DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYSICAL FEATURES 
OF SUTHERLAND AND CAITHNESS. 
EA.STERN DIVISION OF SUTHERLAND. 
On the north coast, and east from the Kyle of Tongue, the shore 
gradually rises, and &x adverso of this part are small green islands, 
lying not far from the mainland, principal among which is the 
island of Eoan, which is inhabited. At Naver Bay there is a con- 
siderable extent of flat sandy coast, the only bit of any size of the 
kind until Sandside, on the Caithness side of the county boundary, 
is reached. From here the coast-line becomes bold and rocky, with 
vertical headlands of considerable height, such as Skerra and 
Strathy Points, and occasionally indented by small sandy bays of 
no great size, again getting lower, flatter, and of a more sandy 
character as the county of Caithness is approached. 
The eastern coast-line of Sutherland consists mostly of sand- 
hills, stretching from Port Gower in the north to the Dornoch 
Firth in the south. The hills, which from the Ord to Helmsdale 
rise close to the sea, after passing the latter place begin to recede 
further and further inland, thus leaving an intervening flat, varying 
from one to two miles in breadth, which is mostly under cultiva- 
tion ; in two places — Dunrobin and the Little Ferry — woods take 
the place of fields, which here come down to the sea. At several 
points along this line rocks crop up, which resist to a certain 
extent the ravages of the sea, though the latter is encroaching in 
some places very rapidly. 
The whole of this eastern sea-board, which is rather more than 
twenty-five miles in extent, presents but little variety, the sand- 
hills, which commence on the southern side of the Helmsdale 
