178 LAGOPUS SCOTICUS. 



mountain of considerable height, I took out my map, and look- 

 ing eastward below me, saw", to my great satisfaction, a rivulet 

 running for several miles directly in the course marked. I was 

 assured that this stream, whether the source or not, ran into 

 the Dee, as it proceeded eastward ; and therefore I directed my 

 steps toward it. But here too a scene occurred which gave me 

 great pleasure. Some low" croaking sounds came from among 

 the stones around me, and presently after a splendid flock of 

 Grey Ptarmigans, about fifty in number, rose into the air, and 

 whirred past me, on their way to the opposite eminence. On 

 the brow of the hill I found two large fountains, the sources of 

 the stream below, of each of which I drank a mouthful, and 

 proceeded. My friend, however, was not to be seen ; but it 

 was too early ; and so to pass the time I explored another of 

 the sources of the rivulet, that rose farther up in the glen. 

 But at length, the scene became too dreary to be endured : — 

 desolate mountains, on whose rugged sides lay patches of snow 

 that the summers' suns had failed to melt ; wild glens, scantily 

 covered with coarse grass, heath, and lichens ; dark brown 

 streams, gushing among crags and blocks, unenlivened even by 

 a clump of stunted willows ; — and I followed the rivulet, judg- 

 ing that it would lead to the river, and the river to the sea. 

 For seven long miles I trudged along, faint enough, as you may 

 suppose, having obtained no refreshment for eighteen hours, 

 excepting two mouthfuls of cold water ; so that even the mul- 

 titudes of grouse that sprung up around me, ceased to give much 

 pleasure, although I had never before started so many, even with 

 a dog, in a space of equal extent. At one o'clock, ho'wever, I 

 came to a hut, tenanted by a person named ISIacHardy, who, 

 expressing his concern at my having been out all night, treated 

 me to a glass of whisky, and some bread and milk. At this 

 place, Dubrach, stood three half-blasted firs, and about a mile 

 and a half farther down I came upon a wood, the first that I 

 had seen since I left Blair. The silver Dee now- rolled plea- 

 santly along the wooded valley, and in the evening I reached 

 Castleton of Braemar, where, while seated in the inn, at a 

 little round table, reading Zimmerman on Solitude, which, to 

 my great joy 1 had found there, and sipping my tea, I heard a 



