THE MOUNTAIN. 117 



nothing of the glorious views which burst upon us 

 every time we passed a point of land of the beau- 

 tifully-wooded islands, each a little paradise, be- 

 tween which we threaded our course ; scenes, I may 

 remark, which he who has once beheld, may easily 

 recall to mind in all their native colouring and 

 beauty, but of which no power of description can 

 convey an adequate idea to the mind of another. 

 I will only observe, that I was enraptured with all 

 that I saw, and almost sorry when the steamer 

 dropped us at Rowardennan, situated at the water's 

 edge, immediately under Ben Lomond. 



We had given directions for our luggage to be 

 left at Tarbet, on the other side of the Loch, and 

 that a boat should be in waiting at the foot of Ben 

 Lomond, to convey us across to the same place in 

 the evening. The interval we purposed to devote 

 to ascending the mountain which I have named, 

 and lost no time before we commenced our jour- 

 ney. The early part of our work was not very 

 laborious, the acclivity being easy, and the springy 

 heather giving a vigour to one's step, which is 

 unknown in the streets of a town, or on a dusty 

 road. The day was intensely hot, but, being re- 

 solved to be daunted by nothing, we bent our 

 backs manfully to the work. As we attained some 

 elevation from the lake, our view became extended, 

 and it was, indeed, a feast to rest awhile with a 

 prospect before us such as we then commanded. 

 It was nearly the same that we had seen before ; 

 still there were mountains around us, and above 

 us ; but there was this new feature, that we now 

 looked down upon the lake, and could form a 

 tolerably correct notion of its extent in one direc- 

 tion, and could embrace, at one glance, the group 



