ELGIN AND ITS MOLLUSCAN FAUNA 81 



then the road east-south-east to the Duack Burn ; thence 

 south-east up this burn to the ford where a smaller burn 

 comes in on its right bank ; thence up this smaller burn and 

 through the Abernethy forest, and over the height marked 

 1086 feet to the bridge across the River Nethy near Forest 

 Lodge. Thence up the slope to the summit of Cam a 

 Chnuic (1658 feet); thence past the southern end of Loch 

 a Chnuic and south-south-east up the slope to the summit 

 of Cam Bheadhair (2636 feet) ; thence across the summit of 

 Cam Tarsuinn (2490 feet), and down to the nearest bend 

 of the Water of Caiplich, which is the western boundary of 

 Banffshire. This boundary, to be found on all maps, is then 

 followed northwardly to the sea beyond Fochabers. 



The vice-county, as thus defined, is by no means a natural 

 area, including as it does only the mouths and lower courses 

 and some of the tributaries of two large rivers, the Findhorn 

 and the Spey, which have their sources far beyond the 

 limits of Elgin. It is mostly moorland and hill pasture, 

 with cultivated land about Elgin and along the sea coast ; 

 and there is a good deal of woodland throughout, including 

 parts of the Abernethy forest. The heights are not great, 

 reaching along the southern border to those whose altitudes 

 I have stated in tracing the boundary. It possesses about 

 thirty miles of low and sandy sea-coast, including on the 

 west the famous Culbin sands. 



The district has not been much worked for a number of 

 years, but it is classic ground as being the scene of the 

 labours of the famous and accomplished naturalist, the 

 Rev. Dr George Gordon of Birnie, whose Fauna of Moray, 

 of which the molluscan portion was published in 1854 

 {Zoologist, May 1854, xii., 4312-4314; September 1854, xii., 

 4424; and October 1854, xii., 4453-4462), was a worthy and 

 noble pioneer of similar work in northern Scotland. For the 

 purpose of this list Dr Gordon defined his district as the 

 Province of Moray and equivalent to the drainage basins 

 of the Beauly and the Spey ; but so far as land and fresh- 

 water mollusca are concerned, judging from the localities 

 he cites, the area of his list was practically the low-lying 

 region within easy reach of Elgin town. He acknowledged 

 64 L 



