Page:Transactions of the Geological Society, 1st series, vol. 3.djvu/28

 the effects of the eastern and the western sea. I already observed that the eastern cliffs were covered by a slope of alluvial ground descending to the sea; but the western, though formed of the same rocks, offer an almost continued precipice, the foot of which is every where washed by a turbulent swell. These cliffs are in a state of daily ruin, and their bases are beset with enormous masses of rock which from time to time fall from them. The rocks called Macleod's Maidens, the islands in Loch Bracadale, and other detached rocks which skirt this coast, mark equally the gradual waste of the land. But no slope is formed against their faces, nor does any artificial shore accumulate at their feet, except a narrow and almost impassable interrupted stripe composed of fragments. The smaller pieces and the detritus of these larger ones, are probably carried away from the coast by the incessant action of the western swell far into the depths of the sea. As there are no recorded soundings of this shore, I cannot confirm this supposition by any account of the nature of the bottom. But it will not be out of place to enter into a more particular detail of this line.

The coast of Sky from Dunvegan head to the entrance of Loch Brittle is, with but few exceptions, formed of high cliffs; variable however in their altitudes as in their abruptness, but generally very lofty and very abrupt, nay often precipitous and perpendicular from their summits to the water's edge. It is unnecessary to note any but the most remarkable points, as there is a great general resemblance throughout the whole. Between Dunvegan head and Loch Bracadale they are often perpendicular, but variable in height, and seldom attain the great elevation which they reach between Talisker and Loch Eynort. There, as in many other places, they