x INTRODUCTION 



whispering winds of summer swaying the birch 

 trees gently to and fro ; the blasts of winter 

 roaring through the leafless arms of the sturdy 

 forest oak ; the hollow boom and awe-inspiring 

 moan of the restless sea in some dark cave, where 

 the otter sleeps and the rock dove broods ; the 

 rich scent of the evening air floating across the 

 clover-decked machar of the Western Isles ; the 

 reeds reflected in graceful beauty on the placid 

 waters of a Norfolk Broad lying silent in the 

 mists of the morning; the sombre blackness of 

 a peat and heather shored Highland loch ; the 

 witchery of the soft blue sky studded with an 

 archipelago of fleecy white clouds ; the sun rising 

 in golden splendour out of the eastern sea, 

 and setting in sublime grandeur behind purple 

 mountain peaks ; the air palpitating with the 

 songs of innumerable happy birds ; the hum of 

 a vast multitude of insects at work or play; and 

 a great number of other happenings throughout 

 the realms of Nature, make us feel the joy of 

 being and witnessing what is going on around 

 us and for us and all men. 



Ruskin says that " the greatest thing a human 

 soul ever does in this world is to see something 

 and tell what it saw in a plain way/' Precisely 

 such is the ambition of this book. Text and 

 pictures are a faithful relation of what my brother 

 and I have seen and heard whilst wandering up 



