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| PLEASKIN HEAD, COUNTY ATRIM. -This superb sentinel of the majestic coast of Antrim rises above the foaming billows of the sea some two miles to the eastward of the Giant's Causeway, and is one of the most imposing natural objects to be found in even that region of geological wonders. Antiquaries claim that the name of the grand promontory is obtained from the Gaelic Plaisgeian, which signifies "dry head." "Here," says Professor Addey, "the natural basaltic rock lies immediately under the surface. About twelve feet below the summit, the rock begins to assume a columnar tendency, and is formed into ranges of rudely columnar basalt, in a vertical position, exhibiting the appearance of a grand gallery, whose columns measure sixty feet in height. This basaltic colonnade rests upon a bed of coarse, black, irregular rock, sixty feet thick, abounding in air holes. Below this coarse stratum is a second range of pillars, forty-five to fifty feet high, more accurately columnar, and nearly as perfectly formed as the Causeway itself." The entire mass of the cliff, from the sea-base to the summit, is about four hundred feet high, and the surface presented to the beholder is so varied in rich coloring that he might imagine himself viewing the finest portions of the Yellowstone Canyon. Many tourists prefer Pleaskin Head to the Causway itself. |
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