Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
,-..-... .-....-. .-.,s ..y. 1&9
..a..., ‘
ii i
ii
i,
i.
i‘
186 THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN GREAT BRITAIN" AND IRELAND.
at the Trossachs Hotel. When we came in sight of Ellen’s Isle on Loch .
Katrine she became so excited that it was almost necessary to hold her
to keep her on board the little steamboat. You remember that Ellen’s
Isle is the centre of action of Scott’s poem. The description is wonder-
fully faithful, and we can readily believe what they tell us-that Scott
wrote the poem in this neighborhood. -
“I was disappointed in the size of Loch Katrine. I had an idea that
it was fifteen or twenty miles long, when, in fact, it is onlynine miles
from end to end and less than a mile across. As if it had not beauty
enough as it is it has a sort of serpentine course, and this adds to the '
varietv of the scenery. I think I told you when writing about Glasgow
that the city is supplied with water from Loch Katrine, which is 370 .
feet above the level of the sea, and therefore gives an abundant fall.
There’s a tunnel over a mile long through a mountain, and then a series a
of aqueducts, pipes, and short tunnels, till the city is" reached.” .
Mrs. Bassett and Mary were not averse to remaining a few days in
the Highlands and among the lakes, while Frank and Fred had devel- ,
oped a desire to visit the Hebrides. Doctor Bronson did not care par-
ticularly for the Hebrides, and after a brief debate it was arranged that L
the young gentlemen should push on to Glasgow, leaving the rest of the .
party at Stronachlacher on Loch Katrine. Doctor Bronson was to take
care of the ladies, and their plans would be made only from one day to
another during the time the youths were absent. The latter were to‘
keep in communicationuwith the Doctor both by mail-and telegraph, and
in a few days the parties would reunite at some point to be agreed upon. ‘
r lVe will follow Frank and Fred in their journey to thellebrides.
They‘reached Glasgow in the evening, and at seven o’clockthe‘ fol-
lowing morning were descending the Clyde on a steamer bound for
Oban. They passed Greenock near the mouth of the river, and as they
went on the stream broadened into an estuary which‘bore to the south-
ward. Following this for a few miles, their course )vas changed in the
direction of Rothesay, wl1e1'e the vessel halted briefly andithen contin-
ued ‘through the Kyles of Bute, ‘where the scenery reminded the youths
of what they had left behind them at Loch Katrine. Nekt they came
to Loch Fyne, a strait which is better known for‘ the superior quality of
the herring it produces than for anything else.
Oban was reached in the evening, and proved to be an attractive and’
busy place. Frank mentioned to a fellow-passenger the appearance of
activity in the harbor, and his entlmsiasm was checked by the suggest-
ion that he ought to come to the town in winter. f‘ It is lively enough