88 Burnside. 



ridge, now leaping from rock to rock, then climbing an 

 awkward crag, anon sinking ankle deep in the soft yielding 

 bog moss in a small hollow, and at last we stand upon the 

 broken masses of schist with which the cairn has been built 

 up. The cairn has been reached at last : now we can rest 

 and enjoy the charms of solitude. 



The west wind rolls up from the Atlantic yonder, and as 

 it ascends the mountain, banks of mist are formed which are 

 hurried over the summit to be carried down and dissipated 

 on the other side. Never before have clouds appeared to 

 travel so fast. For a few minutes we are flooded with golden 

 sunlight ; dropping points of light extend from the edge of 

 yonder disappearing bank of mist ; then a sudden chill is 

 felt, the sun disappears, and again we are enveloped, and can 

 see but a few feet around us. Then comes a longer break. 

 The sun shines brilliantly once more, and we get a clear view 

 on all sides. 



What a revelation of the power of sight does the view 

 from this height give us ! To the north, peak after peak 

 rises up, one beyond the other, until the eye loses them 

 in the distance, a veritable sea of summits stretching as 

 far as the eye can reach. To the east, a shoulder in the 

 opposite hill reveals a small portion of Loch Long, beyond 

 which Ben Lomond, with his three-terraced peak, rises with- 

 out compeer, whilst far, far beyond, another gleaming patch 

 of water can be seen high up among the mountains, whilst 

 silvery gleams, glistening among the dark pine-woods which 

 dot the landscape far away, indicate the situation of other 

 lovely lochs. To the south is the lower part of Loch Long, 

 opening into the Firth of Clyde, whilst to the west Loch 

 Fyne comes into view here and there between the mountain 



