TJie Land of the Hills mid the Glens 



two in each year, is always present at the Skerry vore 

 banii. 



It was to the south that the view was most extensive. 

 Jura, with its three conical hills, appeared almost in the 

 foreground, so clear was the day. A little beyond, and 

 farther west, stood Islay's hills, and then away beyond the 

 Mull of Cantyre, and lying to the westward of that head- 

 land, lay, full seventy miles distant, mile upon mile of the 

 Irish coast, with its many hills showing faintly on the 

 horizon. The largest of these I took to be Slieve Snaght, 

 above Lough Swilly, and I thought that I could identify 

 Malin Head. 



Every now and again, white fleecy clouds, floating gently 

 in from the Atlantic, passed up Loch Scridain below me, 

 but though their line of passage was considerably below 

 the level of the hill-top, they did not come thus far, making, 

 instead, for Glen More, above which thunder-clouds had 

 gathered and were shedding their rain. 



Northward there lay mile upon mile of the wildest 

 mountain land, a country studded with lonely lochans re- 

 flecting in their depths the dark blue of the sky, and with 

 the peace and stillness of the hill spirit brooding over all. 

 No man passes here, maybe, throughout the season, and 

 the land is given over to the buzzard, sailing on tireless 

 wings through the day, and ihe timid mountain hare. 



With what force must the mist-laden Atlantic gales cross 

 this lonely country I I noticed that in certain places not 

 one single plant was growing, though soil for them was 

 indeed present, and that certain parts of the hill plateau 

 had been swept and scoured till they were smooth and 

 level as a still lochan. No grouse haunt these wind-swept 

 places. No pipe of the golden plover breaks the stillness, 

 no trill of the curlew falls on the ear. But the buzzard 

 mews often here and the raven, too, is not always silent. 

 Nor is the hillside quite forsaken by all bird life, for cheer- 

 ful wheatears call sharply in resentment, and more dif- 



I02 



