a county of Scotland, extending by the coast from the river Spey on the east to Beauly on the west, which is the boundary of the province of Ross. It sends two members to parliament, and is an earldom in a branch of the Stuart family.

According to the account of the reverend Mr Shaw minister of Elgin, in answer to some queries of Mr Pennant, the country produces wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, and beans. Of these, in plentiful years, upwards of 20,000 bolls are exported, besides serving the county itself and some of the Highland counties. Some hemp is also cultivated, and a great deal of flax; of which linen is made, not only for home consumption, but a considerable quantity of linen yarn is exported. Great quantities of potatoes are also cultivated. Several hundreds of black cattle are also exported from the Highlands of Murray, but few or none from the Lowlands. Peculiar to this province is a kind of wood, called red saugh, or fallow; which is no less beautiful than mahogany. It is much more firm and tough than mahogany, and resembles the lighter-colored kind of that wood. It receives a fine polish, but is very scarce, growing on rocks. But there are great forests of firs and birches, which our author thinks are the remains of the Sylva Caledonia. Here also is found a remarkable root, called by the natives carme: it grows in heaths and birchwoods to the bigness of a large nut; and sometimes there are four or five roots joined together by fibres. It has a green stalk and small red flowers. Dido, speaking of the Caledonians, says, Certaine cili genus parant ad omnia, quem si cepirint quantum est unius fale magnitudo, minime efurire aut fitre folent. Caesar also tells us of a root called chora, which his soldiers mixed with milk and made into bread when in want of provision, which greatly relieved them. This root, Mr Shaw thinks, is the same with the carme or saugh root of Murray. He informs us, that he hath often seen it dried, and kept for journeys through hills where no provision was to be had: he has likewise seen it pounded and infused; the liquor makes a more agreeable and wholesome liquor than mead. It grows in such plenty, that a cart-load of it can easily be gathered.

Murray is intersected by the rivers Spey, Lossie, Findern, Nairn, Ness, and Beauly. The river of Spey, rising on the borders of Lochaber, is more than 60 Scots, or 100 English miles long, but too rapid to be navigable. Upon this river great floats of fir and birch-wood are carried down to the Firth; the float is guided by a man sitting on a courach. This vessel is of an oval shape, about four feet long and three broad; a small keel from head to stern; a few ribs cross the keel, and a ring of pliable wood round the lip of it; the whole covered with the rough hide of an ox or horse. The rower sits on a transverse seat in the middle, and holds in his hand a rope, the end of which is tied to the float, and with the other hand he manages a paddle, keeps the float in deep water, and brings it to shore when he pleases. In this province, also, is Loch Ness, remarkable for its never freezing. There are many other lakes in this country, of which one called Dundeloch is remarkable in that it is never covered with ice before the month of January; but after that time one night's strong frost covers it all over. On the east side of Loch Ness, a large mile above the loch, is the waterfall of Foher, where the river Feach-Len falls over a steep rock about 80 feet high; and a thick fog rises from the place where it falls, occasioned by the violent dashings of the water. There is a considerable salmon-fishery on the rivers Spey, Findern, Ness, and Beauly, which serves the towns and country, besides exporting to the value of 12,000l. annually.

There are many natural caves in the hills of this country, which formerly were the receptacles of thieves and robbers, and now afford shelter to hunters and shepherds in stormy weather. The most remarkable mountain is Carnegun in Strathpey. In it are found a particular kind of stones well known to the lapidaries. They are of blue, green, yellow, and amber colours; some so large as to make snuff-boxes, or small cups; some of hexagonal or pentagonal figures, and tapering to a point at each end. The mountain of Benalar, in Badenoch, is by Mr Shaw reckoned to be the highest land in Scotland, as waters flowing from it fall into the sea at Dundee, Inverlochy, and Garroch in Murray.