Gazetteer of Scotland

, . TRO
"from being exaggerated. " When you
enter the 1 Trosaehs, there is such an
assemblage of wildness and of rude
grandeur, as beggars all description,
and fills the mind with the most su-
blime conceptions. It seems as if a
whole mountain had been torn in
pieces^ and frittered down by a con-
vulsion of the earth, and the huge frag-
ments of rocks, and wO'ods, and hills,
scattered in confusion into the E.- end
and on the sides of Loch Catherine.
The access to the lake is through a
narrow pass of half a mile in length,
such as iEneas had in his dreary pas-
sage fo visit his father s home ; ' <vas-
toque immanis hiatm The reeks are
©F stupendous height; and seem ready
to close above the traveller's head,
and to fall down and bury him in their
ruins; A huge column of these rocks
was sOme years ago torn with thun-
der, and lies in very large blocks near
the road, which must have been a
tremendous scene to passengers at
that time. Where there is any soil,
their sides are covered with aged
weeping birches* which hang down
their venerable locks in waving ring-
lets, as if to cover the nakedness of
the rocks. The sensible horizon is
bounded by these weeping birches on
the summit of every hill* through
which are seen the motion of the
clouds as they shoot across behind
them* Travellers who wish to see all
they can of this singular phenomenon*
generally sail W. on the S. 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 marty arms, of
the lake. Here a bold headland*
where black rocks dip in unfathom-
able water ; there the white sand in
the bottom of a bay, bleached for ages
by the Waves. In walking on the
N. side, the road is sometimes cut
through the face of the solid rock*
which rises upwards Of 200 feet per-
pendicular 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 de-
grees of velocity, as the spectator
arides al atig the opposite beach ; at
f Rti
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 fil-
berts in their season. Down the side
of the opposite 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 top of Benvenu ; 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 fowls perched on
trees, or en the pinnacle of a rock,
look down with composed defiance
at man.- (In one of the' defiles of the
Trosaehs, two Or three of the natives
met a band of Cromwell's soldiers,
and forced them to return, after leav-
ing one of their comrades dead on the
spot* whose grave marks the scene of
action, and gives name to the pass
In one or other of the chasms of this
singular place, there lived, for many
years, a distiller of smuggled spirits*
who eluded the most diligent search
of the officers of the revenue, although
they knew perfectly he was there*
because a guide eould not be bribed
to discover his retreat.) In a word*
both by land and Water, there are so
many turnings and windings, so many 1
heights and hollows, so many -^lens*
and capes, and bays, that one cannot
advance 20 yards without having his
prospect changed by the aontinual
appearance of new objects, while o- '
thers are constantly retiring out of
sight; This scene is closed by a W;
view of the lake, for several miles,
having its sides lined with alternate
clumps of wood and arable fields, and
the smoke rising in spiral Columns
through the air* from villages which
are concealed by the intervening
woods ; and the prospect is bounded
by the towering Alps of Arroquhar,
which are chequered with snow, or
hide their heads in the clouds."