expedition over the hills, and are to sleep in some little inn on the
brae-side, where the people are supposed not to know who they are. The
Queen will be seven hours on her pony. She rides through all weathers and
over all places, and chaffs everybody for not taking exercise enough.

I shall leave this on Friday for Braemar--else I should have to appear
at another Balmoral ball--and on Saturday proceed to Keir, where I spend
Sunday with Stirling, who is very sorry you are not of the party. On Monday
I go on to the Moncreiffs, at Alva (near Stirling), and on Thursday to
Kirklands, making some calls in Edinburgh as I go through.

_Birk Hall, September 5th_.--The day kept its promise, and was fair to
the end. We drove up this glen, which is Glen Muich, to the loch which
terminates it, about six miles off. There stands the Queen's hut, with a
few fir-trees about it. It deserves its name--a small Highland cottage,
with a room on each side the door and two rooms behind; a little plain
wooden furniture and a Kidderminster carpet. There are two or three other
wooden cottages about for the attendants. Here we lunched--for everybody
lunches in this royal region; and then mountain ponies to go up to the Dhu
Loch, about 1,200 feet higher--very wild, grand scenery, and a very rough,
boggy path, on which Van de Weyer's contortions were very droll. Madame
stayed under the royal honeysuckles below.

I suppose Hopie and I shall go to Raith on the 15th, if they can take us
in. At any rate, we shall leave Kirklands on that day; but our movements
cannot be quite fixed till we hear.

_Braemar, September 7th_.--Very fortunately I have had magnificent weather
just when I wanted it. Clark gave me two good days of shooting on the hill
on Wednesday and yesterday; we got about ten brace each day, and I had a