INTRODUCTION. xvii 



mountain-dew, our friend Macgillivray pointed out to us the 

 ridges on which he had rambled the previous winter when they 

 were covered with snow. 



Retracing our way, we again approached Callender, and 

 crossing the stream, drove through a lane in the direction of 

 the Trosachs. Finding it rather tiresome to ride all day, 

 some of us threw off our coats, and footed it pleasantly. 

 Two small lakes were passed, and we were admiring the 

 purple blossoms of the heather, when we overtook an ar- 

 tist and his beloved on foot, both from London. Putting 

 their extra luggage in our carriage, we continued our march 

 and reached, nearly all at the same moment, the tavern of the 

 Trosachs. 



Here we met with many people from different parts of the 

 world : Cockneys, Irishmen, and " Blue-noses," some very thin, 

 others over thick, some low, and some high in figure and man- 

 ners. It was quite strange to me to hear a group of English- 

 men talking, not of the scenery, but of the precious quaUties 

 . of their wines in Middlesex. Some who had navigated Vir- 

 ginia Water, wondered whether Loch Lomond and Loch Ka- 

 therine, were to be compared with Lake Huron and Lake Su- 

 perior. They sucked their cigars in front of the tavern, walked 

 nowhere, and thought of little else than their dinner. 



The traveller, who has passed over vast tracks of densely 

 covered woodland, cannot be expected to gaze on trees of mo- 

 derate size with much admiration, and perhaps on this very 

 account I did not look upon the wooded crags of the Trosachs, 

 as I should have done had they been naked, rough, and ano-u- 

 lar, for I felt satisfied that they were abrupt and high enough 

 to produce quite a sensation on the mind. The Trosachs, how- 



b 



