410 NUMBER AND CONDITION OF DEER. 



extremity of Loch Lydoch by the king's house in Rannoch, 

 to Dalness in Glen Etive ; and on the south side from the 

 confines of the county of Perth, by Loch Tulla, and the 

 river Urchay, to Corri Vicar and Glenketland. The 

 ground is peculiarly adapted for deer, being rocky and 

 steep, and the hills are varied with numerous corries. The 

 rocks are mostly granite and porphyry. The grass is 

 remarkably fine, and the sheep of the Black Mount were 

 greatly esteemed in the Glasgow market. 



The highest hills in the forest are Ben Toag, which 

 rises on the north side of Loch Tulla ; Stoupgyers, or the 

 Hill of Goats; Clachlig, or the Stony Face; Sroin-na- 

 forseran, or the Forester's Nose ; Mealvourie, and the 

 Craish, which rises on the south side of Glen Etive. 

 There is a considerable extent of low ground, about nine 

 miles in length by five or six in breadth, extending from 

 the bases of the hills on the east side as far as Loch Ly- 

 doch. In this low ground there is a continued chain of 

 small lochs called the Bah Lochs, in which there are 

 several small wooded islands ; into these the deer are very 

 fond of going. This low ground is of very great service 

 to the forest, both as it affords good wintering and very 

 early grass in the spring ; for at that period of the year 

 the deer may be seen standing in the water picking rushes 

 and grass which grow at the sides of the river and lochs. 

 This early grass is of immense importance to them, and, 

 combined with the strong hill pasture, is one of the causes 

 of the excellent condition in which the deer of this forest 

 are usually found. 



The stags of the Black Mount exceed those of most of 

 the neighbouring forests in point of weight, and may be 



