BEN NEVIS. 393 



veiled face and head like an eastern beauty. He pre- 

 sents this evening an enormous breadth of dark-blue 

 base, blue approaching to black, and at the level of 

 about three thousand feet there is a jagged outline of 

 cloud that varies its form every moment as the long 

 vapoury trail sweeps by. Hush ! there is the sun 

 breaking out on his lower slopes, the very appearance 

 you describe as of such frequent occurrence on the hills 

 of Loch Lomond and Loch Long. All is dark above 

 and on the flat grounds below, but rock and corrie on 

 the hill-side flare out in the light. And now the sunny 

 patches have flitted over it, and all is again blue and 

 sombre ; and now a single round patch of half an acre's 

 breadth sails slowly across. We shall have to quit the 

 boat almost immediately ; the great breach in the canal 

 which was formed last winter, and so nearly drowned 

 the valley of the Loch, has not yet been repaired, and 

 so the last three miles of our journey towards the sea 

 must be by coach. Tor at least two of the three the 

 canal has a dry gravelly hollow.' 



' Aboard the Steamer. 



'Here we are awaiting the arrival of our heavy 

 luggage. Fort William lies across the loch, a cold, blue- 

 looking town under the base of a cold, blue-looking hill. 

 In half an hour I shall be there, and trust I shall fare 

 better this year than I did the last, when I found for 

 my friends Mrs D and her sister, a locked door and 

 shuttered windows. I leave all my plans regarding the 

 Small Isles to be settled by them. Good-bye, dearest, 

 the bell rings, and we are casting off our moorings.' 



' Friday Morning. Fort William. 



'Fort William is exactly the last place I would 

 choose to live in. It is a naked, mean-looking town at 



