The Highland district of Scotland occupies almost the whole of the western part of the island north of the valley of the Clyde. It consists of mountains, glens, and lakes, with roads winding in every direction through and among them. Of course the number of different Highland excursions which a tourist can plan is infinite. Most visitors to Scotland are, however, satisfied with a short tour among these mountains, on account of the great uncertainty of the weather. Indeed, as it rains here more than half the time, the chance is always in favor of bad weather; and the really pleasant days are very few.

The valley by which tourists from Glasgow most frequently go into the Highlands is the valley of Loch Lomond. The lower end of this lake comes to within about ten miles of the Clyde. The upper end of it extends about twenty-five miles into the very heart of the Highlands. There is an inn at the lower end of the lake, that is, the end nearest the Clyde, called Balloch Inn. At the upper end of the lake is another resting-place for travellers. A small steamboat passes every day through the lake, from one of these inns to the other, touching at various intermediate points on the way, at little villages or landing-places, where roads from the interior of the country come down to the lake.

From Balloch there is a railroad leading to the Clyde, though it does not extend to Glasgow. Travellers from Glasgow come down the Clyde in a steamer about ten miles to the railroad landing. There they take the cars, and proceed down the river, along the bank, amidst scenery of the grandest and most beautiful character, to Dunbarton Castle, where the road leaves the river, and turns into the interior of the country, towards the valley of Loch Lomond.

The road terminates at Balloch. Here the travellers are transferred to the steamer, and pursue their journey by water. It was this route Mr. George had determined to take on leaving Glasgow.

He got ready to leave Glasgow on the afternoon of a certain Thursday.

"Now, boys," said he, "we are ready to go to the Highlands. Find out for me when the boats and trains go, while I settle the bill."

So saying, Mr. George rose and rang the bell.

In Europe we do not go down to the office or bar room, when we are ready to leave a hotel, to call for and settle our bill there, as we do in America, but we ring the bell in our room, and ask the waiter to bring the bill to us.

"I have found out already," said Waldron. "There is a boat at four o'clock. It starts from the Broomielaw."

"And is there a train that connects with that boat?" asked Mr. George.

"Yes, sir," said Waldron.

"Then," said Mr. George, "we will go at four o'clock; we shall just have time."

I am not certain that Waldron was entirely honest in giving this information to Mr. George, for he concealed one very important circumstance; or rather he omitted to mention it. This circumstance was, that there was no boat from Balloch to connect with the train, so that if they were to go to Balloch that night, he knew that they could not go any farther till the next morning. He liked this, for he and Rollo had both begun to be tired of Glasgow, and he thought that if they should get to Balloch two or three hours before dark, there might be some chance for him and Rollo to go out fishing on the lake.

Very soon, however, he reflected that he should enjoy his fishing less, if he resorted to any thing like artifice or concealment to obtain it; and so, after a little hesitation, he frankly told Mr. George that they could go no farther than to the foot of the lake that night. There was only one boat each day, he said, on the lake, and that left Balloch in the morning, and returned at night.

Mr. George said that that made no difference. He was tired of being in a great city, and would like to see the country and the mountains again; and he should, therefore, prefer going to spend the night at Balloch, rather than to remain in Glasgow.

So the party set off. They embarked on board the steamer at the Broomielaw. They ran rapidly down the river to the railroad landing. They found the train waiting for them there, and were whirled rapidly up the valley. There were most charming views of the mountains on either hand, with hamlets and villages scattered along the slopes of them. At length they arrived at Balloch. There was no village here, but only a pretty inn, situated delightfully on the margin of the lake, very near the outlet. There was an elegant suspension bridge across the outlet, very near the railroad station. There were several thatch-covered cottages near, and two or three castles were seen through openings among the trees on the hill-sides around. As the party crossed the suspension bridge, Rollo and Waldron, to their great delight, saw several boats floating in the water near the inn, and there was a boy on the bridge fishing over the railing. They stopped to talk with this boy, while Mr. George went on to engage rooms at the inn, and to order a supper.

When the boys came in they gave such fine accounts of the fishing on the lake, and of the facility with which they could obtain a boat, and a boatman to go out with them, that Mr. George was half persuaded to allow them to engage a boat, and to go out with them for an hour or two.

"And we want you to go with us, too," said Waldron, "if you can; but if you have any thing else to do, we can go by ourselves, with the boatman."

"Yes," said Rollo, "and if you think it is not best for us to go at all, we can fish on the bridge."

Mr. George was much pleased to hear the boys speak in this manner in respect to the excursion. He was particularly glad to hear Waldron say that he desired that he should go with them. It is always an excellent sign when a boy wishes his father, or his mother, or his uncle, or whoever has the charge of him, to go with him, and share his pleasures; and those parents and uncles who take an interest in the plans and enjoyments of their children, and sympathize with them in their feelings, in such a manner that the children like their company, place themselves in a position to exercise the highest possible influence over their conduct and character.

"Shall we have time?" asked Mr. George.

"Yes, sir," said Waldron. "It is not dark here till half past ten, and it is only half past six now, so that there are four hours."

The farther you go north the longer the evenings are, in summer; and at the time when our party made this visit to the Highlands, the evenings there were so long that you could see to read very well till nearly ten o'clock. The dawn, and the sunrise, too, come on proportionately early in the morning. The boys forgot this one morning, and finding that it was very light in their room when they woke, they got up, and dressed themselves, and went down stairs, thinking that it was nearly breakfast time. But they found, on looking at a clock in the hall of the inn, that it was not quite three o'clock!

But to return to the story.

Mr. George told the boys that if they would arrange the boat party, that is, if they would engage the boat and the boatman, and also some fishing lines, he would go with them. They would have supper first, and then set out immediately afterwards.

This plan was carried into effect. Mr. George himself cared nothing about the fishing. His only object was to see the lake, and talk with the Highland boatmen. Still he took a line and fished a little, for company to the boys. The excursion proved a very pleasant one. The lake was beautiful. The surface of the water was studded with pretty islands, and the shores were formed of picturesque hills, which were every where adorned with cottages, castles, groves, fields, and all the other elements of rural beauty.

The excursion itself was very much like any fishing excursion in America, only the peculiar dialect of the boatman continually reminded the travellers that they were in Scotland. For "I don't know," he said "I dinna ken;" for "trouble" the word was "fash," and for "not," "na." The boys had heard this phraseology before. The railway porter, when he put Mr. George's valise in the carriage, crowded it under the seat, where he said it would not "fash the other travellers;" and at the inn, where Mr. George asked the servant girl if she would let them know when their supper was ready, she said, "Yes, sir, I will coom and tak ye doon."

Waldron enjoyed the fishing excursion very much indeed. He said that he should like to make the whole tour of Scotland in a boat, round among the islands on the western and northern shores. These islands are, indeed, very grand and picturesque. They are groups of dark mountains, rising out of the sea. To cruise among them in a yacht would be a very pleasant tour, were it not for the incessant storms of wind and rain to which the voyagers would be exposed.

Waldron said he particularly desired to go to the Shetland Islands, on the north of Scotland, in order to buy himself a pony.

"My father has promised me," said he, "that if ever he goes to the Shetlands he will buy me a pony."

"I should like a Shetland pony," said Rollo.

"Yes," said Waldron. "They are very hardy animals, and then they are very docile and gentle. Some of them are as gentle and sagacious as a dog. I read a story in a book once of one that saved the life of a child, by plunging into the water, and seizing the child by the clothes, between his teeth, and bringing it safe to land. The child fell into the water off of a steep bank, and the horse jumped after it."

THE SHETLAND PONY.

Here is a picture of the horse which Waldron read about, climbing up the bank of the stream, bringing the child.

The party returned from the fishing excursion about eight o'clock; but as it was still half an hour before sunset, Mr. George proposed to take a walk to one of the castles. The waiter at the hotel had told them that he could give them a ticket, and then the porter at the castle would let them in at the gate, and allow them to walk about the grounds and around the castle, but they could not go into it, for the proprietor and his family were residing there.

Accordingly, when the party reached the landing, at the end of their excursion, they left the boat, and walking across the bridge, they took their course towards the castle. The road was as smooth and hard as a floor, but it was bordered by close stone walls on either side, with trees overhanging them. At length, after one or two turnings, they came to the great gate which led to the castle. The gateway was bordered on each side with masses of trees and shrubbery, and just within it was a small but very pretty house, built of stone. This was the porter's lodge. When they came up to the gate, and looked through the bars of it, a little barefooted girl came out from the door of the lodge, and opened the gate to let them in.

On entering they found themselves at the commencement of a smoothly gravelled avenue, which led in a winding direction among the trees through a beautiful park. They walked on along this avenue, supposing that it would lead them to the castle. They passed various paths which branched off here and there from the avenue, and seemed to lead in various directions about the grounds. The views which presented themselves on every side were varied and beautiful. They saw several hares leaping about upon the grass—a sight which attracted the attention of the boys very strongly.

At length they came in sight of the castle. It stood on a swell of ground, at the foot of a high hill. The body of it consisted in part of a great round tower, with turrets and battlements above. The walls were covered with ivy.

After viewing the edifice as much as they wished, the party followed some of the winding walks, which led in various directions over the grounds; and, though every thing had a finished and beautiful appearance, still the whole scene wore a very sombre expression.

"It must be a very solitary sort of grandeur, in my opinion," said Mr. George, "which a man enjoys by living in such a place as this."

"Why, I suppose he can have company if he wishes," said Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George. "Perhaps he lives in Edinburgh, or in London, in the winter, and in the summer he has company here. But then when he has company at all he must have them all the time, and he must have all the care and responsibility of entertaining them; and that, I should think, would be a great burden."

Mr. George and the boys rambled over these grounds about half an hour, and then they returned to the hotel. They were obliged to walk fast the last part of the way, for dark, driving clouds began to be seen in the sky, and just before they reached the hotel some drops of fine rain began to fall.

"To-morrow is going to be a rainy day, I expect," said Rollo.

"Very likely," said Mr. George.

"And shall you go on over the lake if it is?" asked Rollo.

"I think we shall go as far as to the foot of Ben Lomond," said Mr. George.

Chapter VIII.
Rowerdennan Inn

Ben Lomond is one of the highest peaks in Scotland. There are one or two that are higher, but they are more remote, and consequently less known. Ben Lomond is the one most visited, and is, accordingly, the one that is most renowned.

It lies on the east side of Loch Lomond, about half way between the head of the lake and the outlet. Our party were now at the outlet of the lake, and were going the next morning towards the head of it. The outlet of the lake is towards the south. In this southern part, as I believe I have already said, the lake is about ten miles wide, and its banks are formed of hills and valleys of fertile land, every where well cultivated, and presenting charming scenes of verdure and fruitfulness. The lake, too, in this portion of it, is studded with a great number of very picturesque and pretty islands.

As you go north, however, the lake, or loch, as the Scotch call it, contracts in breadth, and the land rises higher and higher, until at length you see before you a narrow sheet of water, shut in on either hand with dark and gloomy mountains, the sides of which are covered every where with ferns and heather, and seem entirely uninhabited. They descend, moreover, so steep to the water that there seems to be not even room for a path between the foot of the mountains and the shore.

The highest peak of these sombre-looking hills is Ben Lomond; which rises, as I have before said, on the eastern side of the loch, about midway between the head of the loch and the outlet. At the foot of the mountain there is a point of land projecting into the water, where there is an inn. Tourists stop at this inn when they wish to ascend the mountain. Other persons come to the inn for the purpose of fishing on the loch, or of making excursions by the footpaths which penetrate, here and there, among the neighboring highlands. There is a ferry here, too, across the loch. There is no village, nor, indeed, are there any buildings whatever to be seen; so that the place is as secluded and solitary as can well be imagined. It is known by the name of Rowerdennan Inn. It was at this point that Mr. George proposed to stop, in case the day should prove rainy.

When the boys rose the next morning, the first thing was to look out of the window, to see what the promise was in respect to the weather. It was not raining, but the sky was overcast and heavy.

"Good," said Waldron. "It does not rain yet, but it will before we get to Rowerdennan Inn."

Waldron was glad to see that there was a prospect of unfavorable weather, for he wished to stop at the inn. He had read in the guide book that they had boats and fishing apparatus there, and he thought that if they stopped perhaps another plan might be formed for going out on the loch a-fishing.

The steamer was to leave at nine o'clock. The boys could see her lying at the pier, about half a mile distant from them. The air was misty, and there were some small trees in the way, but the boys could see the chimney distinctly. They dressed themselves as soon as they could, and went to Mr. George's room. They knocked gently at the door. Mr. George said, "Come in." They went in and found Mr. George seated at a table, writing in his journal. It was about seven o'clock.

Mr. George laid aside his writing, and after bidding the boys good morning, and talking with them a few minutes about the plans of the day, took a testament which he had upon a table before him, and read a few verses from one of the Gospels, explaining the verses as he read them. Then they all knelt down together, and Mr. George made a short and simple prayer, asking God to take care of them all during the day, to guard them from every danger, to make them kind and considerate towards each other, and towards all around them, and to keep them from every species of sin.

This was the way in which Mr. George always commenced the duties of the day, when travelling with Rollo, whether there were any other persons in company or not; and a most excellent way it was, too. Besides the intrinsic propriety of coming in the morning to commit ourselves to the guardian care and protection of Almighty God, especially when we are exposed to the vicissitudes, temptations, and dangers that are always hovering about the path of the traveller in foreign lands, the influence of such a service of devotion, brief and simple as it was, always proved extremely salutary on Rollo's mind, as well as on the minds of those who were associated with him in it. It made them more gentle, and more docile and tractable; and it tended very greatly to soften those asperities which we often see manifesting themselves in the intercourse of boys with each other.

When the devotional service was finished, Mr. George sent the boys down stairs, to make arrangements for breakfast. In about half an hour Rollo came up to say that breakfast was ready in the coffee room, and Mr. George went down.

After breakfast Mr. George took the valise, and the boys took the other parcels of baggage, and they all went over the bridge to the railway station. They waited here a short time, until at length the train came. They would have walked on to the pier, where the boat in which they were going to embark was lying, but it was beginning to rain a little, and Mr. George thought it would be better to wait and go in the cars. The distance was not more than a quarter of a mile, and the boys were quite curious to know what the price of the tickets would be, for such a short ride. They found that they were threepence apiece.

The train came very soon, bringing with it several little parties of tourists, that were going into the Highlands. They all seemed greatly chagrined and disappointed at finding that it was beginning to rain.

When the train stopped opposite the pier, the passengers hurried across the pier, and over the plank, on board the boat. The rain was falling fast, and every thing was dripping wet. The gentlemen went loaded with portmanteaus, carpet bags, valises, and other parcels of baggage, while the women hurried after them, holding their umbrellas in one hand, and endeavoring, as well as they could, to lift up their dresses with the other. The boat was very small, and there was no shelter whatever from the rain on the deck. Most of the company, therefore, hurried down into the cabin.

"Are you going down into the cabin, too, uncle George?" said Rollo.

"Not I," said Mr. George. "Rain or no rain, I am going to see the shores of Loch Lomond."

There was a heap of baggage near the centre of the boat, covered with a tarpauling. Mr. George put his valise and the knapsacks under the covering, with the other travellers' effects, and then began to look about for seats. There was a range of wooden benches all along the sides of the deck, but they were very wet, and looked extremely uncomfortable. The water, however, did not stand upon them, for they were made of open work, on purpose to let the water through.

"If we only had some camp stools," said Mr. George, "we could get sheltered seats under the lee of the baggage; but as it is, we must make the best of these."

VIEWING THE SCENERY OF LOCH LOMOND.

So he folded his shawl long enough to make a cushion for three persons, and laid it down on one of the benches. He sat down himself upon the centre of it, and the boys took their places on each side. Mr. George then spread his umbrella, and the boys, by sitting very close to him, could both come under it. By the time they were thus established the boat had left the pier, and was gliding smoothly away over the waters of the lake, with green and beautifully wooded islands all around. In the distance up the lake, wherever the opening of the clouds afforded a view, it was seen that the horizon was bounded, and the waters of the lake were shut in, with dark and gloomy-looking mountains, the summits of which were entirely concealed from view.

After a short time the rain increased, and all the scenery, except such islands and portions of the shore as came very near the track of the steamer, was soon entirely hidden. The wind blew harder, too, and drove the rain in under the umbrella, so that our travellers were beginning to get quite wet.

"Suppose I go below," said Waldron, "and see what sort of a place the other passengers have found down there."

"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is so wet here, and besides, I am beginning to be cold."

"We will all go," said Mr. George.

So they all went below. They descended one at a time, by a small spiral staircase, near the stern, which led them into the cabin of the boat. The cabin presented to view quite an extraordinary spectacle.

It was a small room, being not much more than fifteen feet wide. Along the sides of it were seats made of carved oak, and very comfortably cushioned. Above was a row of small windows, through which you could look out by kneeling on the seats. At the end of the cabin were a fireplace and a grate. There was a coal fire burning in the fireplace, and several of the passengers were hovering around it to warm and dry themselves. Others were looking out of the windows, vainly endeavoring to obtain some glimpses of the scenery. A great many of them were uttering exclamations of disappointment and vexation, at finding all the pleasure of their excursion spoiled thus by the cold and the rain.

Some of the travellers, however, more philosophical than the rest, seemed to take their ill luck quite patiently. There was one group that opened their knapsacks at one of the side tables, and were taking breakfast together there in a very merry manner.

Mr. George and the two boys went to the fire, and stood there to warm themselves, listening, in the mean time, to the exclamations and remarks of the various groups of passengers, which they found quite amusing. In the mean time the steamer went on, bringing continually new points of land and new islands into view. She stopped, too, now and then, at landings along the margin of the lake; and on these occasions Rollo and Waldron always went up on deck, to witness the operation of bringing the steamer to, and to see who went on shore.

They had a list of these landings on the tickets which they had bought of the captain of the boat, as soon as they came on board. When they found that the next landing was Rowerdennan, all the party went up on deck. The rain, they now found, had ceased. Indeed, the sky looked quite bright, and several of the passengers were standing on the wet deck, watching for glimpses of the mountains, which appeared here and there through the openings in the clouds. They saw repeatedly the dark and gloomy sides of Ben Lomond; but a canopy of dense and heavy clouds rested upon and concealed the summit.

The boys obtained a glimpse of a stone house, nearly enveloped in trees, at a little distance from the shore, as they approached the land. This they supposed was the inn, as there was no other house in sight.

The steamer drew up to the pier. The pier was very small. It was built of timbers, and extended a little way out over the water, from a solitary place on the shore. Every passenger that left the boat had to pay twopence for the privilege of landing upon it. The porter of the inn stood there, with a leather bag hung over his neck, to collect this toll. On this occasion, however, he got only sixpence, as Mr. George and the two boys were the only passengers that landed.

The place was very wild and solitary. There was no house, or building of any kind, in sight. There was a narrow road, however, that led along the shore of the lake, from the pier towards the point of land which the steamer had passed in coming to the pier, and the porter told Mr. George that that was the road that led to the inn.

"If you will walk on," said the porter, "I will bring your luggage."

There were some boards and small timbers on the deck of the vessel, which were to be landed here, and the porter remained in order to receive them, while Mr. George and the boys went on. They soon came to the inn. They entered it from behind, through a very pleasant yard, surrounded with trees and gardens, and out-buildings of various kinds. Mr. George went in, followed by the boys, and was shown into the coffee room. From the windows of this room there was a very pretty view of the lake, through an opening among the trees of the garden.

"And now what are we going to do?" said Waldron, after they had all looked at the view as much as they wished.

"I am going to have a fire," said Mr. George, "and then sit down here and make myself comfortable until it clears away. You and Rollo can join me, or you can form any other plan that you like better."

"We'll go a-fishing," said Waldron.

"Or else go up on Ben Lomond," said Rollo. "How high is Ben Lomond, uncle George?"

"It is between three and four thousand feet," said Mr. George. "We will all go up to-morrow if it clears away."

But Waldron did not wish to go up the mountain. He preferred to go a-fishing on the lake. He did not express his preference very strongly at this time, but in the course of the afternoon he persuaded Rollo that it would be a great deal better for them to go out a-fishing on the lake, and perhaps go across the lake to the opposite shore, rather than to go up the mountain; and he induced Rollo to join him in a request that Mr. George would let them go out on the lake, while he went up the mountain, if he wished to ascend it.

"We can have a boat and a boatman," said Waldron. "The boatman will row us, and take care of us, and that will be perfectly safe. And Rollo would like that plan best, too."

In forming this scheme Waldron and Rollo made a mistake; and it was a mistake that boys are very apt to fall into when they are invited to go on excursions with their parents, or uncles, or older brothers. It is naturally to be supposed that the tastes and inclinations of boys, in such cases, should often be different from those of the grown persons they are with, and should lead them to wish frequently to deviate, more or less, from the plans formed. But it is a great source of inconvenience to those whom they are with to have them often propose such deviations. In this case, for example, Mr. George had come a long distance, and incurred very heavy expenses, for the purpose of seeing the Scottish Highlands. Unless he could now really see them, of course all his time and money would be lost. The pleasure of going a-fishing is, doubtless, often very great, but this was not the time nor the place for enjoying it. In acceding to the arrangement to come with Mr. George to the Highlands, the boys ought to have considered themselves joined with him in a tour for instruction and improvement, and as committed to the plans which he might form, from time to time, for accomplishing the objects of the tour. By proposing, as they did, to deviate on every occasion from these plans, and wishing to turn aside from the proper duty of tourists, in search of such boyish pleasures as might be enjoyed just as well at home, they failed signally in fulfilling the obligations which they incurred in undertaking the tour under Mr. George's charge.

Let all the boys and girls, therefore, who read this book, remember that whenever, either by invitation or otherwise, they are joined to any party of which a grown person has charge, or when they accompany a grown person on any excursion whatever, they go to share his pleasures, not to substitute their own for his, and thus to interfere with and thwart the plans which he had formed. Boys often violate this rule from want of thought, and without intending to do any thing wrong. This was the case in this instance, in respect to Waldron and Rollo.

"They are good boys," said Mr. George to himself, in thinking of the subject. "They do not mean to do any thing wrong; but they do not understand the case. I will take an opportunity soon to explain it to them."

It is no time, however, to explain to a boy why it is not best that he should do a particular thing, when he wishes to do it and you forbid him. His mind is then too much occupied with his disappointment, and perhaps with vexation, to listen to the reasons. Forbid him, if it is necessary to do so, but reserve the explanation till some future time.

Mr. George got over the difficulty in this case in a very pleasant manner to all concerned. The rain ceased entirely about noon, but the paths on the mountain he knew would be too wet to make it agreeable to ascend that day; so he told the boys that if they would find the boat and the man, and make all the arrangements, he would go out with them on the lake; and that, if they would agree to write a chapter for his journal, and write it as well as they had written their accounts of their excursion to Greenock, he would stop an hour on the way, to let them fish.

"And then," said he, "we'll all ascend the mountain together to-morrow."

This proposal was readily agreed to on the part of the boys, and the compact was accordingly made. They engaged the boat and the man, and after dinner they all three embarked. The rain had ceased, but the sky was covered with clouds, and heavy masses of mist were driving along the sides and over the summits of the mountains. The weather, however, remained tolerably favorable until the boat had nearly reached the opposite shore of the lake; but then a dense mass of clouds came down from the mountains on the eastern side, and the whole shore was soon concealed from view by the driving scuds and the falling rain. The boatman pulled hard to reach the shore before the shower should come on. The gust overtook them, however, when they were about a quarter of a mile from the landing. Fortunately the wind, though very violent, was fair, and it drove them on towards the shore. Mr. George and the boys sat down in the bottom of the boat, at the stern, and spreading a large umbrella behind them, they sheltered themselves as well as they could from the wind and the rain. The poor boatman got very wet.