NOKTHtlMBERLAND AND DTJEHAM. 25 



White Lee. Tlie whole occupies an area of about 200 square 

 miles in Northumberland, and of 100 in Eoxburghshire. 



This range is marked by distinctive physical features. The 

 lowest level at which the porphyry appears is 200 feet above the 

 sea, in Akeld Burn ; but, risiag steeply from the stratified rocks, 

 it soon attains a high elevation, generally of not less than 1000 

 feet : Humbleton Hill, near Wooler, the scene of a famous bor- 

 der battle, is 977 feet high; Yeaverrng, of archaeological and 

 historical celebrity, is 1182 feet; the Newton Tor is 1762 feet; 

 Dunmore is 1860 feet; Windygyle, near the borders, is 1983 

 feet; rounded Hedgehope is 2348 feet; and broad-backed Che- 

 viot, the highest, is 2676 feet above the sea level. Many of 

 these high hills are of fine conical forms and roll into each other, 

 being separated by short upland valleys or hopes ; in others the 

 division is made by narrow rugged and craggy clefts. Through 

 deep valleys or gorges the burns and rivulets brawl over rocky 

 channels, leaping over crags into highly picturesque linns, such 

 as the Harthope and Linnhope Spouts. Naked though the moun- 

 tains are, being treeless, nevertheless "sublimity breathes from 

 their forms." Where the declivity is considerable long trains of 

 angular rocks, detached from the mass, extend from near the 

 summit to the base ; and these, when weathered, have a purple 

 hue, which blends well with the bright green herbage which 

 here and there appears. Locally, these trains are called glitters 

 or glidders, probably from gleideti (Anglo-Saxon), to slide. 



Though the rock is hard, yet the felspar is liable to decompo- 

 sition by the ordinary action of the elements, and the soil result- 

 ing is highly productive. The top of the higher hills is covered 

 with peat and yields a coarse grass ; but on their slopes, and on 

 hnis of less elevation, a fine grass grows well adapted for sheep 

 pasturage. Though in the valleys, and ravines, and sheltered 

 nooks several plants of rarity and interest flourish, yet this range, 

 considering its extent, elevation, and composition, has not a rich 

 Flora. Some plants, peculiar to igneous rocks, will be noticed 

 when treating of the basalt ; but others, which are confined to 

 the Cheviots, have their habitat there more from elevation than 

 from the minei'al character of the rock ; as for example, the 



