about a girl that was
happy. This one was in three parts. First, a tuneful address from a
maiden to her absent lover; second, his reply, assuring her of his
fidelity and tenderness; third, a strain which expresses their joy
when reunited. I thought this boatman had sympathies which would
prevent his tormenting any poor women, and perhaps make some one
happy, and this was a pleasant thought, since probably in the
Highlands, as elsewhere,

"Maidens lend an ear too oft
To the careless wooer;
Maidens' hearts are _always soft_;
Would that men's were truer!"

I don't know that I quote the words correctly, but that is the sum and
substance of a masculine report on these matters.

The first day at Rowardennan not being propitious for ascending the
mountain, we went down the lake to sup, and got very tired in various
ways, so that we rose very late next morning. Their we found a day
of ten thousand for our purpose; but unhappily a large party had come
with the sun and engaged all the horses, so that, if we went, it must
be on foot. This was something of an enterprise for me, as the ascent
is four miles, and toward the summit quite fatiguing; however, in the
pride of newly gained health and strength, I was ready, and set forth
with Mr. S. alone. We took no guide,--and the people of the house did
not advise it, as they ought. They told us afterward they thought the
day was so clear that there was no probability of danger, and they
were afraid of seeming mercenary about it. It was, however, wrong, as
they knew what we did not, that even the shepherds, if a mist comes
on, can be lost in these hills; that a party of gentlemen were so a
few weeks before, and only by accident found their way to a house on
the other side; and that a child which had been lost was not found for
five days, long after its death. We, however, nothing doubting, set
forth, ascending slowly, and often stopping to enjoy the points of
view, which are many, for Ben Lomond consists of a congeries of hills,
above which towers the true Ben, or highest peak, as the head of a
many-limbed body.

On reaching the peak, the night was one of beauty and grandeur such as
imagination never painted. You see around you no plain ground, but on
every side constellations or groups of hills exquisitely dressed in
the soft purple of the heather, amid which gleam the lakes, like eyes
that tell the secrets of the earth and drink in those of the heavens.
Peak beyond p