not so sparing of ourselves, as to lead them, merely that we might have
one day longer the indulgence of a carriage.

At Inverness therefore we procured three horses for ourselves and a
servant, and one more for our baggage, which was no very heavy load. We
found in the course of our journey the convenience of having
disencumbered ourselves, by laying aside whatever we could spare; for it
is not to be imagined without experience, how in climbing crags, and
treading bogs, and winding through narrow and obstructed passages, a
little bulk will hinder, and a little weight will burthen; or how often a
man that has pleased himself at home with his own resolution, will, in
the hour of darkness and fatigue, be content to leave behind him every
thing but himself.




LOUGH NESS


We took two Highlanders to run beside us, partly to shew us the way, and
partly to take back from the sea-side the horses, of which they were the
owners. One of them was a man of great liveliness and activity, of whom
his companion said, that he would tire any horse in Inverness. Both of
them were civil and ready-handed. Civility seems part of the national
character of Highlanders. Every chieftain is a monarch, and politeness,
the natural product of royal government, is diffused from the laird
through the whole clan. But they are not commonly dexterous: their
narrowness of life confines them to a few operations, and they are
accustomed to endure little wants more than to remove them.