For a complete account of this island, we must refer the reader to the reverend Mr Ileadrick's View of the Mineralogy, iisrriculture, Manufactures, and Fisheries, of the Isldnd of ?rran, published in 1807 ; a work which contains much interesting information, and many pro found and enlightened views respecting the improve ment of this island. See also the Statistical ?iccount of Scotland, ix. p. 165. ; Lord Hailes' ...knurls of Scot land ; and Pennant's Tour through Scotland, vol. ii. p. 172. (0) This island is about thirty-two miles long, and twelve broad, about eight miles from the island of Bute, and sixteen from Sal tcoats in Ayrshire. Its shape is irregu lar, but not so much as many of the Hebrides, which are exposed to all the fury of the Atlantic ocean.
The cliffs are seldom above 200 feet high, but are ge nerally precipitous. Considerable sandy beaches fre quently occur, formed of the debris of granite, sandstone, and mica slate ; and in some places we observe a con siderable extent of coast covered with enormous masses, which have been torn away by torrents, or separated from the neighbouring rocks by the expansive power of frogt.
The northern ha, the island is mountainous and rugged. The mountains are either round backed, or somewhat peaked ; and some of them, as Goatfield and Caime-na-callich, rise to the height of nearly 3000 feet above the level of the sea.* The southern part of the
island is lower, hilly ; and numerous craigs and cliffs diversify its surface. The valleys in the northern parts of the island are deep, rocky, and highly runlautic ; but those in the southern half are mucti less striking. Its geognostic structure and relations are interesting, and were first made known by professor Jameson. Dr Hut ton and professor Play lair maintain, that this island af fords irrefragable proofs of the truth of the Plutonic theory ; and Mr Jameson finds the phenomena it exhi bits vet.) favourable to the Neptunian theory. The re spective merits of those observations and opiniOns will be considered in the article GEOGNOSY ; here we must rest satisfied with a short account of the geognostic re lations of the rocks.
This island contains three classes of rocks, viz. Prhni tive, Fl,rtz, and ?lluvial. The primitive rocks occupy the greater portion of the northern, as the flxtz do of the southern half of the island ; and the alluvial deposits occur principally in the valleys. 'We shall describe each of these classes of rocks in the order of their relative antiquity ; beginning therefore with the