SCOTLAND. 



ic largest, and probably most beautiful of our 

 Jritish lakes. 



At the starting-point, in an angle formed by the 

 confluence of the Leven and Clyde, is a basaltic 

 mass, shooting up to the height of 560 feet above 

 an alluvial plain. This affords a site for the 

 celebrated Dumbarton Castle, a romantic fortress, 

 noted in Scottish history, and one of four kept in 

 repair in terms of the Act of Union. Passing the 

 town of Dumbarton, the tourist proceeds upwards 

 along the vale of the Leven, a scene of singular 

 beauty, filled with thriving villages and with 

 villas. The road, at the distance of two miles 

 rom the town, passes the old mansion-house of 

 }alquharn, in which, in the year 1721, the author 

 I Roderick Random first saw the light. Archibald 

 Smollett, the father of the novelist, was the fourth 

 Dn of Sir James Smollett of Bonhill, and having 

 irried against his father's will, was residing 

 ;re, in possession of one of the farms of the 

 lily property, at the time of the birth of his 

 lustrious child. The road leads to Balloch (at 

 ic foot of the lake), a small village and inn at 

 ic southern extremity of Loch Lomond, and 4^ 

 liles from Dumbarton. 



Loch Lomond measures 22 miles in length from 

 lorth to south ; its breadth, where greatest, at the 

 southern extremity, is 5 miles, from which it gradu- 

 ally grows narrower between the inclosing hills, till 

 it terminates in a mountain streamlet. The whole 

 aqueous surface covers 17,420 English acres, and 

 it is studded by above thirty isles, mostly at the 

 southern extremity. Its greatest depth is 630 feet, 

 id its height above the sea, 23 feet. In ancient 

 ics, Loch Lomond was famed for three wonders 

 -'waves without winds, fish without fins, and a 

 sating island.' The first phenomenon is attrib- 

 ted to a peculiar atmospheric effect, not easily 

 escribed, but which has also been observed on 

 ic Cumberland lakes ; vipers swimming from 

 sland to island account for the second ; the float- 

 ing island is supposed to have been a detached 

 fragment of moss, or a matted mass of aquatic 

 plants, which ultimately fixed itself near the west 

 side of Inch Conagan. 



Luss, a delightful little village, on a promontory 

 which juts into the lake, is much resorted to in 

 summer, on account of its being a convenient 

 station for tourists in search of the picturesque. 

 One of the finest points for enjoying the scenery 

 of Loch Lomond and the environs of Luss, is 

 Stronehill, to the north of the village. At this 

 point, about one-third of the way up a lofty hill, 

 the whole breadth of the lake is spanned by the 

 eye, including 



All the fairy crowds 

 Of islands which together lie, 

 As quietly as spots of sky 

 Among the evening clouds. 



At Inveruglas, 3! miles beyond Luss, there is a 

 ferry to Rowardennan Inn, the usual starting-point 

 for those who desire to ascend to the top of Ben 

 Lomond. This mountain, situated in the county 

 of Stirling, is 3192 feet above the level of the lake, 

 which is 23 above the level of the sea. At 

 Rowardennan, when looking northward, it almost 

 completely fills up the view. It is formed in three 

 great stages, each rising above the other ; these, 

 again, are divided into a number of lesser swelling 

 knolls, some of which are covered with heath and 



crags, while others are verdant and smooth. The 

 distance from the inn to the top of the mountain 

 is six miles of a continued ascent, which in general 

 requires about three hours. From the summit, a 

 varied and most extensive prospect opens upon 

 the eye in every direction. The lake, lately con- 

 templated with so much pleasure, now appears a. 

 small pool, and its islands as so many specks 

 upon its surface. The coasts of Ireland and the 

 Isle of Man are, when the atmosphere is clear, 

 within the boundary of the view. To the east 

 are seen the counties of Stirling and the Lothians, 

 with the windings of the Forth and the castles of 

 Stirling and Edinburgh. The prospect to the 

 north is marked by grandeur alone. Immense 

 mountains, piled, as it were, above each other, 

 and extending from the borders of Stirlingshire 

 to the western ocean, with the indentations of the 

 coast on one side, and the lakes of Perthshire on 

 the other, form altogether a scene which may be 

 conceived, but which cannot be properly described. 



Firth of Clyde Argyllshire. 



This is a tract of scenery much admired and 

 visited, on account of its presenting a fine com- 

 bination of inland seas, with islands of varied 

 surface, and chains of rugged mountains. 



The Clyde expands into an estuary a little way 

 below Dumbarton. There, while the compara- 

 tively low hills of Renfrewshire, with the thriving 

 towns of Port-Glasgow and Greenock, are seen on 

 the left, attention is called on the right to the 

 towering alps of Argyllshire. This mountainous 

 region is penetrated by several inlets of the sea, 

 one of which, named Loch Long, is twenty-four 

 miles long. Another, named the Holy Loch, is 

 shorter, but surrounded by equally picturesque 

 ground. A little below is Dunoon, a favourite 

 summer resort of the inhabitants of Glasgow. 



Separated from this rugged district by only a 

 narrow strait is the island of Bute, remarkable for 

 the amenity of its climate, on which account it is 

 much resorted to by persons affected with pul- 

 monary ailments. It measures fourteen' miles in 

 length by about four in breadth, and contains 

 some beautiful strips of level territory. The town 

 of Rothesay, a watering-station, occupies a fine 

 situation on the north-east side of the island. 

 Here are the ruins of a palace which formed the 

 ordinary residence of the earliest sovereigns of the 

 House of Stuart The Kyles of Bute, as the strait 

 above mentioned is named, is remarkable foi the 

 fine vistas of alpine scenery which it opens up to 

 the view of the tourist 



To the south of Bute lies the island of Arran, 

 22 miles long, and which entirely consists of a 

 range of rocky mountains, the serrated outline of 

 which, as seen from the neighbouring seas and 

 shores, is extremely grand. The loftiest summit, 

 Goat-fell called by the natives Goath-bhein, the 

 Hill of Storms is 2866 feet high. Arran bears 

 great value in the eyes of the geologist, on account 

 of its presenting, within a narrow space, an epit- 

 ome of the whole geological structure of Scot- 

 land. Its pathless glens and picturesque hills 

 commend it equally to visitors who do not inquire 

 into the mysteries of stratification and volcanic 

 agency. The whole island, excepting a few small 

 farms, belongs to the Duke of Hamilton, whose 

 ancestor, James, first Lord Hamilton, obtained 

 it from the crown on his marrying Mary, the 



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