PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



55 



The hills immediately on the south side are of less elevation, 

 and those on the watershed between Strath Affric and Glen 

 Clunie, though many of them are over 3000 feet, lying, as they 

 do, at some distance from Loch Affric, are not seen from the lodge, 

 being shut out by the nearer and lower ones. 



To our mind, really the best view of Loch Affric and the great 

 hills round its northern side is obtained from one of the hills at 

 the head of Allt Riabhach on the Guisachan estate, as from there 

 one sees the great extent of the old fir-woods, the loch itself, and 

 the shooting-lodge nestling amongst the trees; whilst the views 

 of Cam Eige (3877 feet), with Mam Soul and Sgurr na Lapaich, 

 are much more extended, and their form and general appearance 

 more easily made out ; their size, too, is much more apparent when 

 seen some little distance away. 



Going up the Chisholm's Pass we were struck with the great 

 numbers of Jackdaws, which no doubt find excellent nesting- 

 ground in the rough sides of the Affric river; we saw none of 

 these after we had left the pass towards the loch. The day we 

 visited the district was an unfortunate one both for our artist and 

 for ourselves : dark and gloomy, few birds showed themselves, but 

 even at the Affric Lodge we saw the following : — Yellowhammer, 

 Fly-catcher, Pied Wagtail, Black-headed Bunting, Thrush, Swift, 

 Sand Martin, Starling, Redstart, Blackbird, etc. One or two of 

 these one would hardly have expected in a district so far removed 

 from habitations with the exception of the little colony round the 

 shooting-lodge. 



The half-burn, half-river, that runs past Guisachan, and joins 

 the Affric river at Fasnakyle, has a watershed of its own, which 

 lies between the Affric and Moriston rivers. At its head-waters 

 the Riabhach is an uninteresting burn, heading as it does up to 

 the dreary, wet, flat moorland that lies between it and Glen Doe. 

 Lower down, as we near Cougie, the scene changes, and birch 

 woods, mixed with alder, line the banks of the stream ; patches 

 of juniper appear here and there from which a number of old 

 Black-cock fly up at our approach ; a herd of stags, their horns 

 already (the middle of May) showing well, moves quietly off into 

 a higher patch of wood. Below Cougie the river runs through a 



