an ancient castle, in which it is supposed that Duncan was murdered by Macbeth. It is highly probable that Macbeth had possession of this castle, and it is certain that it was destroyed by the son of the murdered king, Malcolm Canmore, who erected a new one on an eminence overhanging the town on the south, and which continued for several centuries to be a royal fortress. It was repaired by James I., who held a parliament in it, to which all the northern chiefs and barons were summoned, and three of whom were executed for treason. In 1562, Queen Mary paid a visit to Inverness, for the purpose of quelling an insurrection of the Earl of Huntly. Being refused admission into the castle by the governor, who held it for the Earl, she took up her residence in a house, part of which is still in existence. The castle was shortly after taken by her attendants and the governor hanged. During the civil wars this castle was repeatedly taken by Montrose and his opponents. In 1715, it was converted into barracks for the Hanoverian soldiers, and in 1746, it was blown up by the troops of Prince Charles Stuart, and not a vestige of it now remains. On its site a castellated building has been erected, from a design by Mr. Burn, architect, which serves as the Court House and County Buildings. On the north side of the town, near the mouth of the river, Cromwell erected a fort at an expense of £80,000, which was demolished at the Restoration, but a considerable part of the rampart still remains. Within the area of the citadel a hemp manufactory is now carried on.

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On Craig-Phadric, a hill a mile to the west of Inverness, there is an excellent specimen of a vitrified fort," consisting of two oval entrenchments-an inner and an outer-the stones of which seem to have been united by the action of fire, externally applied, instead of mortar, and there is an extensive view from the summit (550 feet high). The sides of the hill are covered by woods, in the midst of which stands Muirton House, the seat of Mr. Huntly Duff, the great grandson of Catharine Duff, Lady Drummuir, in whose house both Prince Charles and the Duke of Cumberland lodged during their residence in Inverness. A mile to the south-west is Tom-naheurich (the hill of fairies), a wooded hill, shaped like a ship, with its keel uppermost, the walks around which, and on the

banks of the Ness, are very pleasant. A new drive has lately been formed from the harbour and Cromwell's Fort, along the mouth of the river and adjoining sea-coast.

INVERNESS TO ABERDEEN BY RAILWAY THROUGH MORAY AND BANFF SHIRES.

A very agreeable and interesting excursion may be made by railway from Inverness to Elgin, by the southern coast of the Moray Firth, and from thence through the counties of Nairn, Moray and Banff. Leaving Inverness we cross Culloden Moor,* where the Highland army was defeated under Prince Charles Stuart on the 16th of April 1746. It is a desolate tract of table-land, traversed longitudinally by a carriage road, on the side of which are two or three green trenches marking the spot where the heat of the battle took place, and numbers of the slain were interred. On the north it is flanked by the firth and the table-land of the Black Isle; on the south-east by the ridges of Strathnairn, and on the westward, its extremities are bounded by the splintered and serrated heights of Stratherrick. In the opposite distance, the moor is lost in a flat bare plain stretching towards Nairn, the monotony of which is broken by the old square tower of Dalcross, a hold of the Clan Chattan. The level nature of the ground rendered it peculiarly unfit for the movements of the Highland army against cavalry and artillery. According to the general accounts, about 1200 men fell in this engagement. The number killed on both sides was nearly equal.

The victory at Culloden finally extinguished the hopes of the house of Stuart, and secured the liberties of Britain; but * Culloden Moor is one mile from the Culloden Station and six miles from Inverness by the high road.

western side of the park of Brodie House is Hardmoor, where Macbeth and Banquo are represented by Shakespeare to have been saluted by the weird sisters, on their return from a victorious expedition in the western isles.

The tourist now crosses the river Findhorn by a suspension bridge, and enters

FORRES,

[Hotels: Fraser's. Population, 3503. 244 miles from Inverness.]

a pleasant but not particularly interesting town. It consists chiefly of one long street, the chief features of which are its pointed gables and low Saxon doorways. The most prominent buildings are the jail and court-house, and a town-cross of the decorated Gothic style. At the west end of the town, a tall granite obelisk, to the memory of Dr. Thomson (a native of Cromarty, whose devoted attention to the wounded after the battle of Alma cost his own life) occupies a mound which is supposed to have been originally the site of a Roman camp, and which still bears traces of the foundations of a castle, a stronghold of the Earls of Moray. On a hill, one of the Clunie range, rising above the town on the south, is a tower erected in honour of the victory of Trafalgar.

A mile and a half from the town, to the east, stands the famous Forres Stone. It is near the roadside, a little beyond the toll-bar, where the tourist who wishes a close inspection of it must inquire for the key of the inclosure. The pillar is about twenty feet high, and is carved with figures of warriors, and other objects. Antiquarians are not agreed as to the period and the occasion of the erection of this monument. The general opinion is, that it was erected in the reign of Malcolm II. to commemorate the expulsion of the Danes.

The neighbourhood of Forres, and especially the river Findhorn, has been invested with a particular interest by the writings of Mr. Charles St. John, and a delightful excursion may be made from Forres to view this scenery. Following

way, the river Findhorn is crossed at Dulsie Bridge, the scenery in the neighbourhood of which is of the finest description. Lochindorbh Castle is not itself of very much interest. It was besieged in 1335, and the iron gate may be seen at Cawdor, whither, says tradition, it was carried on the brawny shoulders of some stalwart scion of that house.-See Sir Thomas Dick Lauder's Highland Rambles.

FORRES-THE FINDHORN.

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the road which goes straight southwards from the railway station, the tourist will, after a walk of between three and four miles, reach on his left the Lodge of Altyre (Sir Gordon Cumming, Bart.), where the keeper will grant admittance to the romantic drive which commands some of the finest views of the river. The excursion should at least be extended to the heronry, but those who have sufficient time will endeavour to go as far as Relugas or Farness.

FORRES PILLAR.

"I do not know a stream" (says Mr. St. John, in his Wild Sports of the Highlands), "that more completely realizes all one's ideas of the beauty of Highland scenery than the Findhorn, taking it from the spot where it is no more than a small rivulet, bubbling and sparkling along a narrow gorge in the far-off recesses of the Monaghliahd mountains down to the Bay of Findhorn, where its accumulated waters are poured into the Moray Firth. From source to mouth this river is full of beauty and interest.

"What spot in the world can excel in beauty the landscape comprising the old bridge of Dulsie, spanning with its lofty arch the deep black pool, shut in by grey and fantastic rocks, sur

mounted with the greenest of grass swards, with clumps of the ancient weeping birches with their gnarled and twisted

stems, backed again by the dark pine-trees? The river here forms a succession of very black and deep pools, connected with each other by foaming and whirling falls and currents, up which in the fine pure evenings you may see the salmon making curious leaps.

"Between Logie and Sluie are some of the highest rocks on the river, and from several hundred feet above it you can look straight down into the deep pools and foaming eddies below you.

"Making a wide turn here, the river passes by an object of great interest, the Findhorn heronry, a collection of these birds quite unique in their way. They have taken possession of a number of old trees growing on the Darnaway side of the river, and

here, year after year, they repair their old nests and bring up their young, not frightened away by the frequenters of a walk which passes immediately under their nests. Numbers of the old birds may be seen sitting motionless on the dead branches, or perched on the very topmost twig of a larch or birch-tree."

The country between Forres and Elgin is studded with gentlemen's seats and old castles, some of which may be observed on the way. About three miles eastward, on a point of land jutting out into the sea, on the left, is the village of Burghead,* and further on, we pass the ruins of Kinloss Abbey and Burgie castle.

* Reached by omnibus from Alves station.