Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/395

Rh verdant, and wooded promontories stretching into the lake, and receding one behind the other towards the head of the loch, and finely reflected by the mirror beneath them. The southern view, (from this shelf), over Loch Lomond is enchanting: the vast expanse of the lake, containing at least twenty-four islands, many of them large, and enriched and beautified by wood and rocks, and every thing that can charm the sight. The mountains, the woods on the banks, and the cultivation as the mountains recede from the lake, with the high blue hills in the horizon to the south, all contribute to render this view, in point of beauty, equal to any in nature, when seen in a clear day, with a favourable light.

From the hill just behind Luss, is also a charming view: in short, there is not a step from Aroquhar to Dumbarton, that may not be admired for some charm or other.

The town of Dumbarton has nothing striking in it; there are indeed almost two new towns near it; one on the west bank of the river, and the other on the east, by Balloch Boat, which proves the great increase of trade and population at and near Dumbarton. The rock on which the Castle is erected, is a very great curiosity: how such a