who
was born on the Clyde; and he is accordingly considered as the author
and originator of English steam navigation, just as Fulton is regarded
as the originator of the art in America. The Clyde, of course, very
naturally became the centre of steamboat and steamship building. The
iron for the engines was found close at hand, as well as abundant
supplies of coal for the fires. The timber they brought from the Baltic.
At length, however, they found that they could build ships of iron
instead of wood, using iron beams for the framing, and covering them
with plates of iron riveted together instead of planks. These ships were
found very superior, in almost all respects, to those built of timber;
and as iron in great abundance was found all along the banks of the
Clyde, and as the workmen in the region were extremely skilful in
working it, the business of building ships and steamers of this material
increased wonderfully, until, at length, the banks of the river for
miles below Glasgow became lined with ship yards, where countless
steamers, of monstrous length and graceful forms, in all the stages of
construction, lie; now sloping towards the water and down the stream,
ready at the appointed time to glide majestically into the river, and
thence to plough their way to every portion of the habitable globe.

It was into this busy scene of mechanical industry and skill that our
party of travellers were now coming. But before I resume the narrative
of their adventures, I will say a word about those parts of Scotland
which lie to the north and south of these central regions that are
occupied by the valleys of the Forth and the Clyde. The region which
extends to the southward--that is, which lies between the valleys of the
Forth and the Clyde on the one hand, and the English frontier on the
other--is called the southern part of the country. It consists,
generally, of fertile and gently undulating land, which is employed
almost entirely for tillage, and is but little visited by tourists or
travellers.

The northern part of Scotland is, however, of a very different
character; being wild, mountainous and waste, and filled every where
with the most grand and sublime scenery. The eastern portion of this
part of the island is more level, and there are several large and
flourishing towns on or near the shores of it, such as Inverness,
Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and others. But the whole of the western side
of it consists of one vast cong