THE MODERN GEOGRAPHICAL READERS. SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. Section I-SCOTLAND. LESSON I. POSITION, BOUNDARIES, AREA, COUNTIES. 1. Scotland is the northern and smaller division of the island of Great Britain. A part of the lower course of the River Tweed, the Cheviot Hills, and the inlet of the sea, called the Solway Firth, form the boundary between the two divisions-Scotland and England. 2. On the west and north, Scotland is exposed to the full force of the great waves of the Atlantic, which, during storms, break with terrific force on its rock-bound coasts. An inlet of the Atlantic-the North Sea-washes the eastern shores, and, though there are many and dangerous storms in this sea, they are not to be compared in force with those of the more open ocean. 3. In outline, Scotland is exceedingly irregular, especially on the western side. So much are the coasts broken up and indented, and so numerous are the lochs and firths, that there is only one spot in the whole of the peninsula more than forty miles from the sea. 4. Another marked feature of the north and west coasts is the great number of islands. They are of all sizes, from extensive masses of land-boasting of some of the finest mountain peaks, the boldest crags, and the wildest scenery to be found in the British Isles-to small rugged rocks in the ocean inhabited only by sea-birds. 5. On the north are the groups of the Orkneys and Shetlands. On the north-west the chain of the Outer Hebrides, or Western Isles, and on the west and south, and nearer the coast, the long and broken chain of the Inner Hebrides. The Western Islands act as natural breakwaters to protect the mainland coast from the great Atlantic rollers. 6. The channel between Ireland and Scotland is called the North Channel; that between the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye the Little Minch; and that between the Outer Hebrides and the mainland the Minch. 7. From north to south the longest line on the mainland of Scotland measures about 270, whilst the width varies from 25 to 150 miles. The longest line that can be drawn is from the north-east-Dunnet Head-to the south-west-Mull of Galloway (288 miles). From Loch Broom to Dornoch Firth, across Ross, the length is only 24 miles, and the canal which connects the Firth of Forth and Clyde measures only a little over 30 miles. 8. The surface of the mainland measures a little more than 26,000 square miles, and the islands about 4,000 more, making in all a total of a little over 30,000; that is an area rather more than half that of England and Wales. As 9. Scotland is divided into thirty-three counties.* in England, they vary in size. Inverness, the largest, is ninety times the size of Clackmannan, the smallest. The counties contain 1,010 parishes; or, about one-twelfth of the number in England and Wales. *The position of the counties on the map should receive special attention, as constant reference is made to them. LESSON II. THE SURFACE.-I. THE HIGHLANDS. 1. Compared with England, Scotland is a rugged and mountainous country. It has no extensive tracts of level ground, and its surface consists mainly of mountains, bold and stern; of dreary, barren moorlands, broken by wild glens; of gentle hills and fertile straths, of lovely dales, and rich alluvial river valleys. 2. The whole country naturally forms two divisionsthe Highlands and the Lowlands, the scenery of which strongly differs. The Highlands are in the centre, north, and west; the Lowlands occupy the southern and southeastern parts of the country. There is no distinct line between the two; but the broad fertile vale of Strathmore—the great strath or valley—may be said roughly to separate them. The Lowlands are not devoid of hills, nor are the Highlands without numerous and fertile valleys. 3. The Highlands are again divided by the narrow vale of Glenmore, or Great Glen. This valley has a chain of lakes which occupy the middle of it, and these lakes are joined by a great canal, so that ships can pass from Loch Linnhe on the west coast, to Moray Firth on the north-east coast. 4. The Northern Highlands, or the country west and north of Glenmore, consist for the most part of elevated, wild, and barren moorlands, dotted here and there with mountain peaks. Of these peaks Ben Attow (4,000 feet) is the highest. 5. The celebrated Grampians stretch across the whole island, from the rugged shores of Argyllshire, washed by the waves of the Atlantic, to Aberdeenshire, on the German Ocean, and, with its spurs, occupies nearly the whole of the Southern division of the Highlands. The general height of the chain is from 1,400 to 3,500 feet above the level of the sea; but some peaks there are, |