at a great
establishment, called the St. Rollox Chemical Works, which was over four
hundred and thirty feet high, and Mr. George estimated that it must have
been thirty or forty feet diameter at the base. If, now, you ask your
father, or some friend, how high the steeple is of the nearest church to
where you live, and multiply that height by the necessary number, you
will get some idea of the magnitude of this prodigious column. The
lightning rod, that came down the side of it in a spiral line, looked
like a spider's web that had been, by chance, blown against the chimney
by the wind.

CHAPTER VII.

ENTERING THE HIGHLANDS.

The Highland district of Scotland occupies almost the whole of the
western part of the island north of the valley of the Clyde. It consists
of mountains, glens, and lakes, with roads winding in every direction
through and among them. Of course the number of different Highland
excursions which a tourist can plan is infinite. Most visitors to
Scotland are, however, satisfied with a short tour among these
mountains, on account of the great uncertainty of the weather. Indeed,
as it rains here more than half the time, the chance is always in favor
of bad weather; and the really pleasant days are very few.

The valley by which tourists from Glasgow most frequently go into the
Highlands is the valley of Loch Lomond. The lower end of this lake comes
to within about ten miles of the Clyde. The upper end of it extends
about twenty-five miles into the very heart of the Highlands. There is
an inn at the lower end of the lake, that is, the end nearest the
Clyde, called Balloch Inn. At the upper end of the lake is another
resting-place for travellers. A small steamboat passes every day through
the lake, from one of these inns to the other, touching at various
intermediate points on the way, at little villages or landing-places,
where roads from the interior of the country come down to the lake.

From Balloch there is a railroad leading to the Clyde, though it does
not extend to Glasgow. Travellers from Glasgow come down the Clyde in a
steamer about ten miles to the railroad landing. There they take the
cars, and proceed down the river, along the bank, amidst scenery of the
grandest and most beautiful character, to Dunbarton Castle, where the
road leaves the river, and turns into the interior of the country,
towards the valley of Loch Lomond.

The road terminates at Balloch. Here the travellers are