12 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY LIFE [cb. n. 
heath, and lichens; dark brown streams gushing 
among crags and blocks, unenlivened even by a 
clump of stunted willows: and I followed the 
rivulet, judging that it would lead to the river, 
and the river to the sea. For seven long miles I 
trudged along, faint enough, as you may suppose, 
having obtained no refreshment for eighteen hours, 
excepting two mouthfuls of cold water; so that 
even the multitudes of grouse that sprung up 
around me ceased to give much pleasure, although 
I had never before started so many, even with a 
dog, in a space of equal extent. At one o’clock, 
however, I came to a hut, tenanted by a person 
named MacHardy, who, expressing his concern at 
my having been out all night, treated me to a glass 
of whisky and some bread and milk. At this 
place, Dubrach, stood three half-blasted firs, and 
about a mile and a half farther down I came upon 
a wood, the first that I had seen since I left Blair. 
The silver Dee now rolled pleasantly along the 
wooded valley, and in the evening I reached 
Castleton of Braemar, where, while seated in the 
inn, at a little round table, reading Zimmerman on 
Solitude , which, to my great joy, I had found there, 
and sipping my tea, I heard a rap at the door. 
'Come in, 5 said I; it was my best friend, with 
whom I spent a happy evening, in which, I believe, 
little mention was made of ptarmigans, grey or 
brown. 55 
I have thus quoted in full MacGillivray’s 
account of that midnight journey, not only on 
account of its extremely interesting and splendidly 
picturesque character, but as a narrative of adven¬ 
ture, strikingly illustrative of some of the strongest 
and most enduring features of his mental constitu¬ 
tion and habits. 
