142 NORTH UIST. GEOLOGY. 



and seem to have varied in construction. Sometimes they 

 were built of stones, being of commodious forms and 

 of considerable capacity : in other cases a cavity in the 

 shape of a well, lined with stone, and adapted to the size 

 of the body has been discovered : while the rudest, to 

 which the one in question seems to have appertained, 

 were mere pits dug in the earth, and covered with 

 turf for the purposes of temporary concealment. The 

 unfortunate Celt above recorded, seems to have perished 

 in his retreat during the heroic times of this envied age.* 



THE reader who has followed these details through the 

 islands already described, will doubtless still expect to find 

 gneiss forming the sole rock of North Uist. Although 

 this in a general sense is true, there is fortunately here 

 some variety in the ridge of Heval, already mentioned 

 as forming the eastern hilly margin of the island. Such 

 variations give a necessary stimulus to the observer, 



* A perfect example of these subterranean retreats is found near- 

 Tongue in Sutherland. The external entrance is formed of large stones 

 arranged in the same inclined manner as in the Pyramid of Cheops. 

 This seems to have been the origin of the arch, a subject respecting 

 which much has been written. Between this and the pointed Gothic 

 arch the transition is indeed but small, the curvature of the two inclined 

 stones forming the first stage of it. Some of the earliest structures of 

 Greece present examples both of this modification and of that imme- 

 diately subsequent, where a third stone fills the interval left at the apex. 

 But I cannot here enter on a subject which is the province of archi- 

 tectural antiquaries. It would require an essay to contain the evidence 

 in favour of this view which might be derived from ancient architecture 

 both European and Oriental ; and which appears to prove that the 

 circular has been derived immediately from the pointed, or Gothic arch. 

 It is obvious that the confusion of styles in the ancient architecture of 

 England does not interfere with this argument, as it may be explained by 

 supposing that the ecclesiastical builders drew from two distinct sources, 

 the Roman and the Oriental ; an opinion supported by many collateral 

 proofs. The pointed arch is of a much prior date to these buildings. 



The Sketch, PI. 30. fig. 3, will serve to convey a general notion of 

 the transitions in question. 



