294 Analysis of the 



is more than 500 feet above the sea, of the remainder 

 less than a quarter ranges between 500 and 1,000 feet 

 in height, while of the rest a large part ranges between 

 1,000 and 2,000 feet; and after that, about as much 

 remains between 2,000 and 4,406 feet in height, as 

 would cover half the area of the Lower Silurian hills, 

 of what I have called the south Highlands, between 

 Berwickshire and Wigtonshire. 



Beyond Glen More and the Caledonian Canal, as far 

 as the north coast of Scotland, the Highlands have the 

 same general character, though the amount of ground 

 above 2,000 feet in height is comparatively less in the 

 total area, and this amount gradually decreases in pro- 

 portion the further north we go. Section No. 54, page 285, 

 gives an idea of the general contours in north Sutherland. 

 There, on the flanks of the mountains in Caithness, the 

 Old Eed Sandstone, lying in comparatively flat strata, 

 forms an undulating plain consisting of conglomerates 

 on the west, and chiefly of sandstones from thence to 

 Sinclair Bay, where it slips under the sea, while further 

 south, between Noss Head and Bervie Ness, high cliffs 

 overlook the sea. 



South of Strath Ullie or Helmsdale, the same Old 

 Eed Conglomerates and Sandstones skirt the Silurian 

 rocks, crossing the Firths of Dornoch, Cromarty, and 

 Inverness, and Beauly Basin, and stretching south to 

 the noble mountain of Meal four vounie, 3,060 feet in 

 height, from whence, crossing Loch Ness, it skirts the 

 country in a broad band beyond the mouth of the Spey. 

 In all this area a large part of the strata consists of 

 conglomerate, and where this rock occurs, because of its 

 occasional hardness, and the very considerable disturb- 

 ance of the rocks, some of the country ranges between 

 800 and nearly 1,500 feet in height. In no part of 



