PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE 

 BELFAST DISTRICT. 



By J. St. J. Phillips. 



HE term Belfast District has been taken as 

 embracing the counties of Antrim and Down. 

 It is included between the parallels of 54° 5' and 

 55° 1 5' N., and the meridians of 5° 25' and 6° 45' W. 

 The county of Antrim contains an area ofi, 190 square 

 miles ; the county of Down containing 956 square miles. 

 Our district may also be referred to as the N.E. district 

 of Ireland. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic, 

 and on the east by that portion of the Irish Sea known 

 as the North Channel. Two watercourses also form the 

 almost continuous boundaries on the west — the county of 

 Antrim being separated from the county of Derry on the 

 west by the Lower Bann river, from the counties of Tyrone 

 and Armagh by Lough Neagh. The county of Down 

 is separated from the counties of Armagh and Louth by 

 the Newry canal and Carlingford Lough. 



The counties of Antrim and Down are separated from 

 each other by the Lagan river and Belfast Lough. 



Configuration. — The surface features of the two 

 counties present many contrasts ; aud the student may find, 

 in this small area, much that will repay his attention. 

 By approaching the city of Belfast from the sea he will 

 obtain a good preliminary survey of the contrasts in a com- 

 prehensive way. The county of Down presents a long 

 coast line, backed at some distance by hills of little apparent 

 elevation. Antrim, on the other hand, has generally the 

 coast line dominated by steep escarpments, in places rising 

 precipitously from the sea as bold promontories and head- 

 lands, or rising equally precipitously at no great distance 

 from the present shore line. Inland is found a great plateau 

 dipping gently to the west, covered with wide stretches of 

 fiat bog or deposits of glacial gravels and clays. 



The streams flowing inland from the top of the Antrim 

 plateau are sluggish and serpentine, but those flowing over 



