52 Mr John MacGillivray on the Island of St Kilda. 
known by the name of Conachan, forms the summit and eastern 
termination of the ridge composing the island, and by its ab- 
rupt descent to the sea produces a nearly perpendicular cliff, 
supposed to be the loftiest precipice in Britain. The remain- 
der of St Kilda consists of trap rock ; and the line formed by 
its junction with the syenite is well marked in various places, 
particularly on the north side of the island. At the upper end 
of the bay there has been formed a steep crumbling bank, re- 
ceding from its basaltic base, which shelves into the sea. At 
the landing-place may be seen a large collection of granitic 
masses, some of them weighing several tons, which I was in- 
formed by the minister of the place were broken down from a 
cliff at the entrance of the bay, and washed on land by the 
heavy swell succeeding a continuance of easterly gales during 
the winter of 1829. 
The vegetation of St Kilda, though profuse among some of 
the cliffs, is in general extremely stunted. It is truly surpris- 
ing how so many horses, cattle, and sheep, contrive to subsist 
on the scanty herbage of the hill pastures, which are, more- 
over, in many places, nearly ruined by the quantities of turf 
taken away for fuel, leaving exposed the subjacent rock. The 
pasturage is chiefly composed of Festuca ovina and duriuscula, 
with a fewother grasses, as _dira cristata, Avena flavescens, &e., 
and asprinkling of the usual Leguminose. Habenaria viridis, 
Botrychium Lunaria, Gentiana campestris, and Hrythrea cen- 
taurium vax. latifolium, occur in similar situations, but in small 
quantity. Cakile maritima, Arenaria peploides, Salsola Kali, 
and Aériplex maritima, are found at the upper end of the bay ; 
Anagallis tenella, Leontodon Taraxacum var. palustre, grow 
with Pinguicula vulgaris, in the marshy spots ; while Chrysan- 
themum segetum and Avena strigosa occur but too plentifully 
among the corn. The cliffs in many places are abundantly 
stocked with Rhodiola rosea, Oxyria reniformis, Cochlearia offi- 
cinalis and Danica, Statice armeria, Silene maritima, Ligusti- 
cum Scoticum, and the maritime variety of Pyrethrum ino- 
dorum, all of them attaining a luxuriance (especially on the 
north-east side of Conachan) I never elsewhere saw equalled 
by these species. In the crevices of the rocks, and below the 
manse, dAsplenium marinum grows to a large size, as in most 
