. The earth and its inhabitants .. . threw up stones and fragments of brokenvessels to a height of 200 feet. The strait was no longer wide enough for the passageof the Atlantic waters, and the sea advanced like a wall. Even in ordinary times the * Richard Burton, Ultima Thule. Others translate, Islands of the Point (Thomas, NorthSea Pilot). 844 THE BEITISH ISLES. waves are dashed over the northern cliffs of the island, and give birth to a briny-stream flowing southwards, on the banks of which the natives have erected a mill.* Twenty-seven of the Orkneys are permanently inhabited, and about for
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . threw up stones and fragments of brokenvessels to a height of 200 feet. The strait was no longer wide enough for the passageof the Atlantic waters, and the sea advanced like a wall. Even in ordinary times the * Richard Burton, Ultima Thule. Others translate, Islands of the Point (Thomas, NorthSea Pilot). 844 THE BEITISH ISLES. waves are dashed over the northern cliffs of the island, and give birth to a briny-stream flowing southwards, on the banks of which the natives have erected a mill.* Twenty-seven of the Orkneys are permanently inhabited, and about fortysmaller islands afford pasturage for sheep. In their contour these islands presentall the features of the coast of Western Scotland, and from the sea the archipelagoassumes the appearance of a single island bristling with bold headlands andpeninsulas. The islands, however, are formed of old red sandstone, and theirelevation is but trifling, Ward Hill, of Hoy, their culminating point, only Fig. 169.—The 1 : 850, Depth 0 to 28Fathoms. 28 to 65Fathoms. 10 Miles. Orer55Fathoms. attaining a height of 1,555 feet. Close to the shore of that island rises the OldMan of Hoy, an insulated pillar 300 feet high, with arches below. The Main-land, or Pomona, t is far less elevated than Hoy. Most of the Orkneys arecovered by natural meadows, and the peat bogs are of small extent. One ofthe ancient Scandinavian Earls of Orkney actually received the surname of TorfEinar, or Turf-cutter, because he regularly visited the neighbouring mainland,?where he procured his turf, or peat. The old lords of these islands likewise • Peach; Geikio, Scenery and Geology of Scotland. t A Scandinavian name, and not Latin : its meaning is unknown. NORTHEEN SCOTLAND. 345 visited Scotland when desirous of hunting, for there only existed forests harbour-ing wild beasts. The Orkneys are now inhabited by peaceable agriculturists andfishermen, but during the early Middle Ages they were of great s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
