162 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



himself to circumstances, turn to any calling which 

 may seem to him best, and, provided it be an honest 

 one, he loses nothing in his own eyes or those of 

 others. The son of a minister may keep sheep upon 

 the hills, and though his flock come of a different race 

 from that of his father, he need not feel out of his 

 element. And scarcely is there a part of the globe 

 where this does not find corroboration. " From sun- 

 burnt south to icy north," the sons of Caledonia are to 

 be found carving out their fortunes, making themselves 

 at home in the midst of difficulties, feathering their 

 nests in the face of hardship, and withal playing no 

 unimportant part in the great game of life. 



" Ccelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currant," 



was a true saying of Flaccus ; and go where you will, 

 you will find it verified in the Scot, ever conspicuous 

 for the same composed and cautious, yet sagacious, 

 bold, and enterprising nature. 



Sandy Macintosh, the minister's son, had his parallel 

 in the bride herself, whose mother was the niece of 

 a quondam captain in the Navy. 



But I must now once more to my story, which 

 has been interrupted too long by this digression. 



Our tea over, which had been attended by oniy 

 a few, we were ushered into the ball-room, if that name 

 can appropriately be assigned to a chamber smaller than 

 the one already described, and lit up by two or three 

 farthing dips. Here the scene was amusing, and to me 

 quite new. Huddled up in one corner of the room 

 were all the ladies, the gentlemen standing in the door- 

 way, or on the fireless hearth, their heads halfway up 

 the capacious and projecting chimney, or sitting on a 

 large box by the wall. As we entered, a reel was 

 about to begin ; but though there were upwards of 



