128 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



the Spey, and finally swept down by successive 

 spates into the ocean itself. 



I have already referred to the striking aspect 

 of this gorge as it presents itself to a spectator 

 from the opposite or left bank of the river, the 

 previous course of its tributaries through the pine- 

 covered hills being marked by zigzag lines of com- 

 paratively diminutive proportions, gradually in- 

 creasing in depth and extent as they approach its 

 termination, where, rising from its steep sides 

 clothed with lurch and firs, numerous tall, cylin- 

 drical cones of conglomerate shoot up from amidst 

 the foliage of the trees, like gigantic sentinels 

 keeping watch and ward over the entrance of the 

 glen. 



Alt Derg is about a couple of miles from 

 Fochabers, from whence the road lies along the 

 higher grounds on the right, looking down on the 

 haughs and slopes above the Greenbank pool and 

 the Cruive dyke, after which a path winds about 

 for a little way among undulating ground, and it 

 is not until you arrive at the very margin of the 

 ravine that its immediate vicinity is indicated by 

 any feature of the surrounding scenery. The bed 

 beneath appears to be thickly strewed, as far as 

 the eye can reach on either side, with smooth 

 boulders and stones of every imaginable colour ; 



