THE PINE. ^9 



Ireland that has been mentioned — that is, from 

 the county of Cavan to that of Kildare, a bog occu- 

 pies the summit level instead of mountains, and is 

 in some ])laces at least fifty feet in thickness ; and 

 though there be partial islands of more firm soil in 

 the extent of it, the highest grounds are composed 

 of peat. In many parts of Scotland, too, the hogs 

 occupy the summit levels, and are found with a river 

 flowing from the one extremity to the eastern sea, 

 and from the other to the western. 



When these bogs are situated high, and have their 

 surfaces sloping, they are comparatively compact, 

 though at a little distance from the surface they 

 always contain a great deal of moisture. But when 

 they are on less elevated situations, and the surface 

 is partially covered with grass, they are often of very 

 soft consistence below, while the grass forms a 

 tough skin on the surface. In Ireland these are 

 called moving-bogs, and in Scotland quaking mosses. 

 They are very perilous to travellers, and cannot in 

 general be pastured by cattle. 



In seasons which are very rainy, those bogs are 

 apt to imbibe a greater portion of moisture than the 

 surface can retain ; but as the surface is not of a 

 kind through which the Avater can percolate and 

 escape quietly, a disruption takes place ; and when, 

 which is by no means imfrequently the case, the bog 

 is situated on a base higher than the adjoining cul- 

 tivated fields, it bursts, and covers them with a black 

 deluge. 



These burstings, or motions of bogs, are by no 

 means unfrequent in Ireland, where there have been 

 some of very recent occurrence ; but one of the most 

 singular is that of the disruption of the Solway 

 Moss on the confines of England and Scotland, 

 which took place on the I6th of December, 1772. 



The Solway Moss occupied an extent of about 



D 3 



