Mr Menteath on the Geology ofNithsdah. 59 



plan might be applied with advantage in the upper basins of the 

 Annan and the Esk. 



But the great advantages which Nithsdale derives from its 

 minerals may be more fully seen, by comparing it with the 

 neighbouring valley of the Dee, which forms the greater part of 

 the county of Kirkcudbright. This valley, in its longest branch, 

 that of the Deugh, commences nearly at the source of the Nith, 

 runs almost parallel to that district, and is much of the same 

 length. It does not rise to a greater height above the level of 

 the sea, and may therefore be supposed not to differ much in 

 climate ; and the soil is, we believe, not inferior. 



But when we compare the two districts with each other, we 

 find a striking difference. Nithsdale, as we have seen, has abun. 

 dance of limestone, coal, and sandstone, extending almost to the 

 source of the Nith, admitting of houses being built well and 

 cheaply, fuel being had at a trifling expence, and the land cul- 

 tivated almost to the tops of the hills. But in the Valley of the 

 Dee, in Kirkcudbrightshire, there is neither coal, lime, nor sand- 

 stone ; and we find in that tract, nearly the whole upper part of 

 it, almost waste. No village occurs exceeding a few houses, and 

 these indifferently built ; the land, from want of lime, is uncul- 

 tivated, and laid out mostly in extensive sheep farms ; and there 

 is little hay except what is naturally produced for rearing of cat- 

 tle, — an evil which might probably be, in some degree, reme- 

 died by the use of irrigation, as already suggested in regard to 

 the upper districts of Dumfriesshire. There are, however, none 

 of those mineral substances which give employment, and create 

 a population to consume the produce of the soil, and promote 

 the industry of the farmer. 



Thus are these two districts in Galloway and Dumfriesshire, 

 in several respects, similar as to situation, soil, climate, and ex- 

 tent, but widely different in improvement and population ; and 

 this difference arises chiefly fi'om the superiority of the one over 

 the other in mineral treasures. Nor is it to be thought that 

 Nithsdale has, from its minerals, yet derived all the advantages 

 of which it is capable. 



It is not much above half a century since the roads in Niths- 

 dale were passable for he^vy carriages. Many of them were 

 little better than horse- tracks; nor arc they yet, in the basin of 



