made of Ben Lomond. We
found a day of ten thousand, for our purpose; but, unhappily, a large
party had come with the sun, and engaged all the horses, so that if we
went, it must be on foot. This was something of an enterprise for me,
as the ascent is four miles, and toward the summit quite fatiguing.
However, in the pride of newly-gained health and strength, I was
ready, and set forth with Mr. S. alone. We took no guide, and the
people of the house did not advise us to take one, as they ought.

On reaching the peak, the sight was one of beauty and grandeur such as
imagination never painted. You see around you no plain ground, but on
every side constellations, or groups of hills, exquisitely dressed in
the soft purple of the heather, amid which gleam the lakes, like eyes
that tell the secrets of the earth, and drink in those of the heavens.
Peak beyond peak caught from the shifting light all the colors of
the prism, and, on the furthest, angel companies seemed hovering in
glorious white robes.

About four o'clock we began our descent. Near the summit, the traces
of the path are not distinct, and I said to Mr. S., after a while,
that we had lost it. He said he thought that was of no consequence;
we could find our way down. I said I thought it was, as the ground was
full of springs that were bridged over in the pathway. He accordingly
went to look for it, and I stood still, because I was so tired I did
not like to waste any labor.

Soon he called to me that he had found it, and I followed in the
direction where he seemed to be. But I mistook, overshot it, and saw
him no more. In about ten minutes I became alarmed, and called him
many times. It seems, he on his side shouted also, but the brow of
some hill was between us, and we neither saw nor heard one another. I
then thought I would make the best of my way down, and I should
find him when I arrived. But, in doing so, I found the justice of my
apprehension about the springs, so soon as I got to the foot of the
hills; for I would sink up to my knees in bog, and must go up the
hills again, seeking better crossing places. Thus I lost much time.
Nevertheless, in the twilight, I saw, at last, the lake, and the inn
of Rowardennan on its shore.

Between me and it, lay, direct, a high heathery hill, which I
afterwards found is called "The Tongue," because hemmed in on three
sides by a water-course. It looked as if, could I only get to the
bottom of that, I should be on compar