12 Dr. Mac Culloch's Sketch of the 



preserved in an open state and subjected to the changes which pul- 

 verization and access of air always produce on it, adds the carbona- 

 ceous ingredient to the clay, and forms a true vegetable mould. It 

 is a separate question depending on various other considerations, 

 whether this species of improvement should in all cases be directed 

 to the cultivation of grain ; but there is no doubt that it could be 

 €a8ily turned to a system of ameliorated pasturage, a system under 

 v»rhich, without exaggeration, one acre of land could be made to 

 produce more than many hundreds in its present state. 



It is not my business to inquire into the obstacles which impede 

 this obvious improvement of a country possessing such capability. 

 Want of capital may be one cause, but it is more probable that the 

 chief impediments are of a moral nature, resulting partly from the 

 characteristic indolence and contentedness of the inhabitants, and 

 partly from the difficulties which always attend the introduction of 

 novelty into practices long established. 



The want of trees in this island must be attributed to similar 

 causes, since they would grow well in innumerable sheltered situa- 

 tions, and since some parts of the island still exhibit the remains of 

 ancient woods. 



In mentioning the artificial divisions of Sky, I have already 

 touched slightly on its general irregularities and the disposition of 

 its surface, but as these are intimately connected with the arrange- 

 ment of its rocks, they require a more detailed consideration. 



The principal group of mountains is that of the Culin or Cuchul- 

 lin, so named from the well known traditional hero and king of this 

 island. This forms an irregular mountain tract covering an area 

 of ten or twelve miles by seven, and skirting the sea shore with a 

 very bold series of declivities from near Loch Eynort to Loch Scavig. 

 The single mountain Blaven forming a long ridge between the lochs 



