42 DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYSICAL FEATURES 
hollows of the birch- woods of Assynt, the lovely birch-clad shores 
of Loch Letteressee, near Assynt shooting-lodge, and the wooded 
valleys of Inver and Kirkaig, where spruce and pine have been 
added to the natural wood and to the beauties of glen and 
hillside. 
Scattered amongst the sinuous hills of lower elevation through- 
out the Stoir peninsula are a few very lovely bits of scenery, 
influenced by perspectives of hill and hollow, lake and birch-wood ; 
and specially amongst those we would take note of the Lochs of 
Beannoch — already spoken of — and those of Drumbeg in the north 
of Stoir, and the hollows and lakes close to the road, only a short 
mile or two to the north of Loch Inver. North of Scourie 
scarcely a tree is to be seen, save on a few islands of the lochs, 
but between Loch Inver and Scourie there are many lovely lochs, 
covered with water-lilies, and their shores and islets clad with 
birch and royal fern. Inland, at Loch More shooting-lodge, there 
is a luxuriant shrubbery of rhododendron, and the steep side of 
Ben Stack is clothed in birch to a considerable height. At Durness 
scarcely a tree is to be seen, but at Tongue there are fine planta- 
tions of larch and fir around Tongue House, and here one of the 
finest old wych-elms in Scotland grows on the lawn. The very 
temperate nature of the climate of Tongue (snow rarely lying there 
for any length of time) exercises its influence on plant and animal 
life alike. At Altnaharrow, on the road between Lairg and Tongue, 
is a small clump of spruce and larch, and it is wonderful how 
the bird-life is at once observed to be affected by this oasis, as 
the yellowhammer, chaffinch, and robin, the wren and the hedge- 
sparrow, reappear at this isolated station. At Loch Hope Lodge 
also, there is considerable amenity of woodland, and before long 
the strips of young wood lately planted on the improved land 
bordering Loch Shin will not only give shelter to the cropped lands 
but also to innumerable birds and insects. At Goberneasgach and 
in Glen Golly is a considerable slope clad in birch- wood, in the 
very centre of a vast stretch of barren deer-forest, also exerting its 
influence in a marked degree upon the fauna. 
Nor should we omit all mention of the incalculable advantages 
