ler inland sea;
Till lo! subdued by some sweet influence,--
And potent is she, though so meek the Eve,--
Down sinketh wearied the old Ocean
Insensibly into a solemn calm,--
And all along that ancient burial-ground
(Its kirk is gone), that seemeth now to lend
Its own eternal quiet to the waves,
Restless no more, into a perfect peace
Lulling and lull'd at last, while drop the airs
Away as they were dead, the first-risen star
Beholds that lovely Archipelago,
All shadow'd there as in a spiritual world,
Where time's mutations shall come never more!"

These lines describe but one of innumerable lochs that owe their
greatest charm to the sea. It is indeed one of those on which nature has
lavished all her infinite varieties of loveliness; but Loch Leven is
scarcely less fair, and perhaps grander; and there is matchless
magnificence above Loch Etive. All round about Ballahulish and Inverco
the scenery of Loch Leven is the sweetest ever seen overshadowed by
such mountains; the deeper their gloom, the brighter its lustre; in all
weathers it wears a cheerful smile; and often while tip among the rocks
the tall trees are tossing in the storm, the heart of the woods beneath
is calm, and the vivid fields they shelter look as if they still enjoyed
the sun. Nor closes the beauty there, but even animates the entrance
into that dreadful glen--Glencoe. All the way up its river, Loch Leven
would be fair, were it only for her hanging woods. But though the glen
narrows, it still continues broad, and there are green plains between
her waters and the mountains, on which stately trees stand single, and
there is ample room for groves. The returning tide tells us, should we
forget it, that this is no inland loch, for it hurries away back to the
sea, not turbulent, but fast as a river in flood. The river Leven is one
of the finest in the Highlands, and there is no other such series of
waterfalls, all seen at once, one above the other, along an immense
vista; and all the way up to the furthest there are noble assemblages of
rocks--nowhere any want of wood--and in places, trees that seem to have
belonged to some old forest. Beyond, the opening in the sky seems to
lead into another region, and it does so; for we have gone that way,
past some small lochs, across a wide wilderness, with mountains on all
sides, and descended on Loch Treag,

"A loch whom there are none to praise,
And very fe