ADVENTURES AND INCIDENTS. 397 



their leaves, could not be distinguished from the adjoining 

 bank. 



7. Its door was on the brink of the crag, veiled by the 

 thick bird-cherries on the edge of the precipice ; and the 

 entrance to the little path, which ascended from either side 

 upon the brow of the rock, was concealed by a screen of 

 birch and hazel, beneath which the banks were covered 

 with primroses, wood-anemones, and forget-me-not. Bow- 

 ers of honeysuckle and wild roses twined among the lower 

 trees ; and even in the tall pines above, the rose sometimes 

 climbed to the very top, where all its blossoms, clustering 

 to the sun, hung in white tassels out of the dark-blue 

 foliage. There the thrush and the blackbird sang at morn- 

 ing and evening, and the owl cried at night, and the buck 

 belled upon the Torr. Blessed, wild, free, joyous dwell- 

 ing, which we shall never see again ! 



8. When in our little bothy, we had companions on 

 every side ; from the passenger which came from Norway, 

 to the little native guest — the robin which roosted in the 

 holly-bush above us. " The robin ?" you smile and say. 

 Yes, there was but one. He lived in the bush, as we lived 

 in the bothy, and we were his neighbors too long not to be 

 very well acquainted. His species, as well as all the small 

 tribes, are very local in their range and habits, and may be 

 found all the year in, or near, the same place ; and those 

 who feed them will rarely wait many minutes for their 

 appearance. There were many robins which lived about 

 the bothy, and all were continually in its vicinity, and very 

 tame, but none so gentle and grateful as our little neighbor 

 of the holly. 



9. They would, however, enter the hut, sit on the bed 

 or the table, and hop about the floor, and, when I went out, 

 follow me to the brae. They liked very much to see me 

 turn up the soil, which always provided them with a little 

 feast ; accordingly, they were never absent at the planting 



