268 



The Irish Naturalist. 



November, 



The surface is in general hilly, the lower parts undulating, 

 the higher portions forming two considerable mountains. Of 

 these, Slievemore (2,204 ^^^0, is a narrow east-and-west ridge 

 lying on the northern edge of the island ; while Croaghaun 

 (2,192 feet) forms a more varied mass, the whole being a 

 long N.E- and S.W. ridge lying on the western extremity of 

 the island. Its seaward face, fully exposed to the Atlantic, 

 forms a glorious precipice of the full height of the mountain — 

 " the most tremendous precipice in Ireland " ^ — while on its 



Sketch-Map of AcHrr.Tv Ist^and. 



Unshaded area = farm land. Dotted — unre- 

 claimed land up to 500 feet. Hatched =. do., 

 500 to 1,000 feet. Cross-hatched = do., 1,000 to 

 2,000 feet, Black=do., over 2.000 feet. Horizontal 

 shading = Keel Lough. 



eastern side a huge corry has been excavated, in which lies 

 Lough Acorrymore, overhung by cliffs nearly a thousand feet 

 in height. In the southern part of the island, the Meenawn 

 range forms a N.E. and S.W. ridge, rising to 1,530 feet, its 

 western slopes carved into gigantic cliffs. In the middle of 

 the island, south of Slievemore, there is a wide depression, 

 which was no doubt filled by the sea in comparatively recent 

 times. A great pebble-beach, backed by low sands, dams 

 back the waters here, and forms the lakes of Keel and 



^ P. W. Joyce, ill Philip's " Atla.s and Geography of Ireland." 410. 



