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THE BOTANICAL FEATUEES OF THE SIDES OF LOCH NESS. 
" Our sands are tare, but down their slope 
The silver-footed antelope 
As gracefully and gaily springs, 
As o'er the marble courts of kings." 
But I believe the variety and beauty of our Alpine and lea plants are well known and generally 
acknowledged. I am not aware, however, if the number and copiousness of the forest-trees and 
brushwood plants, to be met with on an extensive sm-vey of the Highlands, have been properly ascer- 
tained and noticed, or whether it is generally known that many of those larger trees, which ai'e 
thought almost peculiar to more southern counties, have been fi-equently found of tolerable size in 
many parts of the districts I allude to. 
To point out these, and then- relative magnitudes, will form one of the objects of this paper, as showing 
the richness of the foliage and the number of conspicuous plants which enter into the composition of 
the variegated and highly interesting landscape on the banks of Loch Ness. 
But, first, I must ofler a general and short description of the face of the country. It is one of 
the very peculiar features of this part of the island that, similar to the extensive vaUey which cuts 
across our southern division, from the Firth of Forth to that of the Clyde, there is in the North an 
equally extensive one, less elevated, but more abundant in water, which connects, by its lakes and 
by the Caledonian Canal, the Atlantic Ocean with the German Sea, and which is well known under 
the name of the Great Glen of Scotland. Two-and-twenty miles of tliis natiu'al opening is occupied 
by the deep waters of Loch Ness, and if the mountams which suiTound its margin are not so pic- 
turesque, towering, and rugged, as those of the west coast, they are still more varied in inclination 
and outline, more protected from the rage of the Atlantic storms, more exposed to the sun, and there- 
fore more favourable to vegetation. 
Thi-ee or four lateral valleys, all of them differing in botanical characters, according as they are wide 
or narrow, and traversed by a smooth-flowing stream or a foaming torrent, open themselves to the 
lake, and discharge their moisture into its collected waters. One of these, called the Glen of Urqu- 
hart, is exceedingly beautiful, and much admii-ed from the cUmbing woods of birch and fir which 
adorn its sides, screening it from the mntry blast, and from the broad fields of highly cultivated 
land which occupy its lower accli\'ities. It expands, at its junction with the lake, into a wide bay, 
one of whose promontories rises gently in romided terraces of green coppice and corn land, — where 
formerly stood one of the early wooden churches of the seventh centmy, built, according to the 
Breverium Aberdonense, of hewn oak, and dedicated to St. Moabrutha. The other promontory is 
crowned with the venerable walls of the Castle of Urquhart, once the seat of the proud Cumyns, Earls 
of Badenoch, and the last castle which stood out against the usm-ping arms of Edward the Fii'st. 
In case I should forget afterwards, I maj' remark, in passing, that here, " where ruin greenly dwells," 
are found some elegant specimens of the beautiful plant Geranium lucidum. 
The hiUs, stretching on both sides from the Vale of Urquhart, are well clothed with wood, among 
which the Fii-, the Weeping Bii-ch, and the hoary Hawthorn, are conspicuous ; but the most interesting 
featm-e of them, is the height to which cultivation has been carried, and the cm-iously-disposed patches 
and terraces, raised one above another, wherever the slope of the hill, and the absence of stagnant 
water and brushwood, have allowed and encoiu-aged the exertions of industi-y. Perhaps the more regular 
farmer might be disposed to smile at these feeble attempts to copy his skill ; but to the lover of pictur- 
esque hamlet scenery, as well as to the botanist, they will ever be beautiful and interesting. 
The south side of the lake, is equally diversified and romantic ; indeed, it forms the avenue to the 
celebrated Fall of Foyers, of which so many excellent descriptions have been written. At the lower 
extremity of the lake we find a fiat alluvial plain, stretching away towards the town of Inverness and 
Fort-George. On this plain are situated the regular farms of the district, and fi'om it is seen one of the 
finest approaches to the lake, as well as the best positions for viewing the grand chains of mountains 
in the back-ground. The low waving knolls scattered over this plain, with the smooth-flowing sand- 
stone hills which bound its sides, are covered with planted Fii-s and hard- woods, very different in 
appearance from those we find rooted in their parent rocks a little way on. On coming to the place 
vv*here the road is first made to observe the mndings of the lake. Highland scenery immediately 
assumes its wild superiority, — cultivation recedes at every step, — the bare rocks advance to the edge 
of the road, — the Alpine ton-ent is heard dashing over their surface, — the wind begins to whistle 
through the tender branches of the birch, — and the lake, dashing its waves at our feet, all powerfully 
convince us that we are now fah-ly in the land of the " mountain and flood." 
The road, cut in many places, especially on the north side, out of the solid rocks, winds along their 
jutting foreheads, overhung with the drooping boughs of the Birch, or shaded by the spreading arms 
fe 
