FROM AN OLD MAGAZINE 353 



its excellent herrings,^ it being fifty miles long by four 

 broad. Loch An, Loch Lomond and Loch Tay present 

 us with the most beautiful scenes, and their banks, like 

 many others, are adorned with woods. Near Lochness, 

 on the top of a hill, two miles in perpendicular height, is a 

 lake of fresh water, about 180 feet in length, unfathom- 

 able, and remarkable, for never having been known to 

 freeze ; whereas Loch Anwyn, or Green Lake, which is 

 not above seventeen miles distant from it, is perpetually 

 covered with ice. The Loch of Spinie, near Elgin, is 

 frequented by dreadful large flights of swans and cygnets, 

 which are sometimes so numerous as to cause a sudden 

 darkness in the air. Their fondness for this spot is, with 

 great appearance of reason, attributed to their feeding on 

 the plant Olorina, which grows in the lake and rises above 

 the water with a long, straight stalk, bearing a cluster of 

 seeds at the top," etc. etc. 



Many other interesting and curious extracts might 

 be borrowed from the pages of this quaint old work ; but 

 methinks I hear the readers cry, " Hold ! enough." 



1 Loch Fyne herrings are still famous for their large size. 



