in length. The rocks are
of stupendous height, and seem ready to close above the traveller's head,
and to fall down and bury him in the ruins. A huge column of these rocks
was, some years ago, torn with lightning, and lies in very large blocks
near the road. Where there is any soil, their sides are covered with aged
weeping birches, which hang down their venerable locks in waving ringlets,
as if to cover the nakedness of the rocks."

"Travellers who wish to see all they can of this singular phenomenon,
generally sail westward, on the south side of the lake, to the Rock and Den
of the Ghost, whose dark recesses, from their gloomy appearance, the
imagination of superstition conceived to be the habitation of supernatural
beings. In sailing, you discover many arms of the lake;--here, a bold
headland, where black rocks dip into unfathomable water;--there, the white
sand in the bottom of a bay, bleached for ages by the waves. In walking on
the north side, the road is sometimes cut through the face of a solid rock,
which rises upwards of 200 feet perpendicular above the lake. Sometimes the
view of the lake is lost, then it bursts suddenly on the eye, and a cluster
of islands and capes appear at different distances, which give them an
apparent motion, of different degrees of velocity, as the spectator rides
along the opposite beach. At other times his road is at the foot of rugged
and stupendous cliffs, and trees are growing where no earth is to be seen.
Every rock has its echo; every grove is vocal, by the melodious harmony of
birds, or by the sweet airs of women and children gathering filberts in
their season. Down the side of the mountain, after a shower of rain, flow a
hundred white streams, which rush with incredible velocity and noise into
the lake, and spread their froth upon its surface. On one side, the
water-eagle sits in majesty, undisturbed, on his well-known rock, in sight
of his nest, on the face of Ben Venue; the heron stalks among the reeds in
search of his prey; and the sportive ducks gambol on the waters or dive
below. On the other, the wild goats climb, where they have scarce ground
for the soles of their feet; and the wild fowl, perched on the trees, or on
the pinnacle of a rock, look down with composed defiance at man. In a word,
both by land and water, there are so many turnings and windings, so many
heights and hollows, so many glens, capes, and bays, that one cannot
advance twenty yards without having the