The surface is extremely irregular, and is so broken into detached portions by intervening masses of rock and impenetrable copses of furze and briars, as to render it unpracticable to ascertain, with any degree of correctness, the probable number of acres under cultivation. The ground in some parts rises into numerous hills of moderate height, and in other parts, especially towards the north, into mountainous elevation forming a chain of heights skirting the lofty and conspicuous mountain of Criffel. For nearly two miles along the eastern coast the surface is tolerably level, and divided into several fields of good arable land. The coast is bold and rocky, and in many places rises into lofty and precipitous cliffs, overhanging the Firth, from which, at low water, the sea retires, leaving a broad tract of level sands. In the crevices of these rocks is found abundance of samphire, of which considerable quantities are collected with great hazard. The Firth is about nine leagues in breadth at this place; the river Urr is navigable for eight miles from it, for vessels of not more than eighty tons, and the Southwick burn joins the Frith on the boundary of the parish. The salmon-fishery is carried on upon a small scale, and during the season smelts are also found; cod is taken with lines during the winter, and flounders, in 1834, were taken in such numbers that cart-loads were distributed throughout the neighbouring parishes.