THE SUBDIVISION OF IRELAND Ixxi 



slates, and has the hummocky surface characteristic of the Silurian 

 area of the North-east. In the north there is a good deal of 

 Carboniferous limestone, and the country is flatter. The greatest 

 elevations occur on the NW. border, in the Slieve Beagh range 

 (Essagalvane 1196 feet). No large rivers traverse the county, but 

 the Ulster Canal, crossing from SW. to NE., provides a home for 

 many hydrophytes. Peat bogs proper are almost absent. A fertile 

 county, with a normal proportion of grass land (52 per cent.), 

 and a large area under crops (36 per cent.). Till lately almost 

 unexplored, and still, on account of a hitch in the field-work 

 arrangements of the last season, one of the least known of the Irish 

 counties. The combined lists of Mr. Waddell, Mr. Somerville, and 

 myself, made in various parts of the county, show a deficiency of 

 100 to 150 species. 



Flora 477 species, without any special feature. The flora 

 approaches that of the North-eastern district in the frequency of 

 certain local plants, chiefly calcifuge, such as Pohjgonum minus and 

 Potamogeton ohtusifolius. None of the species so far found in the 

 county are particularly rare or otherwise interesting ; but there is 

 much good ground, and when the county is properly explored some 

 rarities will probably be discovered. 



33. Fermanagh. 



North-western. Area 714 square miles. Inland. The whole 

 county lies in the basin of the Erne, one of the larger rivers of 

 Ireland, which flows down the centre of Fermanagh, expanding 

 into the great lakes of Upper and Lower Lough Erne. The 

 upper lake is a maze of windings among peninsulas and islands ; 

 the lower is more open, and contains a multitude of islands likewise. 

 From the fertile lowlands of the river-basin the ground rises on 

 either side, so that the county is rimmed with mountains. On the 

 southern side there is a considerable area of hills of Carboniferous 

 limestone and Coal-measures 800 to 1200 feet in height. These are 

 dominated by the great ridge of Cuilcagh (2188 feet), on the borders 

 of Fermanagh and Cavan. The hills on the northern and eastern 

 side of the Erne valley are not so high, but several summits exceed 



