370 FOREST OF DIRRIE-MORE ; 



of the Dirrie-Chatt followed the mountain belt that skirts 

 the low cultivated land along the coast as far as Craig- 

 More, near the mouth of the river Fleet ; and thence it 

 proceeded westward by the side of the valley of the Fleet, 

 and along the hilly ground north of Rhine, and of Lairg 

 Church, as far as Loch Shin ; passing still westward along 

 the whole extent of this lake to Corry-Kinloch, and thence 

 to Ben-Leod, where the description of the boundaries of 

 the Dirrie-Chatt commenced. 



Such were the ancient boundaries of this extensive forest, 

 which stretched from Ben-Leod to the Ord of Caithness, 

 a distance of about fifty miles. Its breadth varied from 

 ten to thirty miles. It comprehended within its limits 

 the following five minor forests, which had their separate 

 annals and traditions : 



1. The forest of Ben~Griam, 



2. The forest of Sledale, 



3. The forest of Ben-Horn, 



4. The forest of Ben-Ormin, 



5. The forest of Ben-Hee. 



The great forest of Dirrie-More differs essentially in its 

 scenery from all the other forests in Scotland ; less in 

 extent than the Dirrie-Chatt, which adjoins it, all its parts 

 are broken and disjointed in a singularly wild and abrupt 

 manner ; and so uniform is this character, that any one 

 section of the interior solitudes of the Dirrie-More would 

 afford a correct counterpart of all the other features of this 

 wilderness of mountains. 



Rocky and precipitous masses, separated by ballocks or 

 narrow passes ; deep and desolate glens, with vast masses 



