of it. My chief
reasons are a determination to run over a good part of Ireland and an
engagement to leave Europe in my favorite ship Baltic next week; but,
besides these, this continual prevalence of fog, mist, cloud, drizzle
and rain diminish my regret that I am unable to visit the Highlands. My
friends who, having a day's start of me, went up the Forth from
Edinburgh to Stirling, thence visiting Lochs Lomond and Katrine, thence
proceeding by boat to Glasgow, were unable to see aught of the mountains
but their bases, their heads being shrouded in vapor; and, being landed
from a steamboat at the head of Lake navigation on Loch Lomond, found
five miles of land-carriage between them and a comfortable shelter, and
only vehicles enough to take the women and part of the men; the rest
being obliged to make the distance on foot in a drenching rain, with
night just at hand. Such adventures as this,--and they are common in
this region,--console me for my disappointment in not having been able
to see the Heather in its mountain home. The Gorse, the Broom, the
Whins, not to speak of the Scottish Thistle, have been often visible by
the roadside, and the prevalence of evergreens attests the influence of
a colder clime than that of England; indeed, the backwardness of all the
crops argues a difference of at least a fortnight in climate between
Edinburgh and London. Wheat has hardly filled yet in the Scottish
Lowlands; Oats are barely headed; and the Grass is little more than half
cut and not half dried into Hay; on the contrary, it now looks as if it
must winter on the ground or be taken in thoroughly water-soaked. Being
so much later, the crops are far less blown down here than they are in
England; but neither Grass nor Grain is generally heavy, while Potatoes
and Turnips, though backward, looked remarkably vigorous and promising.
Beautifully farmed is all this Lowland country, well fenced, clear of
weeds, and evidently in the hands of intelligent, industrious,
scientific cultivators. Wood is quite plentiful, Oak especially, though
shade-trees are not so frequent in cultivated fields as in England; but
rough, rocky, precipitous spots are quite common here, though in the
Lowlands, and these are wisely devoted to growing timber. Belgium is
more genial and more fertile, but I have rarely seen a tract of country
better farmed than that stretching westward from Edinburgh to Glasgow
(48 miles) and thence down the Clyde to Greenock, some 22