s THE BRITISH ISLES. 



by well-defined indentations of the coast, are likewise countries distinguished by 

 special features which could not fail of exercising an influence upon their inhabit- 

 ants. The mountainous part of England, to the north of the Humber and Mersey, 

 forms a fourth natural province, differing from the remainder of England in its 

 geological structure no less than in the history of its inhabitants. The Cheviot 

 Hills, which run across the island from sea to sea to the north of the Solway 

 Firth, form a well-defined historical boundar}^ and so does the lowland plain 

 which stretches from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde. The sterile moun- 

 tains and valleys of the Scottish Highlands form a most striking contrast to the 

 low plains and gentle hills stretching away to the south.* At two places these 

 natural frontiers have been marked, as it were, by lines of fortifications, viz. 

 between the estuary of the Forth and that of the Clyde, and farther south, between 

 the mouth of the Tyne and the Solway Firth, where the Romans constructed 

 ramparts and towers to put a stop to the depredations of the Highland tribes. 



The contours of Great Britain are at once symmetrical and bold. In its general 

 structure that island strikingly resembles the peninsula of Scandinavia. Like the 

 latter, it stretches from north to south in the direction of the meridians, its 

 plateaux and mountains rise near the west coast, and its principal rivers flow to 

 the eastward. Ireland, though it too has fine contours, is far more massive in its 

 configuration than the sister island. Its mountains form the nuclei of distinct 

 provinces, whose inhabitants made war upon each other ; but on the whole its 

 features exhibit greater geographical unity than those of the larger island. 



The British Islands rise upon the submarine plateau of North-western Europe. 

 The strait which separates England from France is narrow and of inconsiderable 

 depth, and from the heights above Dover the grey cliffs of Gris Nez are distinctly 

 visible on a clear day. Still, Albion, to the ancestors of the modern Frenchmen, was 

 a distant country. Squalls of wind, rapid and changing currents, sand-banks, and 

 steep cliffs rendered navigation perilous. In time of war communications between 

 the two countries ceased altogether ; whilst during peace, owing to the danger 

 which attended them, hardly any but sailors and merchants profited by them. The 

 mass of the nation was thus little affected by events which took place on the conti- 

 nent, and remained insular in its mode of life, customs, and ideas. The Romans, 

 moreover, only succeeded in subduing a portion of Great Britain, and the influence 

 they exercised was therefore far less powerful than in Gaul. The highlands of 

 Scotland and Ireland never formed part of the Roman world at all, the remote- 

 ness and the perils of the ocean affording them a protection against the legions 

 of the Caesars. It was only slowly and by degrees that the tribes inhabiting 

 those countries were affected by the civilisation which had Rome for its centre. 

 The British Islands thus occupied a position, relatively to the general history 

 of mankind, analogous to that which they hold to the fauna and flora of Conti- 

 nental Europe. Numerous species of French and German plants, perfectly 

 adapted to the climate of England, are nevertheless not found there, and Ireland is 

 still poorer than Great Britain in its animal and vegetable forms. The migration 

 * Buckle, "Hiatory of Civilization in England." 



