ROSS AND CROMARTY, northern county, Scotland. The mainland portion is bounded north by Sutherland and Dornoch Firth, east by the North Sea and Moray Firth, south by Beauly Firth and Inverness-shire and west by the strait of the Minch. The island portion (for details see HEBRIDES) consists of the northern part of Lewis-with-Harris, and many smaller islands, all but eleven uninhabited, are scattered principally off the west coasts of Lewis and the mainland. The area of the mainland is acres and of the islands 404,413 acres, giving a total for the county of 1,977,248 acres (excluding water). The inhabited islands belonging to the mainland are all situated off the west coast. They are Bernera, Gillean (lighthouse), Croulin, Horisdale, Dry, Ewe, Martin and Tanera More. On the North Sea front the chief indentations are Beauly Firth and Inner Moray Firth, marking off the Black Isle from Inverness-shire ; Cromarty Firth, bounding the districts of Easter Ross and the Black Isle; Moray Firth, separat ing Easter Ross from Nairnshire; and Dornoch Firth, dividing north-east Ross from Sutherlandshire. On the Atlantic face— which is a coastline of more than 30o m.—the principal sea lochs and bays, from S. to N., are Loch Duich, Loch Alsh, Loch Carron, Loch Kishorn, Loch Torridon, Loch Shieldaig, Upper Loch Torridon, Gairloch, Loch Ewe, Gruinard Bay, Little Loch Broom and Enard Bay.
Almost all the southern boundary with Inverness-shire is guarded by a rampart of peaks, ranging from 3,400 to nearly 3,900 ft. To the north of Glen Torridon rise the masses of the Liatach, with summits of 3,456 and 3,358 ft. On the north-eastern shore of Loch Maree rises Ben. Slioch (3,217), while the Fannich group contains at least six peaks of more than 3,00o ft. The iso lated mass of Ben Wyvis (3,429) is the most noteworthy feature in the north-east, and the Challich Hills in the north-west with peaks of 3.483 and 3,474 ft. are equally conspicuous, though less solitary. Only a small fraction of western and southern Ross is under 1,000 ft. in height. Easter Ross and the peninsula of the Black Isle are comparatively level. The longest stream is the Orrin, which rises in An Sithean and flows mainly east by north to its confluence with the Conon after a run of about 26 m., during a small part of which it forms the boundary with Inverness-shire. At Aultgowrie the stream forms the falls of Orrin in a narrow gorge. From its source in the mountains in Strathvaich the Black: water flows south-east for 19 m. till it joins the Conon, forming soon after it leaves Loch Garve the picturesque falls of Rogie. Within a short distance of its exit from Loch Luichart the Conon pours over a series of graceful cascades and rapids and then pursues a winding course of 12 m., mainly E. to the head of Cro marty Firth. The falls of Glomach, in the south-west, are the deepest in Britain (37o ft. sheer). Twelve miles south by east of Ullapool are the three falls of Measach, close to the gorge of Corriehalloch.
The Oykell, throughout its course, forms the boundary with Sutherlandshire, to which it properly belongs. The largest and most beautiful of the many freshwater lakes is Loch Maree (q.v.). Of the straths or valleys the more important run from the centre eastwards, such as Strathconon (12 m.), Strathbran (I o m.),
Strathgarve (8 m.), Strathpeffer (6 m.) and Strathcarron (14 m.). Excepting Glen Orrin (13 m.), in the east central district, the longer glens lie in the south and towards the west. In the ex treme south Glen Shiel (9 m.) runs between fine mountains to its mouth on Loch Duich. General Wade's road passes down the glen. Farther north are Glen Elchaig (9 m.), Glen Carron (I2 m.), in the latter of which the track of the Dingwall and Skye railway is laid, and Glen Torridon (6 m.).
Geology.—The central portion of the county is occupied by the younger highland schists or Dalradian series. On the eastern side of the county the Dalradian schists are covered unconform ably by the Old Red Sandstone. The western boundary of the younger schist is formed by the great pre-Cambrian dislocation line which traverses the county from Elphin on the north by Ullapool to Glen Carron. Most of the area west of the line of disturbance is covered by Torridonian Sandstone, mainly dark reddish sandstones, grits and shales, resting unconformably on the ancient Lewisian gneiss. Within the Torridonian tract the gneiss occupies large areas north of Coigach, on the east of Enard Bay, between Gruinard Bay and Loch Maree. The Lewisian gneiss is everywhere penetrated by basic dikes, generally with a N.W.-S.E. direction ; some of these are of great breadth. The Torridonian rocks are succeeded unconformably by a series of Cambrian strata which is confined to a narrow belt west of the line of main thrusting. Glacial striae are found upon the mountains up to heights of 3,00o ft., and much boulder clay is found in the valleys and spread over large areas in the eastern districts. Raised beaches occur at 'co, 5o and 25 ft. above the present sea-level; they are well seen in Loch Carron. (See, further, HEBRIDES.) Agriculture and Industries.—The most fertile tracts lie on the eastern coast, especially in Easter Ross and the Black Isle, where the soil varies from a light sandy gravel to a rich deep loam. Among grain crops oats is that most generally culti vated, but barley and wheat are also raised. Turnips, mangolds and potatoes are the chief green crops. On the higher grounds there is a large extent of good pasturage which carries heavy flocks of sheep, blackfaced being the principal breed. Most of the horses are maintained for the purposes of agriculture. The herds of cattle, mainly native Highland or crosses, are large. Owing partly to the unkindly nature of the bulk of the surface— which offers no opportunity for other than patchwork tillage—the number of small holdings is enormous, half the total number being under 5 acres, and the average size under 20 acres. Over 800,000 acres are devoted to deer forests, a greater area than in any other county in Scotland. The natural woodland has largely disappeared, but afforestation has been undertaken recently. Apart from agriculture, the salmon fisheries in the bays and river mouths, and the herring, cod and ling fisheries are the only considerable industry. There are distilleries near Dingwall, Tain and Inver gordon.