INTRODUCTORY. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The County consists roughly of the major part of the three great 

 river valleys Nithsdale, Annandale, and Eskdale ; a certain amount 

 of the first is included in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and another 

 portion of the upper part of Nithsdale belongs to Lanarkshire. A 

 glance at the map will show that the lower portion of Eskdale belongs 

 to Cumberland, and most of the Liddel is outside Dumfriesshire. 

 Hence the County will be seen to be an extremely unnatural one, and 

 for convenience sake I have attempted to include in the Flora the 

 whole drainage area of the Nith and Annan, and only followed its 

 regular boundary in the Southern and Eastern parts, as those parts 

 of the Esk and Liddel drainage areas which are beyond Dumfriesshire 

 would be most conveniently studied from Carlisle as a base. 



The seaside part of Dumfriesshire is almost entirely composed of 

 estuarine mud, on which grows an abundance of Armeria, Triglochin, 

 and Plantago maritima. This is occasionally broken by sand and 

 shingle or by a low cliff where the tide has reached, as e.g., near Annan, 

 a considerable hillock of boulder clay. Rocks are only represented by 

 the concrete at Torduff and the sandstone quays at Annan and Glen- 

 caple. Hence it is surprising to find that most of the ordinary maritime 

 plants have been discovered, though they occur usually in a very 

 scattered and local manner. 



It is not unusual in works of this kind to produce a full description 

 of the general features of the County under review, giving the river 

 names, general appearance, and other knowledge usually sought for in 

 guide books. Most of this information is placed under the heads 

 following, and much will be best found by a careful study of the map. 

 The valley of the Nith is interesting in every sense. If we include the 

 Cargen as a part of its drainage area, then the western watershed will 

 be found a remarkable natural boundary, not only of plants, but of 

 ethnological and geological value. Civilisation and human imigrants 

 have followed the line of the Glasgow and South-Western Railway from 

 the earliest prehistoric times. This is due probably to the depth and 

 great inland extent of the valley. The 200 feet contour is not reached 

 before Drumlanrig, and a careful perusal of the Geology will show that 

 the depression occurred in the early Silurian age. All the valleys are 

 of extraordinary beauty, but this is only understood by those who have 

 the patience to go off the high roads and explore. In Nithsdale, the 

 Glen, Blackwood Linn, the Scaur, and Craighope Linn may be recom- 



