Scottish Geographical Magazine

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Geographical description of the county of

Alice B. Lennie M.A., B.Sc.

To cite this article: Alice B. Lennie M.A., B.Sc. (1911) Geographical description of the county of Sutherland , Scottish Geographical Magazine, 27:1, 18-34, DOI: 10.1080/00369221108734043

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00369221108734043

Published online: 27 Feb 2008.

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Download by: [University of California, San Diego] Date: 29 June 2016, At: 12:02 18 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

What effect the attitude of the Japanese Government towards the proposed fortification of the Panama Canal, and the presaged formation of the South American Alliance between Argentine, Brazil, and Chil6 (the A.B.C. Alliance, as it has already been designated), will have, remains to be seen. This Alliance, if finally consummated, will almost certainly prove the primary step towards the formation of the long- talked-of "United States of South America," embracing all the States on that continent. It will be of the utmost consequence for " the A.B.C. Alliance" to have easy and direct deep-water communication between its eastern and western members, and if Colombo could be induced to join the alliance, such a waterway might be. easily obtained by one or other, of the Colombian projects which have just been described. The financial status of the alliance would be so strong that no difficulty would be experienced in obtaining the necessary financial support.

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND.1

By ALICE B. LENNIE, M.A., B.Sc. (With Illustrations.)

INTRODUCTION. FEW counties in appeal to a greater variety of interests than the county of Sutherland. Its very remoteness and isolation have preserved much of value, and add to its attractions in many ways. The scenery is varied and offers a wide choice to the artist or tourist. The south-east coast, with its farms and villages, its links and woods, and tree-line.d roads, may be matched in many southern counties ; but in striking contrast to it are the great inland moors, stretching in monotonous undulations, desolate and uninhabited, to the distant rim of mountains. From these wind-swept uplands the rivers have carved out sheltered straths which are dotted with farms and crofts, through which the river winds between meadow and cultivated haughland, with fringes of birch on the steeper slopes. Still other types are found in

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 the west. • The limestone districts are the most extensive in Scotland. The passing traveller, though he may be ignorant of the cause, has no difficulty in distinguishing them; the close green turf and the brilliance of the flowers are a striking feature after miles of peat moor or bare rock. The underground rivers, caves, and crystal springs, are equally characteristic and well worthy of investigation. Extending from north to south of the county, is a wild and rugged belt of mountains with

1 This essay was awarded the Silver Medal offered by the Society for competition in the class of Geography at Edinburgh University in 1910. The essay has teen revised by the author, and a few only of the illustrations which accompanied it are here reproduced. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY. OF SUTHERLAND. 19

bare rocky crests and lofty precipices, which would be impassable but that it is cleft by deep glens. Westwards of this barrier tower those strange mountains whose dark red cliffs, rising tier upon tier from a sea of bare grey ridges, overwhelm the beholder by their sheer massive- ness and isolation. The western plateau on which they stand is a barren rocky waste, yet it has endless variety in its minor features. It is deeply trenched by narrow ravines, studded with lochs of every size and form, and strewn with boulders, many poised on the very summits of the ridges. Geologically, this district has an added interest as the oldest known formation of the earth's surface. In places the overlying rocks have been removed, revealing the hills and valleys of that ancient land formed countless ages ago. But of still more absorbing interest is the now classic region of the-western mountains. Its structure for long baffled the leading geologists, and formed the subject of the famous controversy. The discovery of its secret has disclosed stupendous movements of the strata of a kind undreamt of before, but now detected in many other parts of the world. Under tremendous pressure from the east, huge beds of rock hundreds of feet thick have snapped across and been piled up one over the other, under whole mountain masses which were pushed bodily forward over them for many miles. To the sportsman Sutherland has many attractions to offer. Her rivers and lochs are unsurpassed for angling, and abundant game is to be found on all the moors, while a large proportion of the county is given up to that noblest of our sports, deerstalking. Sutherland is full of antiquarian interest. It contains more numerous remains of ancient buildings than perhaps any other county. These range from the great chambered cairns of neolithic age through brochs and vitrified forts to castles and keeps of the early historic period. To those interested in agrarian questions, the extensive experiments in the distribution of the population in Sutherland are instructive. Nearly the whole interior of the county was cleared of its inhabitants. Numbers were settled on the coasts, but many emigrated. Though the economic results cannot be regarded as altogether unsuccessful, it may be questioned whether the end aimed at might not have been attained in some less drastic manner.

SIZE AND BOUNDARIES.

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 Sutherland is situated in the north of Scotland between 58° 38' and 57° 52' north latitude, and 3° 36' and 5° 24' west longitude. The total area of the county is 1,359,846 acres, or 2124 square miles, of which 1,297,849 acres are land, 47,632 acres water, 12,812 acres foreshore, and 1553 acres tidal water. On three sides it is bounded by the sea, — on the north and west by the Atlantic and , and on the south-east by the Moray Firth. The shores of the latter are low. The beach is covered with sand or shingle and flat reefs of rock, and is bordered by sand-dunes and links. Beyond Helmsdale the hills approach the coast, till, at the boundary with 20 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

Caithness, the cliffs of the Ord descend sheer into deep water. At places the sea is encroaching on the land. At Golspie, which is situated so close lo the sea that the back gardens open on to the beach, rows of stakes have been driven in to hold the shingle. During an exception- ally low tide, remains of a forest were discovered in the bay, which may point to long continued subsidence, but are more probably remains of interglacial age. The coastline is regular, the only inlets being Loch Fleet and the Dornoch Firth. Though navigation in these is confined to intricate channels by extensive sand-banks, and further impeded by bars at their mouths, they are yet very important in a coast otherwise devoid of natural harbours. In the north and west we find a deeply indented, wild, and rock- bound coast with some of the finest cliffs in Britain. Perhaps the grandest are those east of Cape Wrath, Clo Mor, 625 feet in height, rising farther east to over 900 feet. At "VVhitten Head they are equally high, and in many other places range from 200 to 400 feet. In most cases the line of precipices is irregular, carved, and fretted by the cease- less Atlantic surges into boldly jutting headlands and picturesque stacks, and pierced by caverns, natural arches, and deep narrow gullies or goes, as they are called. In a storm the booming of the waves in a cave of the island of Bulgach is heard far out at sea. Only two lighthouses guard these dangerous shores, one at Cape Wrath, the other on the western side of Stoer peninsula. The whole north coast is bold and rocky, with several small islands close off shore, including the island of Eoan, the only island of Suther- land which is still inhabited. The cliffs are broken only at the long inlets of Loch Eriboll and the Kyles of Tongue and Durness, and by shallow sandy bays at the mouths of the rivers. The finest stretches of sand are at Torrisdale Bay, at the mouth of the Naver, over a mile in length, and at Balnakill Bay at Durness. In almost every case the sand has been drifted into dunes by the strong north winds and heaped up against the cliffs, sometimes to a great height. At Balnakill Bay the huge dunes extend right across the limestone peninsula of Fairaird Head, covering the cliffs on the other side. In Sango Bay, Durness, the sand has been blown up the cliffs to about eighty feet in height, and has invaded the public road. The west coast is extremely rugged, but 'south of Loch Inchard the- cliffs are not so continuous. The deep bays are themselves broken by smaller inlets and coves, and are studded with islands, of which the two Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 largest, Oldany and Handa, were till recently inhabited. The latter is famous for its stupendous cliffs of red sandstone, almost exactly 400 feet in height at their culminating point, though formerly thought to be much higher. Owing to their nearly horizontal bedding and vertical fissures, they look like gigantic walls of masonry, yet afford shelter to myriads of sea birds which crowd their narrow ledges during the nesting season. The boundary between Sutherland and Caithness is formed by the eastern watershed of the Halladale and Helmsdale river basins, about thirty miles from point to point. That this is a natural division is GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 21

proved by the fact that, though there is a good road from north to south parallel to the boundary, the only ones which pass from one county to the other are the main north and east coast roads, and of these, the latter Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016

FIG. 1.—Cape Wrath. [Photo by It. Lunn.

crosses the Ord of Caithness at a height of 726 feet. It is unfenced, and the ground slopes more or less steeply seaward. One can readily imagine how dangerous it is in the height of a winter storm, but direct evidence is not lacking. An inscription within a few yards of the boundary 22 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE. •

indicates the place where a traveller lost his life in a snowstorm some few years ago. The railway has been forced to turn inland for twenty- five miles. It ascends Strath Helmsdale to Forsinard, on the desolate moors at the head of Strath Halladale, before it turns eastwards to Caithness, which it enters at an altitude of 708 feet. North of this the hills on the boundary are only 600 to 800 feet in height, but immedi- ately to the south is a range of hills which rise steeply from the strath to peaks of 1000 to 1800 feet. The highest peaks are Scalabsdale, 1819 feet, Cnoc an Eireannaich, 1698 feet, and there are ten others over 1000 feet. The southern boundary, on the other hand, is largely defined by rivers—the Dornoch Firth and Kyle of Sutherland, which together form the estuary of the Oykell, the river Oykell itself to its source in the southern spurs of , thence southwards to the Cromalt Hills, and along that ridge to Loch Veyatie, and so by Loch Fionn and the river Kirkaig to the sea. Though the Oykell formsan admirable boundary in its lower reaches, it is not so satisfactory towards its source. It rises ten miles north of the Cromalt Hills, and flows in a general south-south-east direction, thus excluding from Sutherland a long wedge-shaped piece of country, ten miles long and six miles wide at the base. On the other hand, it must be remembered that it is a region of mountain and moor- land. The only part of the boundary at all populous is the lower part of Strath Oykell, where the river is broad and deep. It is tidal as far as Rosehall, to which boats of thirty tons can ascend. In former times the Firth and the Okyell proved formidable barriers to, communication between Sutherland and the south. Up to 1811 the only means of crossing was by ferry. The Meikle Ferry near the mouth of the estuary and on the direct route to the north was the most important, and still exists for the occasional travellers who venture that way. In 1809 it was the scene of a terrible calamity, when nearly a hundred persons were drowned. On the construction of the road from Inverness to the north in 1811, a bridge was built by Telford over the Kyle at Bonar, but, as it added nearly twenty miles to the journey from Tain to Dornoch, the ferry continued to be subsidised by the post office till 1868. The rail- way crosses the Kyle near Invershin. There is no other bridge between Bonar and Oykell Bridge, 18 J miles farther up. At this point the road- to the west crosses the river and so leaves Sutherland. It ascends the southern side of the valley to the moors above, and cuts across the projecting portion of Ross to Loch Borolan, where it enters Sutherland again near Altnacealgach Hotel and continues by Loch to Loch- inver. About a mile beyond Altnacealgach the road for the south Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 branches off, and from another, but inferior, road goes south by Inverkirkaig.

SCENERY AND GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. Sutherland is essentially a country of mountain and elevated moor- land. The average elevation is about 1000 feet. Low ground is to be found only in narrow strips and patches along the coasts and straths, and is broadest and most continuous in the south-east, but even there GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 23

does not exceed two miles in width. The highest mountain masses are in the west and north-west, whence there extends a series of isolated mountains parallel to the north coast but some ten miles inland, and another less crowded belt to the south-east. Only three mountains rise above 3000 feet, and these are widely separated: in the west, Ben More and its twin summit Conaveall, 3275 and 3254 feet respectively; in the north, , 3040 feet; and almost in the very centre of the county, , 3154 feet. The following table sums up the geological formations of Sutherland :

TABLE OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS IN SUTHERLAND. Blown Sand Post-Tertiary Alluvium Peat (Eaised Beaches

("Upper f Oolites 1 Middle Jurassic •j [Lower [Lias

Upper Old Eed Sandstone Lower Durness Limestone Serpulite Grit Cambrian Palaeozoic Fucoid Beds Quartzite Torridonian Upper Lower

("Gneissose and schistose fDalradian -| rocks Metamorphic [Hornblende schist, etc. (Lewisian Gneiss

/Granite Igneous \Felsite, Quartz Porphyry. Both in scenery and structure Sutherland is divided into two clearly marked regions by the ridge of mountains which extend from Loch Eriboll to Ben More, along the thrust belt where Cambrian, Torridonian, Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 and Archaean rocks are repeated, inverted, and altered in a most bewilder- ing manner. The western undisturbed region is a plateau of gneiss overlaid by much denuded outliers of Torridonian and Cambrian rocks, which form striking and characteristic mountains. To the east are the schists which cover nearly three-fourths of the county, extending from the out-crop of the great Moine thrust plane, right across the county and under the marginal belt of Old Eed Sandstone hills, till truncated by a powerful fault which has let down a narrow strip of Jurassic strata along the coast. 24 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

The impression one gathers after extensive touring through the centre and west of the county is of a land bleak and inhospitable in the extreme; but whatever basis of truth this may afford for the generally preconceived idea of such northern lands, in most cases the stranger approaching by rail is none the less surprised to find his first experience of Sutherland differing so totally from his expectations. The view across the Dornoch Firth reveals a well-cultivated and extensively wooded country, rising inland in gently swelling hills.; and after crossing the Oykell into Sutherland, the railway ascends the lovely wooded gorge of the river Shin, but the trees obstruct the view, so that the traveller

FIG. 2.—Scourie, a Tillage in a typical gneiss region.

obtains only occasional glimpses of the river foaming in its rocky bed far beneath. The descent to the coast again is through a wilder and more open glen, destitute of trees yet not lacking in cultivation and with Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 numerous well-built cottages. Near the coast plantations are again met with, and, together with the well-kept farms, continue to be an important element of the scenery whether the traveller turns south to Dornoch or goes on to Golspie or Brora. This favoured region however is of limited extent, being confined to the low-lying coastal belt by a line of steep hills. It consists to a great extent of the flat terraces of old raised beaches, with a border of links of varying width along the present shore. These in turn are usually edged with sand dunes. In some parts of the coast, particularly north and GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 25

south of the Little Ferry, as the narrow entrance to Loch Fleet is called, the sand has been blown inland and covers considerable areas. The larger dunes are from twenty to fifty feet high. In the south they are partially covered with grass, but north of the ferry have been iargely planted with fir. The Jurassic strata which form a large part of this low ground from Golspie to the Ord consist of sandstones and shales with thin beds of limestone and coal. The former has been burnt for local use, but occurs in small seams which were soon exhausted. The coal is of estuarine origin, irregular in thickness, and in places more resembling lignite. It is worked at Brora, where the main seam is 'from three to nearly five feet in thickness, but contains a layer of iron pyrites which detracts very greatly from its value, both from the sulphurous fumes it gives ofi' in burning, and from the danger of storing it on account of its liability to take fire when wet. The overlying Middle Oolite contains some fine building stone, extensively quarried near Brora. It is white and very durable, easily worked when first quarried but hardening rapidly on exposure. It was used for the magnificent extensions to Dunrobin Castle at the beginning of last century, and for the statue of the first Duke of Sutherland which crowns Beinn a Bhragie. It is of more than local importance, having been employed in the construc- tion of London Bridge. Behind the cultivated area from Strath Fleet to the Ord of Caithness there stretches a continuous belt of hills broken only by the straths of the Brora and Helmsdale, but deeply trenched by the smaller streams. North of Loth the hills are of granite, but to the south they are formed by a much eroded belt of Old Red Sandstone about five miles wide. These rocks consist of a series of sandstones and conglomerates resting in almost horizontal beds on the worn surface of the schists. The sandstones extend south of Strath Fleet, but the hills decrease greatly in height, and beyondthe Dornoch Firth form the rich arable lands of Easter Ross. The hills of the northern portion, though only 1000 to 2000 feet high, form a very dominant feature of the landscape from their abrupt and precipitous character. In several places they have been carved into commanding crags and deep ravines. One of the most romantic of the latter is the narrow wooded gorge of the Golspie Burn, which is spanned at its mouth by a railway bridge seventy feet in height. A walk is carried up the glen by the side of the stream as far as the falls, crossing from side to side by rustic bridges. Above the falls, which are most picturesque, the path ascends by steps and steep zigzags to an open wooded glen, and Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 soon after emerges into the bare upper valley. The rocky glen of Loth is wilder and of more savage grandeur, a fit scene for the last retreat of the wolf. The scenery of the interior is dreary in the extreme; the schists form rounded peat-clad hills with wide stretches of peat moss between. Yet it does not lack high mountains. Ben Klibreck and Ben Hope are second only to Ben More, but they fall far short of the grandeur and individual character of the more rugged mountains of the west; though it is true that, viewed from the west, the furrowed declivities of Ben 26 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

Hope tower to their full 3000 feet above the lake at their base, and, together with its massive outlines, produce an impressive effect. The granite intrusions give rise to the hills near Helmsdale, but else- where are insignificant with the noble exception of Ben Laoghal, south of Tongue, which has been termed the " Queen of Scottish Mountains." It is an isolated mountain like its neighbours Ben Hope and Ben Klibreck, and much inferior to them in height, but it far surpasses them in beauty of form. The summit rises into sharp peaks which culminate in vertical crags, between which are deep corries, the haunts of the red deer. The highest point is appropriately called the " Castle," but others also inevit- ably suggest the ruined remains of some ancient stronghold. The Moine, between Loch Eriboll and the Kyle of Tongue, the plateau along the north coast generally, and the area between Strath Naver and Kinbrace, are typical regions of peat moors and bogs with lochs which, in their bare expanse and treeless shores, do little to break the monotony, but are the breeding-place of swarms of gnats. Yet even these districts have their moments of beauty. The view westwards from Badanloch is particularly fine when the fire and colour of a glowing sunset is reflected in the chain of loehs, while in the distance the towering form of Ben Klibreck and the castellated peaks of Ben Laoghal rise starkly up against the sky. The schists contain few rocks of economic importance. A belt of marble at Shinness was quarried for lime by the late Duke of Sutherland during his extensive improvements, and a steam barge was placed on for its transport to the kilns at Lairg. Quarries for flagstones and slates were also re-opened by him on a large scale in the Moine at Melness, but that industry decayed on the introductiqn of cement, though the flags are still used for local building purposes. It is only the west that deserves the epithet " mountainous" as popularly applied, but there no other term is adequate even from the first glimpse of the distant peaks, whatever the route by which they are approached. A very fine view is obtained from the moor above Bettyhill. The whole western horizon is a jagged line of peak beyond peak, a great contrast to the monotonous plateau of the north coast, with the few smoothly rounded masses blocking its southern horizon. The road from Lairg to Scourie is the only route which crosses right through this rugged belt. The pass by Loch More and Loch Stack is one of the most picturesque bits in the whole county. The road runs close to the loch through straggling birch wood, which climbs the towering mountain sides amid huge blocks of rock which have a most threatening aspect, seeming almost to overhang the road, while at frequent intervals the Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 slopes are seamed by the white streaks of mountain torrents which descend from the very crest of the ridge and form some beautiful cascades. The finest view, however, is down Loch More to the almost perfect cone of Ben Stack, or across the reedy bays of Loch Stack to the white screes and long grey ridge of Arkle. Towards the north the mountains are again cleft by the desolate glen of the river Dionard, which is walled in on the south by tremendous precipices of over a thousand feet, while at the county boundary there is a wide gap of moorland, across which the road is carried at an elevation of only 536 feet. GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 27

In the western district of Sutherland the surface features are very largely determined by the geological structure, and this structure is singularly prominent, for, over the greater portion of the area, the scanty vegetation is quite inadequate to conceal the rocks, which are moreover strikingly dissimilar and weather into highly distinctive forms. The gneiss plateau, which extends southwards from Loch Inchard and is about ten miles wide, is made up of bare ice-worn hummocks, with innumerable lochs and tarns in the hollows, and, especially in the region between Loch Inchard and Loch Laxford, with even more numerous perched blocks which crown every ridge and form a very conspicuous and peculiar feature. A geological characteristic of the gneiss which has influenced

Flo. 3.—Coast near Scourie. The notch in the distant promontory and the gap in the foreground are both due to a dyke. tWiofo iy X. Lnnn. in a minor degree the surface configuration is the remarkable series of dykes and sills by which it is pierced, which trend in a general west-

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 north-west direction. Many well-marked hollows, which may be traced for miles, are due to the more rapid weathering of the basic dykes (see Fig. 3). The gneiss is also traversed by faults, many accompanied by broad bands of shattered rock, and these have produced greater effects, the best example being the straight south-west shore of Loch Inchard, whose direction is continued by the river and its chain of lochs almost to Loch Stack. As it approaches the grand escarpments to the east the gneiss rises to much greater heights and forms a well-defined ridge under a capping of younger rocks. From Ben Stack, however, an isolated cone of 2364 feet in height, the quartzite has been almost entirely removed. 28 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

The Parph, as the bleak north-west district is called, forms a separate region, consisting of more than eighty square miles of peat-covered mountain and moss. Nearly half the area is of gneiss; the other half consists of outliers of Torridonian sandstone which have been let down by faults. Neither formations show their characteristic features, but both combine to produce one of the dreariest and least interesting parts of Sutherland, except to the mineralogist. The Torridonian strata are composed of red sandstones and con- glomerates with well-marked stratification in almost horizontal bedding- planes. Owing mainly to this, they form magnificent cliffs wherever they approach the coast, as round the Parph and at the promontory of Rhu Stoer and the island of Handa. But the most notable are the grand inland escarpments which begin with the triple peaks and triangular

Fio. 4.—.

mass of Quinag, which stretches from Loch Oairnbawn to . Towards the west the beds present a continuous line of lofty cliff for more than two miles, with sheer precipices of over six hundred feet. The view from the north across Loch Cairnbawn is most impressive. But most astonishing of all these mountains are the isolated ridges of and Suilven, which dominate the landscape for many miles. Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 Their dark red cliffs rise abruptly from the grey gneiss plateau to heights of 2779 and 2399 feet, but in impressiveness they far exceed many mountains of much greater actual height. From the sea or shores of Lochinver Bay the ridge of Suilven is seen edgeways, and its peculiar shape has earned for it the nickname of " the Sugar Loaf." The Cambrian strata, like the earlier Torridonian, occur in gently inclined beds. They were deposited on a plane of marine denudation, and in sections are seen to overlap the Torridonian sandstones and lie directly on the worn surface of the gneiss. They consist of three very GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY- OF SUTHERLAND. 29

dissimilar formations—(a) white quartzite; (b) calcareous grits and shales; (c) limestones and dolomites. The whole series is very uniform throughout, even in its minor divisions. The discovery of Ollenellus in the middle division in 1891 fixed their horizon as Cambrian ; before that they had been classed as Silurian from the general facies of their fossils. The quartzite crowns the summits of the mountains on the western edge of the thrust belt along its entire length, and, from its elevated position and mode of weathering into long white screes, on which little vegetation can grow, it can be recognised many miles away and con- tributes a very important element to the scenery of western Sutherland. Ben ArMe is one of the finest examples (see Fig. 5).

FIG. 5.—Ben Arkle and Loch Stack. [Photo by R. Lunn.

The thin middle series of grits and shales weather readily to a rich soil, so that they are generally hidden under vegetation; but the very luxuriance of this vegetation is a sure indication of their presence.

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 The limestone regions are in Assynt and Durness. Approaching Durness from the south the presence of calcareous beds is at once detected by the close short turf, and by the peculiar pitted appearance of the ground. Many other phenomena peculiar to limestone regions may be observed. Loch Borrolaidh and Loch Croisaphuill occupy hollows dissolved out of the rocks by chemical action; and a mile beyond the village of Durness is the famous Smoo Cave, which Sir Walter Scott has described so graphically in his diary of his northern tour. A few yards above the road the Smoo Burn suddenly plunges into a deep chasm, and on the seaward side issues from a large cavern into a long narrow gully up which the tide flows. 30 . SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

In Assynt considerable areas of limestone occur within the region of thrusts, and display similar features. Along the course of the Traligall River the outcrop of a minor thrust may be seen, part of which is laid bare. The burn flows along the outcrop, but two miles above Inchnadamff it has worked its way underground along the sole of the thrust, reappearing a quarter of a mile lower down. The old channel is quite clearly marked, but contains water only in times of flood. A short distance higher up the valley are two deep openings in the ground, at the bottom of which a stream may be seen flowing over this same thrust plane. A third cave opens out a little further on. It is a deserted water channel, and those interested may crawl through a short section of the old bed to a small grotto lit from above. Springs are abundant, and are beautifully clear and cold. Between Inchnadamff and Ledmore the gigantic Stronechrubie cliffs, with their mantling ivy and hollies, extend for over a mile and a half along the road. In several places the limestone has been altered to marble by intru- sions. These marbles are of various colours, some pure white, others veined, and richly variegated. An English marble merchant rented them at the beginning of last century, and opened up several quarries. Three years were spent in constructing a road to the coast, but in the end the quarries were abandoned on account of the cost of freight and the difficulty of obtaining large blocks. Extensive quarries of limestone were worked at Loch Eriboll. The lime kilns were erected near Heilom ferry, and a con- siderable trade in lime was carried on about thirty years ago, but the cost of fuel and the small local demand led to its abandonment.

EIVERS AND DRAINAGE. As in so many other cases, in Sutherland there is a marked difference between the western rivers and those flowing north or east. In the west they are short and torrential. The only large rivers are those draining extensive lochs, as the Kirkaig, Inver, and Laxford. The first two make their way to the sea through picturesque gorges whose rocky slopes are clothed with birch and fir. The Kirkaig flows through a very steep narrow glen, and plunges midway over a" rocky ledge into a pool 60 feet below. The Laxford drains Lochs More and Stack, which have been already described. The scenery of the Inver may be appreciated by the accompanying view taken from the bridge near its mouth. In the north and east wide cultivated straths are characteristic. The

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 upper valleys are in all cases bleak and bare in the extreme, but as they deepen and widen, they afford room for meadows and fields, and give shelter to. natural wood of birch and alder. The Oykell is the longest river. It rises on the slopes of Ben More at a height of 2000 feet, and has a total course of 35 J miles. The upper part has little interest, except such as it possesses from being the boundary between Sutherland and Ross. Just above Oykell Bridge its channel narrows to a gorge through which the river foams, and gives rise to a fine waterfall. It is worthy of remark that both its tributaries, the Cassely and the Shin, have similar falls as they enter the main strath. At Rosehall the most GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 31

beautiful part of the strath begins, and presents a picture of meadow, field, and wood, enhanced by the broad river winding over its plain, and cottages perched on the slopes or nestling among the trees. Very different is the strath of the Helmsdale, which was the scene of one of the most famous clearances, and is still occupied by sheep farms, which gives it a bare uninhabited look, only partially relieved by the birch woods and large fir plantations. Strath Brora is much more picturesque, especially near the loch, where, on the one side, the shores are clothed with birch and alder, and the steep sides of the valley are densely wooded, while on the opposite side the crag of Carrol Eock juts boldly out into the water. In the north the Naver is the most noted strath, chiefly from its

FIG. 6.—The River Inver. unhappy history, but also for its beauty which is much lauded, but does

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 not impress the stranger from the south. The strath contains a good deal of wood, and the sides are very steep, the hundred feet beach forming a line of escarpment which can be traced for a considerable distance ; but it lacks variety. Perhaps the former contrast of its dense population, with the unrelieved desolation of the moors around, may have been the secret of its charm. The other straths of the north are bare, and have little attraction for strangers. The largest drainage system is still that of the Moray Firth, but it is almost equalled by the northern system, which is steadily encroaching on it, and will, no doubt, ultimately deflect still more of its waters. 32 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

The main watershed of the county, starting from its southern boundary, follows the crest of the western belt of mountains for about half its length, and then branch'es, one portion crossing the Parph in a north-westerly direction to Cape Wrath, the other running almost due south-east along a massive ridge of hills to Ben Armine, whence it turns north-east across a wide expanse of peat moss to the lower hills on the opposite side of the valley. Its course is therefore very irregular, something like an inverted W, and presents some curious anomalies. The greatest area of the county is drained by rivers flowing in the old consequent valleys, which have a dominant south-easterly direction, dividing the county into ridges of similar trend, and influencing very markedly the course of the roads. It is interesting to note that the two east and west routes through the centre of the county follow" valleys which are continuous right through the mountain barrier of the west. The highest elevation of the road from Lairg to Scourie by Loch Shin is only 419 feet, and between Strath Oykell and Assynt 536 feet. It is equally worthy of note that there is no connection between these roads other than that down the west coast, which necessitates the crossing of Kylesku Perry over the narrow neck of the long sea lochs, Cairnbawn and G-lendhu, which penetrate right into the heart of the mountains. If a motorist found the ferry too rough to cross, as sometimes happened when the only means of transport was a large fishing-boat with planks laid across to form a platform for the car, the only other way round involved a journey of no less than 97^ miles. In the north such conditions do not occur. In addition to the road from Durness, four other routes lead south between the mountains into a very broad open valley, which must once have been occupied by the Kiver Helmsdale, but is now shared between that river and the Naver and Hope, which have cut back their beds so as to capture its head- waters. Although it is, for the most part, a marshy moor fit only for deer or sheep, yet it affords an important line of communication, and in its eastern portion forms the most direct route from Strath Naver to the railway at Kinbrace. Another case in which the diversion of the drainage has produced results affecting the direction of the main routes, is that of Loch Shin, whose waters now find an outlet through the Kiver Shin to the Oykell, but formerly flowed south-east by Strath Fleet. The two valleys, which converge on Lairg, are traversed both by road arid railway.

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 GLACIATION. These modifications of the drainage were probably in large measure accomplished during the ice age, which has everywhere left abundant traces of its action. During the period of maximum glaciation the country was deeply buried under the ice, which radiated outward from central Sutherland somewhat east of the present watershed, as is shown by the direction of the striae on the western mountain. These moun- tains, being composed of extremely hard rock, have retained the marks with wonderful freshness, and even the finer scratches are still clearly GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 33

visible where the surface has been protected by. a covering of soil. The most striking evidence of the powerful action of the ice is the marnmil- lated surface of the gneiss plateau, with its smoothed and polished bosses of rock and innumerable perched blocks. The multitude of lochs with which its surface is studded lie in true rock basins, mostly shallow and irregular. Very many of them lie along veins or shatter belts, the softer rock of which has been more easily scooped out by the ice. The larger valley lochs are probably due to later stages of glaciation, when local ice-sheets gave rise to valley glaciers which followed the course of the present rivers, though there is evidence that in some cases they crossed low cols to neighbouring valleys. In Sutherland these local glaciers descended to sea-level, as is proved by their terminal moraines resting on the'raised beaches. Good examples of these may be seen at Brora. In the north they would seem to have filled the larger valleys and extended right out to sea. At a later stage, represented by corry glaciers elsewhere, these northern glaciers still reached sea-level, for at the head of Loch Eriboll their moraines rest on the fifty-feet beach. It is therefore evident that the northern part of the county and specially its western portion was subjected to very severe glaciation. The radiation of the ice during its maximum extension was somewhat across the valleys in their lower stretches, but in all cases there must have been a prolonged scour of the passes which separate the isolated mountains and formed the outlet for the ice-sheet of central Sutherland, and this must have had a much more powerful action in lowering the watershed at this point than the mere increase of rainfall towards the west could produce. Moreover, all these passes contain large lochs, and it is at least significant that the only rivers which have succeeded in capturing part of the eastern drainage are situated in precisely this district. No county in Scotland has so large an area of fresh water in propor- tion to its size as Sutherland, where it covers 3-5 per cent, of the total area. With only very few exceptions, the lochs are due to glacial action. One or two in the limestone districts have been formed by chemical solution of the rock, and both Loch Sine, on the west side of Loch Eriboll, and Sandwood Loch, south of Cape Wrath, have been transformed from in- lets of the sea into freshwater lochs by the action of the waves in heaping up bars of sand and shingle across the entrances. As already mentioned,, most of the lochs in the west lie in true rock basins, as do also all the largest lochs; but whereas the former are dis-

Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 tributed irregularly over the surface, the latter lie in deep valleys between high mountains, and are typically long and narrow. Another class of lochs, equally well represented, consists of those due to the unequal accumulation of the boulder clay, or morainic material, with which the whole surface is strewn. Of such are many of the lochs on the higher cols and on the moors of the interior. Many corry lakes, also, are confined by the terminal moraines of former glaciers. In other cases the loch may be caused by the unequal resistance to erosion of the rocks of the valley floor. Loch. Shin occupies such a basin, due to the induration of the schists at its lower end by the neighbouring granite intrusions. VOL. XXVII. C 34 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE.

Boulder clay covers most of the country in the centre and east, only the mountains and steeper slopes being free from it. In the east it forms the arable land, but in the centre it is mostly overlaid by peat. In the •west and north morainic material is specially abundant, but all the larger valleys contain both terminal and lateral moraines. A word may be said here about the Sutherland gold diggings which caused such a stir in 1869-70. The gold, which is of a very fine quality, was found disseminated in grains and small nuggets in the alluvium of the Kildonan burn and other tributaries of the Helmsdale river. It was also discovered in some other places, but in very minute quantities. Its ultimate origin is uncertain, as it occurs not in the rocks, but scattered through the glacial drift from which it has been washed by the burns. In 1870 mining was prohibited, as more damage was done than could be compensated by the license fees paid by the miners. Twenty-five years later the Duke of Sutherland agreed to reopen the diggings under special restrictions, with a view to determine their value. Gold was easily got, but in very small quantities, and only in the actual beds of the burns were operations at all profitable. It is now proposed to make another attempt to renew the industry if payable deposits can be dis- covered. Industrially, and agriculturally, interesting attempts have been made to make the most of a remote, mountainous, and sea-girt country. {To be continued.)

THE MINERAL SUEVEY OF SOUTHERN NIGERIA.

By a CORRESPONDENT. A SURVEY of the mineral deposits of the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria was authorised by the Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1903, and has proceeded since that date under the supervision of the Director of the Imperial Institute. The object of the scheme, as described by the Director, is to "obtain accurate information respecting the occurrence in the Protectorate of mineral deposits of economic importance, as the first step towards their economic development." The results of the survey, to'the end of the dry season of 1906-7, are summarised in three reports which have been Downloaded by [University of California, San Diego] at 12:02 29 June 2016 published by the Colonial Office.1 Under the scheme approved by the Secretary of State two surveyors were appointed, who have spent the dry seasons of each year (from about the end of October to about the end of May) on field-work in the Protectorate, and the remainder of the year on the examination in the Imperial Institute of the specimens collected and sent home for further investigation.

1 Colonial Reports—Miscellaneous.—Nos. 33, Cd. 2876; 67, Cd. 4994; 68, Cd. 4995. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.