6 



Among other such zealous, though crude attempts, it is 

 related by his sister, * that in order to procure red, he had 

 recourse to his own blood, and when he had so mangled and 

 drained his fingers by frequent puncturations that it became 

 difficult or too painful to extract more from them, he endea- 

 voured, by earnest entreaties, and such bribes as he could 

 offer, to persuade her or some one of his companions, to 

 suffer him to obtain a temporary supply from theirs. 



This love of observation and experiment, which so far 

 overcame bodily comfort, attended Mr. Carmichael thi'ough 

 life, accompanied with an equally strong mental characteristic, 

 that stamped him as an individual who listened principally 

 to the voice of experience, and made fact the ground of all 

 his reasonings. From a very early age it was remarked of 

 him, that he only believed what he could see positive evidence 

 for, so that the fireside stories of apparitions and goblins 

 that are firmly credited in the Highlands of Scotland, and 

 which caused the hair of the aged natives to stand on end, 

 only excited his laughter. He had never witnessed these 

 appearances, and seeing no use in them, he did not believe 

 in their existence. But this incredulity was sometimes not 

 comfortable to others; for, acquainted with the spots that 

 were famed as the haunts of fairies and other praeternatural 

 visitants, he would slip out alone in the evening, and carry- 

 ing his violin, of which he was very fond, under his arm, and 

 concealing himself behind some tree or rock that was cele- 

 brated for ghostly appearances, he would there await the 

 return of the servants from the fold, and alarm them with 

 sounds, which, being unexpected, induced the belief that they 

 proceeded from some unearthly inhabitant of the spot. 



In 1787, Mr. Carmichael was sent by his parents to the 

 University of Glasgow, to attend the literary classes, and he 

 seems to have made a considerable proficiency in the Greek 

 and Latin languages : but it is not surprising if the mysteries 

 of metaphysical science should have but few charms for him, 



* This anecdote was related to me by Mr. Clarke, near Oban, who has 

 married the sister of Capt. Carmichael. 



