INVEEKESS. 371 



Far more populous, at least as regards its seaboard, is the district of Buchan. 

 Here are JSfeiv Pitsligo and Strichen, in the interior of the county, both engaged 

 in the cattle trade, and the prosperous seaport towns of Peterhead and Fraser- 

 burgh, together with Rosehearty and other fishing Tillages. Peterhead is more 

 especially engaged in the whale and seal fishery, and amongst its imports figures 

 cryolite, obtained from the mines of Evigtok, in Greenland. Herrings are largely 

 exported. 



Banffshire mainly consists of the western slope of the Cairngorm Mountains 

 and their spurs, which stretch to the north-eastward from Ben Muich Dhui, on the 

 borders of Aberdeen, and sink down towards Strathspey and its swift-flowing 

 salmon-yielding river. Only a small fringe along the coast is capable of cultiva- 

 tion. Here Banff, the county town, occupies a beautiful site at the mouth of the 

 Doveran, and besides engaging in the fisheries and carrying on a brisk commerce, 

 it has flax-mills, stone-yards, manure works, engineering works, and a ship-yard. 

 Dufi" House, the magnificent seat of the Earl of Fife, adjoins it. Portsoy, CuUen 

 (with its three rocks), and Buckie are fishing villages. In the interior are Keith, 

 on the Isla, a tributary of the Doveran, with important horse and cattle fairs, 

 woollen and flax mills, and Duff'town, in a side valley of the Spey, with the 

 cathedral church of Old Machar. 



Elginshire, or Moray, lies in the main between the Spey and the Findhorn, 

 both rapid streams abounding in salmon. A spur of the Monadhliadh JNlountains, 

 which are formed of Silurian rock, fills up the centre of the county ; but 

 along the coast extends a belt of old red sandstone, where the soil is fruitful. 

 Elgin, on the Lossie, 5 miles above Lossiemouth, has the ruins of a noble 

 cathedral and a geological museum, Forres, on Findhorn Loch, is a quaint old 

 town, with many gabled houses. Near it stands Sweno's Stone, an obelisk covered 

 with curious carvings, probably intended to commemorate the expulsion of the 

 Danes. Findhorn, Burghead, and Garmouth are fishing villages, the latter at the 

 mouth of the Spey, up which are Fochabers, with Castle Gordon, and Rothes. 



Nairnshire, a small county between the Findhorn (Strathdearn) and the 

 Nairn, resembles Elginshire in its geological structure, except that the sand- 

 stone nowhere reaches the coast, which is fringed with a tract of blown sand 

 and alluvial soil. Nairn, the county town, is much frequented for sea-bathing. 

 About 5 miles above it stands Cawdor Castle, a fine feudal stronghold of the 

 fifteenth centuiy, built on the site of that in which Macbeth murdered 

 Duncan. 



Inverness, the largest of the Highland counties, not only includes a con- 

 siderable portion of the mainland, stretching from sea to sea, but also the 

 large island of Skye and the whole of the Outer Hebrides, with the exception 

 of Lewis. The great feature of the mainland is the huge cleft of Glenmore, 

 between Inverness and Loch Eil (see p. 333). The northern declivity of this 

 valley is occupied by Lochs Ness and Oich, upon which Glen TJrquhart, Glen 

 Moriston, and Glen Garry open from the westward. The famous Foyers Falls 

 are on the eastern side of Loch Ness, right opposite to the naked, hayrick-like 



