BIRD TJFE, ETC. 183 



judgment, an ignorance of the relations which men have 

 to each other and to their Creator, an undue self- 

 estimation, and a contempt of the rights of other men. 

 He who measures the orbit of a comet has not, there- 

 fore, higher fiiculties than he who examines the cyto- 

 blast of a fungus ; and there is ftu- more to be seen by 

 us in a beetle than in a planet ; upon that granite 

 mountain opposite, at the distance of nine or ten miles, 

 than in the sun and in the moon and the stars. — 

 Natural History of Deeside, p. 120. 



30. — The Scenery of Benabuird. 



On reaching the summit, I found it to be a long, 

 broad, rounded ridge, covered with stones, some of 

 which were rounded, others angular. Here were a few 

 mosses and a considerable quantity of Carex rigida. 

 The scene which here presented itself was exceedingly 

 striking and impressive. All around, mountains 

 appeared behind mountains, with their rocks, ridges, 

 and valleys. A solemn stillness prevailed ; nor was a 

 living creature to be seen ; the clouds rolled their dusky 

 wreaths along the ridges. The beams of the setting 

 sun darted here and there through the clouds, which 

 exhibited a hundred ever - varying shades. In one 

 direction a vast livid mass hung over the ridges of a 

 mountain, its lower fringed margin beautifully tinged 

 with deep crimson. In another place the white vapour 

 which clung to the summits of the mountains assumed, 



