Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/286

268 As I advanced towards Fort William, at a distance, amongst the ridge of stupendous mountains on my left, over the tops of which the clouds and mist were every instant varying, I perceived the hollow parts and cliffs of one of them filled with snow; and when I came opposite to it, I was all admiration and astonishment at its noble crescent of crags; the regularity, the sublimity, and seemingly perfect architecture of which, with the bold massy towers of rocks on each side, convinced me, (though impenetrable clouds concealed its major part) that this mountain could be no other than the Scotch Atlas, Ben Nivis. As I returned the next day, I was, with respect to a view of this gigantic mountain, in high good luck. Its cap of cloud is very seldom off; but the morning was bright, and the mist fast creeping up every side of the mountain. I anxiously watched the humour of the sovereign, and with joy perceived, in his majesty, a strong inclination to uncover. I set off, and by the time I came under the shadow of his wing, his cap disappeared, and I had a fine view of every part that is possible to be seen from the road. In its shape there is beauty, mixed with the sublime and terrific. In front a soft verdant sloping hill;