PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



69 



rise out of the centre of the valley. The more striking of thera 

 because the more isolated, is the well-known hill of Tomna- 

 liurich, now used as a cemetery ; the other lies a little to the south 

 of it, and is called Tor Vean. Both these hills are composed 

 chiefly of gravel, apparently moraines, and are clothed with trees, 

 principally hardwood, such as oak, to their summits ; on the 

 south-east side the bottom of Tor Vean has been slightly cut away 

 to make a less sharp curve for the canal. 



The valley of the Ness is some six or seven miles in length as 

 the crow flies, and varies from one and a half to three miles in 

 breadth. The soil is poor, the land being composed mostly of sand and 

 gravel, but fairly good arable ground occurs here and there, and there 

 are some fair-sized farms, as at Dochfour and Ness-side or Holm, 

 etc. Much of the valley is wooded, and at Ness Castle the banks 

 overhanging the river are covered with hardwood, principally 

 beech, to the water's edge, forming a pretty picture either in the 

 very early spring or late autumn. Close to Inverness are the 

 islands, covered with fine trees, mostly hardwood, but containing 

 a few exceptionally fine larches. 



The Ness is a rapid river, gravelly throughout the whole of its 

 course, with many fine pools and streams, thus affording a most 

 excellent breeding-ground for salmon. There is no angling in the 

 spring, as all the fish pass through on their way to the Garry, but 

 the sport in autumn, from July to October 1 5th, when the season 

 closes, is often good. The river is so broad that all fishing must 

 be done by wading or from a boat. Few towns possess such a fine 

 river running through their midst, and since the drainage has 

 been conducted through a large sewer, instead of, as formerly, each 

 house on the river-side sending its unsightly drain-pipe into the 

 river, visible in low water for the whole of its length, the number 

 of fish seen in tlie redds in the spawning season is very consider- 

 able. It is a sight interesting to both sportsmen and naturalists, 

 as the whole of the operation is easily seen when the water is in 

 ordinary trim. Seals and Otters are also seen here at times. We well 

 remember seeing one of the former some way above the Cathedral 

 on a fine warm Sunday ; and only this January (1894), as we were 

 walking home in the dusk, we saw an Otter showing his head at 



