Burnside. 79 



sents to the sombre colouring of the overshadowing pines ! 

 What a magnificent picture the living tints of the one make 

 against the dark background of the other, whilst beyond all, 

 the rugged, rocky peak of the Highland mountain stands out 

 to complete a picture of wild and living grandeur, where 



" Dark tall pines, that plumed the craggy ledge 

 High over the blue gorge, and all between 

 The snowy peak and snow-white cataract 

 Fostered the callow eaglet." 



To the south of me is the broad Loch Groil, its rippling 

 surface scintillating with thousands of golden points as it 

 reflects the liquid rays of the morning sun now breaking 

 over the top of Tom nan Gamhna. Very beautiful does the 

 sparkling water look with its massive boundaries of rocky 

 summits and its narrow strand edged with the verdant green 

 of bracken, bush and tree. 



As I look back along the course of the brook, I can spy 

 among the rocks far up the mountain side, overhung with 

 birch and ash, with hazel and thorn, a foaming cataract ; its 

 sound falls with a dull musical cadence on my ears, and 

 forms a pleasing harmony with the sharp-toned notes arising 

 from the bubbling torrent at my feet. And beyond all, with 

 deeply cut chasm and rocky precipice, rises Ben Donich ; a 

 faint mist hangs here and there about its lower glens and 

 valleys, but its peak sparkles through the rosy haze of the 

 morning sun. Truly one might spend a long time here in 

 such peaceful solitude, drinking in the beauty everywhere 

 around. But time creeps slowly on. An occasional passer- 

 by reminds me that " man goeth forth unto his work and to 

 his labour until the evening." The sun rises higher and 

 higher in the heavens, increasing in power as he ascends, and 



