carcely, however,
had he gained the summit, when the horizon was suddenly darkened by
one of those impenetrable mists which frequently descend so rapidly
amidst these mountains, as almost to turn day into night, and that in
the course of a few minutes. The anxious father instantly hastened
back to find his child, but, owing to the unusual darkness, he missed
his way in the descent. After a search of many hours amongst the
dangerous morasses and cataracts with which these mountains abound, he
was at length overtaken by night. Still wandering on without knowing
whither, he at length came to the verge of the mist, and, by the light
of the moon, discovered that he had reached the bottom of his valley,
and was within a short distance of his cottage. To renew the search
that night was equally fruitless and dangerous. He was, therefore,
obliged to return to his cottage, having lost both his child and his
dog, who had attended him faithfully for years.

Next morning by daybreak, the shepherd, accompanied by a band of his
neighbours, set out in search of the child, but, after a day spent in
fruitless fatigue, he was at last compelled, by the approach of night,
to descend from the mountain. On returning to his cottage he found
that the dog, which he had lost the day before, had been home, and on
receiving a piece of cake, had instantly gone off again. For several
successive days the shepherd renewed the search for his child, but
still, on returning at evening disappointed to his cottage, he found
that the dog had been home, and, on receiving his usual allowance of
cake, had instantly disappeared. Struck with this circumstance, he
remained at home one day, and when the dog, as usual, departed with
his piece of cake, he resolved to follow him, and find out the cause
of his strange procedure. The dog led the way to a cataract, at some
distance from the spot where the shepherd had left his child. The
banks of the cataract almost joined at the top, yet separated by an
abyss of immense depth, presenting that appearance which so often
astonishes and appals travellers who frequent the Grampian Mountains,
and indicates that these stupendous chasms were not the silent work of
time, but the sudden effect of some violent convulsion of the earth.
Down one of these rugged and almost perpendicular descents, the dog
began, without hesitation, to make his way, and at last disappeared
into a cave, the mouth of which was almost on a level with the