he country was deplorable. Without quoting from all, let the following
lengthy extract suffice, which is from Buchanan:

"Upon the whole, the situation of these people, inhabitants of
Britain! is such as no language can describe, nor fancy conceive. If,
with great labor and fatigue, the farmer raises a slender crop of
oats and barley, the autumnal rains often baffle his utmost efforts,
and frustrate all his expectations: and instead of being able to pay
an exorbitant rent, he sees his family in danger of perishing during
the ensuing winter, when he is precluded from any possibility of
assistance elsewhere. Nor are his cattle in a better situation; in
summer they pick up a scanty support amongst the morasses or heathy
mountains: but in winter, when the grounds are covered with snow, and
when the naked wilds afford neither shelter nor subsistence, the few
cows, small, lean, and ready to drop down through want of pasture,
are brought into the hut where the family resides, and frequently
share with them the small stock of meal which had been purchased, or
raised, for the family only; while the cattle thus sustained, are
bled occasionally, to afford nourishment for the children after it
hath been boiled or made into cakes. The sheep being left upon the
open heaths, seek to shelter themselves from the inclemency of the
weather amongst the hollows upon the lee-side of the mountains, and
here they are frequently buried under the snow for several weeks
together, and in severe seasons during two months and upwards. They
eat their own and each other's wool, and hold out wonderfully under
cold and hunger; but even in moderate winters, a considerable number
are generally found dead after the snow hath disappeared, and in
rigorous seasons few or none are left alive. Meanwhile the steward,
hard pressed by letters from Almack's or Newmarket, demands the rent
in a tone which makes no great allowance for unpropitious seasons,
the death of cattle, and other accidental misfortunes: disguising the
feelings of his own breast--his Honor's wants must at any rate be
supplied, the bills must be duly negotiated. Such is the state of
farming, if it may be so called, throughout the interior parts of the
Highlands; but as that country has an extensive coast, and many
islands, it may be supposed that the inhabitants of those shores
enjoy all the benef