ROAD OVER BEXC11EILT. 37 



sheep-track winding up the steep brow of the hill, some 

 three or four hundred feet above the rolling surge. 



The road to Thurso from the Ord road was almost 

 impassable. It was a mere horse track over the hill of 

 Bencheilt. This road was made passable for carriages 

 through the energy of Sir John Sinclair. The Abbe" 

 Gregoire denominated Sir John " the most indefatigable 

 man in Europe." To him the improvement of the county 

 of Caithness in a great measure belongs. He was born 

 at Thurso Castle, an ancient edifice built by the sixth 

 Earl of Caithness. It has since been pulled down to 

 make room for a spick-and-span new castle, much less 

 picturesque than the old one. It stood almost within 

 sea-mark on Thurso Bay. In stormy weather, the sea 

 spray sometimes passed over the roof. Miss Catherine 

 Sinclair has said that fish have been caught with a line 

 from the drawing-room window ; and vessels have been 

 wrecked so close under the turrets, that the voices of 

 the drowning sailors have been heard. 



When Sir John succeeded to his estates, three-fourths 

 of Caithness consisted of deep peat-moss, and of hills 

 covered with heath, or altogether naked. On arriving at 

 his majority, he determined upon the improvement of 

 his estates, and of the county generally. One of the 

 first things that he did was to endeavour to make a roaa 

 to Thurso over Bencheilt, in the centre pf the county. 

 He himself surveyed the road and marked out its lines. 

 He called together twelve hundred and sixty labourers 

 to meet him early one morning, and set them all simul- 

 taneously to work. They began at the dawn of day, 

 3* 



