"A noble race, but they are gone,
With their old forests wide and deep,
And we have fed our flocks upon

Hills where their generations sleep.
"Their fountains slake our thirst at noon;
Upon their fields our harvest waves;
Our shepherds woo beneath their moon,-

Ah! let us spare at least their graves."

The tourist may either return to Contin by the way he left it, or he may proceed directly across the northern shoulder of Scuirvullin, and join the Parliamentary Road from Dingwall to Lochcarron, half way between Auchnanault and Auchnasheen.

Leaving the inn of Contin he proceeds up Strathgarve, winding through birch and pine woods. The picturesque Falls of Rogie, which have been likened to those of Tivoli in Italy, lie down the wooded steeps under the road. Loch Garve is a fine sheet of water, about two miles in length. Near the head of the loch is the inn of Garve, which was sometimes the sojourn of Sir Humphrey Davy. The scenery beyond this point is uninteresting.

The most prominent object all through this tract of country is the mountain Ben Wyvis, not so much on account of its height as from its enormous lateral bulk. Sir Hugh Monro of Fowlis, the principal proprietor of Ben Wyvis, holds his estate in Ross-shire by a tenure binding him to bring three wainloads of snow from the top of that mountain whenever his Majesty shall desire. It has never been entirely free from snow within the memory of man, except in September 1826.

About two miles west from Beauly are the lower falls of Kilmorack. They lie immediately under the garden of the manse, and are best viewed from it. The falls themselves are of no great consequence, "but the whole scene-the full river toiling thorough the deep tortuous chasm, and escaping in smooth lapses-the rough rocky steeps, and hanging woods and green margins—is beautiful and striking." It used to be a favourite sport to catch the salmon at this place, as they struggle to ascend the river over the rocky ledges; and it is said that the Lords Lovat of the olden time, by a particular contrivance, made the salmon leap into a boiling kettle which was kept suspended over the bank. On the opposite side of the river, close by the saw-mills, are the ruins of the old church and the deserted manse of Kiltarlity.

A little below the falls, on the right bank of the river, is Beaufort Castle, the seat of Lord Lovat, the chief of the Clan-Fraser. Castle Downie, the old seat of the Lovats, was destroyed in 1746, and the present is but an inferior structure. The grounds, however, are finely laid out, and the spot ornamented with some large and venerable trees. A fortress was erected here in the twelfth century, by the powerful family of Bisset. The possessions of this family extended over the Aird, and a great part of Stratherrick and Abertarff on Loch Ness; but being implicated in the rebellion of Donald, Lord of the Isles, their estates were bestowed on the Frasers, who emigrated to the north from Peebles and Tweeddale about the year 1296. Castle Downie was besieged by Edward I. in 1303, and also by Oliver Cromwell, who blew up the citadel.

About three miles above the church and falls of Kilmorack, there is another succession of falls, at a place called “the Drhuim," where the valley has narrowed to a gorge, and completely shut out the view of firth and champaign. "The hilly banks, luxuriantly wooded, are lofty and steep, and high pyramids of rock, in every fantastic shape, shoot up like glaciers from the choked though widespread bed of the river, which here boils and chafes in fury, and there, when its rage is spent, sleeps in dreamy dark pools among the banks of the loveliest moss and freshest verdure, as if mustering its force for another fierce en

counter.

"The broad rocky bed of this powerful river, in which are united the Glass and the Farrar, and many smaller tributaries, is studded by innumerable shrubby islets, which throw a wild profusion of intermingled boughs and plants into the translucent water, with exquisite effect in reflection and colouring." On one of these, (the island of Aigas,) which is, in fact, a river-girt and wooded hill, the notorious Simon Lord Lovat, in 1697, concealed the dowager Lady Lovat, whom he had forced to become his wife. On this romantic little island is built a handsome house, occupied by Charles Edward Stuart, Esq., and his brother John Sobieski Stuart, gentlemen who claim to be descendants of

the royal family of Stuart, and who always wear the Highland dress. Half way up the strath is an enchanting Highland residence, called Teanassie, often occupied in summer as a shooting lodge. Proceeding a few miles up the valley, the tourist reaches Erchless Castle, the seat of Chisholm, the chief of a small clan who came from the Borders. The family estates lie on the north side of the Beauly, and in Strathglass. The late chief (A. W. Chisholm, Esq.,) died suddenly at the early age of twenty-eight, whilst M.P. for Inverness-shire, and was interred on a small wooded mount, a solitary spot, near the family residence. His premature death was much regretted. In front of Erchless Castle, the Farrar and the Glass unite, and form the river Beauly. Near the junction a handsome stone bridge of five arches was erected a few years ago, and adjoining it stands Struy House, till lately the seat of the ancient branch of the Frasers, next heirs of entail to the estate of Lovat after the present Lord and his heirs-male. Struy Bridge is about ten miles from Beauly. Here the valley or strath of the Beauly river divides itself into two glens, Glenstrathfarrar and Strathglass. The former extends along the base of the mountain Benevachart for a distance of about nine miles. It is lone and wild, rocky and lavishly wooded, but of exquisite beauty, and, alternately narrowing and expanding, presents a great variety of landscape. At its further extremity is Loch Miulie, in which is a small island that afforded shelter to Lord Lovat after the battle of Culloden.

Strathglass stretches nearly southwest, and is traversed by the stream whose name it bears. In ancient times large pine forests stretched along the valley up to the summits of the hills. These have long ago been destroyed, but the sides of the glen are still fringed with beautiful birch trees. A fine road has lately been made through what is termed Chisholm's Pass, which passes along some splendid mountain scenery. About fifteen miles from Struy Bridge, the tourist reaches the elegant mansion-house of Guisachan, the seat of William Fraser, Esq. of Colbockie. The grounds are in a high state of cultivation, and their luxuriant vegetation is very unlike what we might have

expected in such a remote district.

The scenery around is uncommonly magnificent. The distance from Guisachan through Glen Affrick to Dornie in Kintail, is only a forenoon's journey. The route lies along a series of lochs through a hoary primeval pine forest. The scenery is of a kindred nature to that of the Trosachs, but greatly surpasses it in wildness, grandeur, and extent.

Until the Parliamentary road was opened through Glen Moriston and by Cluny into Glen Sheil, this was the principal route from Inverness and Ross-shires into Kintail and the surrounding parts of the west coast.*

There are various roads which lead across the hills from Strathglass into Urquhart and Glen Moriston.

*It may be easily believed that no one was permitted in those days to enter Kintail whose visits were not perfectly acceptable to the natives. "When the estates of the Earl of Seaforth were forfeited, after the Rebellion of 1715, and the foolish attempt at invasion which succeeded it in 1719, it was found quite impracticable for the Government to collect any rents in Kintail. A Mr. Ross, the first gentleman sent to make the attempt, was attended by a select party of soldiers, whom the Kintail men-to save them the needless trouble of coming through Glen Affrick, on a bootless errand-met at Lochan Cloigh, in the heights of Strathglass, where an admonitory bullet, sent from an overhanging thicket, grazed the neck of the collector of his Majesty's exchequer. He, however, was a Highlander, though a Whig; and he gallantly advanced three or four more miles, when his son was fired at from another ambuscade, and mortally wounded. The soldiers became alarmed, and their leader capitulated, and retreated as wise as he came. Another attempt to enter Kintail next rent-time, made by a more northerly route, was met in the same manner the military leader was wounded and forced to return. Yet all this while the rents were duly collected among the devoted tenantry of Seaforththe Macraws of Kintail; and, by some means or other, duly transmitted to France to the forfeited Earl, by a Donald Murchison, the memory of whose military and business talents, and attachment to the chief, are still embalmed in the hearts of the elders among the Kintail tribes. The natives felt not a little pride, that, though worsted in the open fight of Glenshiel, they for years contrived, by means of their fastnesses, and the mountain passes into their country, to baffle the agents and troops of the Government.

"We were informed that it is not yet easy to execute even a civil process on this west coast, if against a popular character. The minions of the law coming from Inverness or Dingwall, are as well known in the hills, and not much more beloved, than the gaugers. As soon as they are discovered descending the heights, their errand is guessed; and, though open deforcement is rarely ventured upon, the fiery cross is secretly speeded on to the individual in peril of the law, while the emissaries are detained at fords, ferries, and clachans, rivers, and arms of the sea. No boat tackle is ready-ponies are on the hill and cannot be caught, until the safety of the party is secured! when the beagles, after beating about for some days, may return from whence they came, and draw out their bill of costs for travelling to Loch Broom or Loch Carron."-Tait's Magazine.

FOURTEENTH TOUR.

** A Chart of this Tour will be found facing page 261.

INVERNESS BANKS OF THE CALEDONIAN CANAL-GLEN URQUHART -GLEN MORISTON-FORT-AUGUSTUS-FORT-WILLIAM-GLENCOETYNDRUM.

THE tourist may leave Inverness by a very delightful route, which leads along the banks of the Caledonian Canal. There are two roads along the opposite sides of Lochs Ness and Oich, but the north-west road is by far the more picturesque. Leaving Inverness by the old bridge, and leaving the peculiarly-shaped hill called Tom-na-heurich, the tourist, at the distance of about a mile from the town, crosses the canal, and ascends the undulating face of Torvain. On this hill, in 1197, there was fought a desperate battle between Donald Bane of the Isles and a body of troops from the castle of Inverness. Passing the house of Dunain (W. Baillie, Esq.,) the tourist comes in sight of the beautiful little lake-Dochfour. On its banks is Dochfour House (Evan Baillie, Esq.,) surrounded by fine parks and magnificent trees. A monumental pillar has lately been erected, near the house, to the memory of the late proprietor, Evan Baillie, Esq., who was at one time M.P. for Bristol, and died in his native glen at the advanced age of ninetyfive. Nearly opposite, in a sequestered bay which forms the narrow eastern extremity of Loch Ness, is Aldourie, the seat of W. F. Tytler, Esq., where Sir James Mackintosh was born, and in the immediate neighbourhood of which he spent several years of his childhood. For the first few miles along the shores of Loch Ness, the hills are bare and very steep. They are called Craig Derg, or the Red Rocks, from their reddish tint. The inhabitants of these braes