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and sing their praises, such as those of Trailigill and 

 Loanan, and the marvellous cold-stream burn or Ault-na- 

 oul, in the limestone of Assynt, or the wild tumbling burns 

 of Glens Dhu and Coul — two glens, perhaps without 

 their equal in scenic effect. 



Sea-Lochs and Shore-lines, Headlands and Stacks. 



Scarcely less in importance are the innumerable and 

 far-reaching sea-lochs, commencing in the south-west with 

 Loch Kirkaig and Loch Inver, the long arms of Glen Dhu 

 and Glen Coul, and including amongst their number, 

 between those and Cape Wrath, Scourie Bay, Lochs Lax- 

 ford and Inchard, and the sandy Loch Sandwood, all 

 united by a wild and rugged coast -line, save at little 

 isolated spots, where vegetation struggles hard to gain a 

 foothold in the crofts of the inhabitants, or at others 

 where bits of sandy soil intervene, forming smiling little 

 coves and nooks, sunny warm spots in the midst of the 

 gaunt precipices and rock-bound shores. The grandeur 

 of the coast culminates in the Island of Handa, of which 

 we will speak later, and in the grand cliffs and stacks and 

 headlands between Cape Wrath and Durness. Nor must 

 we forget to mention the peculiar stacks or isolated pillars 

 of rock of the " Old Man of Stoir," and that of the 

 Buachaille or Shepherd near the entrance to Loch Sand- 

 wood, besides others we will speak of at Handa, and on 

 the north coast, whilst treating of the islands off the coast. 



Sea Islands. 



Intimately associated with these deep sea indentations 

 and the rugged coast-line are the innumerable islands and 

 groups of islands which stud the whole western seaboard, 

 principal amongst which are the islands off Loch Inver, 

 the Badcall Islands off Cairnbawn Loch (which at its 

 head separates into the wild recesses of Lochs Dhu and 

 Coul), and Handa, the stupendous cliffs of which, reach- 

 ing 620 feet in altitude, give shelter to the countless sea- 

 fowl which throng its step-and-stair-like ledges "at the 

 height of the season," and which, also, for many years, 



