[June, I860.] 161 



FLORA OF THE ISLE OF MAN. 

 Notes on the Isle of Man and its Flora. 



The Isle of Man, — Mannin, or Elian Vannin, in its own native 

 tongue, — lies, as a glance at the map will show, almost in mid- 

 channel between England and Ireland. The distance from Peel, 

 on its western shore, to Lough Strangford, in Ireland, is 27 

 miles; from Ramsey, on its eastern coast, to Whitehaven, 3.2 

 miles; from Point of Ayre, its northernmost point, to Burrow 

 Head in Scotland, 16 miles; and from the Calf islet, at its 

 southern extremity, to Holyhead, 45 miles. The centre of the 

 island is in latitude 54° 15' N. and in longitude 40° 30' W. Its 

 greatest length is 33 miles, its greatest breadth 12^, and its sur- 

 face area about 200 square miles. 



Geologically speaking, three-fourths of the island consist of a 

 series of schists, through which bosses of granite protrude in two 

 places, namely, at the Dhoon in this immediate neighbourhood, 

 and on the eastern side of the mountain called South Barrule. 

 The Old Hed Sandstone is visible on a narrow strip of the western 

 coast near Peel, and the mountain limestone is developed over a 

 small space on the southern shores near Castletown. The four 

 northernmost parishes constitute an almost level plain of about 

 50 square miles ; in some parts swampy, the fen-district of the 

 island, locally termed 'Curraghs;^ in other parts covered with 

 the drift-gravel and marls of the Pleistocene series. Near the 

 northern edge of this plain rises a ridge of low undulating hills 

 of sand and gravel, and beyond them lies the Ayre, an almost 

 barren waste of sand, and the extreme north point of the island. 

 From the southern borders of the level the^ mountains rise 

 abruptly, — attaining their greatest height in Snaefell, 2004 feet, 

 and North Barrule (under whose huge shadow I write), 1870 

 feet, — and occupying the greater part of the surface of the island. 

 Into their heart are cloven frequent chasms, — the lovely glens, 

 great and small, which are some of the chief charms of our dear 

 wild island home. Down each of these dances and leaps a 

 crystal stream, in haste to end its brief, bright, giddy course in 

 the majestic bosom of old Father Ocean. Fringing their brinks, 

 and clambering up the glen-sides, are our trees to be sought; 

 elsewhere, alas ! on our tempest-swept mountain-sides and cliffs 

 they are few and far between. • 



N. S. VOL. IV. Y 



