SCOTLAND. 26.7 



mountains of Tweeddale, and other parts of the south, are almost 

 incredible; and the black cattle, when fattened on the southern pas- 

 tures, have been reckoned superior to English beef. 



Formerly the kings of Scotland took great pains to mend the breed 

 of the Scotch horses, by importing a large and more generous kind 

 from the continent : but notwithstanding all the care that was taken, 

 it was found that the climate and soil of Scotland were unfavourable 

 to that noble animal ; for they diminished both in size and spirit; so 

 that, about the time of the union, few horses, natives of Scotland, were 

 of much value. Great efforts have been made of late to introduce 

 the English and foreign breeds, and such care has been taken to 

 provide them with proper food and management, that success Iras 

 equalled the most sanguine expectations. 



Natural curiosities... .Traces of ancient volcanoes are not tin- 

 frequent in Scotland. The hill of Finehaven is one instance ; and 

 the hill of Bergonium, near Dunstaffage castle, is another, yielding' 

 vast quantities of pumices, or scoria of different kinds, many oi 

 which are of the same species with those of the Icelandic volcanoes. 

 Among other natural curiosities of this country, is a heap of whits 

 Stones, most of them clear like chrystal, together with great quantities 

 of oyster and other sea-shells, found on the top of a mountain called 

 Scorna-Lappich, in Ross-shire, twenty miles distant from the sea. 

 Slains, in Aberdeenshire, is said to be remarkable for a petrifying; 

 cave, called the Dropping Cave, where water oozing through a spongy 

 porous rock at the top, quickly consolidates after it drops to the 

 b'ottom. Scotland, like other mountainous countries, abounds in wild 

 and picturesque scenes, rocks, cataracts, and caverns. Of the latter 

 there are some in Fifeshire, of extraordinary dimensions, in which, 

 inhuman cruelties are said to have been perpetrated. 



Population. ...The population of Scotland, according to the very 

 accurate estimate given in sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of 

 Scotland, was, in 1798, i. 526,492: in 1755, it was only 1,265,380; so 

 that in 43 years it had increased 261,112. By the returns made to the 

 Population bill, passed in 1801, the present number of inhabitants in 

 Scotland is 1,599068; to which if we add 8692, the estimated number 

 of inhabitants in the places from which no returns had been made, the 

 total will be I,6u7,760. 



XviTONAL CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS... .The people of 



Scotland are generally raw-boned, and a kind of characteristical 

 feature, that of high cheek-bones, prevails in their faces ; they are 

 lean, but clean-limbed, and can endure incredible fatigues. Their 

 adventurous spirit was chieily owing to their laws of succession, which" 

 invested the elder brother as head of the family, with the inheritance-, 

 and left but a very scanty portion for the other sons. This obliged 

 the latter to seek their fortunes abroad, though no people have more 

 affection for their native soil than the Scotch have in general. It is 

 true, this disparity of fortune among the sons of one family prevails 

 in England likewise ; but the resources which younger brothers hav\3 

 in England are numerous, compared to those of a country so narrow, 

 and so little improved, either by commerce or agriculture, as Scotland 

 vas formerly. 



An intelligent reader may easily perceive that the ridiculous family- 

 pride, which is perhaps not yet entirely extinguished in Scotland, was 

 owing to the feudal institutions which prevailed there longer than in. 

 England. The family differences, especially of the Highlanders; 



