shadows, which appear in that stillness to
belong rather to heaven than earth. Or the evanescence of all that
imagery at a breath may touch us with the thought, that all it
represents, steadfast as seems its endurance, will as utterly pass away.
Such visions, when gazed on in that wondrous depth and purity they are
sometimes seen to assume on a still summer day, always inspire some such
faint feeling as this; and we sigh to think how transitory must be all
things, when the setting sun is seen to sink beneath the mountain, and
all its golden pomp at the same instant to evanish from the lake.

The first that takes possession of the imagination, dreaming of the
Highlands as the region of Lochs, is the Queen of them all, Loch Lomond.
A great poet has said that, "in Scotland, the proportion of diffused
water is often too great, as at the Lake of Geneva, for instance, and in
most of the Scottish lakes. No doubt it sounds magnificent, and flatters
the imagination, to hear at a distance of masses of water, so many
leagues in length and miles in width; and such ample room may be
delightful to the fresh-water sailor, scudding with a lively breeze amid
the rapidly-shifting scenery. But who ever travelled along the banks of
Loch Lomond, variegated as the lower part is by islands, without feeling
that a speedier termination of the long vista of blank water would be
acceptable, and without wishing for an interposition of green meadows,
trees, and cottages, and a sparkling stream to run by his side? In fact,
a notion of grandeur, as connected with magnitude, has seduced persons
of taste into a general mistake upon this subject. It is much more
desirable, for the purposes of pleasure, that lakes should be numerous
and small or middle-sized, than large, not only for communication by
walks and rides, but for variety, and for recurrence of similar
appearances. To illustrate this by one instance: how pleasing is it to
have a ready and frequent opportunity of watching, at the outlet of a
lake, the stream, pushing its way among the rocks, in lively contrast
with the stillness from which it has escaped! and how amusing to compare
its noisy and turbulent motions with the gentle playfulness of the
breezes that may be starting up, or wandering here and there, over the
faintly-rippled surface of the broad water! I may add, as a general
remark, that in lakes of great width the shores cannot be distinctly
seen at the same time, and therefore contrib