hes 4 
extenfive view of his range. As ‘the 
afeent was too fatiguing for the child, he 
fefe him on a fmali ‘plain at the bottom, 
with fri& injunfions not to tir from: it 
till his return, .Scareely, however, had 
he gained the fummit, when the horizon 
“was fuddenly darkened by one -of thofe 
impenetrable mifts, which frequently de- 
fcend fo rapidly amidft thefe mountains 
as, in the fpace of a few minutes, almoft 
to-turn day to night. The anxious fa- 
ther inffantly haftened back to find his 
child: but, owing to the enufual dark- 
nefs and his own trepidation, he unfortu- 
nately mified his way in the defcent. Af- 
ter a fruitlefs refearch of many hours 
amongf the dangerous morafles and cata- 
ra&s, with which thefe mountains abound, 
he was at length overtaken by night. 
Stil wandering on without knowing whi- 
ther, he at length came to the verge of 
the mift; and, by the light of the moon, 
difcovered that he had reached the bottom 
of his valley, and was now within a fhort 
diftance of his cottage. To renew the 
fearch that night, was equally fruitlefs 
and dangerous. He was therefore obliged 
to return to his cottage, having loft both 
his child, and his dog who had attended 
him faithfully for years. Next morning 
by day-break, the fthepherd, accompanied 
by a band of his neighbours, fet out in 
fearch of his child; but, after a day 
{pent in fruitlefs fatigue, he was at laft 
compelied by the approach of night to de- 
feend from the mountain. On returning 
to his cottage, he found~that the dog, 
_ which he had loft the day before, had been 
home, and on receiving a piece of cake 
had inftantly gone off again. For feveral 
fucceflive days the fhepherd renewed the 
fearch for his child, and ftill on returning 
home at evening difappointed to his cot- 
tage, he found that the dog had been 
home,and, on receiving his ufua!l allowance 
of cake, had inftantly difappeared.. Struck 
‘with this fingular circumftance, he re- 
mained at home one day; and when the 
dog as ufual departed with his piece of 
cake, he refolyed to follow him, and’ find 
out the caufe of his ftrange procedure. 
The dog led the way. to a cataract, at 
fome diftance from the fpot where the 
fhepherd had left his child. ‘The banks 
of the cataract, almoft joined at the top, 
yet feparated by an abyfs of immenfe 
depth, prefented that appearance which fo 
often aftonifhes and appais the travellers 
that frequent the Grampian mountains ; 
and indicatesthatthefe ftupendous chafms 
were not the filent work cf time, but the 
On Reflecting Light-houfes. 
7 
fadden effet of fome violent convulfion of | 
the earth. Down one of thefe rugged and 
almoft perpendicular defcents, the dog be- 
gan, without hefitation, to make his 
way, and at laft difappeared into a cave, 
the mouth of which was almoft upon a 
level with the torrent. The fhepherd with 
difficulty followed; but on entering the 
cave, what were his emotions, when he 
beheld his infant eating with much fatif- 
fagtion the cake which the dog had juft 
brought him; while the faithful animal 
ftcod by, eyeing his young charge with 
theutmoft complacence! Fromthe fituation 
in which the child was found, it appears 
that he ha@ wandered to the brink of the 
precipice, and then either fallen or fcram- 
bled down till he reached the cave ; which 
the dread of the torrent had afterwards 
prevented him from quitting. The dog 
by means of his {cent had traced him to 
the fpot; and afterwards prevented him 
from ftarving by giving up to him his own 
daily allowance. He appears never. to 
have quitted the child by night or day, 
except when it was neceflary to go for it’s 
food ; and then he was always feen run- 
ning at full {peed to and from the ¢ot- 
tage.” . 
January 10, 1802. 
e | eae 4 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
\ iN / HEN I wrote that paper which 
you did me the favour to infert 
in your Magazine for December. laft, I 
little expected that I fhould have occafion 
to trouble you again on the fame fubject. 
But as the paper figned Nauricus, in 
your laft month’s Magazine, does not con- 
tain a very extenfive nor avery correct 
account of refleting light-houfes in Eng- 
land, a more perfeét account may perhaps 
be acceptable to fome of your philofo- 
phical readers, particularly to thofe who 
may be inclined to improve this ufeful 
branch of optics. oe 
Large rewards have been given for find- 
ing the longitude, and for improving in- 
firuments for determining the latitude; 
but no premium has yet been offered for 
difcovering the beft method of ere&ting 
lights for the ufe of navigators, though 
they are of more.confequence to coafting 
veficls, than both the latitude and longi- 
tude put together. 
_How mirrors came to be ufed in France 
for this purpofe, I am not able to give . 
any-account, but in England this inven- 
tion is of recent date. The idea, how- 
: | every 
