158 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



the naked eye from the railway station. This is probably the 

 farthest south Scottish mountain which has snow upon it at the 

 present time. 



We stopped at Crianlarich some few minutes, both going 

 north and returning, for this is the place at which one changes 

 to take the western line to Oban. The last-named line runs 

 parallel for some little distance with the Fort William and Mallaig 

 rail, and to my mind the run from Crianlarich to Tyndrum, and 

 then on to Rannoch, is one of the finest stretches on the West 

 Highland Railway. Looking out of the carriage window, one 

 can see the line skirting the mountain side for several miles. 

 On the east side, the mountains rise sheer up from the line ; on 

 the west one sees a more or less barren valley beneath, with an 

 odd farmhouse here and there. It was close by this point of 

 my journey that I saw the largest flock of Sheep within my 

 recollection. I first caught sight of them in the far distance to 

 the north of us, but I imagined I was looking at whitish boulders, 

 which are so prominent across Rannoch Moor, and which the 

 geologist tells us were brought down by glaciers a few million 

 years ago ! As we approached more closely, it became evident 

 that the nearest " boulders " were moving, and it then dawned 

 upon me that the little specks dotted about the hillside were 

 Sheep ! I hesitate to speculate upon the number which con- 

 stituted the flock, and I am not given to exaggeration, but I 

 am certainly within the mark when I state that there were 

 several thousands ! Nobody was astir. Not a human soul 

 could be seen high or low. The presence of such an army of 

 Sheep, however, added a touch of life to the mighty country we 

 were traversing, and we left the flock behind us with real regret. 



As we struck westward, and came nearer to Tyndrum, there 

 came into view on the east side of the rail the majestic mountain 

 of Ben Lui, which is 3708 feet high, and one of the Grampian 

 range which runs up country, south to north, with an apparent 

 incline towards the east. I like Ben Lui. I presume it is one 

 of the mountains which brings down water as a source of the 

 great River Tay, for hard by the mountain in question, this river 

 finds its source. Thence the river strikes out a distinct north- 

 easterly course, emptying itself as the Firth of Tay not far from 

 the city of Perth. As on a former visit to Scotland I crossed 

 both over and under the famous Tay Bridge, near the city of 

 bonnie Dundee, I congratulate myself that I have visited the 

 beginning and the end of the famous river. My Scotch paper 



