X PREFACE. 



apology for the scattered position and desultory style 

 of these remarks is necessary, it can only be said 

 that they are introduced just where they arose. To 

 have arranged them in a systematic form, would have 

 led the reader to expect more than was intended, and 

 would have given an air of pretension which the 

 writer is abundantly conscious he could not have 

 justified by a corresponding execution. It must also 

 be remembered that a work may be too long; and 

 that it was necessary to economize the allotted space 

 for that which was the leading object, namely, the 

 geological history of the islands. If the warmth 

 of Caledonian feelings on subjects which relate to 

 Scotland has any where been offended, it would be 

 a source of regret : the writer has himself carried into 

 that country no small share of Caledonian affections, 

 hereditary and acquired ; but he has attempted to 

 view these questions with the eye of an unprejudiced 

 " Sassanach." 



In the details of the Work, every island which 

 appeared deserving of notice has been described, 

 from North Rona to the Isle of Man. The ex- 

 ceptions that will be found, consist chiefly of 

 the numerous islets which lie on the shores of 

 the Long island, connected principally with North 

 Uist. They presented nothing to require any 

 further notice than that which is given in the map, 

 where their composition is indicated. Every islet, 

 however small, wherever it offered any peculiarity 

 requiring remark, has been introduced. If any apo- 

 logy is deemed necessary for here including the Isle of 

 Man, it must be recollected that it once formed a 

 political part of the Western islands. 



With the assistance to be derived from the maps, it 



