e of us, or bare hills; seldom a single
cottage and there was no rememberable place till we came opposite to a
waterfall of no inconsiderable size, that appeared to drop directly into
the lake: close to it was a hut, which we were told was the ferry-house.
On the other side of the lake was a pretty farm under the mountains,
beside a river, the cultivated grounds lying all together, and sloping
towards the lake from the mountain hollow down which the river came. It
is not easy to conceive how beautiful these spots appeared after moving
on so long between the solitary steeps.

We went a considerable way further, and landed at Rob Roy's Caves, which
are in fact no caves, but some fine rocks on the brink of the lake, in
the crevices of which a man might hide himself cunningly enough; the
water is very deep below them, and the hills above steep and covered with
wood. The little Highland woman, who was in size about a match for our
guide at Lanerk, accompanied us hither. There was something very
gracious in the manners of this woman; she could scarcely speak five
English words, yet she gave me, whenever I spoke to her, as many
intelligible smiles as I had needed English words to answer me, and
helped me over the rocks in the most obliging manner. She had left the
boat out of good-will to us, or for her own amusement. She had never
seen these caves before; but no doubt had heard of them, the tales of Rob
Roy's exploits being told familiarly round the 'ingles' hereabouts, for
this neighbourhood was his home. We landed at Inversneyde, the
ferry-house by the waterfall, and were not sorry to part with our
boatman, who was a coarse hard-featured man, and, speaking of the French,
uttered the basest and most cowardly sentiments. His helper, a youth
fresh from the Isle of Skye, was innocent of this fault, and though but a
bad rower, was a far better companion; he could not speak a word of
English, and sang a plaintive Gaelic air in a low tone while he plied his
oar.

The ferry-house stood on the bank a few yards above the landing-place
where the boat lies. It is a small hut under a steep wood, and a few
yards to the right, looking towards the hut, is the waterfall. The fall
is not very high, but the stream is considerable, as we could see by the
large black stones that were lying bare, but the rains, if they had
reached this place, had had little effect upon the waterfall; its noise
was not so great as to form a contrast wit