THE PARALLEL ROADS OF GLEN ROY. 217 



gave the parallel roads of Glen Roy an interest in my 

 eyes; and in 1867, with a view to self-instruction, I 

 made a solitary pilgrimage to the place, and explored 

 pretty thoroughly the roads of the principal glen. I 

 traced the highest road to the col dividing Glen Roy 

 from Glen Spey, and, thanks to the civility of an 

 Ordnance surveyor, I was enabled to inspect some of 

 the roads with a theodolite, and to satisfy myself re- 

 garding the common level of the shelves at opposite 

 sides of the valley. As stated by Pennant, the width 

 of the roads amounts sometimes to more than twenty 

 yards; but near the head of Glen Roy the highest road 

 ceases to have any width, for it runs along the face of 

 a rock, the effect of the lapping of the water on the 

 more friable portions of the rock being perfectly dis- 

 tinct to this hour. My knowledge of the region was, 

 however, far from complete, and nine years had 

 dimmed the memory even of the portion which had 

 been thoroughly examined. Hence my desire to see 

 the roads once more before venturing to talk to you 

 about them. The Easter holidays of 1876 were to be 

 devoted to this purpose; but at the last moment a tele- 

 gram from Roy Bridge informed me that the roads 

 were snowed up. Finding books and memories poor 

 substitutes for the flavour of facts, I resolved subse- 

 quently to make another effort to see the roads. Ac- 

 cordingly last Thursday fortnight, after lecturing here, 

 I packed up, and started (not this time alone) for the 

 North. Next day at noon my wife and I found our- 

 selves at Dalwhinnio, whence a drive of some five-and- 

 thirty miles brought us to the excellent hostelry of 

 Mr. Macintosh, at the mouth of Glen Roy. 



We might have found the hills covered with mist, 

 which would have wholly defeated us; but Nature was 

 good-natured, and we had two successful working days 



