624 



SCOTLAND. 



Statistks. 

 Geology. 



Secondary 

 rocks. 

 Old red 



sandstone. 



produces some pure white marble. An attempt was 

 also made to work this ; but no large or useful blocks 

 were ever raised. 



We must now pass over a great number of small 

 strata scattered here and there in various places south 

 of this, because we find it utterly impossible to indi- 

 cate their situations ; but we must here remark, partly 

 as an excuse for this omission, and partly as a geological 

 fact, that such strata are very often not a great many 

 yards wide, and most frequently can scarcely be pur- 

 sued for half a mile; while having no geographical or 

 political marks near them, there is no mode of indicat- 

 ing their places. For this reason we can only say ge- 

 nerally, that such strata occur in various parts of the 

 mountainous districts, generally associated with gneiss, 

 as that is the prevailing rock, and sometimes with mica 

 slate or quartz rock, very rarely with granite. 



The most conspicuous among the few which we can 

 point out, lie above Glen Kindie, near Portsoy ; or 

 Coreen, near Loch Laggan, near Balahulish ; or Ran- 

 noch, near Aviemore ; and so on. In our account of 

 PERTHSHIRE, we have already detailed at some length 

 the most extensive of those which occur in the middle 

 and south Highlands, commencing to the north of Brae- 

 mar in Aberdeenshire, stretching through Glen Tilt 

 and Blair, and crossing by various branches over to 

 Loch Earn. Other parallel branches are found to the 

 south of Killicrankie, in Strath Airdle, and various other 

 parts ; the whole presenting a singular prolonged range, 

 combined with an equally singular interruption and 

 ramification. 



On the western shore, some slender portions are 

 found in various places ; and a tolerably conspicuous 

 one occurs in Knapdale, occupying among other places 

 the small island of Dana. Of other strata scattered in 

 this neighbourhood through Cantyre, we shall notice 

 that only near Campbelltown, conspicuous for its ex- 

 tent, and also for the singularity of its crystalline tex- 

 ture. Yet we should not neglect that of Appin, which 

 may be considered as connected with the great tract of 

 this rock found in Lismore, and which, with little ef- 

 fort of geological continuity, may be considered as pro- 

 longed to Isla. 



The indications of primary limestone in the south of 

 Scotland are so very rare and slender, that they are un- 

 deserving of notice. 



We now arrive at the secondary rocks, and, as first 

 in order, at the lowest or old red sandstone. This oc- 

 cupies a very conspicuous, and often a very continuous 

 extent in Scotland ; but we shall commence from the 

 north, and with the Shetland islands. 



Here, the whole island of Foula, with the exceptions 

 of granite and gneiss lately mentioned, is an entire mass 

 of this rock, rising to a mountainous height. On the 

 eastern coast of the Mainland of Shetland it also forms 

 a continuous tract, and occurs in a scattered manner in 

 one or two other places on the western shore. The 

 Orkney isles must be considered as formed fundamen- 

 tally of this same rock. Among these, Fair isle is con- 

 spicuous from the cliffs by which its stratification is dis- 

 played, and from the comparative purity in which it 

 exists. In all the rest it is intermixed with shales, and 

 often to such an extent, that this far predominates, 

 while many of the islands possess no sandstone what- 

 ever. Here also its character is considerably different 

 from what it is in Shetland, being more tender, and 

 commonly of a dark grey or red. 



In the Western Islands a minute portion occurs in 

 Lewis ; but elsewhere it is known only in Sky, where 



the quantity also is not considerable. That of Arran Statistics. 

 and Bute is indeed conspicuous ; but these islands, as '^^^o' 

 well as the great Cumbray, belong in this case, geolo- Geology, 

 gically, to the adjoining mainland. 



Resuming the sandstone of Orkney as a leading 

 point, we find the same rock occupying the northern 

 shore of Caithness, and extending down the east coast 

 towards the Ord, where it ceases for a time, while it 

 also extends a considerable way into the interior coun- 

 try. Near Thurso it affords excellent slates of large 

 dimensions, with flag stones, from the shales which are 

 interstratified with it. 



Every where, we need scarcely remark, it affords, or 

 might afford, excellent building stone. 



Resuming this rock again from the ord of Caithness, 

 we find it renewed beyond the Fleet, occupying a 

 very wide tract on this shore, including Cromarty, and 

 sketching down as far as the Moray Frith and Beau- 

 ley. We must, however, observe here, that this por- 

 tion is less continuous and less defineable than that of 

 Caithness, as masses of gneiss, often of great extent, 

 intrude into it in many places, and as it also ramifies 

 into some of the remoter Highland vallies, as towards 

 Strathpeffer. On no part in this side of Ross and 

 Sutherland does it rise into high mountains. 



On the western shore its aspect is far different, while 

 its intricacy is such as to be indescribable ; being dis- 

 persed about among the gneiss and quartz rock of that 

 shore, so that while in some places it extends for many 

 miles without interruption, in others it occupies patches 

 of only a few hundred yards in extent. Here also it 

 rises into lofty mountains, Kea-cloch, formerly de- 

 scribed as one of the loftiest of the Scottish hills, being 

 formed entirely of this rock from the sea to the sum- 

 mit. Its general mineral character is here also differ- 

 ent, as it is almost invariably red and of a much harder 

 texture. Moreover, on the eastern shore, its outline is 

 tame ; but here it not only produces some of the highest 

 mountains, but the characters of these are rugged, pre 

 cipitous, and often peaked and serrated. We already 

 remarked the singular insulation of some of these hills ; 

 and as we must here add that the strata are generally 

 at low angles, and often nearly horizontal, it is evident- 

 ly indicated that there has been a considerable waste 

 or loss of rock, in consequence of what, in geological 

 language, is called denudation. 



Though we do not pretend to define this intricate 

 boundary, we must say that it forms a kind of belt 

 along the western shore, sometimes skirting the sea 

 coast and sometimes retiring inland, which extends 

 nearly from Cape Wrath to Glenelg. Where broadest, 

 this belt is about thirty miles wide., and where nar- 

 rower, it sometimes does not reach to a mile; while, 

 in some parts, it is altogether wanting. It also forms 

 the chief of the Summer Islands. In this connexion it 

 almost invariably succeeds to gneiss, but sometimes to 

 quartz rock ; and in both these modes it sometimes 

 forms mere summits, or caps on lofty mountains. 

 Coul-beg is a very singular form of this kind, as is 

 Suil-Veinn. We must also observe that it passes Cape 

 Wrath so as to appear on the northern shore. Here, 

 and on the west coast, it produces some insulated 

 stacks, or steeples, of great elevation, as well as of ele- 

 gant forms, of which Stackacloa is peculiarly remark- 

 able from its twinned shape. 



We must now return to Inverness, where we find 

 this sandstone again as a continuation of that of Cro- 

 marty, occupying the country about Inverness itself, 

 and reaching eastward beyond Speymouth, where 



