Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/722

 698 SCOTLAND duced, the distance between Alloa on the E. coast and Dumbarton on the W. coast being only 32 ra., and between Loch Broom on the west'and the Dornoch frith on the east only 24 m. On the north are the Orkney and Shet- land islands, each group containing a popula- tion of about 31,000. On the west are the Hebrides or Western islands, divided into the outer and inner groups, with a total popula- tion of about 99,000. (See HEBRIDES, ORKNEY ISLANDS, and SHETLAND ISLANDS.) The island of Stroma lies between the Orkneys and the mainland. On the E. coast are May, Inch- keith, and Inchcolm islands, in the frith of Forth, and Inchcape or Bell Rock, off the frith of Tay. The mainland of Scotland is geo- graphically divided into two distinct regions, the highlands N. of the Grampian mountains, and the lowlands S. of that range ; but there is scarcely any part of the country in which mountain ranges are not visible. There are five principal chains nearly parallel to each other, and having a general direction from N. E. to S. W. 1. The northern highlands com- mence in detached groups at the southern bor- der of Caithness, and cover a large portion of the counties of Sutherland, Ross, and Inver- ness. They separate the streams which flow into the Atlantic from those that reach the North sea through the Moray frith. The prin- cipal summits are Ben Attow, 3,998 ft.; Ben Wyvis, 3,420; Ben Dearg, 3,656; Ben More, 8,230; Ben Clibrich, 8,165; and Morven, 2,331. 2. The Grampians, extending from Loch Awe on the Atlantic coast to near Stoneha- ven and Aberdeen on the coast of the North sea, with their ramifications, form in general the boundary between the highlands and low- lands, with a height of from 2,000 to 4,000 ft. The principal summits are Ben MacDhui, 4,296 ft. ; Cairntoul, 4,245 ; Cairngorm, 4,090 ; Ben Avon, 3,826; Ben-y-Gloe, 3,690; Schiehallion, 8,564; and Ben Lomond, 8,192. Ben Nevis, N. of the W. extremity of the Grampians, and sometimes reckoned as belonging to them, is 4,406 ft. (according to older measurements 4,870 ft.) high. 3. The Ochil and Sidlaw range is separated from the Grampians by the valley of Strathmore, and consists of three small chains which extend from Forfarshire to Stir- lingshire, and form the N. watershed of the basins of the rivers Tay, Forth, and Clyde. The Sidlaw hills extend from the river Dean to Perth on the Tay. Their highest summit, King's Seat, is 1,149" ft. high. The Ochils, be- tween Stirling and the frith of Tay, attain an elevation of 2,350 ft., and the Campsie Fells in Stirlingshire are 1,500 ft. high. 4. The Lam- mermoor and Pentland range is separated from the third range by the frith of Forth, and forms the S. boundary of the Forth basin. This range consists of the Lammermoor hills between Had- dington and Berwick, with an elevation of 1,750 ft. ; the Moorfoot hills, a western continua- tion of the Lamraermoors ; the Pentland hills in Midlothian, 1,838 ft. high ; and lastly Tinto hill in Lanarkshire, 2,308 ft. high. 6. The Cheviot and Lowther range, or the southern highlands, extends from the English border to Loch Ryan, and separates the basins of the Clyde and the Tweed on the north from those of the Solway and the Tyne on the south. The highest summits of this range are Broadlaw, 2,741 ft.; Cheviot peak, 2,677; Hart Fell, 2,638 ; and Lowther hill, 2,520. The glens or deep and rocky valleys among the Scottish mountains are famous for the wild beauty and grandeur of their scenery. Chief among them is Glenmore, the " great glen," which extends in a straight line nearly 60 m. from Loch Eil on the W. coast to Beauly frith on the E. It contains three long lochs or lakes, whose ag- gregate length is 87 m. The rivers are com- prised in nine principal basins, those of the Tweed, the Forth, the Tay, the Deo and Don, the Spey, the Ness and Nairn, the Linnhe, the Clyde, and the Solway. The first six discharge their waters into the North sea, and the re- maining three into the Atlantic. The princi- pal rivers are the Tay, Clyde, Forth, Tweed, South Esk, and Dee. They are not navigable by large vessels for any considerable distance above their estuaries, with the exception of the Clyde, which has been rendered navigable to Glasgow by artificial deepening and em- bankment. The lakes (or lochs, as they are called in the Scottish dialect) are numerous, and are mostly in the glens of the highlands. They are generally of a length altogether dis- proportioned to their breadth, and the scenery around them is celebrated for grandeur and beauty. The following are some of the most noted, with the number of square miles in the area of each : Lomond, 45 ; Ness, 30 ; Awe, 80; Shin, 25; Maree, 24; Tay, 20; Archaig, 18; Shiel, 16; Lochy, 15; Laggan, 12; Mor- rer, 12; Fannich, 10; Ericht, 10; Naver, 9; Earn, 9; Leven, 7; Ken, 6; and Katrine, 5. A still more characteristic feature of the coun- try are the sea lochs, or friths or firths as they are called, deep inlets which indent the coast. The most extensive on the E. coast are the friths of Forth, Tay, Moray, and Dornoch. Between the last two is Cromarty frith, cele- brated for its beauty and for its excellence as a harbor of refuge. On the N. coast is Loch Eriboll, also a good harbor, and on the W. coast the two lochs Broom, Loch Ewe, Loch Torridon, Loch Carron, Loch Alsh, Loch Su- nart, and Loch Linnhe. The frith of Clyde is the largest and most useful of these inlets, of which only a few have been mentioned. Geologically Scotland is divided into three dis- tinct regions: 1. The southern or older pala3o- zoic, which includes the region between the southern boundary and a line running E. N. E. from Girvan on the frith of Clyde to the Sic- car point on the E. coast. It consists chiefly of lower Silurian strata, which have been forc- ed up in various anticlinals and convolutions, and broken through in several places by feld- spar porphyries, trap rocks, granite, and eye-