have been employed, the whole exteet of
the valuable asea t ; tttt••s, which compose the valley where
it expands to use westward, inte.t lent since har.• been
covered. Bat when the flowing bog bad passed over
the rood to Kilbritle, and the c•insterncian in the
country because general, at the desire of the Lords Jo --
tires, air. liregory employed Mr. ti.llaly. Engineer
the Direciors•tienerol of Inland Navigation, to Eau;
into execution any works that could be devil •d to ar-
rest the progress of the bog. Air. hillaly at mien p:-
ceive.l, that the only feasible remedy %%as to draw
the %eater that It el accumulated, awl to aocotimpli,4
this end, he employed a number of lehou ens to teitea
the course of t.:e stream w:iere it was chunked tip, and
also the drains through the valley that conl.l be di-
r.-eted into the Ftreatti. By this means time head of
water was soon lowered, and in consequence the tele
ceased to flow, amid all the loose masses which lloate4
on the river %yey broken to pieces by labourers, placed
at ionervalb throughout its course.
Site's iris the situstion of affairs on my arrival at
the bog early on Saturday morning. During the cootie
of.the day, 1 exerted setyseif to carry into exectitioa
the well-a4vised plans witich had previously
meowed by Mr. Kilialy. Towards evening the floating
masses which carne shown the river, began to lessen
eonsi.l.•rably, both in size and nutolwr ; sod, Gmlite;•
every thing proceeded with re;.ularity amid certainty,
I thou;; ht it tiseles., to remain longer.
At present I entertain no st..t•reliension of further
levastation from time Bog, exem pt in the event w a
very great fall of rain dining the present we. 4..—
Slight rains would be of ',wirier to increase the r.tr-
rent of water, anti faciiitee time removal of a comi-
deposit of heavy, ida, leigauud, which at
e.ent fills the bottom of the stre..m. The toneial
current has, however, been much increased by the
breaking, dot n of the weir.• on the river Bra,tia,
nelow the josiction of the Ili,. liver.
I shall near describe the present appearatve and
state of the Bog and umoory valley.
In the centre of the Bug, fo: the space of about
a mile and a half in length, amid a quarter of a itii:e
in It eatith, a valley has heel' formed, slo:ming at t;ie
bottom from the original surface of the Bog, to time
depth of thirty fe..t, whet.," the eruption first too!:
place. In this vall .y or gulf there are nutither:ese
concentric cuts, or ftssitres, tilled with water nearly la
the to:t.
The valley between time edge of the Bog anti t'.e
coal of Kit:nide, I%in the length of half a mile, ;lamb
as extent of bctive,ns sixty and eighty acres, us iy
consith•re.l as wally destroyed. It is covered by
telt—ably titan from sis to tea feet in dept's,
' consisting at the surface of numberless green island m,
composed of detat lied parts of the numry wea hr.v„,
and of small rounded patches of the original Leallty
aorface of the Bog, varying front two to ten feet is
tliatiteter, which are separate I from each other by
he ova pulp; bog, an I t:se 1111 of tits original •=tr-
ie elevated to about right or ten feet above its fore:e:
coarse, .o a. to flow over the read.
Beyond the r,t1.1 t m I;Abri.ic tile Bog has flow
for one mile westward, awl covered from fifty • m
serrive acre* ; in this part the Leaty patches of
gradnallv !rosy' in qtantity ; the green islan Is di •
appear, an] nothing is oteoavett but a thin tiepo-i-,
ronsististg of granulated bl-tottd, varying
(rain out to three feet in 01.cline... This, thiet•lli
destr active for the pres:ott yen-, may. when dry, 1: e'
hurst. area removed for tu.ll;:tre to the
tylattle, or left on the spot to tertilize the valley.
Thus the whole sliNNutee which the Bog has II•tere•I •
is Himont three miles its 1:1t,;t:1, tta.uely, one mile an I a .
half i:t the I/41g, all Cie sanme distance over time um sori
caller ; and ex7ent cove. d amounts to about noes •
ha:vire:l and ftay acres.
I have the lio.tour to be, Sir, your most obedient
hu I.ble servolt,
tiftunt en. lining Engineer. .
eti

The ofßeers and workmen of the Naval Yar:!,
Plymouth-duck, were paid in specie on Saturday
se'onight. On this occasion upwards of 7t4000/. were
disbursed ; in which sum there were only about 43
sovereigns, the remainder !Ping silver, of which the
treater part was sixpences.—Thr issuing silver in
such qnsatiles hai given tnnch extra tronblc to the
to the •inhabi:suts gewratiy.

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