47 



ramble, once in the season at least, up to Culter 

 Water. 



When the angler is in this locality, he must pay 

 a visit, if possible, to the top of Tinto, one of the 

 finest hills in this part of Scotland. There is a kind 

 of foot-path to its summit from the village of 

 Symington. It will require about an hour to arrive 

 at the heap of stones placed on its crown ; but the 

 pleasure from it, on a fine day, will amply repay the 

 toil of the ascent. "We enjoy a most delightful pros- 

 pect. The valley of cultivated country stretching- 

 out to the east and north, cleared of mist, and illu- 

 mined by the radiance of a declining sun, is a lovely 

 object for the eye to rest upon. The vale of the 

 Clyde, like a rose just expanded, lies at our feet, 

 displaying its woods, its hills, its plains, highly cul- 

 tivated, and its numerous terraces covered with 

 hamlets and farm-houses. Amidst the most death- 

 like stillness, we occasionally hear the barkings of 

 the shepherd's dog, the flowing of the waters, and 

 the murmurings of the wind, mingled together, sof- 

 tened by distance, and which, uniting with all that 

 lies before us, express a state of existence, clilm, 

 extensive, and diversified. One cannot describe the 

 soothing, consolatory, but infinite and sublime ideas, 

 which overpower the soul at a sight like this, and 

 which fill it with love for the God of nature, and 

 confidence in his works. And if, in the interval of 

 such noises, which succeed each other like waves of 

 the ocean, the song or whistling of a shepherd is 

 heard for a moment, the thoughts of man seem to 



