364 MAN OF SCIENCE. 



as you may have seen in the side of a mill-pond over- 

 flooded and broken up by a thunder-shower. The 

 mystery lay unveiled ; the hollow had been at one 

 period a deep and extensive lake, which the river, by 

 wearing down the soft white stone of the lower barrier, 

 had gradually tapped off. I could see no one able to 

 inform me regarding the nature of the soil in the hol- 

 low, or whether freshwater shells or moss were found in 

 the subsoil. By the character of the shells the age of 

 the lake might be ascertained, but ancient it must be, 

 as the bed of the river is now a considerable distance 

 beneath its level. 



' There is a pause in the rain, and the sky is clear- 

 ing, so I shall e'en wrap my plaid about me, and set 

 out for the quarries, and the seat of the glacier. I had 

 intended visiting Loch Brora, but it is six miles away, 

 and, having no change of dress, I am unwilling to put 

 myself in the way of being too thoroughly drenched.' 



' Wednesday evening. 



1 1 have been at Loch Brora, and at the quarries, 

 and the seat of the glacier, and I have traced the river 

 for miles, and filled both my large pockets with fossils, 

 and all this without catching a single drop of rain. Am 

 I not a lucky fellow? Loch Brora is a long narrow 

 sheet of water, that lies up among the hills in the gorge 

 of a deep rocky valley. The mountains on both sides 

 rise to a great height, wild and naked above, but with 

 their bases lined very sweetly with dwarf birch. One 

 immense hill in the distance, of bold outline and pre- 

 cipitous sides, is the acknowledged monarch of the 

 scene, the loch stretches out in front of him for about 

 four miles, its undulating and winding shores tufted 

 with birch, and here and there mottled with, small green 



