Page:Transactions of the Geological Society, 1st series, vol. 3.djvu/21

 of Scavig and Slapin, may be classed with this group of the Cuchullin, as it resembles it in altitude and aspect as well as in mineral composition, and thus adds about ten more square miles to the space occupied by the particular class of rocks of which this group is composed. The whole of this compound group is strongly distinguished from the associated and neighbouring mountains, as well as from all the other mountains of Scotland, by the spiry and rugged forms of its outline, which presents a series of naked rocks and towering cliffs destitute of vegetation, and rising dark through the mists which seem for ever to hang on its stormy summit. The mountains of Arran, alpine and serrated as they are, bear no comparison with them, and the far famed scenery of Glenco almost sinks into insignificance before the terrific grandeur of the Cuchullin hills.

It is to be regretted that no observations have yet been made to determine the altitude of this group; a want which I was unfortunately in no condition to supply: but from that sort of experience in the elevations of hills which is acquired by long habitude in a mountainous country, and by comparing them with ascertained elevations from different points of view, a rough estimate may be formed of its altitude, which must at least suffice till some more fortunate traveller shall place his barometer on the summit. They do not fall short of three thousand feet, and in all probability exceed it. A general idea of their ground plan may be conveyed by saying that they form an irregular and curved ridge of a very intricate shape, giving rise to numerous streams, the waters of which, for the most part, are discharged into the western sea; this proceeds from the inclination of the hills, the principal escarpements of which, however irregular, look towards the east and north.

This group is intimately connected with another, which for the