JULY 171 



the wayfarer leave the beaten track and 

 climb far enough ; and suddenly, just as 

 he sees over some ridge, he will find, with 

 wonder and delight, a lake lying before 

 him ; and always, especially if there be 

 sunshine, it is of extraordinary beauty. 

 In scarcely any part of the Highlands 

 do you need a guide or a divining-rod 

 to lead you to water among the hills. 

 That is because the hills of the High- 

 lands are in clusters. They are only 

 semi-detached ; hollows or plateaus lie 

 between the shoulders of one and those 

 of another or of others ; and there, fed 

 by sparkling rills that begin in corries 

 near the peaks, lie, like huge gems, the 

 mountain lakes. There are so many of 

 them that it is questionable whether 

 their number is truly given in the 

 most painstaking of official surveys. A 

 gamekeeper who accompanied us to the 

 one most recently visited thought that 

 there were about fifty lakes on the 

 estate ; but he was not sure. " Maybe," 

 he added after reflecting for a few 



