Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/381

Rh a picturesque contrast with the foliage, and the verdant grass-cap, which covers the summit, on which stands a watch tower. The river Aray, with an abundance of fine trees, surround its base. Behind, and on the left of the Castle, piles of mountains of all hues, shapes, and heights, seem to form an impassable barrier, both to screen and to guard it from attacks, either of the boisterous elements, or the wild encroachments of man. To the traveller, on the opposite side of the loch, the white walls of Inveraray town appear along the shore; and in the time of the herring fishery, innumerable vessels and boats crowd the bay, and many are drawn on the beach before the houses. The inn, and its large arched gateway, is conspicuous, backed by wood and avenues of very ancient trees and high mountains, all finely planted, forming a part of the noble chain beforementioned, on the west of the lake.

From the spot where I have stopped the Stranger, Glen Shyra is little seen: the grand avenue of fine trees at its entrance, and an opening between mountains, denote its situation; but the wood is too thick to admit of the glen being seen until within it. It contains a small lake, and the river Shyra running through it. This