174 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



among rocks and floods, wonderful discoveries, or 

 magnificent theories, cannot be expected from a quiet 

 journey to be made in one pair of shoes, with no other 

 weapon than a hammer. Natural History of Deeside, 

 p. 23. 



24. PROMISE OF A BRIGHT DAY. 



The dawn of this 7th of August gave promise of 

 a bright day. How beautiful is the quiet valley as it 

 basks in the sunshine. The corn-fields, some nearly 

 ready for the sickle, others yet green, are spread out 

 by the margin of the river, which glides along in its 

 winding course, emitting a pleasing murmur, except- 

 ing which the ear catches no sound ; for the air is 

 still, and even the hair-grass waves not its slender 

 panicle. The cattle are feeding on the after-grass ; 

 here and there a peasant is seen in the fields, or near 

 the few cottages scattered over the valley ; but other- 

 wise all is very still, and in the gentle beauty of the 

 scene one hardly sees a place for human wickedness. 

 If it is not a paradise we gaze upon, it is a scene 

 well fitted to remind us of how much happiness our 

 earthly habitation might yield were it always illumin- 

 ated by a sense of the Divine presence. Natural 

 History of Deeside, p. 49. 



25. LOCHNAGAR. 



Still onward, amidst woods and mountains, and 

 here and there fields, yielding the staple food of the 



