12 A VERTEBRATE FAUXA OF THE MORAY BASIX. 



one exception (Cairnwell), in Scotland. Meall Gorm (2325 feet) 

 rises almost perpendicularly on the south side of the'glen, and Sgorr 

 na Caorach (2600 feet) on the north. The latter has another top 

 north-west (height, 2538 feet), which is almost a separate hill. It is 

 precipitous on the north side from both tops. From the most 

 westerly one projects a buttress called Na Ciochan, which is very 

 narrow, and has five summits descending one beyond the other 

 from west to east. It is nearly perpendicular on three sides, and 

 its highest top is upwards of 2000 feet above the corrie (Coire nam 

 Faradh). The largest and highest of the Applecross group is Beinn 

 Bhan (2936 feet). Its north-westerly face is carved into seven 

 corries, and the mountain is, from end to end, upwards of nine 

 miles long. The wildest of the corries is that just under the 

 highest point, Coire a' Phoit (the Corrie of the Pot), buttressed on 

 the north and south sides; that on the north (A-Chioch) is a 

 conical top, connected with the main ridge by a narrow arete, 

 which is the highest. The other buttress, a' Phoit (the Pot) gives 

 its name to the corrie. It contains two black tarns, almost per- 

 pendicularly below the highest top of the mountain, at the depth 

 of 1400 feet. 



Keturning to the central ranges south of the Dingwall and Skye 

 Kail way, and eastward of a line drawn from Achnasheen to Scardroy 

 Lodge on the river Meig, we find the hills of much less height 

 than in either the Fannich or Braemore groups. Sgurr a Mhuilinn 

 (2845 feet) and its surrounding peaks — Sgurr a Ghlas Leathaid 

 (2778 feet), Meallan nan Uan (2750 feet), look very imposing, owing 

 to the flat moorlands with which they are surrounded, and the peaked 

 and abrupt forms of the summits themselves. Sgurr Mairc Suidhe 

 (1899 feet), at the west side of Loch Luichart, is the only other pro- 

 minent hill of this group. Connected with these on the west, by 

 wide moorlands, is Moruisg (3026 feet), a large mountain with several 

 elongated tops. Sgurr na Ceannaichean (2985 feet), to the south- 

 west of it, is a picturesque mountain, with a lofty precipitous crag on 

 its south-west shoulder. Between the rivers Meig and Orran is a 

 confused mass of hills rising to no great height, and not very 

 marked in any way, with the exception of Bac an Eich (2791 feet), 

 in the Strath Conan Forest. These ranges are connected with the 



