sect. IF. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 2? 



the surface is more unequal ; and the valley 

 narrower j but widens as it declines and ap- 

 proaches the sea. Here the soil is, in general, 

 superior to that of the western part of the strath. 

 In some places we meet with a thin, wet soil, 

 upon a cold tilly bottom : but the greatest pro- 

 portion consists of loam partly deep and moist, 

 and partly light and dry ; and in some places a 

 rich friable clay on a bottom of dead sand. Near 

 the mouth of the Eden, and on both sides of 

 the river, there is an extensive tract of rich 

 ground, gradually rising from the sea, and bound- 

 ed by the surrounding hills in the form of an 

 amphitheatre, the fertility of which, and the 

 quality of the grain it produces, are exceeded, 

 perhaps, by no other pait of the county. 



From the bottom of the hills bounding the 

 valley just now described, on the north, to the 

 river Tay, the land is, almost every where, found 

 to have a whin rock bottom : all the hills are 

 whin rock, and all the stones, in or upon the 

 surface, are of the same kind. These hills are 

 a continuation of the Ochil hills, and their ele- 

 vation above the sea is considerable. But not- 

 withstanding this, the soil is in general excel- 

 lent ; and, except on the very tops of the hills, t 

 where it is thin and exposed, scarcely inferior 

 to any in Fife. When viewed at a distance, this 

 district, from the number of barren rocks* and 

 the quantity of short ill-thriven furze which 

 cover the summits, and, in many places, the 

 sides of the hills, assumes rather a gloomy and 

 barren aspect, and affords no favourable ideas 

 of its fertility. But, upon a nearer inspection, 

 we are agreeably disappointed. The sloping 

 D 2 



