REMINISCENCES OF A ROSS-SHIRE FOREST. 171 



whole infamous system," not having the remotest 

 idea what the " system " is, or in what its " infamy " 

 consists. 



Gentlemen of this type, whose whole lives bear 

 testimony to the fact that they live but for others, 

 without one solitary thought of personal aggrandise- 

 ment, would were the North of Scotland handed 

 over to them soon cure all the ills that flesh is heir 

 to, as they have done, or are doing. Here's the pro- 

 gramme : Exterminate the deer and grouse ; then 

 stock plentifully with sheep or rather, first of all, 

 give every one a vote that's the thing "to make 

 you happy " ; then stock with sheep Liecesters for 

 choice. How fat they would get in the Eoss-shire 

 corries ! The rest is easy. As the population 

 increases which it is sure to do where mutton is 

 cheap establish board schools, and there you are ! 

 What a bright future is before us ! Instead of the 

 " abomination of desolation " which now everywhere 

 meets the eye, a country densely populated with a 

 happy, prosperous, and contented people. Streams 

 of omnibuses running to and fro, reminding one 

 vividly of the traffic in the Clapham Road on the 

 Derby Day. Rows of children, well fed and well 

 clothed, sitting on the " knife-boards," thirsting for 

 information ; the flocks, panting from obesity, thickly 

 dotting the hillsides ; the gentle shepherd tending 

 them and playing his pipe. What a picture ! 

 Why, the Garden of Eden, in its palmy days, 



