16 ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 



clayey subsoil. Perhaps nine-tenths of the interior, however, is 

 covered with peat-earth, and tliere are many broad swamps of 

 deep moss. The surface of the Assynt district is so rough and 

 rocky that, with the exception of a few spots consisting chiefly 

 of moss, it contains no land suitable for cultivation. The same 

 may almost be said of the parishes of Eddraehillis and Durness, 

 although there are several good patches of mixed gravel and 

 moss, and a few small pieces of fair loanj. In Durness there 

 are three farms — Balnakiel, EriboU, Keoldale — w"ith arable land 

 attached — 150 acres to each of the two former, and 100 acres to 

 the latter. It is also a good grazing parish, the hmestone which 

 underlies its surface-soil proving a valuable stimulant to its 

 pasture. The arable land in the parishes of Tongue, Farr, and 

 Eeay lies mostly along the coast, and the soil on a few spots is 

 good black loam, on other parts sandy loam, but on the greater 

 portion a varying mixture of moss, gravel, and clay, which yields 

 good crops under liberal treatment. Along Strathnaver, the 

 finest strath perhaps in the county, there is a considerable extent 

 of good haugh land, a mixture of sand, gravel, and moss, which 

 was for many years previous to 1820 cultivated by over 300 

 families. On the banks of the river Strathy there are some 

 patches of thin fertile sandy land. In Strathhalladale there were 

 at the beginning of the present century about 300 acres of 

 light soil, similar to that in Strathnaver, cultivated in small 

 holdings. 



^o"- 



Condition of the County Seventy Years ago. 



Sutherland was the last county in Scotland to throw off what 

 may be called the thraldom of the dark ages. After the other 

 counties in the Highlands had enjoyed improved communication 

 with the w^orld beyond, Sutherland still lay in a manner locked 

 up by sea and mountam ; while devoid as it was of what could 

 be called roads, and consisting as it does almost entirely of " one 

 uninterrupted succession of wild mountain or deep morass," the 

 intercourse between the different districts within the county 

 itself was " confined exclusively, or nearly so, to the exertions of 

 those who could travel on foot, and even this mode of commimi- 

 cation, except to the natives who w^ere brought up to such toil 

 and exertion, was almost impracticable," not to say dangerous, 

 "in passing precipices or struggling through swamps." The 

 proprietors and other leading inhabitants of Sutherland, how- 

 ever, early availed themselves of the Act passed by Parliament 

 in ].803, giving aid in the construction of roads and bridges in 

 the Highlands of Scotland ; — they even took the lead of their 

 brethren in Eoss, Cromarty, and Inverness in the matter — and 

 with commendable spirit set to work to open up the county. 

 The two main obstructions were the Dornoch Pirth and Loch 



