TOUR IN THE WESTERN ISLES. 93 



nor unprofitably spent when I inform you that after 

 a pleasant visit to Stirlingshire I passed the rest of 

 the fortnight constantly with a set of ten or twelve 

 military men, of long standing in the army, famous 

 for knowledge of the world, and besides, in general, 

 men of the best abilities and temper. The evenings 

 (if sober) were diversified by visits to the Glasgow 

 natives, whose golden brutality served to render our 

 private society doubly agreeable. 



" We came to Greenock for the purpose of superin- 

 tending our preparations several times ; but as these 

 trips were generally made in company of the above 

 parties, and always in the night, our amusements 

 were not interrupted. 



" On Sunday last I went aboard, and our parties 

 continued much in the same style. I must, however, 

 out with tout ce qui s'est passG before we weighed. 

 Our adventures prior to this period would have filled 

 a volume. The only part of them which I look back 

 on with regret is the bottle department ; and over 

 this scene I shall decline leading you, because I draw 

 a curtain over it, and you'd run a great risk of cut- 

 ting yourself in the dark among the fragments of 

 innumerable dozens of empty bottles. 



" A circumstance occurred to detain us two days 

 after we went on board, but to me its tenor was so flat- 

 tering as to compensate for the delay. Several appli- 

 cations had been made to Government, by Lords Bute 

 and Moira, for a protection against pressing. These 

 were point-blank and uniformly refused. I thought 



