sect. ?. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 31 



turn the barren deserts into fruitful fields! 

 From these unsightly scenes we turn aWay, and 

 feel relief from the view of those numerous and 

 extensive fields of rich and cultivated ground, 

 which give beauty and opulence to the county, 

 and where industry and skill are exerting tlvnr 

 united powers, with success, in carrying for- 

 ward the improvement of the soil. 



SECT. -V. MINERALS AND FOSSILS. 



FEW counties in Scotland can furnish such an 

 abundant supply of both coal and lime as the 

 county of Fife. From the Forth almost to the 

 Eden, these minerals are to be found in a great 

 variety of places, and of the best quality. As 

 the strata, however, particularly of the coal, vary 

 much, in their dippings and bearings, as they re- 

 cede from the shore, it may be proper, in the ac- 

 count to be given of them, to attend to this dis- 

 tinction. 



On the south side of the county, along the 

 Frith of Forth, the strata are generally regular, 

 dip to the east and south-east, and trend into the 

 sea, on the one hand, and a short way towards 

 the north-east, on the other ; the strata being 

 uniformly cut off before they reach the higher 

 ground, and not extending above two or three 

 miles from the shore. In this district, on the 

 western boundary, we find the coal of Tory- 

 burn ; and at Limekills, about three miles fur- 

 ther east, the lime-works belonging to the Earl 

 of Elgin, the greatest, and most extensive, per- 

 haps, in Scotland. About Inverkeithing, the 



