SCENERY-HOUSES-DRESS-LAND-SHEEP. 301 towards Dalmally in the distance, was very rich and beautiful. The glens themselves, for about ten miles, afforded nothing but a succession of steep hills, green almost to the summit, with innumerable cascades streaking their sides with foam. At last some traces of habitations animated, this desert. We saw houses, the walls of which were of stones, put together without mortar,--thatched with rushes or coarse grass, the floor, earthblack peat and dirt in heaps all around, with their usual draining; women and children barefooted amidst all this, yet looking healthy and strong. The bodies of the men wrapped up in the national plaid, thighs and knees naked, and the antique-looking tartan hose; in their looks they recall the idea of Roman soldiers,-in habits that of American savages; the same proud indolence,-the same carelessness,-the same superiority to want, the same courage,-the same hospitality,-and unfortunately, I hear, the same liking for spirituous liquors. We saw cows and patches of potatoes; peat is plenty. I am surprised not to have seen hogs among their other filth,it would be more excusable. A drove of dwarf horses past us, no bigger than calves, but strong and active. The Earl of Breadalbane's estate extends 25 miles west of Tyndrum, and farther east, mostly sheep pasture, and said to bring him L. 40,000 a-year. Some farms rent for L. 1200 a-year, and feed 7000 sheep; the number of acres not known. The surface is so cut up, and in parts inaccessible, that they do not survey the farms. The leases are generally for nineteen years. There is scarcely ever any necessity of providing food for the sheep in winter, as the snow never lies, and, when grass fails, the sheep feed on the heath or heather, as it is cal 302 led here, with which the rocks are covered; it is now in bloom, and all over light purple, exactly the colour of mezereon. Instead of wheaten bread, which is not good here, they have oat cakes, very thin, not raised, and, to appearance, made of bran instead of flour, yet tolerably good. The inn where we now are arrived for the night is on the highest inhabited spot in Scotland; it has also the reputation of being the worst and dirtiest inn :—we have, however, been put in possession of two good rooms, and neat-looking beds, and think it does not deserve its reputation. The English are spoiled children. By travelling so conveniently at home, they become unable to bear the smallest inconvenience abroad; at the same time that habit blunts the enjoyment of their habitual comforts. The Tay has its source near here, and flows east, while other waters in the neighbourhood run west. AN INN-HONESTY OF THE PEOPLE. Notwithstanding the apparent poverty of the country, the propensity of the people to careless ease and drinking, and the ancient feudal habits, which sanctioned plunder, at least between neighbouring clans, it is very remarkable, that the inns of these mountains have hardly any fastening, and the heavier baggage of travellers remains on the carriage out of doors, all night, for there are of course no coach-houses; yet all the treasures contained in a trunk of clothes do not tempt people, who have scarce a shirt, to steal it! Surely poverty of this sort need not be pitied, and should much less be despised. The fashion of planting pines in compact squares has reached these high regions. We are shocked to see black patches of young pines en herisson, deforming the sides of noble mountains. It is plain, however, that this country need not want KILLIN COTTAGES. 303 wood, and will not want it long. Not only pines and larches grow rapidly here, but I have seen shoots of three feet a year in a coppice of oaks. Sept. 1.-To Killin, only 21 miles to-day, through much the same sort of country as yesterday; glen after glen,-green, and bare, and deserted, with towering hills all round; one of them seemed to have the form of an immense crater,-a hollow cup, but all the detached masses below were granite and schistus, and nothing volcanic. Beautiful pieces of quartz lay about everywhere. Some of the hills could not be less than 2000 feet high. The Tay, an inconsiderable mountain torrent, descended with us the whole day. The question occurs naturally in traversing these solitudes, where are the men? where are the Highlanders? And if you are told that the system of sheepfarming has banished them from their country, then you would be apt to ask, where are the sheep? Very few indeed are seen; the grass is evidently not half eaten down,-hardly touched, indeed, in many places. We met to-day, however, with several habitations, and we entered some of them; a small present was willingly received, and served as a passport to our curiosity. The only door is common to men and beasts, and, of course, very dirty. You see, as you come in, on one side a small stable, which seems very unnecessary, since, in the much more rigorous climate of North America, cattle have commonly no shelter in winter. The other side is separated by a rough partition; this is the dwelling-place of the family; you find in it not a chimney, but a fire-place on the ground, with a few stones round it, immediately under a hole in the roof; a hook and chain fastened to a stick, to hang an iron kettle on; a deal table; a H 4 |