SCOTLAND. 



>i. At Loch Hroom, the character of the country ! 

 \^*f^ to change, and the mountains, which 



hy, grouped and crowded on e.ich other, are shortly round 

 l>y wide intervals, ard scattered indepen- 

 d ntly on tl <>f a high rocky uneven land, at- 



taining an average devotion of 1 ()()() feut. These 

 mountains aNo av formed of xamUtonp, or of that 

 tubatance and quart/, rock ; and the most striking of 

 them are Hen More, forming a long ridge, C'oul Beg, 

 and Coul More, Suil Veinn, Cnnasp, and Coy Craig, 

 after which the coast line at last becomes compara- 

 tively low, and liulc characterized by distinct hill*, even 

 to Cape Wrath. Suil V inn, in particular, is noted for 

 its singular form ; resembling a sugar loaf when f-een 

 on its extremity, and, laterally, presenting a ridge which 

 is precipitous on all sides, and extremely difficult of 

 access. Rising to the height of 1000 feet from the ir- 

 regular table land of 1500, on which it suddenly starts 

 up, it forms a conspicuous object to vessels navigating 

 this coast. 



Interiorly, the loftiest elevation of this part of the 

 country is Ben More Assynt, connected with the ridge 

 which confines Loch Shin, and with the group of 

 mountains at its head, among which the Stack is re- 

 markable for its pure conical form. The singular and 

 naked ridge of Balloch nan fey is the h->t remarkable 

 mountain on the western shore, formed of bright quartz, 

 which Mr. Pennant mistook for marble, and shining in 

 the sun as if it were covered with snow. 



The northern parts of Sutherland constitute, with 

 little exception, an irregular hilly moorland, rather than 

 a mountainous tract; and the only conspicuous moun- 

 tains are Ben Ay, Ben Klibrigg, Ben Laighul, and 

 Ben Hope, separated widely as under and thence the 

 more conspicuous. Tb,ese hills attain an average ele- 

 vation of 3000 feet above the sea, and one of 2000 

 above the general level of t'iz moorland from which 

 they rise. On the east side of Sutherland, the ridge 

 which terminates at the Ord of Caithness, separating 

 the two counties, is conspicuous for want of rivals, as 

 are those which accompany the Brora and the Heims- 

 dale rivers; but it is unnecessary to name the other 

 elevations of no great note which remain here, or 

 southward as f.r as the Murray Frith. Meal Four- 

 vony, rendered as formidable in Arrowsmith's map as 

 Ben Nevis itself, is a mere summit of no great height 

 rising above the general ridge. On this particular sub- 

 ject we shall only further remark, that no truth what- 

 ever exists in that map as far as relates to the charac- 

 ters of the Around, or to the general and comparative 

 sizes of the mountains. Many of the loftiest and 

 best marked mountains are utterly unnoticed, while 

 others of no note are represented as emulating the most 

 noted and most elevated. If the apparent directions 

 of ridges on it deserve only neglect, so do the cha- 

 racters and represented altitudes of the mountains. 



If from the Highlands we now turn to the south- 

 ward, there are but few hills which will be found to 

 deserve the name of mountains, and few elevations 

 sufficiently conspicuous above the rest to merit any 

 notice. 



In the middle district, the Sidlaw and the Ochils 

 are the most conspicuous, as well for their altitude as 

 their continuity ; but there is in these no elevation re- 

 markably towering above the rest. The Lomond 

 hills in Fife, Arthur's Seat near Edinburgh, and North 

 Berwick Law, produce a greater effect to the eye than 



614 



most of the mountainous elevations of the tooth, from 

 their unattended rite. Thus alto the ridge of the 



IVntlmcl, though not exceeding 1500 feet, it r " 



icuotm than the far higher hilU which but barely 

 overtop the general mountain land to the totithward. 



the weu, i* distinguished. 



us in Lot her hill, Queensberry hill, Wardlaw, Whim 

 hill, Kuher's Law, and the conspicuous triple summit 

 of the Eddon hill*, which forma such a beautiful oh. 

 j^ct throughout the whole of Roxburghshire. CriffJ 

 forms a mountain singularly remarkable for its inuU- 

 tion, though not lofty ; and southward*, the granite 

 ridges of Cairn's Muir complete the only enumera- 

 tiun of these mountains which it is necessary to give. 



River -g of Scotland. 



We shall here enumerate the moat important of thete, Rims <* 

 without making a distinction between the Lowland and tModaad. 

 Highland btreans, as it is a distinction that would not 

 be easily maintained. 



Of these, the first in importance is the Tay, the l>y. 

 chief of the rivers of Britain, since it has been ascer- 

 tained by Mr. Sraeaton to carry more water to the sea 

 than even the Thames.* 



The course of the Spey is much more simple and 

 decided than that of the Tay ; receiving no rival, though 

 many small tributaries, and continuing one decided ri- 

 ver from its fountain head to the *ea at Speymouth. 

 That head is a amall lake, scarcely de*crvir g c,f the 

 name ; rising at the head of Glen Roy, and fed by the 

 drainage of the surrounding wet Imid. Flowing on, 

 it receives no stream of any note, till it meets the waters 

 of the Truiui at Invernahavan, of the Calder at 

 bridge of Spey, and of the Trommy descending from 

 the hills of Gaich ; nor is it necessary to name- 

 various inconspicuous rivers which j >in it at a hundred 

 points till it unites with the more important Avon. 

 Neither from this junction does it receive any other 

 stream worthy of distinction ; being fed by innume- 

 rable rivers and brooks through iu whole course, t..l 

 it rolls its broad waters into the sea. 



The course of the Dee, like that of the Spey, is sim- 

 ple, as it receives no river of note, be ; ng fed by th<% 

 various streams which descend on each hand from the 

 mountainous and Hilly countries through which it holds 

 its course. But, at its commencement, the Ge >:il y h 

 an equal claim to continue its name, as both river 

 at least ot equal magnitude where they join. Thu 

 source of the Dee branch is at the foot of Cairn Gornt, 

 and the termination of this great river is at Aberde 

 Like the Spey, it is subject to great irregularities in 

 the state of its waters, and through the largest part of 

 its course is a violent and rapid river. This uncertain- 

 ty, both in the Spey and the Dee, is the consequence 

 of their simplicity of origin and supply. Hence a 

 rainy or a dry season or period produces its full effect ; 

 while the Tay, receiving its supplies from remote i 

 discordant places, is maintained in a more general state 

 of average by the compensations thus caused. 



The sources of the Don are also those of the 1 

 ron ; the former river meeting the sea .together with 

 the Dee, and the latter running to the north to <: 

 charge itself at Banff. The chief addition which the 

 Don receives is from the Urie ; but the Devron is 

 swelled by a great many waters of considerable sire, 

 too little noted, however, to require a detailed enume- 



See our article TEETHSHIRI:, Vol. XVI. p. 3, for a full account of this rirer, and of the picturesque ictaery thioagh which ii 

 flows ; and our article on PHYSICAL GZOOUAPUY, Vol. XVI. p. "420. 



