of 1745. Its situation is singularly beautiful and romantic, commanding one of the grandest views I ever beheld.

It stands about one third of the way up the steep of an immense rugged mountain, whose base is washed by the murmuring waters of the Loch-Ness, and whose awful summit appears to overtop the clouds. The precipice of this mountain is every where covered by thick woods of birch; whose tints, during autumn, are peculiarly rich and beautiful. The present inhabitants of the hut, had, by dint of great labour, cleared a small patch of ground, just above the house, which then served both as garden and farm. It could boast of a few potatoes, some small sheaves of corn, and herbage for a little black cow, at whose teats an Herculean wench was vehemently tugging when I arrived.

At the sight of a being so wholly different, in every respect, from those she had been accustomed to see, she started from her stool, and stood aghast; but in this sudden revolution she upset her milk-pail, and overthrew its contents, which were irretrievably lost, and wholly regardless of this event, she placed

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her arms a kimbo, and in one steady vacant stare, eyed me from top to toe.

So profound, indeed, was the apathy of this wench, that all the shouts of mine host, (who had by this time sallied out of the hut) could not arouse her. It was his desire that she should act the part of an ostler and take care of my beastie; and as he found that words were of no avail, he took the liberty " of lending his loving wife a loundering lick." This manœuvre, as might be expected, had the desired effect; and she conducted my poney to a wretched hovel that stood hard by, while mine host 'led the way to an apartment of his house, into which I was shewn.

I now found myself in a small room, whose floor, walls, and ceiling, were severally composed of a brown mud. One chair, and one table, were all its furniture; and the light made its way through a small window, from which I looked down upon a most delightful prospect. Over the opposite shore of the lake, a grand amphitheatre of rocks and moun tains, piled on each other as far as the eye could reach, rose a sublime spectacle to the heavens; and the sun-beams striking upon the

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snow that capt their towering summits, rendered the dazzling whiteness of a beautiful contrast to the deep blue of the sky.

Here the lake appeared to be scarcely two: miles broad, and its placid surface exhibited a glowing reflection of the opposite scenery, which was only occasionally disturbed by the appearance of a solitary sea-fowl, upon the watch for its prey.

I made an hasty meal of potatoes, butter, and salt, (being the only provisions even money could procure) and sat out, with my guide, for the fall of Foyers, which was not more. than a mile distant..

The road we pursued continued to ascend, without interruption, through thicksets and woods of birch, whose elegant branches being suspended over the road, formed a delightful avenue that extended all the way to the celebrated cataract I was upon the eve of beholding. As we drew near, the loud roaring of the fall began to be heard, and echoed from all the neighbouring recesses of the rocks. My expectation was raised to the utmost pitch by the extraordinary grandeur of all the surrounding scenery, and when my guide di

rected me to look through a fissure which appeared by the side of the road, I beheld a scene that words can but faintly portray.

I saw, at a vast distance, in the very bowels of the earth, an impetuous river rushing in loud uproar, over huge fragments of rocks, which, by some violent cause, had been separated from their parent mountain, and precipitated in one tremendous crash, to seek repose in the bottom of that dark profound.

I was much surprised when my guide informed me that notwithstanding the water I saw was in such a depth of the earth, it had not yet arrived at the fall which was so justly celebrated, but that it had fallen an hundred feet over a rock that formed part of its bed about half a mile upwards, and was then endeavouring to find its way by another fall, yet more lofty, into the Loch-Ness.

Walking a little farther we arrived at a low wall, and upon looking over it, my eye sought in vain to measure the depth of a black abyss, that appeared to be interminable; my ears were then assailed by the tumultuous roar of many waters, that seemed to be endeavouring to find a passage through the very

center of the earth; and the affrighted spray, as if determined to seek an asylum in air, was rising in thick and convulsive columns from the opening in the rocks. 'Till now we had remained upon the road which leads to Fort Augustus, over part of the Morven hills of Ossian, from whence the river that takes these amazing transitions has its source.

In order to command a full view of this mighty cataract, it was necessary to descend to a great depth, almost by a perpendicular direction, down the side of the abyss; and as my guide led the way, he desired me to follow him with the utmost caution, for if it was my misfortune to make the least false · step, all the powers of man could not save me from the most horrible destruction. This very necessary advice I found some difficulty in observing, for the ground was made so exceedingly wet and slippery, by the incessant fall of the spray, (which rises many hundred feet into the air) that it was with the utmost difficulty I could keep my feet firm under me. However self-preservation operated so strongly on my behalf, that we proceeded downwards with tolerable alacrity.