288 S K V . A X T I Q I' IT I JF.5. 



unproductive of the well known plants which are the 

 usual inhabitants of calcareous land. On similar decli- 

 vities and in similar circumstances, Lismore, Glen Tilt, 

 and other calcareous districts of Scotland, are covered 

 with the most luxuriant verdure. If this difference of 

 result be incidental, as it can scarcely fail of being, it 

 may perhaps, as in the instances of trap above mentioned, 

 be attributed to the covering of peat, accumulated in 

 ancient times under the shade of a forest of which the 

 traces may be found in the buried roots and fragments 

 of trees. It is indifferent what soil or what rock lies 

 under such a substance, since its influence cannot reach 

 the surface ; while, if the cause which I have here con- 

 jectured be the real one, it adds another striking instance 

 of the necessity of human labour in aiding the efforts 

 of nature even where these are most bountiful. 



The last circumstance here worthy of notice respecting 

 the connexion between the fundamental rock and the 

 resulting soil, occurs in Sleat, towards the eastern coast. 

 The rock here consists of gneiss, and, like the trap before 

 (1; scribed, is to be seen in many places completely decom- 

 posed for many feet in depth, without any sensible 

 alteration of its appearance or form, and only waiting 

 the touch of mechanical force to reduce it into powder. 

 YvTif'i-ever this has already occurred, the consequence is 

 a yellow loam of an excellent quality, rendering this 

 part, of the country one of the most fertile in the island. 



THE relics of ancient art still preserved in the Western 

 islands, are in most cases so little interesting that there 

 is not much inducement to treat of them in detail. I 

 have in other places described a sufficient number to 

 convey a general idea of their characters, and there is 

 scarcely any thing in this island so particularly distin- 

 guished as to require a minute notice. 



The most numerous ruins are those of the circular 



