INVERNESS-SIIIRE. 



vcrnefsdiirc; fuch as the roand of Sky, on which are the bar- 

 racks of Bernera ; I.ochHonrn, Loch Nevidi, Loch Mor- 

 veii. Loch Aylcrt, Loch Shcil, and Loch Eil ; the two lail 

 form part of the boiirnlary between this county and Argyle- 

 Ihire. Our limits wi'l not admit a particular defcription of 

 the fcenery to be met with in this cxtenfive county ; confift- 

 ing, as the whole furface of it does, of lofty monntains, 

 vhich, efpecially towards the well, are piled above each 

 other in towering magnificence ; and between which are 

 deep glens of a boundlefs variety of fornid, each of which 

 has its llream and its lake, and many of which abound ia 

 woods. In this county Hands the celebrated Ben Nevis, 

 the highell mo-.intain in the ifland of Great Britain ; the al- 

 titude being no Icfs than 4370 feet. The fummit of this 

 mountain affards a wide extent of view, from the horizon of 

 the feaat the Moray Frith on the north-ea'.l to the iiland of 

 Colonfa on the fo'nth-weft. (See Bkk-Nkvi.s.) In the 

 eaftern part of theparifhof Kilmanavaig a fingular curiofity 

 appears, -viz. the remarkable parallel roads of Glenroy, 

 which are to be feen on the declivities of lofty mountains ex- 

 tending for feven or eight miles on each fide of the water of 

 Roy. Dr. Anderfon, in his View of the Agriculture of 

 Aberdeen, fays, " thefe roads are carried forward along 

 the fides of the hills in a direftion every where perfectly 

 horizontal. Wherever they come to a vacuity in the hill, 

 there they bend inwards till they find the natural level ; and 

 where they come to a river, inllead of finkinj; down to the 

 level of its bottom, or requiring to have a bridge direftly 

 acrofs it, to raife the ground to its proper level, they turn 

 up the bank of the river, keeping ftill their horizontal di- 

 reftion, till they thus gradually reach the bottom of the 

 ilreani, when, croffing it, and altering their direftion once 

 more, they purfue the courfe of the Itream on the oppofite 

 bank till they reach the llrath, when they proceed forward 

 in the fame horizontal direction as before." Thefe parallel 

 terraces, however, are not works of art, but natural pheno- 

 mena, as fuggelled by Mr. .lamiefon, profeflbr of natural 

 hiftory in the univerfitv of Edinburgh, in his Account of 

 the Mineralogy of Dumfriesfhlre. Glenroy mull, at a former 

 period, have been a lake, the furface of whofe waters flood 

 fome fathoms above the higheft of the parallel roads. When 

 the river was in flood, great quantities of mud came down into 

 the lake, but chiefly at the fides, where the current was flower 

 than in the middle. At the lower part of the glen, however, 

 the lake, after a lapfe of ages, muil have burtl its barriers, 

 fo as to reduce the furface of the waters to the level of fome 

 fathoms above the fecond terrace. The mud formerly de- 

 pofited would now become the uppermo.1 terrace. This 

 operation muft have been thrice repeated, to produce the 

 three parallel roads or terraces ; and at laft the river has 

 buril for itfelf the channel which it now occupies, and has 

 converted this ancient lake into a glen or deep valley. About 

 eight miles from the mouth of the river Nevis is a remark- 

 able cavern, known by the name of Haigh-t'-Hovile, or 

 " Samuel's Cave ;' that being the patronymic of the fa- 

 mily of Glenevis. This cave is in the heart of a rock, which 

 appears to be about 70 feet high, and nearly as broad, lean- 

 ing to the fide of a mount fouth of the river, and not far 

 dillant from it. The cave appears to have been formi d 

 by one part of the rock inclining towards the other, 

 and forming between them an arc'.ied, irregular, fhapelefs 

 kind of grotto, from fix to twelve or fouvtet n feet in height, 

 thirty in length, and eleven in breadth. Oppofite the rock 

 in which the cave is formed, on 'he other tide of the river, 

 is a beautiful cafcade, falling by a gradual flope from Ben- 

 Nevis, upwards of half a mik before it reaches the bottom of 



the valley, where it unites its ftr 



with thofe of the 



Nevis. About two miles farther up the Nevis, on the cave 

 fide, is another cafcade, which, after forcing its way througli 

 hills and rocks, has a fall 500 feet perpendicular. The 

 whole vicinity, as may be expcfted from the number of 

 monntains, abounds with cafcades, which produce variety 

 of pirtnrefqne fcenery. 



Such is the rude wildnefs of the mountains, rocks, anif 

 glens, that it is not wonderful the mountain chiefs and in- 

 habitants of this country fo long retained their independence. 

 Not more than twenty years ago, a formidable banditti in- 

 felled Invernefs-fliirc. I'hey confilled of deferters and rob- 

 bers, leagued to;tether for the annoyance of the country i 

 but the military from the forts on the lakes being fent againft 

 them, the leaders were taken, the affociation was broken, 

 and tranquillity rellored. 



The north-eallern corner of this county, adjacent to the 

 Moray frith, is to be confidered as a part of the Lowlands 

 of Scotland ; but all the reft of the county belongs to tlu; 

 Highlands. The low country contiguous to Invernefs is, 

 upon the whole, well cuhivated. The reft of the eaftern 

 coail enjoys a drier climate than is to be found in the weft. 

 Coiifiderable quantities of wheat are fown here, together 

 with barley, oats, and peas. Potatoes are railed in great 

 abundance, and conftitute the principal food of the poorer 

 clafs of inhabitants. Some rye is fown, generally mixed 

 with oats, which gives a foflnefs to the oat-bread of this 

 country. In the upper parts, and in every quarter where 

 pofTenions remain on the anciei,t fmall fcale, agriculture is 

 in a miferable ftate. In the remoteft diftrifts, the harnefs of 

 a horfe ftill confifts of a bridle made of the twiiled twigs of 

 birch ; with a ftick put under the horfe's tail, and tied with 

 twigs, for a crupper : the laddie is a pad made of coarle 

 facking, faftened with twilled birch twigs, or hair ropes. 

 The mountains and forell.; are inhabited by immenfe herds 

 of red and roe deer, which roam in fafety, in recelTes alinoil 

 impenetrable to man : the alpine and common hare, and other 

 game, are alfo abundant. The fir woods in Glenmore and 

 Strathlpey, the property of the duke of Gordon and fir 

 James Grant, are fuppofed to be more extenfive than all the 

 other natural woods in Scotland together. Indeed, in every 

 quarter are confiderable foreils ; and there are natural plant- 

 ations of great extent near the feats of the different pro- 

 prietors, on the fea-coaft or hikes. In the parilh of Kil- 

 malie alone, near Fort William, the wood-lands are ellimated 

 at about 14,000 acres The trees that grow naturally are 

 oak, fir, birch, a(li, moniitain-alh, holly, elm, wild geen, 

 hnzle, and the Scottilli foplar: thofe planted are l.irix, 

 fpruee, fiUer fir, beech, plane, and fruit trees. Lime- 

 ftone, approaching to the nature of marble, is found in every 

 dillrift of the county. In Lochaber, near the farm-houfes 

 of Ballachulilh, is a lime-ftone or marble rock of an athcn- 

 grey colour, and of a fine regular grain or texture, capable 

 of being raifed in blocks or flabs of any fize, and fufceptible 

 of a fine polilh. This fingular rock is fprinkled throughout 

 with grains and fpecks of bright mundic or pyrites, and of 

 lead-ore of a fine texture, v.'hich appears to be rich in filver. 

 In the farm of Blarmacfuildach, belonging to the duke of 

 Gordon, about three miles to the fouth of Fort William, iji 

 the bed of a river, is a very peculiar kind of marble, con- 

 fifting of a black ground, flowered with white. This ftone 

 is of a fine clofe grain, but not very hard ; the flowering is 

 light and elegant, like fine needle-work. Many of the 

 mountains are compofed of reddilTt granite. In the parifh 

 of Kingurie a rich vein of filver was difcovered, but could 

 never be fuccefcfuUy wrought ; snd ia other place*, veins of 



kaJ, 



