12 ON THE GRAMPIAN HIILS. 



charge of your luggage; courteous officials directed 

 you to your carriage and supplied any required infor- 

 mation, in such a fashion as could be followed by 

 certain other railway companies with very great 

 advantage to their passengers. We were bound for 

 Blairgowrie, and had to transfer ourselves and an 

 unknown quantity of baggage, guns, and ammunition 

 to another train, and were soon on the way to our 

 destination. A short run landed us at Blairgowrie, 

 where an open carriage with four post-horses, ridden 

 by smart, clever postilions in scarlet jackets, was in 

 waiting, and we drove to the Queen's Hotel, where 

 luncheon was provided. After a short halt we 

 started for the Spital of Glen Shee, where amidst the 

 Grampian Hills we were to follow our various sports. 

 A heavy rain somewhat disconcerted us, but with 

 such, to a sportsman, glorious ends in view what 

 mattered a persistent downpour ? The harder it 

 rained, the sooner, we said, it would be over, and by 

 the time we had traversed half the distance, the 

 weather cleared, and we were able to admire the grand 

 scenery of this wild portion of the Highlands of 

 Scotland. Varied with wood and water, heather-clad 

 hills, green meadows flushed with flowers of many 

 hues, such as " the blue bells of Scotland," the wild 

 ascabius, ox daisies, wild tares, interspersed with green 

 broom, and here and there on barren spots tufts of 

 heather just coming into bloom, crossing streams 

 highly suggestive of large trout, we journeyed con- 

 tentedly on, until the place was reached which was to 

 be our headquarters for the season. A bright fire 

 was burning, and we welcomed the warmth it afforded 

 to us the afternoon being both damp and cold. Our 



