SCOTLAND. 



of the valley*, determine also the direction* of the 

 bounding hills, and indicate an equal uncertainty in 

 , the di-M-ilmtion of the higher lands. 



The courses of the Nairn, the Findhorn, and the 

 Spey, are those which principally indicate that con- 

 formity of the ridges to the -t ratification which is so 

 strongly marked by the Glen More. But, as we ju-t 

 remarked, the northern rivers of Sutherland run due 



rth, while the Hrora, the Hehmdale, the water of 

 Shin, and others, tend to the south-ea*t, together with 

 the Oikel, among the larger and more extensive, and 

 the (Jlas, tfie Conan, and many more, among the 

 mailer. Farther south, we find the Don running a 

 long course to the south- east, and the Dee meeting it 

 Avith an easterly one, while the Tay, with its several 

 branches, receiving the Tilt, the Garry, the Tumel, 

 the Almond, the Isla, and the Earn, combines within 

 itself a discordancy of course which marks the equally 

 "irregular tendency of the valleys and ridges which 

 conduct and accompany its water-. 



It is unnecessary to illustrate this part of the physi- 

 cal geography of the Highlands further, by pursuing 

 the Forth, with its various tributaries, or the smaller 

 streams, which equally indicate the uncertain and vary- 

 ing distribution of the hill lands. If a north-easterly 

 bearing in the ridgeS is seen in some parts very conspi- 

 cuously, this is overwhelmed by a multitude of excep- 

 tions ; and if we can sometimes trace ridges, or the in- 

 dications of them, somewhat prolonged, the number of 

 short and indeterminate ones put it out of our power 

 to describe the mountains by ridges, and completely 

 demolish the notion of chains of hills. 



Ouli 'i nc of the Coast in (he Highland Districts. 



Outline of Though the general tendency and the prolongation 



the coast of the interior ridges of mountains in the Highlands 



in the is very irregular and deficient, the outline of the coast 



Highland accompanies, though with many striking exceptions, 



dutricts. t{ie g gnera i bearing of the stratification, and, in some 



remarkible instances, varies with the variations of 



this. 



Commencing with the Mull of Cantyre, the tenden- 

 cy of both the eastern and western shores is nearly 

 north. At Oban it begins to incline to the eastward, 

 and the prolongation of this line may be conceived to 

 be through the Glenmore na Albin. Tl us far the 

 stratification might appear to be coincident with the 

 outlines ; but although this is true in the Glen More, 

 it is not so to the south of Oban, where it lies 

 obliquely to the coast line. 



If now from Oban we take up the coast from the 

 point of Morven, it will be seen that this line is nearly 

 at right angles to the north-eastern tendency, which is 

 however resumed in a general manner from Ardna- 

 murchan to Cape Wrath, though the total outline of 

 this portion deviates but by two or thr'.-e points from 

 the north. The boundary of the north shore of Su- 

 therland and Caithness deviates, on the contrary, by 

 as much from the east, forming at Cape Wrath nearly 

 a right angle ; whereas, at Duncansbay head, the di- 

 rection, in a general view, becomes, once more, that of 

 the Glen More, which is always the standard. From 

 Fort George to Kinnaird's head, the line is again east, 

 after which, with some vacillation and irregularity, it 

 may be conceived to be renewed even to the Tay, in a 

 line laterally coincident with the standard. Thus the 

 total outline of the coast, in a certain limited sense, 

 may be conceived as regulated by the positions of the 

 rocks, or by the course of the stratification. 



General Dulnlmlio* of Ike Southern Mtmtitai* 



The sketch already given of the middle district will 

 suffice for the account of it dutrtbtition. That of the pfcy 

 southern division is so irregular at scarcely to admit <> 

 any arrangement ; and though represented a* o 

 ing of mountain ridge and chain*, it mut alto be 

 considered, an far as it is hilly, a* forming an irregular 

 assemblage of hills, or an derated table land, with in- 

 tervening valleys. 



The predominant tendency, however, of these 

 valleys, and consequently of the ridges, if they may to 

 be called, u to the south-eastward ; and as thtre are 

 few lakes, they are traced by the courses of the 

 river*. If we commence with the Tweed, its pr - 

 dominant course is eastward ; but at Coldktream it 

 turns to the north-east, though there is no peculiar 

 elevation of the land to mark out this course. The 

 courses of the Eck, the Annan, the Nith, th< 

 Fleet, the Dei , and others, is to the south and the 

 south-east ; and their prolonged valleys here mark 

 distinctly the general courses of the hill*, lets easily 

 traced by any other marks in a country where there 

 are few elevations decidedly overtopping the general 

 mountain land. But as far as it is possible to cairy on 

 general lines of elevation, such as they actually are 

 found on the ground, and not in false maps, it will be 

 seen that these are extremely intricate, and be;: 

 general tendency of any kind. In this district of Scot- 

 land also, the fundamental cause of ridges is either 

 wanting, or not to be traced, as the stratification of the 

 rocks is irregular or unassignable. 



Hence, also, there is nothing in the outline of the 

 coast to require particular notice. It is not oi-ly irre- 

 gular, but there is nothing in the general stratification 

 which could have influenced its tendency. 



Mountains. 



The elevations of the Highlands are deserving of this 

 title, according-to the vague criterion by which the*e 

 are generally distinguished ; while those of the south- 

 ern district, wi'.Ii few exception.*, cannot be reckoned 

 beyond the class of hills. 



The loftiest continuous range of land in the High- 

 lands, and consequently in Britain, is that which 

 bounds the Dee to the northward and eastward, near 

 its sources, which, in fact, form the springs and feeders 

 of this river. In this prolonged mass or ridge, the 

 great elevations are Ben muc tlhii, Ben avon, Ben y 

 bourd, Ben chowin, and Cairn gorm. The general 

 altitude of these averages to about 4000 feft, but Ben 

 muc dim is the loftiest point, and is indeed the highest 

 land in the Mand.* Among contending altitude?, after 

 this, we need not attempt to take any particular order ; 

 but Lochan na gar, to the south of the Dee in the same 

 vicinity, is a rival mountain. 



Proceeding from the same point, the great ridge of 

 Hui y gloe ranks among.the loftiest; and its highest 

 summit, Cairn Gower, is one of the chief of the High- 

 land mountains. Thus we are conducted to Ben Aulder 

 and Hen Vualacb, including Loch Encht, and a ne- 

 glected portion of that which unquestionably forms the 

 most elevated tract of the whole countrx. It these 

 have not yet been measured, their comparative alti- 

 tudes can be conjectured with tolerable, or with suffi- 

 cient certainty tor the present purpose, by common 

 levelling. 



To the southward, Ben Lawers, exceeding 40C 

 is the parent and beacon of a very lofty tract of moun- 



See our article PHYSICAL GKOCRAPUY, Vol. XVI. p. *83. 



