Gazetteer of Scotland

M U L
)inie, and frccftone ; and ironflone Is
found in the neighbouring pariihes.
In 1791, the population was noo;
increale 355 fince 1755.
MULL ; a large ifiand of the He-
brides, belonging to Argyll ; about
25 miles long, and nearly as much in
breadth, interfered by feveral arms
of the fea, and feparated from the di-
ftrict of Lome by a narrow found, cal-
led the found of Mull. The interior
parts are hilly, and covered with heath;
but, towards the coaft, there are fome
flips of arable ground, though the ex-
tent is trifling compared with the
whole ifiand. On this account agri-
culture cannot be carried on to any
considerable extent; but great num-
bers of black cattle are annually reared
and exported, for which the ifiand is
well adapted ; and, indeed, it is chiefly
from the fale of thefe that the farmers
make up their rents, which are paid
in money. In general, the rents are
fo high, that the fmaller tenants can-
not, with all their care, make up their
rents by the fale of cattle; and, there-
fore, are obliged, after having tilled
their little arable land, to try fome
other employment, as the burning of
kelp, by which they fave a little mo-
ney, and are enabled to pay their
rents. There are few enclofures ; and,
as every family cultivates a little corn,
they are obliged to employ herds to
their cattle, which not only takes a
number of perfons from active em-
ployment, but alfo gives the herds
habits of extreme indolence. The
cattle of Mull are much efteemed ;
and, of late, the Highland breed of
fheep has been fupplar.ted by the
Englifh or Cheviot breed. Agricul-
ture is conducted in a very flovenly
manner ; the plough is of the rudeft
conftruction ; and the fea weed or
fhell fand, which forms the chief ma-
nure, is carried from the coaft in baf-
kets and creels, on the backs of horfes.
The principal obftacle to improve-
ment is the want of leafes, and the
frequent wars, for which Argyll fhire
and the ifiand of Mull in particular,
furnish great numbers of their beft
farming fervants for foldiers. The cli-
mate of Mull is very moift, the rains
being frequent and heavy: fevere gales
of wind from the W. are alfo very
common : the winters are much mild-
er : the ground is feldom wholly co-
MUL
vered with fnow, and the frofls are of
lhort continuance. There are feveral
lakes, which are the fourcesof the fmall
burns which every where uiterfecT: the
ifiand. The roads are very rugged,
ftoney, and mountainous ; and at the
fame time fo indiftinct, that it is next
to impoffible to travel through the
ifiand without a guide. There are
feveral high monntains, the moft ele-
vated of which is Benmore, which is
conjectured to be upwards of ;.ooo
feet above the level of the fea ; 'but
its height has never been accurately
meafured. There are two ftated fer-
ries acrofs the found of Mull; one from
Aros to Mor-ven, and the other from
Acbnacraig to the ifiand of Kerre>-a f
and thence to Oban. The only vil-
lage of any considerable fize is Tober~
mory, at the northern extremity ; but
there are fmall villages with inns, at
Acbnacraig, and at Aros. The only
manfion of note is Torhifk, the refl-
dence of Mr. Maclean, the proprietor
of one half of the ifiand ; and a consi-
derable part belongs to the Duke of
Argyll, whofe factor has a neat resi-
dence in the neighbourhood of Aros*.
Upon a bold headland projecting into
the fea, is fituated the old Cojilc-Du-
art or Doivart, formerly the feat of
the Macleans, at which time they
were proprietors of the whole ifiand.
It is now in ruins; though fome parts
of it are fo far habitable, as to afford
accommodation to a fmall party of
foldiers, detached from the garrifon
of Fort William to reprefs fmugglers.
At Aros are the ruins of another old
caflle, alfo built on a fteep rock by
the fea, and fecured on the land fide
by a moat and draw-bridge; it is faid
to have been long the residence of the
Macdonalds Lords of the Ifles. The
mineralogy of the ifiand is in many
refpects worthy of attention ; a great
part of it lies on a mafs of whinftone,
only different from bafaltes in the
coarfenefs of its grain ; in many places'
the rocks are bafaltic, and often ai-
fume a regular columnar form. Near
Aros, there are fome rocks of white
lava, a rare mineral, and feemingly
like to that defcribed by Monf, Do-
lomieu in his " Memolres fur VJJle <le
Ponces." Limeftone abounds, fome
of which partakes of the nature of
marble. Some feams of coal have
been found in different parts; there