RAMBLES OF A GEOLOGIST. 363 



amid the trees, are of singular beauty, worth all the imita- 

 tion-ruins ever erected, and obnoxious to none of the dispa- 

 raging associations which the mere show and make-believe of 

 the artificial are sure always to awaken. 



Whatever exhibited an aspect in any degree extraordinary 

 was sure to attract the notice of the old Highlanders, an 

 acutely observant race, however slightly developed their re- 

 flective powers ; and the great natural objects which excited 

 their attention we always find associated with some tradi- 

 tionary story. It is said that in the Conglomerate cliffs above 

 Brahan, a retainer of the Mackenzie, one of the smiths of the 

 tribe, discovered a rich vein of silver, which he wrought by 

 stealth, until he had filled one of the apartments of his cot- 

 tage with bars and ingots. But the treasure, it is added, was 

 betrayed, by his own unfortunate vanity, to his chief, who 

 hanged him in order to serve himself his heir ; and no one 

 since his death has proved ingenious enough to convert the 

 rude rock into silver. Years had, I found, wrought their 

 changes amid the miniature Highlands of the Conglomerate. 

 The sapplings of the straggling wood on the banks of Loch 

 Ousy, the pleasant little lake, or lochan rather, of this up- 

 land region, that I remembered having seen scarce taller 

 than myself, had shot into vigorous treehood; and the steep 

 slopes of Knock Farril, which I had left covered with their 

 dark screen of pine, were now thickly mottled over with half- 

 decayed stumps, and bore that peculiarly barren aspect which 

 tracts cleared of their wood so frequently assume in their trans- 

 ition state, when the plants that flourished in the shade have 

 died out in consequence of the exposure, and plants that love 

 the open air and the unbroken sunshine have not yet sprung 

 up in their place. I found the southern acclivities of the 

 hill covered with scattered masses of vitrified stone, that had 

 fallen from the fortalice atop; and would recommend to the 

 collector in quest of a characteristic specimen, that instead of 



