district, Garioch, in the centre of the shire, is a beautiful, undulating, loamy, fertile valley, formerly called the granary of Aberdeen. Strathbogie, the fifth district, occupying a considerable area south of the Deveron, mostly consists of hills, moors and mosses. The mountains are the most striking of the physical features of the county. Ben Macdhui (4296 ft.), a magnificent mass, the second highest mountain in Great Britain, Braeriach (4248), Cairntoul (4241), Ben-na-bhuaird (3924), Ben Avon (3843), “dark” Lochnagar (3786), the subject of a well-known song by Byron, Cairn Eas (3556), Sgarsoch (3402), Culardoch (2953), are the principal heights in the division of Mar. Farther north rise the Buck of Cabrach (2368) on the Banffshire border, Tap o’ Noth (1830), Bennachie (1698), a beautiful peak which from its central position is a landmark visible from many different parts of the county, and which is celebrated in John Imlah’s song, “O gin I were where Gadie rins,” and Foudland (1529). The chief rivers are the Dee, 90 m. long; the Don, 82 m.; the Ythan, 37 m., with mussel-beds at its mouth; the Ugie, 20 m., and the Deveron, 62 m., partly on the boundary of Banffshire. The rivers abound with salmon and trout, and the pearl mussel occurs in the Ythan and Don. A valuable pearl in the Scottish crown is said to be from the Ythan. Loch Muick, the largest of the few lakes in the county, 1310 ft. above the sea, 212 m. long and 13 to 12 m. broad, lies some 812 m. S.W. of Ballater, and has Altnagiuthasach, a royal shooting-box, near its south-western end. Loch Strathbeg, 6 m. S.E. of Fraserburgh, is only separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land. There are noted chalybeate springs at Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Pannanich near Ballater.
Geology.—The greater part of the county is composed of crystalline schists belonging to the metamorphic rocks of the Eastern Highlands. In the upper parts of the valleys of the Dee and the Don they form well-marked groups, of which the most characteristic are (1) the black schists and phyllites, with calc-flintas, and a thin band of tremolite limestone, (2) the main or Blair Atholl limestone, (3) the quartzite. These divisions are folded on highly inclined or vertical axes trending north-east and south-west, and hence the same zones are repeated over a considerable area. The quartzite is generally regarded as the highest member of the series. Excellent sections showing the component strata occur in Glen Clunie and its tributary valleys above Braemar. Eastwards down the Dee and the Don and northwards across the plain of Buchan towards Rattray Head and Fraserburgh there is a development of biotite gneiss, partly of sedimentary and perhaps partly of igneous origin. A belt of slate which has been quarried for roofing purposes runs along the west border of the county from Turriff by Auchterless and the Foudland Hills towards the Tap o’ Noth near Gartly. The metamorphic rocks have been invaded by igneous materials, some before, and by far the larger series after the folding of the strata. The basic types of the former are represented by the sills of epidiorite and hornblende gneiss in Glen Muick and Glen Callater, which have been permeated by granite and pegmatite in veins and lenticles, often foliated. The later granites subsequent to the plication of the schists have a wide distribution on the Ben Macdhui and Ben Avon range, and on Lochnagar; they stretch eastwards from Ballater by Tarland to Aberdeen and north to Bennachie. Isolated masses appear at Peterhead and at Strichen. Though consisting mainly of biotite granite, these later intrusions pass by intermediate stages into diorite, as in the area between Balmoral and the head-waters of the Gairn. The granites have been extensively quarried at Rubislaw, Peterhead and Kemnay. Serpentine and troctolite, the precise age of which is uncertain, occur at the Black Dog rock north of Aberdeen, at Belhelvie and near Old Meldrum. Where the schists of sedimentary origin have been pierced by these igneous intrusions, they are charged with contact minerals such as sillimanite, cordierite, kyanite and andalusite. Cordierite-bearing rocks occur near Ellon, at the foot of Bennachie, and on the top of the Buck of Cabrach. A banded and mottled calc-silicate hornfels occurring with the limestone at Derry Falls, W.N.W. of Braemar, has yielded malacolite, wollastonite, brown idocrase, garnet, sphene and hornblende. A larger list of minerals has been obtained from an exposure of limestone and associated beds in Glen Gairn, about four miles above the point where that river joins the Dee. Narrow belts of Old Red Sandstone, resting unconformably on the old platform of slates and schists, have been traced from the north coast at Peterhead by Turriff to Fyvie, and also from Huntly by Gartly to Kildrummy Castle. The strata consist mainly of conglomerates and sandstones, which, at Gartly and at Rhynie, are associated with lenticular bands of andesite indicating contemporaneous volcanic action. Small outliers of conglomerate and sandstone of this age have recently been found in the course of excavations in Aberdeen. The glacial deposits, especially in the belt bordering the coast between Aberdeen and Peterhead, furnish important evidence. The ice moved eastwards off the high ground at the head of the Dee and the Don, while the mass spreading outwards from the Moray Firth invaded the low plateau of Buchan; but at a certain stage there was a marked defection northwards parallel with the coast, as proved by the deposit of red clay north of Aberdeen. At a later date the local glaciers laid down materials on top of the red clay. The committee appointed by the British Association (Report for 1897, p. 333) proved that the Greensand, which has yielded a large suite of Cretaceous fossils at Moreseat, in the parish of Cruden, occurs in glacial drift, resting probably on granite. The strata from which the Moreseat fossils were derived are not now found in place in that part of Scotland, but Mr Jukes Brown considers that the horizon of the fossils is that of the lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight or the Aptien stage of France. Chalk flints are widely distributed in the drift between Fyvie and the east coast of Buchan. At Plaidy a patch of clay with Liassic fossils occurs. At several localities between Logie Coldstone and Dinnet a deposit of diatomite (Kieselguhr) occurs beneath the peat.
Flora and Fauna.—The tops of the highest mountains have an arctic flora. At the royal lodge on Loch Muick, 1350 ft. above the sea, grow larches, vegetables, currants, laurels, roses, &c. Some ash-trees, four or five feet in girth, are growing at 1300 ft. above the sea. Trees, especially Scotch fir and larch, grow well, and Braemar is rich in natural timber, said to surpass any in the north of Europe. Stumps of Scotch fir and oak found in peat are sometimes far larger than any now growing. The mole is found at 1800 ft. above the sea, and the squirrel at 1400. Grouse, partridges and hares are plentiful, and rabbits are often too numerous. Red deer abound in Braemar, the deer forest being the most extensive in Scotland.
Climate and Agriculture.—The climate, except in the mountainous districts, is comparatively mild, owing to the proximity of much of the shire to the sea. The mean annual temperature at Braemar is 43·6° F., and at Aberdeen 45·8°. The mean yearly rainfall varies from about 30 to 37 in. The summer climate of the upper Dee and Don valleys is the driest and most bracing in the British Isles, and grain is cultivated up to 1600 ft. above the sea, or 400 to 500 ft. higher than elsewhere in North Britain. Poor, gravelly, clayey and peaty soils prevail, but tile-draining, bones and guano, and the best methods of modern tillage, have greatly increased the produce. Indeed, in no part of Scotland has a more productive soil been made out of such unpromising material. Farm-houses and steadings have much improved, and the best agricultural implements and machines are in general use. About two-thirds of the population depend entirely on agriculture. Farms are small compared with those in the south-eastern counties. Oats are the predominant crop, wheat has practically gone out of cultivation, but barley has largely increased. The most distinctive industry is cattle-feeding. A great number of the home-bred crosses are fattened for the London and local markets, and Irish animals are imported on an extensive scale for the same purpose, while an exceedingly heavy business in dead meat for London and the south is done all over the county. Sheep, horses and pigs are also raised in large numbers.
Fisheries.—A large fishing population in villages along the coast engage in the white and herring fishery, which is the next most important industry to agriculture, its development having
