The navigable waters of the county are the testuary of the Moy in Killala Bay, and the estuaries of the Owenmore and Garrogue in the Bay of Sligo. The Moy is navigable to Ballina, and forms the boundary of the county from a point three miles above Ratline. The Oweu garrow, one of its two principal branches, has its sources withiu the county, in the Ox and Curlew Mountains, and flowing in a south westerly direction, contributes its waters to the main stream at Foxford. The Easky drains Lough Easky, collects several mountain streams in its course, and runs northward through the town of Easky into the Atlantic, which also receives from this part of the coast the Finnid, the Ballybeg, and the Duuneill. The Arrow, or Uncion, has its source iu Lough Arrow, and flows northward to the bead of Bally sadere Bay, falling over shelving rocks, and forming an imposing cataract near the termination of its course. The Owenmore rises among the Curlew and Keshcorran Mountains, and pursues a winding course northwards, through Templehouse Lough, joining the Arrow about two miles from its embouchure. About three miles higher, the Owenmore is entered by the Owenbeg, which flows from the Ox Moun tains, eastward through tho town of Coolaney. Lough Gill, which is fed by the Bonnet River from Leitrim, is drained by the Garrogue, which has a course of about three miles through the town of Sligo into the bead of the bay. The Drumcliffe and the Duff or Bunroes, with other small streams, drain the district north from Sligo, the Duff entering Donegal Bay at the Leitrim boundary.
The principal roads are the mail-road from Dublin to Sligo, with a branch mail-road to Ballina and Castlebar ; and the mail-road from Sligo to Ballysbannon (county of Donegal), from which plate it con tinues to Donegal and Londonderry, with a branch-road to Enniskillen. The Ox Mountains are traversed by several passes; that through which the Dublin and Sligo mail-road runs presents some very picturesque scenery. The inland traffic to and from Sligo is of very considerable amount. In the parts about Sligo Bay produce is carried to market by water.
Geology, Mineralogy, Ox Mountains consist chiefly of mica slate, with occasionally granite, hornblende-slate, gneiss, and quartz rock ; the strata dip rapidly towards the south. The mica-slate extends eastward across the Owenmore River, and along the south side of Lough Gill, by Slieve Dacane and Slish Mountain, into the county of Leitrim, forming a range which may be regarded as a prolongation of the Ox Mountains. At the base of the Olt Mountains, on both sides, the old red-sandstone and conglomerate are observed skirting the primary rocks, and sinking below the carboniferous limestone, which occupies the lower lands extending ou one side to the sea and on the other to the Curlew and other mountains on the border of Roscommon. The Braugblieve Mountains belong to the carboniferous group, and the Curlew Mountains to the old red-sandstone group. [RoscoarsioN, County of] The old red-sandstone also constitutes the headland on the north-eastern side of the entrance of Sligo Bay. The rest of the county is occupied by the formations of the carboniferous limestone group. Yellow-sandstone, the lowest member of the group, forms a
considerable area in the northern extremity of the county, and appears in the ridge of mountains on the west side of Lough Gera. The lower limestone, the member next above the yellow-standstone, is found at the base of the Curlew Mountains, near Lough Arrow, and yields gray and dove-coloured marble. The mountains on the north-eastern border of the county are formed of the middle or calp-limestone, and of the upper limestone, which in Mount Benbulbeu forms a bed 500 feet thick. This county and the adjacent one of Mayo are traversed. by trap-dykes unexampled for length, directness, and parallelism. Their direction is nearly east and west. Trachyte, a formation not observed elsewhere in the British Isles, is found on the shore of Killala Bay.
Copper- and lead-mines were formerly wrought in the Ox Moun tains, and iron-ore in the mountain of Kilmacley. Iron-ore appears along several streams. Garnets are fouud near Lough Easky, and asbestos to the eastward. Manganese has been met with in the monn tains south-west from Lough Gill, and brick-clay, suitable for the manufacture of coarse pottery, near Lough Gill on the Sligo and Ballintogher road.
Climate, Soil, and Produce.—The climate is very variable, affected by frequent rains, and high winds from the Atlantic, but on the whole mild and healthy. Thin mossy and sandy soils, or both intermixed, varied with a light gravelly loam, prevail in the district north from Sligo. Improving as they approach the plain of Sligo, they there pass into a deep rich loam, forming the finest land in the county. South from Sligo, along the valleys of the Arrow and Owenmore, and as far as the Curlew Mountains, are extensive tracks of productive land and rich pasturage, interspersed with occasional patches of bog. On the shores of Lough Gars, the soil is excellent both for tillage and grazing, but towards the Ox Mountains the land along the southern border is inferior. The district lying between the Ox Mountains and the sea consists, to a great extent, of moor and deep moss, with a broad belt of cultivated land along the shores of Klatt% Bay and the Atlantic. Oats, potatoes, and a considerable quantity of wheat are raised. The occupations are mainly agricultural, and tillage is chiefly practised. Of late the introduction of an improved system of culture has been attempted, by the amalgamation of farms, and the employ ment of skilled agriculturiata from other parts of the kingdom. In 1853 the number of acres under crop was 96,723, of which 1404 acres grew wheat ; 42,308 acres oats; 274 7 acres barley, bete, rye, peas and beans ; 26,563 acres potatoes ; 5128 acres turnips; 1761 acres mangel-wurzel, carrots, vetches, and other green crops; 695 acres flax ; and 16,117 acres were in meadow and clover. Of plantations there were 7360 scree in 1841, yielding oak, ash, elm, beech, fir, mixed timber, and fruit. In 1852, on 13,092 holdings, them were 7251 horse•, 5731 mules and asses, 83,819 head of cattle, 36,009 sheep, 17,612 pig', 2242 goats, and 182,467 head of poultry.