254 Account of the Bursting of a Bog in Ireland, 



the most splendid, though not the largest, sheets of water in 

 Great Britain; — on ascending Mangerton, I found peat on the 

 slope of its very summit, from 7 ft. to 10 ft. thick. In Donegal, 

 also, as well as in Mayo, Cunnemara, and many other parts 

 of Ireland, peat is found on some of the loftiest eminences, 

 from 10 ft. to 15 ft. thick. Professor Jameson, moreover, in his 

 Geology of the Shetland Isles, informs us that peat, of an ex- 

 cellent quality and considerable thickness, is found on the tops 

 of mountains in the Highlands of Scotland, at the height of 

 2000 ft. above the level of the sea. 



In the same work is an accurate and graphic description of 

 the general appearance of peat morasses, which, as being de- 

 rived from the professor's own personal observation of the 

 mosses in Scotland, I herewith extract: — 



" In describing the general appearance of a peat moor, we 

 may conceive an almost entire flat of several miles' extent, of 

 a brown colour, here and there marked with tufts of heather, 

 which have taken root, owing to the more complete decompo- 

 sition of the surface peat : no tree or shrub is to be seen ; not 

 a spot of grass to relieve the eye, in wandering over this dreary 

 scene. A nearer examination discovers a wet spongy surface, 

 passable only in the driest seasons, or when all nature is locked 

 in frost. The surface is frequently covered with a slimy black- 

 coloured substance, which is the peat earth, so mixed with water 

 as to render the moor only passable by leaping from one tuft of 

 heather to another. Sometimes, however, the surface of peat 

 mosses has a different aspect, owing to the greater abundance of 

 heath and other vegetables, as the *Schce N ni, £cirpi, Eriophora, 

 &c. ; but this is principally the case with some kinds of what are 

 called muirlands, which contain but little peat, being nearly 

 composed of the interwoven roots of living vegetables. Quick 

 moss, as it is called, is a substance of a more or less brown 

 colour, forms a kneadable compound, and, when good, cuts 

 freely and clean with the spade ; but, when it resists the spade 

 by a degree of elasticity, it is found to be less compact when 

 dried, and is of an inferior quality. The best kinds burn 

 with a clear bright flame, leaving light-coloured ashes ; but the 

 more indifferent kinds, in burning, often emit a disagreeable 

 smell, and leave a heavy red-coloured kind of ashes. In dig- 

 ging the peat, we observe that, when first taken from the pit, 

 it almost immediately changes its colour, which becomes more 

 or less a deep brown or black, and the peat matter becomes 

 much altered, being incapable of forming a kneadable paste 

 with water. When dry and reduced to powder, as it is often 

 by the action of the weather, it forms a blackish-coloured 

 powdery matter, capable of supporting vegetation when cal- 

 careous earth is added," 



