The Rev. Hugh Mackay Mackenzie, Minister
I - Topography and natural History
Meteorology:
Considering the latitude of this parish, its temperature is mild and the climate is very salubrious, though the state of the atmosphere is in general extremely changeable. The heat is not so great in summer, nor the cold so intense in winter, as these seem to be in some of the southern parts of Scotland. Placed in a central position between the west and east coasts of the island, it is not visited by those frequent deluges of rain which are peculiar to the former, nor so exposed to those piercing blighting winds which prevail in the latter. The prevailing winds are the south-west and north-west. The severest storms are from the south-west, - the most frequent from the north-west. The prevalent distempers, as connected with the climate, are rheumatism and inflammatory complaints; but more common than either are disorders of the stomach among the poorer people, arising from a diet often too scanty, and sometimes unwholesome. Luminous Meteors are frequent. The circle round the moon and the aurora borealis are sometimes brilliant in winter. When the latter is fiery and lurid, it is an invariable sign of stormy weather. The former generally prognosticates the same, so also does the fragment of a rainbow when seen in the north, called "Boar's head."
Hydrography:
The parish abounds with springs, which are generally perennial, but sometimes intermittent. Chalybeate springs are quite common. Sulphureous ones are found in several places, chiefly around Ben Laoghal, and there are some which seem to be a compound of both. None of these have been properly analyzed, but some of the sulphureous seem of such strength, that, were they more accessible, they might be found medicinally of considerable service. Lochs are so numerous, that from a single eminence, which does not command a view of the whole parish, I have counted more than 100. The most deserving of notice are the following: - Loch Maedie, in the southern extremity of the parish, which may be about six miles in circumference. Its appearance is striking, from its margin being singularly indented by numerous little, bays and projecting points of land, and from its bosom being studded with islands, on which grow trees of considerable size. Loch Diru lies at the foot of the Diru rock, which is a part of the west arm of Ben Laoghal. The loch is two miles long and the rock, which is nearly the same length, towers majestically above it to the height of 200 feet, - its brow adorned at pleasing intervals with solitary trees of birch and mountain-ash. This loch is one of the unobserved beauties of the parish, lying in a secluded spot, and inaccessible to any but the pedestrian.
On the east and south-east sides of Ben Laoghal, there is a chain of lochs of considerable extent, called Lochs Cullisaid, Laoghal, Craggy, and Slam, which communicate with each other by narrow fords or small rivulets. Loch Laoghal is the largest of the four, and, indeed, the largest in the parish, - being five miles long and upwards of a mile broad. There are two islands upon it, where wild-fowl nestle in great numbers. The verdure in its neighbourhood is rich. A few trees fringe its margin on the west side, and on the opposite there rises a hill of considerable height, green to the top, with a thriving birch wood at its base. Loch Craggy is interesting, by commanding a fine profile view of Ben Laoghal. Were this chain connected by a road with Lochs Maedie and Diru, sweeping round the whole of Ben Laoghal, it would form a ride which, as regards loch and mountain scenery, could, for the same extent, be rarely surpassed in beauty. The rivers are, the Borgie, Rhians, and Kinloch; none of them of much consequence. The Borgie (called in the former Account the Torrisdale) rises from loch Slam, and after separating this parish from that of Farr during the greater part of its course, falls into the sea on the west side of the Bay of Torrisdale. The Rhians and the Kinloch, neither of them more than two miles in length, fall into the head of the Kyle of Tongue, - the former on the east side of Castle Varrich, the latter on its west. Cascades are numerous, and some of them pretty, though on a small scale.
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