at least six closely-printed pages with the Trossachs, he
concludes thus, 'In a word, the Trossachs beggar all description,'
{100}--a conclusion in which everybody who has been there will agree with
him. I believe the word Trossachs signifies 'many hills:' it is a name
given to all the eminences at the foot of Loch Ketterine, and about half
a mile beyond.

We left the hut, retracing the few yards of road which we had climbed;
our boat lay at anchor under the rock in the last of all the compartments
of the lake, a small oblong pool, almost shut up within itself, as
several others had appeared to be, by jutting points of rock; the
termination of a long out-shooting of the water, pushed up between the
steps of the main shore where the huts stand, and a broad promontory
which, with its hillocks and points and lesser promontories, occupies the
centre of the foot of the lake. A person sailing through the lake up the
middle of it, would just as naturally suppose that the outlet was here as
on the other side; and so it might have been, with the most trifling
change in the disposition of the ground, for at the end of this slip of
water the lake is confined only by a gentle rising of a few yards towards
an opening between the hills, a narrow pass or valley through which the
river might have flowed. The road is carried through this valley, which
only differs from the lower part of the vale of the lake in being
excessively narrow, and without water; it is enclosed by mountains, rocky
mounds, hills and hillocks scattered over with birch-trees, and covered
with Dutch myrtle {101} and heather, even surpassing what we had seen
before. Our mother Eve had no fairer, though a more diversified garden,
to tend, than we found within this little close valley. It rained all
the time, but the mists and calm air made us ample amends for a wetting.

At the opening of the pass we climbed up a low eminence, and had an
unexpected prospect suddenly before us--another lake, small compared with
Loch Ketterine, though perhaps four miles long, but the misty air
concealed the end of it. The transition from the solitary wildness of
Loch Ketterine and the narrow valley or pass to this scene was very
delightful: it was a gentle place, with lovely open bays, one small
island, corn fields, woods, and a group of cottages. This vale seemed to
have been made to be tributary to the comforts of man, Loch Ketterine for
the lonely delight of Nature, and kind