34^ 0N THE HIGHLANDS. 



we look around, nothing but ruggedness and deso- 

 lation meets our view ; not a vestige appears of 

 what could contribute to the existence or comfort 

 of the living world. If we turn from contemplat- 

 ing tjbe fearful precipice, it,, is only to the sight of 

 arid fragments, the ruins of nature, which the 

 wandering foot of man or beast has rarely trod ; 

 and which seem, as if pouring down in a tor- 

 rent from the surrounding cliffs, to overwhelm 

 the spectator thrilled with horror at what he be- 

 holds. 



Nor is the picture exaggerated. This is truly 

 " the region, where nature dwells in awful soli- 

 " tude ;" and, except when the tempest, the 

 torrent or the thunder rules the scene, silence 

 reigns, interrupted only by the sound of the 

 eagle, or the murmur of the brook stealing al- 

 most unnoticed through the scattered fragments 

 of the rocks. No view of what is grand or desert- 

 ed in nature, can produce on the mind a more 

 deep and awful impression of that power, " which 

 H rends asunder the mountains, breaks in pieces 

 u the rocks, and shakes the pillars of the world." 

 It was after witnessing such effects, that the Pro- 

 phet heard in " the wilderness" the " still small 

 " voice," of Omnipotence. 



In this " lonely region," my surprise and de- 

 light were raised to the utmost, by discovering 

 the line of transition or junction between the dif- 

 ferent-coloured masses, laid bare on the front of 

 the prepipiee near its foot, and stretching horizon- 



