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which the ruins and mossy rocks gleam at intervals, and discover the landscape under varied attractions. On one isolated point, sprinkled with wild flowers, a huge tree, stript of its bark, stands like a solitary spectre among its still verdant associates. Its withered, tortuous roots appear straining forward as if to catch the reviving moisture of the lake,-while its vigorous successor, lifting its head proudly to the sky, takes the decayed monarch under its shadow, but for itself reserves all the sun.-On a calm summer evening, when the brake is vocal with the song of birds (few in this territory of their special enemies), the surface of the water silvered over with the moonshine-the broad shadow of the eagle passing across it to his eyrie in the ruins-the flap of his wings as he exultingly alights on his now undisputed domain, make a strong impression on the imagination, and invest Loch-an-Eilan with the romantic features of the "Castle of Otranto." All this is rendered still more impressive by the recollection, that here that ferocious personage, named from his deeds the "Wolf of Badenoch," had his lair, which is still tenanted by his representatives-the eagles of Cairn-gorm.

On the opposite bank of the river Spey, in a beautiful romantic situation, is the cottage of Kinrara, the summer residence of the late Duchess of Gordon. In this delightful retreat, to which she was enthusiastically attached, the Duchess entertained annually several of the most distinguished families and individuals in the United Kingdom. After her demise in London, her mortal remains were brought to Kinrara, and interred in a spot which she had often pointed out in her walks, as that in which she wished to take her last repose. The ceremony of interment took place in May 1812, and is now perpetuated by a magnificent monument of native granite, selected from the Grampian mountains. Belville, a district of the same parish, has become classical ground, by having been the residence of James Macpherson, the celebrated translator of Ossian's poems. He died here; but, unlike the Duchess in his choice of a resting-place, his remains, agreeably to his own particular instructions, were conveyed to Westminster Abbey, and there deposited in Poet's Corner. Belleville is now the residence of Sir David Brewster, whose name and reputation require no comment in these pages. With this short digression we resume our progress to the Westward.

The view of Lochleven from Ballahulish Ferry is greatly admired, and may here be allowed to speak for itself. The porphyritic mountains of Glenco-the "Cona" of Ossian-give a specific character to the scene, and in one or two instances bear a close resemblance to the Aiguilles of the Alps. It has been justly remarked, that, from its mouth to the further extremity, Lochleven presents a continued succession of landscapes. Between the point here chosen and the Dog's Ferry-a strait three or four miles higher up-the basin is variegated

with several islets, the largest of which is St. Mungo's Isle. Here, in mould still sanctified by the remains of a small Roman-Catholic chapel, the people from the opposite shores of Lochaber and Glenco brought their dead for interment. Two broad grassy mounds, formed by a natural swell in the surface, point to the cemeteries of the two clans. About twenty years ago, the body of M'Ian, laird of Glenco,-whose fate will be noticed in its proper place,-was disinterred by his descendants, and removed from the chapel to that portion of the islet appropriated to his own clan. The bones were of herculean proportions, and confirmed the traditions respecting his great strength, which made him so formidable in the eyes of his assassins that they durst only approach him while he slept, and in this condition dispatched him by a simultaneous shower of bullets. The adjoining island, called "Eilan-na-Corak," or isle of the lonely one, is so named in consequence of having been the last resting-place of an individual whose life had been so odious in the eyes of his countrymen as to exclude him from a sepulchre in hallowed ground. While this country was infested with wolves, the necessity of thus protecting the sanctuary of the dead by the choice of some isolated position, is apparent; and where such could not be obtained, the cairn may probably have suggested itself by way of substitute, where a person of distinction was buried.

In the scenery of Lochleven, the Serpent-river and the Falls of Kinlochmore are much-admired features, and will amply reward the stranger who has time and curiosity to indulge in a water excursion to the upper end of the loch. The Falls are about one hundred feet in height, but broken into several cascades by the projecting rocks over which they descend.

The second view of Lochleven, which embraces both frontiers, presents

* This sepulchral island is extremely interesting, not less on account of the various views which it affords, than on account of those relics and emblems of mortality which, during the lapse of centuries, have been accumulated in its narrow compass. Its crowded gravestones, heraldic devices, and rude sculptures, so little expected in this remote corner, attract an attention which, in the midst of civilization, more splendid works would hardly command. There is an impressive effect, also-a check and an awe, produced by thus suddenly meeting with the emblems of mortality in these wild and secluded spots-a feeling well known to those who, in their wanderings among the Highlands, have thus unwarily fallen upon these repositories of the dead. The English churchyard is habitual to our sight; nor is it ever unexpected, proclaiming itself afar by its spire or church, by its walled enclosure, or its ancient elm or funereal yews. We pass it coldly; and if we look at its monumental stones, it is seldom but to amuse ourselves with their barbarous emblems, or the absurdities of their mortuary verse; but in this country-iu the midst of the beauties and sublimities of the fairest nature-when rejoicing in the bright scenes of an Alpine summer, in all the loveliness that surrounds us, we are suddenly recalled to the thoughts of that hour when these glorious scenes shall be to us as to those who are sleeping at our feet. Then it is that we feel the full force of the narrow green mound, the rude letters, and the silent stone, which seem to say, "The time is at hand when thou, too, shalt see these bright lakes and blue hills no more."-M'Culloch, vol. i. p. 312.

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the scenery of this romantic district under a new aspect. Ballahulish Ferry is seen in the distance, with its bold mountain barrier towering beyond; the interval filled up by the lake and its small craft, the scattered cottages that enliven its banks, and the herds and flocks driven out to pasture on the green wooded acclivities, which in many parts furnish an exuberant vegetation.-But with this brief sketch of a few-and only a few-of its prominent features, we must here take leave of Inverness-shire, and conduct our reader into the territory of Argyll.

ARGYLLSHIRE.

"Campbells, the modern glory of this isle,

Their doubling fame increased in great ARGYLL;

A race to Caledonia always dear,

And on whose blood their liberties appear."-DEFOE'S Caledonia.

ARGYLLSHIRE, the Argathelia of Latin authors, is a county of great extent, extremely irregular in figure, and presenting an endless succession of the most variegated and commanding features. The whole district is so much intersected by lochs, or inlets of salt water, that it is nearly impossible to give any correct. estimate of its extent. It consists alternately of ranges of mountains, between which the valleys are covered by the sea. The north-east division is bleak, and rugged, and of a purely alpine character; while that on the west presents a coast of indefinable beauty, and indented by seven magnificent bays. The soil comprises several varieties; in the higher mountains, and along the banks of rivers, which deposit their alluvial tribute brought down from these, it consists of gravel and vegetable mould, with an occasional admixture of other adventitious substances. The moors or heaths are extensive, most of them presenting deep layers of peat-moss, which furnishes the chief article of fuel in the inland districts. In general, a light loam mixed with sand, on a clay bottom, is the prevailing character of the soil. On the mountain acclivities, the ordinary soil is a light gravel on till; in the lower grounds, a mixture of clay and moss, and at times a layer of black mossy earth.* The soil appropriated

Another soil consists of decayed limestone-a third of limestone and slate-of which the former is a light, the latter a stiff soil, but both fertile, and found in tracts of moderate elevation above the sea. They form the great mass of the soil in the districts of Mid-Lorn, Nether-Lorn, Craignish, &c. A fifth variety, formed by freestone or micaceous schist, prevails in the western parts of the country, and in some of the islands.