On the Coal-field of Sutherland, 41 



relates to its superficial area, very inconsiderable ; but it ex- 

 tends for some miles along the shore, yet in an interrupted 

 manner. In no place does it far exceed a mile in breadth ; 

 and, in some, it is not more than a few yards wide. It must 

 therefore be considered that the real position of this ** coal- 

 field" i« under the" sea td the eastward; and that the part 

 which alotte is open to investigation is the edge or boundary, 

 which reposes on the subjacent rocks that form the solid mass 

 of the land on this side of Sutherland. --^i* "'a'^' >^ ^ "'^i ' ", 



The interior land, which forms the boUhdftiyof this deposit, 

 consists of a very irregular group of mountains, which are here 

 divided nearly at right angles to the coast line by many valleys, 

 giving passage to sundry streams from the higher country be- 

 yond it. 



These mountains in one or two places protrude into the sea, 

 and thus both terminate and intersect the " coal-field." In 

 all parts they come down near to the shore, being thus sepa- 

 rated from the sea only by the variable and often inconsider- 

 able breadth of the secondary tract, which contains the coal. 

 The elevation of this hilly ground is not very great, rarely 

 reaching to one thousand feet ; and the general outline is 

 rounded and lumpish, unmarked by rocky protuberances or 

 precipitous faces. 



It was already remarked that a great tract of granite occurred 

 on this coast, and I may now add that the hills thus described 

 consist chiefly, through their whole extent, of this rock. 



With respect to the aspect of the land which contains the 

 secondary strata and the coal, it is far from being level in all 

 parts. On the contrary, in many places it forms low undu- 

 lating hills, and in others rises in an even manner from the 

 flat shore, so as to conform in its inclination to the acclivities 

 of the hills by which it is bounded. Where the rivers, which 

 have been described as holding their courses through the in- 

 tervals of the mountains, traverse those undulating or elevated 

 parts of the secondary strata, they often form deep sections ; 

 by which the order of the stratification is exposed to view, and 

 considerable facility aflforded in determining (he nature and 

 succession of the whole series down to the subjacent rock. 

 In other parts, where the shore is flat, the strata being elevated 

 pi different angles, that order can be traced, but to a much 



