Ixxii INTEODUCTION 



1000 feet. The valley-trough is formed chiefly in the limestone, 

 but Old Eed Sandstone prevails on the eastern shore of the lower 

 lake. The higher lands on both sides of the lakes are largely 

 formed of Millstone Grit. Lough Melvin and Lough Macnean, both 

 considerable sheets of water, border the county on the west. Peat 

 bogs are local and rare. Grass land 60 per cent., crops 24 per cent., 

 mountain land and bog each 4 to 5 per cent. Lough Erne has been 

 well explored by Mr. Barrington ; Mr. Stewart has worked the high 

 grounds, and Messrs. West, Tetley, and myself, have contributed 

 lists ; but the total shows that a good deal still remains to be 

 done. 



Flora 540 species, including a fair representation of most 

 of the topographical groups. One plant, Caltha radicans, has on 

 Lower Lough Erne its only Irish station. The rarest species 

 are : — 



TroUius europseus, 3. JStratiotes aloides, 3. 



Caltha radicans, 1. Carex elongata, 2. 



tGalium Cruciata, 2. Cryptogramme crispa, 6. 

 Hieracium tridentatum, 2. 



35. Donegal East. 



North-western. Area 859 square miles. Maritime, with two 

 widely separated stretches of coast. That on Donegal Bay in the 

 south is low and often sandy. The northern coast-line, which faces 

 the Atlantic, is magnificently bold, with softer outlines where Inish- 

 owen fronts Lough Swilly and Lough Foyle. This division is com- 

 posed of heterogeneous elements, which are combined mainly for 

 the purpose of segregating the homogeneous and more important 

 division of Donegal West. In the south, the barony of Tirhugh 

 presents a considerable surface of low-lying limestone, often in bare 

 "crags." The inland barony of Eaphoe is a fertile well-watered 

 country ; while in the north, Inishowen vies with Donegal West in 

 its bleak moors and mountains (2019 feet) of metamorphic rocks. 

 In the south, lakelets are numerous. The centre is drained by the 

 rivers Foyle, Finn, and Swilly, the Foyle being broad and tidal. 

 Inishowen terminates in Malin Head, the most northerly point of 



