58 ON THE PARALLEL ROADS 



wished, nor can I pretend to found much upon them. The 

 western end of the Great Glen of Scotland, is flanked by such 

 rocky mountains, as to render it impossible to conceive that 

 the portion of water which escaped that way, however great 

 might have been its body, or however violent its discharge,, 

 could have produced much effect, so as to leave traces of its 

 action ; and the sea also, on this side of the island, being so 

 much nearer the immediate scene of the catastrophe, would 

 naturally counterbalance the violence of the flood, by the sud- 

 den influx of its waters. Accordingly, I was not conscious of 

 observing any thing on the west coast, that could lead to any 

 conclusion, favourable to the theory I have ventured to ha- 

 zard. But, upon the east coast, I thought I discovered ap- 

 pearances that seemed in a very material degree to illustrate 

 and strengthen the views I entertain. In the neighbourhood 

 of Inverness, there are great hills of rounded gravel, and sand, 

 in what may be called the IVIouth of the eastern end of the 

 Glen-mor-na-Albin. The Hill af Tom-na-hiurich, near the 

 Town of Inverness, in particular, is extraordinary both for its 

 structure, its shape, and its situation ; being found standing 

 nearly in the middle of the alluvial flat, like the inverted hull 

 of a ship in form, and presenting the end of its long diame- 

 ter towards the Great Glen, in such a way, and being so sha- 

 ven off on the two sides, as to leave little room for doubt, that 

 it stands as a living witness of that terrrible flood of water,, 

 which resulted from the sudden opening of the Glen-mor-na- 

 Albin. 



It remains for me now, to endeavour to trace out the 

 changes which have taken place in the glens left by the lakes, 

 and which may be considered as the secondary effects of the 

 grand catastrophe ; — and, first, as to those in Glen Gluoy. The 

 chief streams of this glen are three, — one running from Glen 

 Fintack, and the other two coming from the hills on the north 



and 



