along the opposite beach. At other times his road is at the foot of rugged
and stupendous cliffs, and trees are growing where no earth is to be seen.
Every rock has its echo; every grove is vocal, by the melodious harmony of
birds, or by the sweet airs of women and children gathering filberts in
their season. Down the side of the mountain, after a shower of rain, flow a
hundred white streams, which rush with incredible velocity and noise into
the lake, and spread their froth upon its surface. On one side, the
water-eagle sits in majesty, undisturbed, on his well-known rock, in sight
of his nest, on the face of Ben Venue; the heron stalks among the reeds in
search of his prey; and the sportive ducks gambol on the waters or dive
below. On the other, the wild goats climb, where they have scarce ground
for the soles of their feet; and the wild fowl, perched on the trees, or on
the pinnacle of a rock, look down with composed defiance at man. In a word,
both by land and water, there are so many turnings and windings, so many
heights and hollows, so many glens, capes, and bays, that one cannot
advance twenty yards without having the prospect changed by the continual
appearance of new objects, while others are retiring out of sight. The
scene is closed by a west view of the lake, for several miles, having its
sides lined with alternate clumps of wood and arable fields, and the smoke
rising in spiral columns through the air from villages which are concealed
by the intervening woods; the prospect is bounded by the towering Alps of
Arrochar, which are checkered with snow, or hide their heads in the
clouds."

"In one of the defiles of the Trosachs, two or three of the natives met a
band of Cromwell's soldiers coming to plunder them, and shot one of the
party dead, whose grave marks the scene of action, and gives name to the
pass. In revenge for this, the soldiers resolved to attack an island in the
lake, on which the wives and children of the men had taken refuge. They
could not come at it, however, without a boat; one of the most daring of