BIRD LIFE, ETC. 175 



Scot. Let us again look southward, " o'er moors and 

 mosses mony," to the never-tiring glories of Lochnagar, 

 which is now much nearer to us than when we first saw 

 it. Like Edinburgh, it may be viewed with interest from 

 any station. For my part, I could gaze a quarter of 

 an hour on either every day of the year without getting 

 tired. There, proudly pre-eminent over all around, 

 just as it settled when it was heaved up from the 

 abyss, it stands in solemn grandeur, its ridges wreathed 

 in white vapour. Lochnagar has more dignity than 

 any of our hills, except Ben Nevis. Natural History 

 of Deeside, p. 55. 



26. VIEW FROM INVERCAULD BRIDGE. 



At length we stand on the lofty mid-arch of Inver- 

 cauld Bridge. Before we pass on, let us pause once 

 more not because we are weary of travel or of the 

 world. Here the bed of the Dee is obliquely inter- 

 cepted by a broken ridge of slaty rock, passing from 

 south-west to north-east. The stream is broken by 

 it into a succession of little falls and rapids, and then 

 glides away over its stony bed to wind afar amidst 

 pine-clad hills. Beautiful scene ! I almost weep when 

 I look upon thee ; for tears flow from the pure 

 fountain of happiness as well as from the troubled 

 springs of sorrow. How unlike, in thy quiet loveli- 

 ness, to the fierce rudeness of human nature ! Not a 

 living creature is to be seen but a lad whipping the 



