Roads. sloping along to the top of a rock which is many fathoms in height. This pass has been surveyed by the direction of government, and a tract has been discovered, by which the road may be conducted without danger, upon an ascent of not more than one foot in thirty. It is farther to be remarked, that the cultivators of the soil in this district possess the advantage, in consequence of their situation, of being able to bring their corn crops to market at a very trifling expence. This arises from their vicinity to the sea-coast. It costs less to convey grain from Caithness to London, than to convey it to a distance of five or six miles inland; so that, upon the whole, this may be considered as one of the most promising districts in the north of Scotland; and it is one in which speculators in agriculture have an important field of enterprise, because the soil is level and new, and proprietors anxious to give encouragement to enterprising men.

Animals.

In the central or upper part of the county of Caithness the following animals are found. The quadrupeds are, black cattle, sheep, goats, swine, dogs, cats, hares, rabbits, otters, foxes, badgers, rats, mice, moles, weasels, and wild cats. The birds are, eagles, hawks, swans, ducks, wild geese, sea-pies, sea-plovers, scale-ducks, herns, cormorants, marrets or auks, king's fishers, rain-geese, moorfowls, plovers, partridges, lapwings, snipes, tame ducks, plover-pages, tillings, linnets, thrushes, hill-sparrows, common sparrows, wrens, buntings, larks, swallows, yellow hammers, water-wagtails, titmice, jackdaws, jackbits, ravens, wood-larks, whimbrels, starlings, curlows, redbreasts, cuckows, night-rails, pigeons, snow-fowls, rooks; and in the highest part of the county wood-cocks, black cocks, and heath-hens are sometimes seen. Of these the swan, wild goose, sea-duck, marrot, night-rail,

dbreast, cuckow, wood-cock, and snow-fowl, are migra

tary. Adders are sometimes found in the mosses, but Animals. they are not numerous. The snow-fowl, in the winter, are inconceivably numerous. The hills are exceedingly well stocked with the moor-game above mentioned. The coasts, throughout the year, abound in multitudes of seafowl. In the summer months, the swarms of scarfs, marrots, faiks, &c. that come to hatch in the rocks of Dungis Bay and Stroma are prodigious. They in a manner darken the air, when, on any sudden alarm, they take wing in a body from their nests.

In the upper district of the county sheep-farming has Live stock. been introduced, to supplant the ancient practice of rearing small Highland cattle. The weight of the native cattle amounts to between 200 and 300 lbs. Dutch; the working oxen, full grown, to 400 lbs. weight; but large cattle are now reared on the farms belonging to gentlemen. The Caithness horses are about twelve hands high; and the favourite colours are brown and dark gray. Considerable quantities of poultry were reared in former times, when the rent was paid in kind; but their number has diminished since money-rents were introduced. Abundance of geese are reared, especially upon the coasts. There is likewise a superabundance of swine throughout the lower part of the county. They are of a small breed, not remarkable for fattening quickly; but, when fattened, they become excellent hams and pickled pork. The Gael, or native Highlanders, abhor the flesh of swine, but here they have always abounded.

The minerals of this county have not hitherto proved Minerals. of much value to their owners. Whinstone, granite, and freestone are found; and lime and marl are not wanting. The only fuel which the country produces is peat; which, however, is in great abundance. Great hopes have at dif ferent times been entertained that coal might be found;

Minerals, but hitherto such hopes have only been productive of disappointment. A mineral resembling coal has indeed been found. It emits a hot vivid flame when burning, but without much dissolution of parts, or diminution of size, after it becomes extinct; so that, instead of coal, it seems to be an earthy substance, impregnated with volatile inflammable matter. It is usually got near the surface of the earth. In the burn of Hempster is found white spar of the purest quality. When put into the fire, a very slight degree of heat makes it throw out a considerable portion of phosphoric light, which gradually decays as the stone cools, and is again recruited as the stone is heated anew. When reduced to a powder, it puts on an exceeding brilliant and beautiful appearance during ignition. In electrical experiments it is a non-conductor; nor does it seem soluble in acids.

Lead, iron ore, &c,

Wick.

In the parish of Reay a slender vein of lead ore has been discovered, but in circumstances that afforded no inducement to work it. Iron ore is found in the same neighbourhood. Sir John Sinclair has also discovered, near Thurso, a small vein of yellow mundick, and also consi, derable quantities of white mundick. Mr Raspe, a German mineralogist, near the same place, discovered a regular vein of heavy spar, mixed with lead and crystals, three feet in breadth; but the mine has never been wrought. A copper mine, near the Old Castle of Wick, was once begun to be wrought, but the undertaking was afterwards dropped.

This county contains one royal borough, Wick, on the South-east coast; and also the town of Thurso, on the north coast. Wick stands on the estuary of a small river of the same name. The town is small, and the streets narrow and confined; but it contains several good build. ings. The town and lands of Wick were anciently a part

of the earldom of Caithness. On the application of Wick. George Earl of Caithness, a charter was granted by King James the Sixth of Scotland, of date the 24th September 1589, erecting the town of Wick into a royal borough. On the 8th October 1672, his great grandson, another George Earl of Caithness, disponed the whole earldom of Caithness, including the lands and tenements of the town of Wick, to John Campbell of Glenorchy, afterwards created Earl of Breadalbane; by whose successor in title it was sold in 1718 to the family of Sinclair of Ulbster. On a general order from the convention of royal boroughs, the set or government of the borough of Wick was ultimately fixed in 1716; by which, in all time coming, the consent of the original founders of the borough, and their successors, was declared to be necessary to the election of magistrates. By this set the old magistrates make out a list, called a leet, consisting of two, out of which a provost; four, out of which two bailies, are to be chosen by the burgesses on the roll; and the leet must be presented thirty days before Michaelmas to be approved of by the superior. The provost and the two bailies, thus elected, have the right of choosing seven counsellors, a treasurer, and a dean of guild. In consequence of these regulations, Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, and his predecessors, have annually been in the practice of approving a leet presented to them of the magistrates to be chosen. Wick is one of five boroughs, each of which chooses a delegate for returning a member to parliament for the northern district. The income or common good of the town is very trifling; but it is on the increase, and arises from customs payable on dif❤ ferent articles sold at market, shore-dues on ships, &c.

Wick is the county town, or capital of the shire, and consequently the seat of the sheriff-court. Along with Kirkwall, Dornock, Dingwall, and Tain, it sends a mem

Thurso. ber to parliament. The harbour, at present, is quite natural, and very inconvenient; but several of the proprie tors have it contemplation to erect a new harbour, which, if completed, would not only be of great importance to the town, but also to the kingdom at large, by saving many vessels which are wrecked on this coast; there being no safe harbour between Cromarty Frith and the Orkneys. If this harbour is completed, the town will also receive a considerable addition to its size towards the south, where a new town is to be feued, on a neat and regular plan, on the estate of Sir Benjamin Dunbar. The chief branch of commerce and industry is the fisheries, which are prosecuted with great attention.

Thurso.

The town of Thurso, on the northern side of the coast of Caithness, stands at the extremity of a spacious and beautiful bay, being the western part or branch of the Bay of Dunnet, where the river Thurso falls into the sea. The scenery round the town has considerable natural magnificence. On one side, a spacious bay, formed on the east by the bold and lofty promontory called Dunnet Head, and on the west by Welbrown Head; both which cover the bay from the tremendous waves of the Pentland Frith. These, in storms of wind from the west or from the north, beat with dreadful violence against these headlands, and present an awful prospect to the eye. On the opposite side of Pentland Frith, in view of Thurso, at the distance of eight leagues, the Hoy Hills in Orkney, rising gradually from the summit of a range of rocks of tremendous height which overhang the sea, rear their majestic heads, and contribute greatly to the grandeur of the prospect.

At the bottom of this beautiful bay, as already noticed, where the river Thurso falls into the sea, the town stands. Between the town and Holburn Head, in the western side