Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/291

Rh horse. The steep and black mountains, and the roaring torrents, rendered every step his horse took, frightful; and when he attained the summit of the zig-zag up Corryarraick, he thought the horses, himself, man and all would be carried away, he knew not whither; so strong was the blast, so hard the rain, and so very thick the mist: and as for cold, it stupified him. He thought it almost a miracle to escape unhurt from such horrid wastes, roaring torrents, unwholesome vapour, and frightful fogs; drenched from top to toe, frozen with cold, and half dead with fatigue. He said he had heard people had gone that pass in a carriage, but he was sure it was impossible. The governor's family assured him it was done frequently; and turning to me, said, "here is one who means to do so to-morrow, in a chaise."—The gentleman stared, and added, "then I must alter my journal, for I thought it impossible." A young lady present said, she had crossed the mountain on horseback in winter, when snow was on the ground; but it was hazardous. Many, by imprudence, have there lost their lives in winter; and some indeed from fatigue and cold; particularly one poor woman, attending on a marching troop, carrying an infant in her arms.