RUM. GENEltAL DESCRIPTION. 473 



RUM.* 



ALTHOUGH the rough and dangerous shores, the track- 

 less surface, and the perennial rain of this island, are 

 repulsive to the general traveller, the geologist will here 

 meet with appearances of such interest, as to induce him 

 to brave its tempests and to defy the toil which he must 

 encounter in its investigation. So rude and barren is 

 Rum as to be of less value in proportion to its extent than 

 almost any one of the islands described in this work. Even 

 kelp, that staple commodity of the Western islands in 

 general, is nearly denied to this, its steep and weather- 

 beaten shores refusing a hold to the marine vegetables 

 which abound- throughout this sea. 



The general aspect of Rum is mountainous, and it may 

 be said to consist of an irregular group of high hills rising 

 out of the sea ; without plains, and scarcely diversified by 

 an intervening valley. This group may, in a general point 

 of view, be considered as divided into two parts, the 

 highest occupying the eastern extremity of the island, 

 and that next in altitude the western. But the division 

 is not strongly marked, since it consists only of a lower 

 class of mountains ; and I may add that the northern side 

 of the. island presents a still lower range descending 

 towards the shore with a more gentle declivity. I had an 

 opportunity of observing by the barometer the height of 

 Oreval, the most elevated of the western summits, and 

 found it to be 1798 feet. Storms and clouds prevented 

 me from repeating the observation on Ben More, the 

 highest of the eastern group; but it may be estimated 

 at 500 feet more, while the two remarkable sharp pointed 



* Rum, Danish, wide, ample, roomy. A more probable etymology 

 than Dean Monroe's Ronin. See the Map. 



