COUNTIES OF EOSS AND CROMARTY. 155 



been put under wood, mostly Scotch fir and larch, with a few 

 spruce and hardwood trees, where the ground was thought suit- 

 able for these varieties. In the autumn of 1866, the erection of 

 a mansion-house commenced, and in two years it was completed 

 and ready for occupation. It is a very handsome structure, and 

 stands on the side of a hill, looking^ ri^'ht down Lochbroom, and 

 commands views, in front, to the right, and to the left, which for 

 grandeur and extent it would be difficult to surpass. A large 

 garden and vineries w^ere also constructed, while at the same 

 time a commodious rauGfe of stablinc^ and other houses was 

 erected. On Inverbroom there is a considerable extent of arable 

 land along the river sides, and of this several acres have been 

 reclaimed and improved by Mr Fowler. A good deal of the old 

 land has been drained, and the fields squared up and fenced. In 

 addition to all this, several miles of roads and hill paths have 

 been made, and three very handsome iron bridges have been 

 erected. One of these bridges carries a roadway over the river,, 

 and has a span of 100 feet; and another is a light foot suspen- 

 sion bridge, thrown over the picturesque gorge of Corrie-Halloch. 

 This gully is described as a high longitudinal fissure in the moun- 

 tain side, over a mile in length, and from 200 to 300 feet in depth. 

 The bridge is 84 feet in span, and crosses at a point where 

 the river takes a sheer leap downwards of about 100 feet ; and 

 the view obtained while standing on the bridge is not surpassed 

 by anything of the kind we have ever seen in the Scottish High- 

 lands. Mr Fowler has also expended a good deal of money in 

 improving the accommodation for salmon and trout in the river 

 and lochs, and even yet minor improvements are being carried 

 out every season. Sir Ivor B. Guest, the enterprising proprietor 

 of Achuashelloch, has also effected great improvements on his 

 mountainous property, by planting, fencing, building, road- 

 making, and reclaiming small pieces of land; while on the estate 

 of Lochcarron not a little has been done. 



Tlic Lewis. 



In 1844 this immense tract of land, extending to 417,416 acres^ 

 was purchased from the Seaforth family by Sir (then Mr) James 

 Matheson. Immediately on obtaining possession Sir James, 

 began improvements on a very large scale, and ever since they 

 have been carried on with surprising vigour and enterprise. In 

 1844 the condition of the Lewis was primitive in the extreme, 

 and even after thirty years of great activity and lieavy expendi- 

 ture of money, tlie island is hundreds of years behind the social 

 standard of the nineteenth century ; so gigantic and so stubborn 

 is the subject with which Sir James has had to deal. We can- 

 not acquiese with those modern tourists and other writers, who 

 so unniercifullv df.Miounc? tlie landed pronrietors of the Iligli- 



