Gazetteer of Scotland

FOY
tween the eastern and western extre-
mities of that lake. The vale is as ro-
mantic as can well be supposed ; the
banks of the river and the sides of the
•mountains are covered with weeping
birch ; and, here and there the moun-
tains present their naked precipitous
fronts* from which huge fragments of
rock have been hurled to the bottom.
The beautiful plant alchimiHa alpina
grows here in the greatest abundance
and luxuriance. Dr. Garnett, whose
description of the falls of the Dovan
has already been quoted, describes
the falls of foyers with equal accu-
racy and elegance. " Having left our
horses" says he, " at General's Hut,
we were conducted by our landlord
to the falls. We first visited the up-
per one, which is about a mile and a
half from the house, and nearly half
a mile above the lower fall. Here the
river Foyers, being confined on each
side by steep rocks, precipitates itself
With great velocity^ forming a very
fine cataract, A little below the fall
a bridge has been thrown over by the
proprietor, Frazer of Foyers, from
which the fall is seen ; but, in order
to obtain a proper view of it, we,
with some difficulty, scrambled down
the steep banks to the rocks below,
from whence we beheld this romantic
scene in perfection. The bridge and
rocks formed a fine frame or fore-
ground, behind which, at the distance
of perhaps 20 yards, appeared the
:first part of the fall : the second and
most important break was a few yards
nearer, and the lowest almost under
the arch. Our guide was present
when very accurate measurements
were taken of these falls. The fol-
lowing particulars are therefore put
down from his information : feet.
From the arch of the bridge to
the surface of the water, after
the lowest part of the fall, . . . 200
Height of the fall, 70
The bridge was built about 12 years
ago ; before which time, the only pas-
sage over this torrent was a rude al-
pine bridge, consisting of some sticks
thi-own over the rocks, and covered
with turf. It was crossed by the pea-
santry on foot, but must certainly
have turned giddy the steadiest head,
unaccustomed to such scenes. About
three years before the present bridge
?yas built, a neighbouring farmer, on
FOY.
his way home from Inverness, had
called at the General's Hut to shelter
himself from the inclemency of the
storm, and drive out the invading cold
by reinforcing the garrison in the sto-
mach. Here he met with some eld
acquaintance, with whom he con-
versed of former times, without ob-
serving the frequency of the circula-
ting glass. The snow continued to
fall in thick flakes, and they were sit-
ting by a comfortable fire : At last,
when the fumes of the whisky had
taken possession of his brain, and
raised his spirits to no ordinary pitch,
he determined to go home. When
he came to this place, having been
accustomed to cross the bridge on
foot, he -habitually took this road, and
forced his horse over it. Next morn-
ing he had some faint recollection of
the circumstance, though the seeming
impossibility of the thing made him
suspect that it was a dream ; but, as
the ground was .covered with snow,
it was very easy to convince himself:
he accordingly went, and when he
perceived the tracks of his horse's
feet along the bridge, he fell ill, and
died shortly afterwards. In our way
to the lower fall, our guide shewed a
cave of considerable size, near the ri-
ver, where the freebooters used to
shelter themselves in turbulent times.
There was a way of escape towards
the water, should the main entry be
discovered. Our nextobject was the
lower fall. When we came to the
two rude pillars before mentioned, we
left the road, and went down the side
of the hill. The descent to the point
of view is difficult, but we were amp-
ly repaid for our trouble. The fol-
lowing particulars are put down from
the information of our guide :
feet.
From the top of the rocks to the
surface of the water, . 470
Height of the fall in one continued
stream, ......... 207
From the surface of the smooth
water above, to the beginning
of the uninterrupted fall, 5
So that the height of the.fall may
properly be called ......... 212
Down this precipice the river rushes
with a noise like thunder into the a-
byss below, forming an unbroken
stream as white as snow. From thfc
C c 2