164 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



lochs may be seen from the train near Banavie. It was our 

 original intention to undertake this boat trip to the Highland 

 capital of Inverness, but I was advised to take the train to Mallaig 

 instead. I shall never regret following this advice, for the ex- 

 perience will not be readily forgotten. 



When we arrived at Kinlocheil station, we were close to the 

 head of Loch Eil, and it was not long after leaving there that 

 we espied Bonnie Prince Charlie's monument at Glenfinnan. 

 This extension of the West Highland Railway to Mallaig has 

 opened up to the traveller some of Scotland's most romantic wilds, 

 as well as monuments of less forgotten history. Prince Charlie's 

 monument, or column, marks the spot where Charles Edward 

 raised his standard in Glenfinnan, and, as writes Mr Hope 

 Moncreiff in his fascinating volume, " The Highlands and Islands 

 of Scotland," another column " commemorates the Lochiel 

 Cameron who died at Quatre Bras, as loyal to King George as 

 his father to Charles and James. In those cloudy recesses, 

 beyond the forts of the Great Glen, gathered silently the storm 

 of 1745 to whirl far over Britain. Here Macdonalds and Camerons 

 only half welcomed their rash Prince, the old chiefs too prudent 

 not to see the risks of his enterprise, yet too proud to hold back 

 from it when hot young heads panted to meet the Lowlands in 

 battle array." 



Glenfinnan, as viewed from the Highland station, is remark- 

 able, beautiful Loch Shiel being set like a watery gem at the foot 

 of towering hills, beetling cliffs, and tall trees. It is a pretty 

 glen. It is not of such a solitary character, nor so majestic, as 

 other Scotch glens I have seen and visited, such as Glen Fruin, 

 or the Glen of Sorrow, not far from Loch Lomond, but its majestic 

 beauty left me entranced. It was in Glen Fruin that the 

 M'Gregors and the Colquohouns fought their famous battle in 

 1603, the result being that the M'Gregors suffered heavy defeat. 

 It is historically known as the Battle of Glen Fruin. We left 

 Glenfinnan with real regret, but it was not long before we were 

 again enchanted with the Highland scenery. We shot through 

 several short tunnels, cleverly hewn out of the solid rock, and then 

 drew up at Ailort, where the Loch of that name presents a very 

 wonderful sight to the traveller in such a land. The line itself 

 is at an altitude of over a thousand feet, with over two thousand 

 feet hills on the north, and nearly three thousand feet heights 

 to the south. The view looking into the Ailort valley from such 

 a height can, therefore, be well imagined. I considered Loch 



