228 ISLA. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



western being respectively applicable to them. The mid- 

 dle division may be denned by a line drawn from Kintra, 

 along the foot of the eastern ridge of hills, to Portaskeg. 

 If again a line be drawn from Ardtala point to Loudinas, 

 it will divide the remaining eastern part of the island into 

 two ; the easternmost of which may be called the eastern 

 flat, and the remainder and larger portion the eastern 

 ridge. With this assistance the places referred to may 

 be specified, without the necessity of having much re- 

 course to the often dissonant Celtic and Scandinavian 

 names by which they are marked. 



The high and irregular land that bounds the sound of 

 Isla, and is apparently continued from the opposite shore 

 of Jura, soon divides into two ridges ; the westernmost of 

 which reaches to Loch Gruinart, while the eastern is pro- 

 longed, with an interruption between Laggan bay and 

 Loudinas, as far as the Mull of Oe. The former is irre- 

 gular, and of an elevation never rising to 1000 feet; 

 while it gradually subsides towards the alluvial land and 

 the middle division, by a series of gentle eminences ; the 

 whole constituting the division termed the north-western. 

 The eastern ridge attains a higher elevation, many of 

 the hills reaching to 1500 feet, or possibly more, with 

 an aspect more rocky and mountainous than those of 

 the western side. The northern parts of the middle divi- 

 sion are characterized by irregular undulations and rocky 

 eminences ; while towards the bay of Laggan it passes by 

 degrees into a great alluvial plain deeply covered with peat. 

 The south-western division is skirted on the western side 

 by a ridge of low hills, and descends by a gentle gradation 

 to the sea on the eastern ; possessing one of the best soils 

 in the island, and in general exhibiting a continuous tract 

 of well cultivated land. The division here termed the 

 eastern flat, is an irregular tract, generally low, but every 

 where interspersed with detached rocky eminences, so 

 as seldom to present any considerable unencumbered 

 space. It is also fertile, and is cultivated wherever the 



