2S9 



CAITHNESS. 



CALABAR, NEW. 



230 



it receives several small tributaries. The water or river of Thurso 

 rises in the hills in the south-west bounding Sutherland, traverses 

 from south to north three-fourths of the county, and after a course 

 of 30 miles falls into Thurso Bay. 



Communications. From Wick, which is nearly in the centre of the 

 eastern coast of the county, a steamer runs twice a week to the Forth, 

 calling at Aberdeen. Between Thurso and the Forth there ia weekly 

 steam communication during the summer, besides regular sailing 

 vessels. The post road runs along the whole eastern and western 

 coasts of the county ; and there are two cross roads, one from Wick to 

 Thurso, on which runs the daily mail-coach, the other from Wick to 

 Castletown, a village about 5 miles east of Thurso : the roads are 

 good. There is a daily dispatch and arrival of mails from the south 

 at both Wick and Thurso, the latter being the most northern post- 

 town in the empire. The postal communication with the neighbour- 

 ing villages is less frequent. 



Climate. On the north coast the atmosphere is variable but healthy. 

 From September to June the prevailing winds are from the north and 

 north-west. During the remainder of the year the winds vary between 

 the south-east and south-west. In winter and spring the north and 

 north-westerly winds are frequently hard gales, and the exposure of 

 the coast makes the inclemency of the weather to be severely felt. 

 On the east and south-east coast westerly winds prevail. In winter 

 the weather is frequently very tempestuous. Snow seldom lies for 

 more than a day or two, and thunder is rare. The aurora borealis is 

 visible almost every night. 



Soil and Agriculture. The soil of Caithness where under cultiva- 

 tion is generally a strong clay, mixed with earth and capable of pro- 

 ducing green crops of all kinds. Since the improvements introduced 

 by the late Sir John Sinclair, who was a large landowner in Caithness, 

 the county has made great progress in agriculture and husbandry 

 generally. Many farms are now of as large extent and as well culti- 

 vated as in any other district of Scotland. Cattle of the Highland 

 and Teeswater breeds are reared for the southern markets ; sheep of 

 the Leicester and Cheviot breeds are also much kept. A considerable 

 part of the land is still in the hands of small farmers, and a part is 

 held by a class of persons who trust more to the results of the 

 fisheries than to the cultivation of the soil. Many of both classes 

 however raise green crops and endeavour to follow a kind of rotation 

 of cropping. Leases of large farms extend from 7 to 19 years ; small 

 farms are held without leases ; the farm buildings are generally good 

 and comfortable. Crops are late in ripening, being generally about 

 20 days behind those of tho Lothiaus. There are weekly corn 

 markets at Thurso and Wick. 



Indutti-y. Throughout the county the several quarries of flagstones, 

 freestone, and slate engage the labour of a considerable portion of 

 the population, but the general employment of the people is in agri- 

 culture or in fishing, with the attendant occupations of coopering, 

 curing, and packing. On the coasts all are fishermen. After spring 

 sowing comes the lobster fishing, chiefly for the London market. In 

 May and June turf is cut for the winter fuel. In July the herring 

 fishing begins, and lasts for two months ; then the crops are cut and 

 potatoes dug ; and after that the fishing for cod, ling, and large sea- 

 fish is resorted to. The herring fishery however is the principal 

 business of the county. " The herrings are got all round the coast ; 

 but Wick and the surrounding fishing villages are the principal places 



of resort The number of persons partially or wholly 



employed is about 12,000. The number of boats employed may be 

 about 1000, of which 700 are owned in the county, and the rest come 

 from the Frith of Forth and various places in the Moray Frith. Each 

 boat is manned by five men." (' New Statistical Account of Scotland.') 

 There are several salmon fisheries on the coast and on the rivers; 

 that on the coast of Thurso let formely at lOOOi per annum. Salmon 

 are dear in the county, nearly all being 'kitted' for the London 

 market. 



Diviiiont, Towni, <kc. The county of Caithness forms a Presbytery, 

 and is within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the synod of Sutherland 

 and Caithness. Of 28 clergymen within the bounds of the synod 

 Caithness possesses 13. In addition to the 13 churches of the 

 Establishment there are about 20 other places of worship, the greater 

 proportion of which belongs to the Free Church, the others to United 

 Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and others. The county contains 

 one royal burgh, which is the county town, WICK. The only other 

 town besides Wick is Thurso, a post- and market-town on the north 

 coast, about 20 miles N.W. from Wick: population 2908 in 1851. 

 It lies in a valley or bay formed by the two promontories called 

 Holburn Head and Dunnet Head. Thurso Water enters this bay 

 cloe to the town. The town has been a burgh of barony since 1 633. 

 It consists of an old and a new town. The church is a handsome 

 building, and the new town contains a few regular streets and some 

 well-built houses. There are a Free church and two other places of 

 worship for Presbyterian Dissenters. Thurso is a post-town, and 

 courts iin held there for the northern part of the county. Straw 

 plait, leather, ropes, and linen and woollen cloths are manufactured. 

 At a short distance from the town the late Sir John Sinclair erected 

 a low circular building surmounted by a sort of embattled parapet, 

 intended to mark the grave of Harold, au earl of Caithness, who was 

 killed somewhere about thin spot many centuries ago. It is a con- 



spicuous object, in a country comparatively bare and desolate. The 

 parish of Thurso, owing to Sir John Sinclair's exertions, is considered 

 to be the most improved district iu the county. 



The following villages may be mentioned -.Sroadkaven, a small 

 fishing station on the east coast about 1 mile N. from Wick. Castle- 

 town, a populous village on Dunnet Bay on the north coast, about 

 5 miles E. from Thurso. Louitburgh and Pulteneytown, two villages 

 adjacent to and forming suburbs of Wick. Sarclet, a email fishing 

 village 5 miles S. from Wick, where there ia a good harbour for 

 fishing boats. Staxigoe, another village 2 miles N. from Wick, with a 

 good natural harbour. 



Population, <tc. The language generally spoken is the Scottish 

 dialect of English. Gaelic is atUl talked and understood by the older 

 inhabitants, especially in tbe inland districts. In a majority of 

 the churches a portion of the service is conducted in Gaelic. The 

 county gives the title of earl to the family of Sinclair ; it returns one 

 member to the Imperial Parliament: the constituency in 1852 was 

 652. In 1851 there were two savings banks in the county, at Thurso 

 and Wick : the total amount owing to depositors was B0182. 16. 2rf. 



History and Antiquities. T*he earliest inhabitants of Caithness are 

 supposed to have been Celts. These were succeeded by the Picts, 

 who in their turn gave way before the repeated descents of colonies 

 of Danes and Norwegians. As early as the reign of David II. of 

 Scotland the Caithness weights and measures were ordered to be 

 adopted as the standards of the whole kingdom. At that time 

 Scotland traded through Thurso with Norway, Sweden, aud the 

 Baltic, and these weights and measures being those of the chief and 

 nearly sole trade of the country were considered the most convenient. 

 About 1350 the Keith family acquired lauds in Caithness by marriage, 

 and in the same way the Sinclairs and Sutherlands became lords in 

 the district. Its history and traditions present the usual annals of 

 mutual robberies, treacheries, and murders. Sinclair is now the 

 prevailing name. The names of localities are principally Norwegian. 

 There are a great many remains of round towers aud small forts 

 which are attributed to tho time of the Danish possession. The ruina 

 of Catholic chapels are to be met with in every parish, and till com- 

 paratively a late period in the history of the Reformed Church the 

 inhabitant! seem to have formed pilgrimages to different holy spots, 

 to which tradition assigned peculiar virtues. On tho Pentland Frith, 

 the northern shore of the county, is Barrogill Castle, a seat of the earls 

 of Caithness ; and on the eastern coast north of Wick are to be seen 

 the ruins of Bucholie Castle, mentioned by Pennant, and some ruins 

 of buildings attributed to the Picts and the Danes, of the tower of Keiss, 

 and of the castles of Giruigoe and Sinclair. Lord Duffus has a seat 

 on the Bay of Keiss about 6 miles N. from Wick. The ruins of Auld 

 Wick Castle are on the south side of the Bay of Wick. In the parish 

 of Halkirk, and about 6 miles S. from Thurso, are the very remark- 

 able ruins of the castle of Braal, popularly stated to have been the 

 residence of the ancient bishops of Caithness and Sutherland. On 

 the south-east coast of the county are the ruins of eight castles, all of 

 them possessing their own traditions of war and bloodshed. These 

 are Clyth, Swiney, Forse, Latheron, Knockinnan, Duubeath (still 

 inhabited), Achastle, and Berriedale. 



CALABAR, OLD, a river of Africa which falls into the Bight of 

 Biafra about 52 miles N. by W. from Fernando Po. It is the largest 

 river on this coast, and forms an tcstuary 9 miles wide, which is full 

 of shallows and sand-banks. The Cross River, which used to be 

 considered a feeder of the Old Calabar, was discovered to be the main 

 stream by Captain Becroft in 1841-2. The river ia navigable by 

 steamers for 200 miles above its mouth. The principal place on the 

 river is called Duke's or Ephraim Town, which stands on the aestuary 

 about 5 miles from the entrance. Twelve miles above Duke Town i 

 another Urge village, called Creek Town. The United Presbyterian 

 Church of Scotland has several missionary agents in Old Calabar. 



The river is very winding, and the shores are low and swampy. The 

 country is overrun with bushes, principally of the mangrove species, 

 and there are few cleared spots on the banks of the river. The right 

 bank is much intersected by creeks, through which the natives assert 

 they can in their canoes communicate with all the rivers that fall 

 into the Gulf of Guinea between this and the Benin, forming the 

 great delta of the Quorra. To the eastward of the Calabar is tho 

 high land of Camaroons. The river abounds in alligators : there are 

 few fish. The water is not considered good. 



CALABAR, NEW, a branch of the Quorra, which enters the 

 Atlantic 52 miles E. from Cape Formosa by the same sestuary with 

 the Bonny. It is a wide but sluggish stream with a bar across the 

 entrance, which renders it accessible only for vessels drawing about 

 12 feet : 5 miles up however there is an average depth of 30 feet. 

 By the Portuguese it was called Rio HeaL The town of New Calabar 

 stands on an island formed by two branches of the river. 



The district to which the name of Calabar is given is very undefined 

 and variable, as the chiefs are generally at war with each other, and 

 overrun the neighbouring territories whenever they feel themselves 

 sufficiently powerful. All this part of tho African coast is low and 

 swampy for 40 or 50 miles inland from the sea-coast, with few places 

 fit for cultivation, though on these spots the soil yields plentifully 

 not only yams, which are the chief food of the natives, but also the 

 sugar-cane and other tropical productions. Polygamy is customary 



