LOCH NA-NEAN. 35 



dwell the ptarmigan. Add to these indispensable 

 articles a stout walking-stick, and then, if the lady is 

 young and active and accustomed to take regular 

 exercise, she may venture on a tall climb. Failing 

 these requisites, I should not recommend a trial, as 

 in all probability it would result in a failure, and prove 

 a mortification instead of a delight. 



Away we went in the direction of the Pleasant 

 Glen, and very pleasant we found it, though a trifle 

 long, appearing, as mile after mile was trudged, as far 

 from coming to an end as the life of a well-endowed 

 annuitant, which anyone who has had the fortune 

 to have the reversion knows, to his cost, to be greatly 

 protracted. Contemplating in the distance the base 

 of the high hill, to reach which I should have to walk 

 at least eight miles, before climbing the last and 

 steepest point another mile or more grave doubts 

 passed through my mind as to the possibility of 

 accomplishing the heavy task before me. I know 

 that many great things have been accomplished by 

 untiring patience, but in a matter of this sort climb- 

 ing a steep place patience might be beaten on the 

 post by a badly-fitting pair of boots, a faint heart, 

 or a weak pair of legs. On we went through a group 

 of stunted weather-beaten birch-trees, over some fairly 

 even turf, following the course of the swiftly -flowing 

 stream which owes its origin to the overflow of Loch 

 Na-Nean. 



Then we enter the Glen. The travelling now 

 becomes more difficult. The ground is full of springs, 

 and is of the order of the sponge spongy ; the rough 

 grass impedes you; small watercourses have to be 

 crossed, tributary burns to be got over by aid of 



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