JOURNAL 131 



their natural forms, the hedges trim, the houses built 

 of stone, the heights covered with trees, the hills bare 

 and heathy. The river tumbled, and rushed, and shot 

 silently along, or curled into eddies as it proceeded in 

 its winding course between its lofty banks, which were 

 often precipitous, and generally covered with trees 

 and shrubs. Nothing half so beautiful occurred 

 between London and Scotland. At length the road 

 left the river and passed by one of its tributaries, until 

 we ascended far among the high green hills of transi- 

 tion slate, covered here and there with brown fern. 

 After passing through a long, narrow, bare glen, we 

 entered another, the streamlet of which flowed east- 

 wards to join the Tweed. Cultivation increased as 

 we proceeded, the country became more wooded, and 

 as we approached Hawick, the valley opened. From 

 that place to Selkirk the ground is high and bleak, 

 but partially cultivated. The rock was everywhere 

 greywacke and slate. From Selkirk to Galashiels the 

 road passes along the bottom of the valley of the 

 united Yarrow and Ettrick streams Abbotsford on 

 the south side of the Tweed Melrose obscurely seen 

 at a distance. The valley of the Gala is not remark- 

 able, excepting towards its lower part, where it is 

 wooded and partially cultivated. The hills are stony 

 and bare, and although in many places cultivation 

 extends far up the secondary valleys, the ground is 

 scarcely anywhere sheltered by hedges or trees, which 

 would certainly be of decided advantage. From this 

 to the neighbourhood of Dalkeith the ground is high, 



