Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/348

330 whole space, and hiding the courses of the rivers towards the soft bosom of the lake.

I had a strong desire to go upon the forbidden island, but bars and locks denied me entrance. It is entirely covered with fir trees, whose dark hue casts a solemn shade over a burying place erected in the middle of the island, and railed round with iron. It belongs to a Highland chief hard by, who once, on laying his pretensions and possessions at the feet of a fair lady, whom he courted for his bride, told her, as an irresistible charm, that he had the most beautiful burying-ground in the world. Whether the lady preferred beauties she could enjoy in life, to those offered her after death, I cannot say, but the chief was not accepted; nor has he ever worn the chains of matrimony, though he has added to his family thirty-two children.

After quitting KillingKillin [sic], the road is for a mile or two close by the Tay, flowing quietly on, and then turns up a very steep hill to join the road from Loch Earn Head towards Fort William. All roads, in such mountainous regions, are continually torn away by violent torrents, and require constant repair. The road between