50 TOUR IN SUTHERLANDSHIRK 



care of themselves, we jumped out, gun in hand, to try to get 

 shots at them. Two or three times the birds swooped down, 

 and one of them carried off some bird, probably a grouse, 

 taking it far away round the cliffs of Ben Laighal. The 

 other eagle then made a sudden swoop down to the ground, 

 within a hundred yards of us, but just behind a small 

 hillock ; we ran to the place, confident of getting the bird, 

 but arrived just in time to see the eagle carrying off its prey, 

 whatever it was, in the same direction as that taken by its 

 mate, in all probability straight to the nest. 



lieaching the brow of a hill, we came in full view of the 

 fine plantations and bay of Tongue. Beautiful and refreshing 

 to the eye were the woods and cultivated fields of Tongue, 

 bursting into view suddenly as they did, after some days' 

 travelling through the rugged wilds of the interior of Suther- 

 land. The beautiful bay was as smooth as glass, the timber 

 growing to the water's edge ; and the whole scene was made 

 still more striking by the abrupt and precipitous outline of 

 the headlands both of the main land and the islands at the 

 mouth of the Kyle. It is worth a journey of many miles to 

 see the Kyle of Tongue alone. 



Tongue House, formerly the residence of Lord l\eay, the 

 then proprietor of a magnificent range of mountain property, 

 is one of the most beautiful places of the sort that I ever 

 saw. The house itself is irregular, but picturesque ; and the 

 gardens, overlooking the sea, are warm, sheltered, and most 

 enjoyable in every respect. The fruit, flowers, and vegetables 

 were growing with as much luxuriance, and were, nearly as 

 forward as I should have expected to have seen had they 

 been situated in the southern instead of the northern ex- 

 tremity of the island ; while the fine avenues and groves of 

 elm and other trees would do credit to any place in England. 

 All this, combined with the wild outline of rocks and cliffs 

 which nearly surround the bay, and the magnificent pre- 

 cipices of Ben Laighal all this combined, I say, formed 

 a coup d'oeil which, though it may be equalled, can scarcely 

 be surpassed in any country. I understood from Mr. Hors- 

 burgh, the Duke of Sutherland's factor in this district, that 

 his Grace contemplates making a harbour within the Kyle of 

 Tongue. 



The keeper pointed out to me from near the inn the sites 

 of two eagles' nests in the rocks of Ben Laighal, and a more 

 appropriate or fitting locale for eyries I never saw. 



