to be older than Castle Stalker, but is said to owe much of its ancient appearance to the circumstance of its never having been completed. Shuna Island measures about 6 miles in circuit, and is separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. 89) APPIN district, the ancient inheritance of the Stewarts of Castle Stalker, extends 18 miles by 12 along the east side of Loch Linnhe. Its shore is sandy, and its coast generally high, but not rocky. Its interior ranges from meadow and swell along the coast to high mountain on the eastern water-shed. Its scenery is richly diversified and strongly picturesque; the coast-line broken with islands and indentations, the sea-board embellished with woods and lawns and mansions, the interior rising away in great variety of height and contour, and the bounding mountains cloven with deep glens and striped with tumbling cataracts. A fine ballad on Appin was written by the Ettrick Shepherd. Port-Appin Ferry, with an inn, stands on the coast opposite the north end of Lismore; Appin village, with a post office under Bunawe, stands at the head of Appin Bay; Portnacroish village, with an inn, stands on the north horn of that bay; and Appin House, the seat of the Misses Downie, stands on the coast opposite Shuna. 891. KINGAIRLOCH district extends 12 miles along the west side of Loch Linnhe, from Morven to Ardgour. It consists chiefly of steep, rocky mountains, rising immediately from the shore to an altitude of about 2000 feet, scored with the ruts of torrents, and cut with several ravines and vales. Castle-naChurn, crowning a high conical rock on its shore, opposite the north end of Lismore, is the ruin of an ancient fortalice, 45 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 33 feet high. Kingairloch hamlet, 4 miles further north, at the head of Loch Corry, has a post office under Fort William. Loch Corry strikes 1 mile into the land, and is overlooked at the head by Coinich House, the seat of C. N. Forbes, Esq. Coinich Water, running 5 miles eastward to the loch, contains salmon and fine trout. 892. CUIL BAY, 5 miles north-northeast of Shuna. of semicircular outline, 13 mile wide, is notable for shoals of herrings. Duror Water, running 7 miles westward to it, contains salmon, and is a good trouting stream. Duror hamlet, at the intersection of the stream by the road from Oban to Fort-William, has a post office under Bunawe, and an inn. 893. ARDSHIEL, on Kintailen Bay, at the blending of Loch Leven with Loch Linnhe, is the seat of Charles Stewart, Esq., a descendant of the Stewarts of Appin. The proprietor of it in 1745-46 led the Appin Highlanders at the battle of Culloden, and partook fully in the after-perils of that fatal fight. A cave is pointed out, in the side of a ravine in Benavere, on the Ardshiel estate, where he lay concealed during three months. The cave adjoins the rushing descent of a waterfall, and is so perfectly screened by it, as if by a curtain, that no stranger visiting the ravine would suspect its existence. Walter Scott, when a boy, was a frequent visitor at Ardshiel; and he afterwards drew from the scenery around it much of the imagery which adorns his writings. Sir 894. LOCH LEVEN opens with a width of 1 mile, and strikes 12 miles to the east, but contracts at Ballachulish, and again at Dog's Ferry, and has generally a width of much less than a mile. Its scenery, along both sides, from end to end, but especially over the lower half, is diversified and highly picturesque, equalled by the scenery of very few lochs in Scotland, either maritime or inland. See 907. 895. ARDGOUR district commences opposite the mouth of Loch Leven, flanks all the west side of the navigation LOCHABER-FORT-WILLIAM. 299 thence to Fort-William, and measures about half a mile. A cave, opposite the influx of this streamlet, and bearing the name of Samuel's Cave, was a hidingplace of some of the Jacobite fugitives from the field of Culloden, and is difficult of access. 13 miles by 11. Its surface is wildly Highland, and culminates in the summit of Scuir-Donald, at an altitude of 2730 feet above the level of the sea. A parliamentary road commences on its coast at Corran Ferry, the separating point between Loch Linnhe and Loch Eil, and leads westward through the interior to Strontian. Ardgour House, near Corran Ferry, is the seat of Alexander Maclean, Esq.; and Invèrsanda House, 4 miles further west, belongs to the same proprietor. 899. BEN-NEVIS has an altitude of 4406 feet above the level of the sea, and is the highest mountain in Britain. It starts abruptly from the plain adjacent to Fort-William, and is well defined round all its circuit. Two profound glens, Nevis and Treig, cut down large portions of its skirts; and deep depressions separate the rest of it from the neighbouring heights. The whole mass, though measuring at least 24 miles round its lowest circumference, stands well revealed to the eye, exhibiting its proportions with 896. LOCHABER commences on the shores of Loch Leven and Loch Eil, and extends away 21 miles to Rannoch, and 33 to Badenoch. Its surface is an assemblage of deep glens, broad moors, and lofty mountains-the most thorough-out break or confusion, and soaring in ly Highland district in the kingdom; and abounds in the peculiar scenery of depth and height, boldness and grandeur, by which the Highlands are distinguished. Its highest ground is the summit of Bennevis. A wolf was slain in Lochaber in 1680, by Sir E. Cameron of Locheil, believed to have been the last wolf in Great Britain. 897. LOCH EIL extends 10 miles north-eastward to Corpach, deflects there suddenly to the left, and extends thence 11 miles to the north-west. The width of its lower stretch decreases from 2 miles to 1 mile; and that of its upper stretch contracts much for some distance, and afterwards re-expands. The scenery throughout is very grand. See 1284. sharp outline away to the sky. Its summit is not peaked, but flattened, and harmonizes admirably with the general contour. The Three different and successive formations of rock constitute the mountain,-the first consisting of gneiss and mica-slate, the second consisting of granite, the third consisting of trap, chiefly porphyritic greenstone. ascent of Ben-nevis is usually made on the north side, and commonly occupies about three hours and a half; but it cannot be made without considerable difficulty and some danger, and ought not to be undertaken by a stranger without a guide. All suitable aids to it, in guide, pony, and viands, may be had at Fort-William. The view from the summit is both extensive and sublime; and the average best time for it is the six hours following mid-day. 898. GLEN-NEVIS commences 6 miles east of the top of Ben-nevis, makes a semicircular sweep round the south base of that mountain, and then goes north- 900. FORT-WILLIAM stands on the westward to pour its stream into Loch east side of Loch Eil, adjacent to the Eil, above Fort-William. Its total west side of Ben-nevis. It has a key length is about 14 miles. Nevis Water, post office; contains three chief innswhich traverses it, has a rapid current, the Caledonian, the George, and the and forms several romantic cascades. A Argyle; and is a centre for tourists in small affluent, which descends from Ben- the Western Highlands, second in imnevis, about 8 miles south east of Fort-portance only to Oban. Its population William, makes a continuous cataract of is about 1700. The town is properly 300 GLENFALLOCH-STRATHFILLAN. called Maryburgh; and a fort on the north of it is properly Fort-William. The fort is an irregular work of triangular outline, with two bastions mounting fifteen 12-pounders, and with a bomb-proof magazine; and it is defended by ditch, glacis, and ravelin. It resisted a siege of five weeks in 1745; yet it cannot be pronounced a place of much strength or importance. LXXII.-FROM LOCH LOMOND TO FORT-WILLIAM. Paragraph A coach leaves the head of right; Benmore, right; 901. Para graph 815 903 to Aberfeldy, right; 904 GLENFALLOCH commences 902. STRATHFILLAN brings down Fillan Water, the highest head-stream of the Tay, from the north-east side of Benlaoidh, 10 miles eastward to the head of Glendochart. A priory for canons regular was founded in Strathfillan, midway between Crianlarich and Tyndrum, by Robert Bruce; and a pool, in the vicinity of its site, called the Holy Pool of Fillan, was long held in superstitious repute for the cure of rheumatism and insanity. Dalree, near the head of Strathfillan, in the eastern neighbourhood of Tyndrum, was the scene of a sharp skirmish, in 1306, between Robert Bruce and Macdougal of Lorn. See 931. among high mountains south of Benmore, and descends, chiefly south-westward, to the head of Loch Lomond. Its upper and central parts are strictly glen; while its lower part expands into ornate vale. Glenfalloch House and Old Glenfalloch House, in the lower part, are the seats of Captain Campbell and J. Menzies, Esq. Falloch Water, traversing the glen, runs principally with rapid current, and forms in one part a fine cascade, but subsides in the vale to sluggishness. The trout in it are small, but so plentiful that from ten to twelve dozen of them have been taken by the rod in a forenoon. See 930. TYNDRUM-GLENCOE. 903. TYNDRUM stands in a lofty situation, amid bleak, dreary uplands; and has a post office under Crieff, and an inn. Clifton, in its northern vicinity, is a mining village, connected with a lead mine of the Marquis of Breadalbane. Around--around for many a weary mile, 301. The alpine masses stretch: the heavy cloud Are here: birds sing not, and the wandering bee 906. KING'S HOUSE, now an inn, was built about the time of the rebellion of 1745, for the accommodation of troops marching through the Highland fastnesses. The tract around it is high moorland, and rises steeply in the west toward the stern, grand, twin-sum 904. LOCH TOLLA is 4 miles long, and about a mile broad. Inveroran Inn stands at its south-west end; Ardvrecknish, a shooting-lodge of the Marquis of Breadalbane, on its north-west side; and Achallader Castle, a ruined ancient fortalice of the lairds of Glenorchy, at its north-east end. Bendoran Mountain, which overhangs it on the south-east, has been rendered famous among High-mits of Buachaille-Etive, at an elevation landers by the Gaelic muse of Duncan of 2537 feet above the level of the sea. Ban M'Intyre; and the slope of a hill, in the neighbourhood of Achallader Castle, marked with several heathclothed cairns, figures in tradition as the scene of a bloody conflict. Plantations around Ardvrecknish, and a fine forest on the opposite side, give rich relief to the wildness of the mountain scenery. The Marquis of Breadalbane's extensive deer preserve of Corichbad spreads all around, displaying groups of deer to the view of passengers along the highway. See 817. 905. RANNOCH is a tract of 28 miles by 16, with a mean elevation of about 1000 feet above the level of the sea, chiefly a wild waste, the largest and the dreariest moor in Scotland. The eastern part of it extends to the Perthshire route up Strathtummel; but the western part lies well under the eye in the reach of road from Loch Tolla to King's House. This part contains the flat, sinuous, repulsive Loch Lydoch, 7 miles long and about a mile broad; and is all else a mixture of bog, heath, and rock, hideous and dismal, without life or feature, environed in the far distance by coarse, dark mountains. "Amid this vast, tremendous solitude, Where nought is heard except the wild wind's sigh, 907. LEVEN WATER runs 6 miles westward to the head of Loch Leven; traverses a grandly picturesque glen; expands, in its progress, into a chain of small lakes; makes, in its lowest reach, some fine cascades, called the Smoudie Falls; and contains some salmon and great abundance of trout. A streamlet, called the Serpent River, falling into the east side of the loch, at Kinlochmore, a short distance north of the mouth of Leven Water, makes two remarkable cascades; the upper one, a fall of about 100 feet over a precipice, beautified at the foot by a tufting of beech trees; the lower one, a fall of 20 feet into a natural tunnel, accessible to a visitor through a lateral orifice. These localities are reached by an old road to Fort-William, deflecting from the present highway 3 miles west of King's House, and so difficult as to be called the Devil's Staircase. 908. GLENCOE commences at the north-east side of Buachaille-Etive, and descends 9 miles west-north-westward to the vicinity of Ballachulish. It is one of the grandest of the Highland glens, but has a peculiar character. Its mountains do not form ranges, or rise gradually, but look like collections of individual mountains pressed violently together, and tightened into the smallest ther, and locked into one another, in a manner almost unparalleled. The plutonic, the eruptive, and the metamorphic rocks, in particular-granite, porphyry, gneiss, and clayslate-occur in strange and startling intermixtures. The mouth of the glen contains Glencoe post office under Bunawe; Invercoe village, inhabited by quarriers; and Invercoe House, the seat of Robert Sutherland, Esq. possible space. They rise from the sides | The rocks of the glen exhibit formations of the glen almost with the suddenness of different kinds and ages thrown togeof ramparts, and soar away to the clouds in fantastic masses of crag and cone, cliff and pinnacle. They have not an average altitude of more than 2500 feet above the level of the sea, but are so mural and so spiral as to appear to the eye to be much higher; and they present an aspect so gloomy and wild, so solemn and severe, as to add mystery and awe to both their form and their height. Their riven precipices contain caverns and fissures enough to satisfy any man's taste for the terrible; and some of their lateral passes are too critical to be attempted, even in the best state of light and weather, by any but a most brave and skilful mountaineer. The torrents which descend from them bring heaps of debris to the bottom, and cannot be restrained there within drains; and they rise and fall so fitfully, beneath the effluxion of storms along the sharp mountain tops, that one day they are almost rivers, and next day are dry. A rocky barrier, or small transverse ridge, divides the glen near the middle into two parts. The upper division has mountains of greater height, sharper outline, and more irregular arrangement, than the lower one, and possesses scarcely a relieving feature of either beauty or soft romance. The lower division shows a curious mixture of colours among the naked acclivities of its mountains; is clothed with verdure on its sides and bottom; has fringes of alder and birch along the course of the Coe; contains a sprinkling of human dwellings; and connects at the foot with the stir and traffic of Ballachulish quarries. Coe Water is formed by headstreams in the upper glen, collecting in the natural reservoir of the small lake Treachtan; it makes a brisk run, with frequent alternations of pleasant pool; and it seems, to an inexperienced angler, to be a good trouting stream, but is really not worth his attention. Glencoe claims to be the birth-place of Ossian, and contains a hill and a cave which bear his name. Its river agrees well with his "roaring stream of Cona;" its headlong torrents answer well to his "thousand streams that meet in Cona's Vale, when, after a stormy night, they turn their dark eddies beneath the pale light of the morning;" and many of its localities correspond exactly in character, and some of them more or less in name, with those of his magnificent song. Whether Ossian was one poet or many, a real name or a shade, there could be no fitter place than Glencoe for suggesting his peculiar imagery. This solemn glen has also a mournful notoriety for a massacre of its inhabitants in the winter of 1691-2. 909. BALLACHULISH Quarries, adjacent to the mouth of Glencoe, employ about 300 persons, and produce annually from five to seven millions of excellent roofing slates. Ellanmunde islet, in Loch Leven, near the mouth of the Coe, contains the ruins of a church which rose on the site of a Culdee cell, and served parochially for Glencoe and part of Appin. The road from Glencoe to Ballachulish Ferry, a distance of 23 miles, skirts or overhangs the edge of Loch Leven, and is divided from some parts of it only by a protecting parapet. An excellent inn stands at the south side of the ferry; and another inn stands at the north side. |