would soon get tired of running round the paltry circle of even the most delicious immora. lity. We sallied out at early dawn, to enjoy a view of the Trosachs. Already there was a tinge of dazzling lustre on the brow of the hills, and Aurora smiled on the landscape in all the freshness of a summer morning. As yet, not a single wreath of smoke rose from the buildings, and the delicious morning air gave me an accurate idea of that sweetly expressive line, "The innocent brightness of the new-born day.” After a short walk, we came to Loch Vennachar, near which Roderick Dhu sunk under the prowess of Fitz-James. The lake is a beautiful expanse of about 5 miles in length. The landscape about it is very fine, and is described by Scott with the most charming imagery. Át Milntown, near this spot, there is a very picturesque cascade, in which the prismatic colours may be viewed as distinctly as in the optical instrument which divides the sunny ray into the primitive hues. We afterwards arrived at the Trosachs, which consist of a series of unconnected rocks, through which the road winds. It seems as if a whole mountain had been torn in pieces, and frittered down by a convulsion of the earth, and the immense fragments and hills were feathered over by subsequent foliage. The hil locks were covered "with boughs that quake at every breath." The ash and the fir-tree displayed their fringed tops in a series of natural amphitheatres, and the oak (says Ossian,) lifted its broad head to the storm, and rejoiced in the course of the wind. After having passed through the Trosachs, and our minds not yet sated with its varied beauties, Loch Katrine opened suddenly and unexpectedly to view. Here a boat waited for us; having taken our seats, we sailed along with high hopes of being gratified by its farfamed scenery. The first appearance of Loch Katrine does not give one the idea of that magnificence which soon afterwards unfolds itself. It commences by a contracted body of water which stretches out as you proceed. Scott has well described it as "A narrow inlet still and deep, Affording scarce such breadth of brim, As served the wild duck's brood to swim." Benan "heaves high his forehead bare" above the mountains of the Trosachs. For several hundred yards from the top, it is perfectly pyramidal, but it soon reclines on its shapeless basis, from which are detached huge masses of rock. These descend into the lake, and their black sides can be viewed for a certain distance in the transparent stream. When the lake made a bend, "Ellen's Isle" suddenly showed itself. It is clothed with the richest verdure, and with trees which present 116 a beautifully fringed appearance. We sailed round the Isle, and surveyed all its scenery, rendered so classical by Scott's well-known poem. I particularly noticed the aged oak, projecting from a rock, from which the Lady of the Lake was seen proceeding in her skiff, by the chivalrous knight of Snowdoun. I admired the isle's bold shore, thickly sprinkled with aspens, firs and bushes, whose roots and tops entwine in the most luxuriant manner. To the North, gray Ben-venue stretches in abrupt masses, and presents a slope elegantly sprinkled with birches. It appears that by so.ne convulsion of nature, huge masses of rock had been torn from its summit, and hurled confusedly along its sloping ridge, with a luxuriance and beauty which may be in some degree represented on canvas, but which no verbal description can exhibit. The lake lay expanded like a mirror of crystal before these immense masses of rock, sprinkled over with a grace and beauty unattainable by the hand of art. During this delightful excursion, we were favoured with the most charming weather: "And all about, a lovely sky of blue Clearly was felt, or down the leaves laugh'd thro'." The view which we enjoyed produced the same sort of pleasure that is excited by the perusal of a fairy tale-there was not a breath of air stirring the "azure brow" of the lake was not wrinkled by a single furrow-so that it became like a vast mirror, and represented the mountains, the sky and the revolving clouds so vividly, that the illusion was perfect. As I gazed on the water, the delicious blue of the firmament, and the gorgeous luminary which blazed in the meridian, seemed lying under me I looked down on a sky as heavenly and as splendid as that over head-and the range of mountains having one line of summit above us, and another under our feet, seemed suspended between two ethereal firmaments! At one moment we were hemmed in by towering rocks, whose covert of luxuriant trees perfectly excluded the rays of the sun; soon afterwards we sailed on the broad expanse of the lake glittering in the sun beams; while its bosom "slept in bright tranquillity." The alpine scenery of Benvenue appears the primary object of curiosity from every position. Near its base is seen the famous Coir-nan- Uriskin, or Goblins' Cave, which overhangs the lake in solemn grandeur. Mr. Scott gives a most beautiful and striking description of this subterraneous recess, (Lady of the Lake, Canto III. st. 26.) Of its reputed occupants, the Urisks, I will give you some account in my Letter on the Highland Superstitions. The scenery of Benvenue, in all its features, seems to afford the most characteristic idea of those magnificent views which Ossian so often describes, and which he appears to be so fond of describing. The northern shoulder of this mountain recedes from the main body, leaving a horrid chasm, which seems to have been formed by some primæval earthquake shock." The whole composes the most romantic and sublime prospect that can be conceived. The imagination, lost in astonishment, (says Dr. Graham,) is apt to picture the twin precipices, stupendous but elegant, by which it is bounded, as the avenue which leads from the "workday world" to the abode of another and higher sphere. The western part of Loch Katrine closes the scene, which is not so beautiful as that which we passed. Smoke is seen issuing from the Alps of Arrochar, (so the surrounding mountains are called;) and as the villages from which it issues are concealed, the spirally-ascending vapour seems to be exhaled from the rocks. In the ages of mythology, a poetic fancy might, on viewing this phenomenon, create some of those charming fictions, which have shed such fascination on the pages of the Greek and Roman bards. Thus the gigantie Enceladus, hurled to destruction "rubente Jovis dextrâ," might be conceived to breathe forth his ineffectual vengeance from the Arrochars! We left this beautiful lake, as the setting sun was shedding its last rays on the mountains; it seemed to leave a mournful light upon the landscape, and with regret to send its parting ray over the lake, "Like a bride, full of blushes, when lingering to take |