The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

NORTHERN SCOTLAND. 835
marine range which f ^rms the Hebrides follows the same direction, as do also the
Lofoten, on the coast of Xorway, and the plateau of Scandinavia.
As a whole the mountains of Northern Scotland are known under the designa-
tion of Grampians—thus named after a Mount Graupus, mentioned by Latin writers,
but misspelt by their copyists. These mountains consist of a large number of
groups and chains, separated by narrow glens or valleys occupied by lakes.
Immediately to the north of the estuary of the Clyde rise the Southern Grampians,
whose summits, Ben Lomond (3,192 feet), Ben More (3,281 feet), and Ben Lawers
(3,984 feet), are most frequently the goal of tourists, owing to their vicinitj- to
large towns. Farther north rises the almost insulated mass of Ben Cruachau
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Fig. 163.—Ben Nevis.
7- 30-
(3,670 feet), by the side of Loch Awe ;
Scale t : 200,000
0-c- ,- NV.cfGr.
J 56'
and farther away still, beyond Loch Leven,
one of the ramifications of the Firth of Lorn, there looms in front of us the
highest summit of the British Isles, Ben Nevis (4,406 feet). Its aspect is all the
more imposing as its foot is washed in two lochs, and we are enabled at a glance to
embrace it in its entirety, from the sands and meadows at its foot to the snow which
generally caps its summi t. Ben Nevis, the " rock which touches the heavens,"
forms the western pillar of the Grampians proper, which terminate to the south of
Aberdeen, after having thrown off the spur of Cairngorm towards the north-east.
At the point of separation rises Ben Muich Dhui, or Mac Dhui (4,296 feet),
;he second highest mountain of Great Britain. The Grampians are the back-
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