HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



73 



IN THE ISLE OF MAN. 



By Dr. P. Q. KEEGAN. 



ANG ! went the 

 gun from Fort 

 Anne as we 

 steamed gallantly 

 into the imposing 

 harbour of Doug- 

 las, the beautiful 

 capital of the 

 Isle of Man. Far 

 out at sea, the 

 island had pre- 

 sented a far- 

 stretching array 

 of ridges and 

 knolls, towering 

 not very pictu- 

 resquely over the 

 blue crystal of 

 the ocean. Now, 

 on our arrival, 

 -we knew prospectively that a region was to be 

 visited not very eminent as regards scenic attrac- 

 tiveness, but one rather of pre-eminent scientific 

 interest. Considering, therefore, in the first in- 

 stance, that an adequate and satisfactory orogra- 

 phical review would be exceedingly serviceable, 

 we forthwith walked to Laxey. and thence on 

 the following day we climbed to the summit of 

 Snaefell (2034 feet above the sea), the highest 

 mountain in the island. The elements were suffi- 

 ciently propitious, so that from this, the most central 

 coigne of vantage in the British Islands, we were 

 enabled to see portions of England, Wales, Scotland 

 and Ireland, all in one vast visual circumference. 

 The island itself beneath our feet looked however 

 disproportionately small and humpy, something 

 indeed which the radical natives are rather ashamed 

 of. The old time-worn, force-shattered Silurian 

 hills rose into sharp picturesque peaks or into gentle 

 mounds terraced with earth and clothed with grass, 

 while the innumerable brown-burnt dips and valleys 

 between betokened a moorland bleakness of vegeta- 

 No. 280.— April 1888. 



tion. So, too, from other points throughout the 

 island, such as by the seaboard, many choice gems 

 and bits of scenery were commanded. At Port Erin, 

 Niarbyl Point, Langness promontory, etc., the ocean 

 and the wave-shattered coast-line exhibited tints, 

 hues, forms, and motions that were fresh and 

 charming and worthy of a special niche in the 

 memory. The Manx mind is eminently capable of 

 discerning the weird power and fairy charm of 

 nature, so that every nook and corner is associated 

 with romantic legends and ghost tales. The general 

 route pursued during the visit was from Douglas to 

 Laxey, and over Snaefell to Ramsey, thence to Peel 

 and St. Johns, whence we visited Castletown, 

 Foxfield, Colby, and the adjacent coast, etc. 



The physical conformation of the island is very 

 remarkable. From its most northern extremity, viz. 

 Point of Ayre, to about the distance of seven miles 

 southwards, there is a perfectly flat, triangular tract, 

 with only a few bosses or hills, the highest of which 

 is 323 feet above the sea-level. Over this level, 

 monotonous plain a lofty rampart of hills with 

 bastions and buttresses abruptly impends, extending 

 in an almost straight line from east to west. Thence 

 succeeds a round, rather flat-topped, green-clad 

 company of mountains which with their intersecting 

 valleys and ravines cover the remainder of the island, 

 except a few flattish tracts on the shore between 

 Ballaugh and Peel, and a flat triangular patch in the 

 extreme south in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 Castleton. The seaboard is flanked by a vertical 

 cliff-line, in some places only twenty feet high, but in 

 others, as at Spanish Head, Clay Head, it slopes 

 down for over three hundred feet in an almost sheer 

 descent. Brada Head (766 feet) descends perpendi- 

 cularly into the sea. There are many fine picturesque 

 rocks, pinnacles, sea-caves and clefts, outlying stacks, 

 natural arches, etc., along the coast. In some places 

 marshy tracts occur, but at present there is not a 

 single lake or tarn throughout the island. All round 

 the seaboard there is evidence that the sea is leaving 

 the land at a perceptible rate. It would seem that 



