CHAPTER XI 



The Amateur Tramp in Scotland 



A ND whither shall we bend our wandering steps in 

 -^^ the rare embarrassment of half-savage riches in the 

 shaggy land of the mountain and the flood ? Shall we 

 take our walk on the Border or in the Highlands ; or 

 if in the Highlands, shall it be in the west or in the 

 north, in the midlands, or among the highest of the 

 Grampians ? In the Highlands, we say decidedly, for 

 reasons we need hardly pause to condescend upon ; and 

 to avoid inviting invidious comparisons, we shall leave 

 identification to the reader's imagination. In the 

 Highlands, and especially on the western coast, there 

 is always an element of climatic uncertainty which you 

 are inclined to regard as a blessing when the chances 

 have turned up in your favour. The night before the 

 barometer was tending down, and the questionable 

 clouds that shrouded the sunset had cast their percep- 

 tible shadows on the faces of your fellow-tourists. 

 When, in the words of the Queen of the May, you 

 bade the boots call you early in the morning, anxiety 

 belied your ill-assumed confidence. And when his 



