184 IN A DEEE FOREST 



feet), a hill not very far from that on which I am lying. 

 It was gralloched, and left till the afternoon, when the 

 carcase was found to be covered literally darkened 

 with clouds of blowflies, while the paunch and entrails 

 a few yards off were swarming with yellow dungflies. 

 Yet not one of these had been visible till something 

 was provided worthy of their attention. 



There are several highest inhabited houses both in 

 Scotland and England, about as many, it has been 

 calculated, as, if put together, would reach half the 

 length of Pont Street; but the lodge in this forest 

 beats them all, being 1725 feet (O.M.) above sea-level; 

 too high for the potato, though that produces a fair 

 crop at the head stalker's house, which is 500 feet 

 lower. In fine weather, when the inmates are all 

 abroad, and the doors and windows stand invitingly 

 open, unexpected guests sometimes make free of the 

 premises. A young lady, entering the smoking-room 

 one day when the sportsmen were out, heard a scuffle 

 under the sofa. Believing it to be one of the dogs, she 

 looked to see which it was, and found a grouse, which 

 had made its way in from the moor. On another 

 occasion, a blue hare was found strolling about the 



It is a mighty solitude this, just on the watershed 

 of Rannoch. The streams flowing west and north find 

 their way into Loch Linnhe, while those turning east- 

 ward go to swell the Tummel and the Tay. There is 

 a foot and bridle path through the forest, giving access 

 from Rannoch to Glen Spean and Fort William by the 



