Bitrnside. 95 



the same spray appears to dash over the trailing branches, the 

 same eddy gurgles round and round the hollow at our feet, 

 the same foam floats silently over the broken rocks. Ever 

 passing yet ever present is the water of this mountain burn 

 as it breaks over its rocky bed, here in a short, steep rapid, 

 there in a miniature waterfall, yonder resting seemingly in a 

 silent pool, there babbling over the rocks again, hidden 

 beyond that massive block of schist, sparkling like gold again 

 as it rounds the mighty boulder. Ah ! how true it is that 



" Nature in every form inspires delight " 

 if we will only open our minds to her teaching. 



The stream is lined with birch trees, which hang over the 

 water, whilst a steep bank rises on either side. On the 

 Donich bank the bracken waves its luxuriant, fan-like fronds, 

 whilst on the opposite side the beautiful waxen-looking 

 flowers of the " bell-heath " form a lovely margin to the steep 

 bank which leads up to the waving plain of purple-tinted hue 

 that rises to the summit of Tom nan Gramhna. Up the bank 

 we climb, and as we face the valley between the latter hill 

 and its mightier neighbour, acres upon acres of heather 

 stretch before us. From here it looks, in the afternoon 

 sunlight, like a vast sheet of rosy purple fading away in the 

 distance, because the eye can no longer trace it. As we stand 

 admiring the brightly coloured scene, the lines recur to 

 us 



" And this gay ling, with all its purple flowers, 



A man at leisure might admire for hours : 



And then how fine this herbage ! Man may say 



A heath is barren, nothing is so gay." 



A great deal of confusion exists in the use of the term 

 heather, which is frequently applied to several different 



