Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/238

220 when I was fairly in the fort, they closed the huge gates, grinding on their hinges, leaving me in the midst of red coats, cannon, musquets, and bayonets. I felt a little unusual on the occasion, something like being shut up in a prison, whence I might never escape. I am totally unqualified to give a proper description of fortifications; but so far I can say, that Fort George, within itself, is like a small town. The common parade is spacious; it is an oblong, with four angles, having handsome houses joining each other on every side, except an opening, about the middle of it, of a street leading each way; the one to the chapel, magazines, and work-shops; the other to the grand parade, where are the governor's and fort major's houses, with many other good houses, besides apartments belonging to the soldiers. The walk round the ramparts is very pleasant in fine weather; but in winter it must be very bleak and cold, having no shelter of any kind. The sea must often run very high at Fort George, from the wide part of the Firth to the narrower, the fort being just at the strait between the two. I should not be very desirous of crossing the ferry from Fort George to Fortrose in Rosshire, observing the vessels passing between those places