360 RAMBLES OF A GEOLOGIST. 



the stream at the village, and which has done so much to 

 banish the water-wraith from the fords ; and then striking 

 off to the right, 1 crossed, by a path comparatively little fre- 

 quented, the insulated group of hills which separates the val- 

 ley of the Conon from that of the Peffer. The day was mild 

 and pleasant, and the atmosphere clear ; but the higher hills 

 again exhibited their ominous belts of vapour, and there had 

 been a slight frost during the night, at this autumnal sea- 

 son the almost certain precursor of rain. 



