kings and heroes, whose dead bodies were transported from a little harbour on the opposite side of the lake, to be interred in the remote island of Iona. So says tradition, and so say the poetical dreams of M'Pherson.

Fort William is situated upon the shore of the lake. It was established in the time of the Commonwealth, and remodeled under William and Mary, whence its name. There is nothing interesting about

the fortress, nor in the dirty little village of Gordonsburgh, in its vicinity, where the steamboat took us up with a large accession to the number of passengers. The deck was so thronged, that if the multitude chanced to be attracted to either side, the weight was sufficient to make the vessel roll.

At Corran Ferry, eight miles below, five of our party concluded to send on their baggage to Glasgow, pass up Glencoe, one of the most interesting portions of Highland scenery, and thence across the country to Loch Lomond. Our New-England friends continued their voyage, on their way to the Island of Staffa. A crazy boat took the rest of us ashore, and, as a sequel to the adventures of the trip, was nigh capsizing us in the surf.

We immediately chartered a one-horse cart, (the only kind of vehicle to be found in this part of the country,) to take us to Ballahulish, four or five miles up Glencoe. Fortunately the road was excellent, forming a part of the great military route from Fort William to Stirling, and poor Rosinante whirled us briskly forward, though in truth cutting but a sorry figure. The ride along the shore of Loch Leven, which is an arm of Loch Linnhe extending far up the glen, and where the waves are seen rolling in from the sea between lofty mountains rising on either hand, was one of the most pleasant which this romantic region has afforded. In one direction the traveller surveys, across a wide expanse of waters, Morven and other hills celebrated by Ossian, while towards the east, he looks up the glen which was the birth-place and residence of the poet himself.

Just at evening we arrived at a small, but comfortable inn, standing within a few yards of the lake, and took lodgings for the night. The wind blew in violent gusts, often shaking our little tenement to its foundations, and creating an anxiety for those, who were tossing on the surges of the Irish sea, in a miserable boat crowded with passengers. It was subsequently ascertained, that she was nigh being lost in her passage to Oban. On the very next trip, the Comet went down in the waters of the Clyde, at two o'clock in the morning, with seventy or eighty passengers on board, nearly all of whom perished.

As we were now in the region of song, a musical party consisting of our hostess, Mary Campbell, and John M'Gregor, great names and born of proud ancestors, contributed to the enjoyments of the evening. They formed themselves into a little circle, and taking hold of the corners of a handkerchief, which was kept swinging to beat time, as the custom of the Highlanders is, chanted half a dozen wild and sweet airs, in the Gaelic language. The landlady, who was leader of the choir, acted as interpreter of the sentiment. One of the songs, descriptive of a chase upon a neighbouring hill, is ascribed to Ossian, with what truth I am unable to say. The voices of the trio were melodious, and the music was soft and melancholy, stealing over the mind like the dying cadence of an Æolian harp.

LETTER XXVI.

LOCH LEVEN-GLENCOE-BIRTH-PLACE OF OSSIAN-LOCH TOLLA-GLENORCHY-LOCH AWE-INVERARY-CASTLE OF THE DUKE OF ARGYLELOCH FINE GLENCROE-LOCH LONG-TARBET-LOCH LOMOND-BEN LOMOND-LOCH KATRINE-ELLEN'S

CALLANDER.

ISLAND-TROSACHS-RIDE

TO

October, 1825.

EARLY on the morning of the 6th, having entered into another contract for the same horse and cart to take us to King's House, a distance of sixteen miles, we crossed the lake at Ballahulish, and commenced an excursion up Glencoe. For the first four miles, the road runs along the margin of Loch Leven, into which green and beautiful peninsulas project; and on the right a range of lofty hills impends over the traveller. At the woody base of one of them, stands a pretty little episcopal church, of the Gothic order, where the peasantry of the glen occasionally meet to unite in public worship. Great efforts have recently been made by missionaries, to diffuse christian knowledge through the Highlands.

At a short distance beyond this, we visited an extensive slate quarry, from which many hundred thousand tons have been taken, and carried to every part of the kingdom. An immense circus has been excavated to the depth of eighty or a hundred feet, with galleries of rock extending round it like an amphitheatre. Ropes are made fast at top, up which the workmen climb with as much ease and carelessness, as sailors upon the shrouds of a ship. It is one of the largest works of the kind in Great-Britain, giving employment to 200 men. Ships of any burden ascend Loch Leven to this point, beyond which the lake makes a bold sweep towards the north, and terminates seven miles above among the Highlands.

A little farther on, we passed the river Cona, which is said to be the native stream of Ossian, and to which his poems contain such frequent allusions. It has its principal source in a little lake, or mountain tarn, seven or eight miles above; but the thousand torrents, which are constantly pouring in from the hills on both sides, produce a rapid accumulation and swell its current to a considerable size. Its waters are perfectly pure and bright, foaming the whole way over a bed of rocks, and filling the glen with echoes. In some places the banks are covered with woods, among which the mountain-ash abounds, hanging its

red berries over the sparkling flood. So celebrated is this stream, that it has given to the glen the poetical appellation of "Cona's Vale."

The two principal mountains which rise on opposite sides of the narrow pass, are called Marmor, and Con-Fion, or the hill of Fingal, whence the great Highland bard drew some of his wildest and sublimest imagery. Here may be seen the originals of those rocks, solitudes, clouds, mists, storms and torrents-all those grand and terrific forms of external nature, on which his muse was so fond of dwelling. From the striking coincidence between some of his figures and the features of Glencoe, an argument might be drawn to strengthen the popular tradition, that this was the place of his nativity and abode. His poetry is familiar to the peasantry of the vale, who frequently sing and recite it in the Gaelic language. But I have no disposition to enter upon the discussion of a topic, which has excited so much hot blood among the literati of Great-Britain.

An inhabitant of the glen pointed out to us the scene of the barbarous massacre, which was perpetrated in the year 1691, by order of William and Mary, at the suggestion of the Earl of Breadalbane. Col. Campbell was the instrument selected for the execution of the atrocious deed. He for many days partook of the hospitality of M'Donald, chieftain of the clan, and of the residents of the valley, who were subsequently butchered in cold blood, in the unsuspecting hours of sleep, under the pretext that some irregularities had been committed in the vicinity. Such a brutal act has stamped the name of the perpetrator and his superiors with indelible infamy.

Midway between Ballahulish and King's House, is the narrowest and most rugged part of Glencoe. In solitary, gloomy and romantic wildness, the scenery surpasses any thing we have found in Scotland. The most prominent feature is a mountain on the south side of the glen, which is three thousand feet in height and pushes its front far into the ravine, so as to meet the eye for a long distance on the road. It is composed of perpendicular belts of dark cliffs, piled one upon another, till the top is literally lost in the clouds, which are constantly breaking upon the rocks and feeding torrents that tumble into the vale below. Directly under the base of the mountain, and overhung by its crags, the small lake from which issues the river Cona, reposes in sullen and unbroken solitude. For a mile or two farther, on either hand, stupendous masses of granite are thrown together in the wildest and most savage forms. Streams of foam are seen pouring in from all quarters, and at one point their congregated waters present a magnificent cataract. While we stood admiring the scene, three or four

goats were observed on the giddiest crags of the opposite rocks, several hundred feet above our heads, watching us with a steadfast gaze.

At the distance of a mile or two onward, the hills on either hand begin to recede, and the glen opens towards the south-east upon a dreary moor or fell, covered with brown heath, and on which not a single habitation of any kind is to be seen, till you arrive at King's House. This building was erected by the government in the time of the rebellion, for the accommodation of troops, on their march from Stirling to Fort William. It stands upon the banks of the Etine, a turbulent little stream, watering the desert, and flowing into the lake of the same name. Although the inn has a regal name, which reminded us of the "imperial pop" on some of the signs over the ginger-beer shops in England, its accommodations of course cannot be very good, situate as it is, in a remote and sterile district. The bread on which we dined, with the addition of an egg, was brought from Glasgow, distant a hundred miles or more, and had been baked perhaps some ten days before.

The stable was as scanty as the larder, and it was soon ascertained that no other conveyance could be had than a cart without a seat, and a skeleton white horse, on which an image of starvation and death rode as postillion. But that traveller has little philosophy who is not determined to make the best of circumstances, and to meet with patience the trifling difficulties which he must expect to encounter. Directions were given for the team to be harnessed, and the body of the vehicle to be filled with straw, into which we nestled; and in this situation, Duncan M'Intosh, a sprig of Highland chivalry, drove us off to Inveroran, cheering the solitary way with many a Gaelic song. For the whole distance, which is nine or ten miles, the road passes through a continuation of the fell above mentioned, where silence and desolation forever reign. There is no dwelling between the two places; and with the exception of a forester, who was elevating his spy-glass to the top of the mountains, to see if he could descry wild deer, and a party of workmen, who had pitched their tents while engaged in repairing a bridge, our ride did not afford the sight of a human being.

Just as twilight was fading from the hills, we arrived on the shores of Loch Tolla, which is a lake of the smaller class, and possesses but few charms of any kind, except small patches of cultivated ground upon its borders, which to us had almost become a novelty. Another lonely little inn, by the side of a noisy water-fall within a few yards of the door, afforded us a dish of tea, and a pillow for the night. Duncan M'Intosh, whose name and lineage suggested the proud appellation of Rex, and whose integrity presented stronger claims to the title than