observed at the Summit of Ben-Nevis. 313 



changed. As the morning advanced, however, the sky be- 

 came more overcast, and about ten o'clock a shower came on, 

 and rain continued to fall suddenly, and with much interrup- 

 tion, during all the forenoon. The wind was constantly vary- 

 ing, and had a different direction in every glen, but the pre- 

 vailing course was from the south-east. The temperature was 

 low, so that the people about Fort- William thought that it 

 was very cold. 



On the summit of Ben-Nevis, about mid-day, the thermo- 

 meter, with wet bulb, stood at 36°.5° Fahr. in the cloud. The 

 temperature soon after rose to o>9°, and the cloud in which we 

 stood was partly evaporated, partly borne away, leaving a 

 view of the sublime scenery by which we were surrounded. 

 The dense clouds on every side hung down like curtains 

 around the panorama, and their under margins were so definite, 

 and the atmosphere otherwise so clear, that one felt disposed 

 to stoop down as if to see farther into the distant landscape, 

 which was illuminated by the sunshine. The altitude of this 

 magnificent accumulation of vapour, was between 3000 and 

 4000 feet above the level of the sea. But it was far from 

 uniform, at least the profile of its under surface was alternate- 

 ly elevated and depressed, so that at one time we saw beneath 

 it the mountains of Perthshire and the Hebrides ; and, in a 

 few minutes after, our view was confined to the valleys sur- 

 rounding Ben-Nevis. Soon after mid-day, the weather be- 

 came more unsettled. Sometimes a cloud rose suddenly on 

 the face of the mountain, and rolled down the valley. Some- 

 times one came from the neighbouring summit of Corry- 

 Rignson, as if urged by a violent wind ; and at other times 

 the condensed vapour ascended rapidly in immense volumes 

 from the centre of the valley below, and was aptly compared 

 by one of the party to the smoke from a town on fire. The 

 magnificence and variety of these clouds amply compensated 

 for the loss of the terrestrial scenery. 



The summit of Ben-Nevis, for a considerable extent, was 

 covered with snow. Not only was there a ravine in the im- 

 mense precipice on the north side of that mountain, contain- 

 ing an upfilling of snow almost entitled to the name of a 

 glacier, and several beds of great depth lying fully exposed 



