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III. Notice of an undescribed Vitrified Fort, in the Burnt Isles, in 

 the Kyks of Bute. By JAMES SMITH, Esq. of Jordanhill, 

 F. R S. Edin. 



(Read March 17. 1823. J 



IN the month of September last (1822), when becalmed in my 

 cutter in the Kyles of Bute, I accidently landed on the most 

 northerly of the Burnt Isles, a small group that stretches across 

 the Kyle or narrow channel between Bute and Argyleshire. 



From the appearance of a ridge nearly covered with turf, I 

 imagined at first that kelp had been formerly burnt here, but on 

 examining it more narrowly I discovered that it was caused by 

 the remains of a vitrified fort. 



The island on which it is placed is a flat gneiss rock, with 

 about half an acre of vegetable soil on its summit. The fort is 

 placed at the southern and most elevated extremity, but is not 

 more than twelve or fifteen feet above high-water mark. The 

 walls form a circle, or rather an irregular polygon, about sixty- 

 five feet in diameter, occupying nearly the whole of the highest 

 end of the island. I could trace the vitrified matter all round, 

 and should imagine, from what remains of the walls, that they 

 were originally about five feet in thickness. They seem to be 

 entirely composed of the gneiss which forms the rock of this and 

 the surrounding islands. Many of the stones have decayed by 

 the action of the atmosphere, previous to vitrification, and most of 

 them have been acted upon by the intense heat of the fire, although 

 in very different degrees. Some of them are but slightly glazed, 

 whilst in others the felspar appears to be converted into a dark 



