NORTH UIST. SAND. 137 



sand proceeds, nor the precise changes which take place 

 in consequence of its movements ; changes which, ac- 

 cording to some reporters, consist in a loss, according 

 to others in an acquisition of land. It will probably 

 be seen, that both are occasionally in the right, the 

 loss of one party being often the gain of another. When 

 the actual appearances have been described, some judg- 

 ment of this question may perhaps be formed. 



The flat sandy shore which the tide alternately covers 

 and deserts, is succeeded by a tract of loose blowing 

 sand, interspersed with hillocks and broken banks of 

 the same materials, slightly compacted by the roots of 

 the Triticum junceum, Carex arenaria, Galium vemm, 

 Anthyllis vulneraria and other well known tenants of 

 similar soils. Beyond this, in the interior, the sand is 

 irregularly diffused over the surface, according as the 

 forms of the ground admit of the free progress of the 

 wind, or oppose obstacles to its motion. Continuing to 

 spread, it becomes more and more intermingled with 

 the peat or other natural soil, forming mixtures of dif- 

 ferent degrees of fertility. Wherever a sandy bed is 

 perforated, a foundation of peat appears. If now we 

 examine the sand hills which form the second zone here 

 described, we shall find them more or less perfect. In 

 many cases they have nearly disappeared, leaving only 

 pillars or fragments remaining to prove their former 

 altitude, which often reaches to twelve or fifteen feet 

 and even more. The mode in which the sand hills waste 

 is apparent. If a hole be made, or a turf removed from 

 the surface, the wind gradually enters it, scooping out 

 the loose sand, until, in the progress of years, the whole 

 is mouldered away and transferred to a more distant 

 point from the sea, where it is diffused over a wider 

 surface. Thus in North Uist, as well as in other places, 

 we trace the ruins of elevated banks now nearly reduced 

 to the level of the shore ; and here the spectator, like 

 the tenant of the farm, is ready to imagine that the 



