124 AN ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



distinguish objects at the distance of three or four yards ; other- 

 wise, to have escaped meeting with some serious casualty was 

 almost impossible, as scaurs and ravines were of frequent occur- 

 rence, and we had occasionally to pick our way across the bed 

 of some old torrent, made rough and dangerous with masses of 

 sharp rock and unshapely seams and fissures. To give the 

 details, however, of this nocturnal exploration up Glen Etive, 

 and to describe the fatigue and bewildering sensations under 

 which it was conducted, is not my intention ; suffice it to say that, 

 with a kind, on my own part at least, of automaton resolution, 

 we held on until daybreak, the first glimmering of which dis- 

 closed to us our position, on the side of a heathery steep over- 

 looking a torrent or impetuous stream. It became plain that, if 

 we were still in Glen Etive, we had passed, by a great way, that 

 bend in the river, near which, on the opposite side, King's House 

 is situated. It was also patent, that to proceed farther in the 

 direction we were pursuing, were only to involve ourselves in 

 greater difficulties. To cross the stream and move northwards, 

 in the expectation of falling in, ere long, with the Parliamentary 

 road, was the course which naturally suggested itself; nor, having 

 adopted it, were we deceived as to the result. Unfortunately, 

 however, on gaining the desired point of security, instead of 

 striking to the right, we passed down into Glencoe, where, on 

 arriving at a roadside hut, we with great difficulty elicited from 

 its Highland occupants the nature of our mistake. 



We had accordingly to retrace our steps, and, after many 

 painful exertions, arrived with racked limbs at King's House 

 close upon four A.M. After taking a few hours' rest at this soli- 

 tary inn, we deemed ourselves sufficiently recruited to proceed 

 in the direction of Ballachulish, to the then proprietor of which, 

 Mr. Stuart, father of Sir J. Stuart, one of the present Vice- 

 Chancellors, we were provided with letters of introduction. On 

 our way down Glencoe, we gave its river and Loch Treachten, 



