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The test view of Loch Lomond is

1

and the circular towers at the angles. It was built during the times of the Crusades, by a lady of the Campbell family, but is now the property of the Earl of Bredalbin.

From hence to the inn of Dalmaly, the views, though perpetually changing, are extremely beautiful, and those above and below the bridge must strike even a common observer.

The road to Tyndrum winds up a steep ascent, and displays a continued scene of stupendous mountains covered with heath and patches of pasture, and exhibiting in parts the variegated colouring of the different strata of rocks and earths; the outline varied and broken into the grandest forms.

The sides of these abrupt eminences were in parts crowded with sheep, whose bleatings, joined with the barking of the dogs, and the loud boisterous voices of the shepherds, (a different race of beings it may be presumed to those of Arcadia,) formed a kind of rough concert, that seemed to give animation to a wild and deserted country.

It is pleasing to observe the conduct of these men, but more particularly that of their dogs. The sagacious animal walks parallel with his master, but at a good distance above, on the side of the hill, aiding at intervals, with his barking, the hallooing of his companion when the flock seems to lag; but should one stray aside, he flies after him, and soon brings the wanderer back, then resuming his former position, he marches on with as much consequence, and as strict an attention to the business he is upon, as the scarcely more rational animal whom he accompanies.

These herdsmen have a kind of temporary residence on the hills where they intend to graze their sheep; these are called shelins; and here they remain exposed to all the inconveniences of these imperfect huts, till the snows of winter drive them to a less exalted station.

The situation of Tyndrum is very high, as the road from Dalmaly is almost a continued ascent; and as two rivers take their rise near it, the one running east and the other west, it has generally been considered as the highest plain in these parts. The vicinity of this place is famous for being the scene where the engagement between Robert Bruce, and the forces of Ar

gyleshire under M'Dougal, took place, in which the former was defeated, and narrowly escaped being made prisoner.

Saturday, 30th.-From hence to Glen Dochart, the country is nearly similar, exhibiting the same grandeur and wildness of outline, and the same indication of pastoral pursuits; the lower parts of the valleys here and there are enriched with corn-fields and plantations of fir.

At Glen Dochart the views become more pleasing; the river, which takes its rise near Loch Tay, here expands itself into a narrow lake, in the centre of which is a small island, with the ruins of a castle surrounded by birchtrees. The north side exhibits a very pleasing diversity of rock and wood, rising on tufted knolls up the steep ascent, and fringing the indented summit. The castle, small as it is, once withstood a siege; but the assailants, being favoured with a sudden frost, were enabled to carry the place by the means of fascines of straw and boughs of trees, which they pushed before them on the ice to the very foot of the walls.

Glen Dochart beyond this is a wild scene of mountains, rising in abrupt and fantastic shapes in the midst of the glen, like the waves of a turbulent ocean.

Sunday, 31st.-From Glen Dochart, the road to Loch Lomond passes through Glen Fallock, in the first part exhibiting a dreary scene of heathy mountains, down which the torrents were pouring on every side, often with a degree of violence that carried all before them.

In the August of the last year, a sudden thunder storm swept away fourteen bridges in this neighbourhood, bringing down such quantities of gravel and stones from the mountains, as totally to conceal the places where they had stood. Some of them are now rebuilding.

The river, which runs, or more properly tumbles, through a very rugged channel, begins to improve as it approaches the lake; the sides become fringed with trees, which gradually expand to woods that creep up the sides of the hills. Near the inn, the scene is a fine specimen of rural solitude, encompassed by mountains of a great height.

The first view of Loch Lomond is

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Engraved by Wallis from a Drawing by John Bird. Esq. for the Imperial Magazine.

Loch Lomonde.

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