32 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CII. III. 



brown. As we came away, we still observed the male 

 bird unceasingly calling and seeking for his hen. 

 I was really sorry that I had shot her. 



This excursion to the lake hindered us so long, 

 that, after resting our horse at Rhiconnich, we did 

 not reach Durness till late at night. 



From Scowrie to Dm*ness, particularly about 

 Rhiconnich, the road winds through a constant 

 succession of the most rocky, rugged, and wild glens 

 that it is possible to imagine, with here and there 

 beautiful sheets of water, deep, and darkly shaded 

 by the overhanging rocks, and occasionally by small 

 birch woods. Winding round near the mouth of 

 the Laxford river, we saw an osprey fishing in, or 

 rather over, the pools near the bay. I am told that 

 the Laxford is one of the best, if not quite the best, 

 sea-trout stream in the North. There are gloriously 

 wild and rocky mountains rising from the landward 

 side of the road, with the most fantastic and pic- 

 turesque outlines. The bay at Rhiconnich, too, is 

 very beautiful. The whole road, indeed, commands 

 one constant and endless succession of scenery 

 equally magnificent and wild ; nor does the traveller 

 drive a mile throughout this journey without some 

 new and most interesting view — varied, too, as it is 

 by rock, water, and mountain, by the rich brown of 

 the heather, the vivid green of the birch woods, and 



