GENERAL REMARKS, &C. 89 



GENERAL REMARKS ON THE SANDSTONE ISLANDS, AND 

 ON THE SANDSTONE OF THE WESTERN COAST. 



FROM the various remarks already made on the red 

 sandstone series, in describing the numerous islands 

 where it occurs, the greater number of its characteristic 

 features may be collected. Yet there are many circum- 

 stances of importance in its history, which will not be 

 found in those islands ; nor could the exact nature and 

 extent of its relations be understood, without a sketch 

 at least, of that part of the mainland in which it oc- 

 cupies an important, as well as an intricate and singular 

 situation. 



The islands included in this division, together with 

 those portions of the Trap islands formerly described 

 that consist of the red sandstone, must all be considered 

 as parts of one mass, which occupies an interrupted line on 

 the western shore from Glen Elg to Cape Wrath, and 

 extends to a certain distance in the interior country. 

 That space could not be defined without the assistance 

 of a map; but it is sufficient for the present purpose 

 to say, that it is limited, in a general way, to a breadth 

 not often exceeding thirty miles, and rarely attaining 

 that dimension. Throughout this tract it occurs in a 

 very dispersed manner ; sometimes, as was noticed in 

 Handa, forming distinct patches of various dimensions, 

 at others occupying considerable tracts, and in a few 

 instances, constituting single insulated mountains or mere 

 mountain summits. This latter form is among the most 

 singular of the appearances it presents; since that dis- 

 position occurs in no other stratified rock in Scotland, 

 although not uncommon in the members of the trap 

 familv. 



