Inchkeith lies, per compass, from Leith S. W. distant about 4 miles, and 3 miles from Kinghorn in Fife. It con tains about 70 acres ; is of a long, and somewhat irregular figure, measuring about one mile in length, and one-fifth of a mile in breadth. Its shores are much chequered with rocks, and indented with several small creeks or bars, capable of being converted into good boat harbours. Its surface, though in many parts rocky, and throughout ex tremely irregular, yet, in general, is covered with a good sward of grass ; while in the more sheltered points, the soil is not only deep, but so extremely rich, that it pro duces the most luxuriant crops where cultivation has been attempted. It afforded indeed such excellent pasture, particularly for horses, that while it was in the possession of the French, they called it "L'isole des chevaux." On the eastern and western sides, the island is precipitous and abrupt ; while towards the north and southern ends, par ticularly the latter, it rises more gradually, to the height of 180 feet, calculating from high water mark to the sum mit or site of the lighthouse.
Inchkeith possesses several pretty abundant springs of the purest and most excellent water that is any where to be met with ; and since a boat harbour and landing pier have been constructed, the water has been collected in the higher parts of the island, and conducted by a leaden pipe, from a large stone cistern, to the harbour, where it is served out by the light-house keeper. From this cistern the ship ping in Leith roads is supplied, and seamen remark that this water is better, and keeps longer free of impurities, than any other with which they are supplied.
The rocks of this island belong to the coal formation, and are distinctly stratified upon the great scale. They consist chiefly of beds of trap-tuff, amygdaloid, slate-clay, bituminous shale, lime-stone, sand-stone, and green-stone. The lime-stone, in some places, is of a fibrous texture, somewhat resembling asbestus. On the south-west side of the island, under the lime-stone, there is a bed of flinty slate, containing the traces of madrepores and shells. Some very beautiful specimens of crystallized quartz are also found in various parts of the island ; and detached masses of rock much impregnated with iron. Nodules of agate are not uncommon on the shores; they have been washed from the amygdaloidal rock, in which they occur imbedded. The stratification of this island has a south western direction, dipping towards the east at an angle of about 45°. It is also worthy of remark, that the same strata of rocks, with a similar direction and dip, are ob servable on the Fife shores to the north ; and in the direc tion of a chain of sunken rocks extending towards Pres tonpans, they have been traced on the south side of the Frith.
Besides horses and black cattle, which thrive well on this island, sheep are sometimes pastured here ; but the grass is considered too rank for sheep. There is a pretty
numerous tribe of the common gray rabbit here, which would increase and become very numerous, were they not so much annoyed by occasional sportsmen visitors. An at tempt has lately been made to introduce a species of the rabbit here, remarkable for the length and silkiness of its hair. The sea swallow, or pictarny, breeds on the island ; cluck occasionally the eider uck make its nest on the least frequented pact of the shore. Since the erection of the light house, birds of passage, particularly woodcocks, have been sometimes attracted by the light on stormy evenings, and have suffered themselves to be taken by the keeper. On one occasion a number of beautiful small birds (frin gilla flammea), having a tuft of crimson feathers on the back of the head, took shelter about the light-house. The grey Norwegian rat is pretty numerous on the island, no doubt brought here originally by the shipping in Leith roads. The fishes found in the neighbourhood of Inch keith are chiefly of the smaller kinds, and such as are common to the Frith of Forth ; particularly rock-codling, podley, or young coalfish, and small whitings. One pe culiarity, or change upon the habits of the fishes in the Frith of Forth, which has been well authenticated by se veral of the oldest fishermen of the contiguous village of Newhaven, may here be noticed, viz. that in former times, alluding to a period about the middle of the 18th century, great numbers of large haddocks and whitings were caught above, or to the westward of Inchkeith, but that such fishes are scarcely now to be found to the westward of the isle of May, 20 miles farther to seaward ; so that the Newhaven fishers are now almost entirely confined to their employment as pilots, or to the dredging for oysters. At present codling, holibut, large coalfish, and skate, ex cepting at certain seasons, when the latter come up the Frith to spawn, are only to be met with in the deep sea as far off as the Bell-rock. To account for this change, the fishermen have the following theory : They suppose, from the much greater number of shipping which anchor in Leith roads, and the more frequent discharge of guns from ships of war, that the fish are prevented from rest ing on this ground. The number of seals, however, which haunt the sea rocks in the neighbourhood of Inchkeith, is certainly not less, especially in winter, as 70 of these ani mals have been counted upon one rock by the writer of this article. The seals indeed may rather be supposed to have increased of late years, as the hordes which formerly played about the Bell-rock have almost entirely deserted it since the erection of the light-house on that rock.