among these remote, and solitary mountains. Such thoughts as these were suggested to us, by the arrival of two travellers, in a post-chaise, from Edinburgh, who immediately began to display their importance, by their noise and bustle. The room, into which they were shown, had no fire, and upon their angry expostulation at this circumstance, the maid-servant answered rather sullenly, that fuel was scarce in that part of the country. This was enough to exasperate these choleric gentlemen: they burst into new oaths and vociferations, and during the whole time that they stayed, kept up a continual, but very ineffectual squabble with the people of the house. The consequence was, that the pleasure of their tour was completely suspended; their accommodation was much worse than it would otherwise have been; whilst we, who remained quiet, were treated with much greater civility and attention.

In the glen of Luss, are two small cotton-mills, the walk to which is perfectly accessible, and well deserves notice. The water, which is remarkably transparent, forming a beautiful stream, falls into the lake, near the church: the banks are of slaty rock, partly cut into quarries, and partly worn by art, and fringed with wood: upon them, the mills

(particularly the upper one) are romantically seated: and the glen winds far away, among the hollows of lofty mountains. Many pleasing strolls may be taken along the shores of the lake, indented into bays, crowned with wood, and varied with cottages, which are neater here, than in many other parts of the Highlands. Boats may be hired for fishing, or for excursions to the different islands; but an extravagant price is asked for them, the usual consequence of a great resort of strangers.

The Highlands are usually distinguished from the Lowlands by the use of the Gaelic, and Scottish languages. According to this rule, Luss might be called the portal of the Highlands, as the former of those tongues is used to the north of it, and the latter to the south. Here also begins the more general use of the plaid, with all its accompaniments. I need scarcely mention the great picturesqueness of this dress, or the variety of which it is susceptible; but it may not be amiss to make a few remarks on its different parts. The kind of cloth, which in England is usually called plaid, but in Scotland, properly, tartan, admits of very various effect; where its colours are very distinct, and glaring, it may deserve the censure passed on it by Mr.

Gilpin; but there are some combinations of colour, which are at once lively, simple, and elegant: the pattern, however, is now generally regulated by the district, as it formerly was by the clan, to which the wearer belonged. I am also far from agreeing with the above-mentioned writer, in his disapprobation of the bonnet: it is certainly more picturesque than the hat; and when decorated à la militaire, has a lively, martial appearance. The trews, or trousers, are said to have been the full dress of the chiefs, in the days of clanship; but the more common habit was the plaid, of which one end served as a cloak, and the other formed a philibeg, or short petticoat. It is surprising, that the separation of the philibeg, from the plaid, did not occur, till about seventy years ago when it was suggested by an English factor, to the workmen employed under him: it was soon found so convenient for labour, that it spread' through the Highlands, and has entirely supplanted the old mode. In the Lowlands, the philibeg is seldom used, but the other parts of the Highland dress are separately adopted; and it is very amusing to behold the different appearances, which these different combinations produce, especially on the borders of both countries. In these places, a group of

persons from various quarters, seldom meet, without some contrasts of this kind: one is a Highlander in every thing but the plaid, for which he has substituted a light jacket; another has only the plaid: one wears the bonnet, and another the hat, agreeing in all their other garments; in a third couple, perhaps, there is only one part of the dress similar: in a fourth all is unlike.

The next morning, leaving Luss, I ascended a mountain about a mile to the north, called Ben Doo*, very steep and high. On its top was said to be a small lake, called Lochan na Caillich, from the nuns who formerly inhabited one of the neighbouring islands; but upon reaching its highest point, I could only find the traces of a large accumulation of water, which seemed to have broken its bounds, and flowed down the side of the mountain. The prospect from this spot is very nearly similar to that, which I afterwards obtained from Ben Lomond; it is less extensive, indeed, but presents a more beautiful view southward, including

"All the fairy crowds

Of islands, which together lie,
As quietly, as spots of sky,
Among the evening clouds."

* Gaelic dubh, black.

† Gaelic, cailleach, an old woman, a nun.

These islands are in number about thirty, of very various sizes, from the length of two miles, to a mere rocky point: the lower part of the lake, which most abounds with them, is very broad, and bordered only by soft swelling hills; but what it loses in the magnitude of its barriers, it makes up in the number and beauty of these emerald fields. The character of softness and tranquillity, which peculiarly belongs to islands, has rendered them universally interesting to the fancy; men seem to have viewed these small secluded spots, with peculiar complacency; for various reasons they have been the seat of the proud castle, the silent monastery, the solemn cemetery, the contemplative cell; and in different mythologies they have been made the scene of neverdying happiness, the residence of the blest. They are here found with striking contrasts of form as well as of size. Inch Tavannach is a large rock overspread with wood, and so lofty, as to command a wide view of this little archipelago. Inch Murrin, the most southerly, is also the most extensive, being above two miles long, and one broad. Inch Fad is so named from its length: Inch Caillich, from a nunnery formerly situated on it. Some islands have been overwhelmed by the increase