pleasing, incomprehensible feeling creeps over the soul when the lone wanderer contemplates the vast, the solemn, the solitary scene, over which savage grandeur and sterility preside.

"The summits of the loftier mountains; Cairngorm on the one hand, Ben-na-muic-dui, and Benvrotan on the other, and Loch-na-gar on the south, were covered with mist; but the clouds had rolled westward from Ben-nabuird, on which I stood, leaving its summit entirely free. The beams of the setting sun burst in masses of light here and there through the openings in the clouds, which exhibited a hundred varying shades. There, over the ridges of yon brown and torrentworn mountain, hangs a vast mass of livid vapor, gorgeously glowing with deep crimson along all its lower-fringed margin. Here, the white shroud that clings to the peaked summits assumes on its western side a delicate hue like that of the petals of the pale-red rose. Far away to the north glooms a murky cloud, in which the spirits of the storm are mustering their strength, and preparing the forked lightnings, which at midnight they will fling over the valley of the Spey."

stones, grass, and a little short heath; unloosed my pack, covered one of my extremities with a nightcap, and thrust a pair of dry stockings on the other, ate a portion of my scanty store, drank two or three glasses of water from a neighboring rill, placed myself in an easy posture, and fell asleep. About sunrise I awoke, fresh, but feeble; ascended the glen, passed through a magnificent corry, composed of vast rocks of granite: ascended the steep with great difficulty, and at length gained the summit of the mountain, which was covered with light gray mist that rolled rapidly along the ridges. As the clouds cleared away at intervals, and the sun shone upon the scene, I obtained a view of the glen in which I had passed the night, the corry, the opposite hills, and a blue lake before me. The stream which I had followed I traced to two large fountains from each of which I took a glassful, which I quaffed to the health of my best friend.

Descending from this summit, I wandered over a high moor, came upon the brink of rocks that bounded a deep valley, in which was a black lake; proceeded over the unknown region of alternate bogs and crags; raised several flocks of gray ptarmigans, and at length, by following a ravine, entered one of the valleys of the Spey, near the mouth of which I saw a water ouzel. It was not until noon that I reached a hut, in which I procured some milk. In the evening, at Kingussie, I examined the ample store of plants that I had collected in crossing the Grampians, and refreshed myself with a long sleep in a more comfortable bed than one of granite slabs, with a little grass and heather spread over them."

Macgillivray's description of the golden eagle of the highlauds, in its eloquence, reminds one of the splendid descriptions of his friend Audubon. We can only give a few brief extracts.

The traveller, seeing night coming on, struck into a corry, down which a small mountain streamlet rushed; and having reached the bottom of the slope, began to run, starting the ptarmigans from their seats and the does from their lair. It became quite dark; still he went on walking for two hours, but all traces of path became lost, and he groped his way amid blocks of granite, ten miles at least from any human habitation, and "with no better cheer in my wallet," he says, "than a quarter of a cake of barley and a few crumbs of cheese, which a shepherd had given me. Before I resolved to halt for the night, I had, unfortunately, proceeded so far up the glen that I had left behind me the region of heath, so that I could not procure enough for a bed. Pulling some grass and "The golden eagle is not seen to advantage moss, however, I spread it in a sheltered in the menagerie of a Zoological Society, nor place, and after some time succeeded in when fettered on the smooth lawn of an arisfalling into a sort of slumber. About mid- tocratic mansion, or perched on the rockwork night I looked up on the moon and stars that of a nursery-garden; nor can his habits be were at times covered by the masses of vapor well described by a cockney ornithologist, that rolled along the summits of the moun- whose proper province it is to concoct systems, tains, which, with their tremendous precipices, work out' analogies, and give names to completely surrounded the hollow in which I skins that have come from foreign lands cowered, like a ptarmigan in the hill-corry. carefully packed in boxes lined with tin. Behind me, in the west, and at the head of the Far away among the brown hills of Albyn, is glen, was a lofty mass enveloped in clouds; thy dwelling-place, chief of the rocky glen! on the right a pyramidal rock, and beside it a On the crumbling crag of red granite peak of less elevation; on the left a ridge tower of the fissured precipices of Loch-na-gar from the great mountain, terminating below thou hast reposed in safety. The croak of in a dark conical prominence; and straight the raven has broken thy slumbers, aud thou before me in the east, at the distance appar-gatherest up thy huge wings, smoothest thy ently of a mile, another vast mass. Finding feathers on thy sides, and preparest to launch myself cold, although the weather was mild, into the aerial ocean. Bird of the desert, I got up and made me a couch of larger solitary though thou art, and hateful to the CCCCLXXXVII. LIVING AGE. VOL. II. 48

that

sight of many of thy fellow-creatures, thine must be a happy life! No lord hast thou to bend thy stubborn soul to his will, no cares corrode thy heart; seldom does fear chill thy free spirit, for the windy tempest and the thick sleet cannot injure thee, and the lightnings may flash around thee and the thunders shake the everlasting hills, without rousing thee from thy dreamy repose.

"See how the sunshine brightens the yellow tint of his head and neck, until it shines almost like gold! There he stands, nearly erect, with his tail depressed, his large wings half raised by his side, his neck stretched out, and his eye glistening as he glances around. Like other robbers of the desert, he has a noble aspect, an imperative inien, a look of proud defiance; but his nobility has a dash of churlishness, and his falconship a vulturine tinge. Still he is a noble bird, powerful, independent, proud, and ferocious; regardless of the weal or woe of others, and intent solely on the gratification of his own appetite; without generosity, without honor; bold against the defenceless, but ever ready to sneak from danger. Such is his nobility, about which men have so raved. Suddenly he raises his wings, for he has heard the whistle of the shepherd in the corry; and, bending forward, he springs into the air. O that this pencil of mine were a musket charged with buckshot! Hardly do those vigorous flaps serve at first to prevent his descent; but now, curving upwards, he glides majestically along. As he passes the corner of that buttressed and battlemented crag, forth rush two ravens from their nest, croaking fiercely. While one flies above him the other steals beneath, and they essay to strike him, but dare not, for they have an instinctive knowledge of the power of his grasp; and after following him a little way they return to their home, vainly exulting in the thought of having driven him from their neighborhood. Bent on a far journey, he adrances in a direct course, flapping his great wings at regular intervals, then shooting along without seeming to move them.

poor, terrified ptarmigan that sits cowering among the gray lichen, squeezes it to death, raises his head exultingly, emits a clear, shrill cry, and springing from the ground pursues his journey.

"In passing a tall cliff that overhangs a small lake, he is assailed by a fierce peregrine falcon, which darts and plunges at him as if determined to deprive him of his booty, or drive him headlong to the ground. This proves a more dangerous foe than the raven. and the eagle screams, yelps, and throws himself into postures of defiance; but at length the hawk, seeing the tyrant is not bent on plundering his nest, leaves him to pursue his course unmolested. Over woods and green fields, and scattered hamlets, speeds the eagle; and now he enters the long valley of the Dee, near the upper end of which is dimly seen through the thin gray mist the rock of his nest. About a mile from it he meets his mate, who has been abroad on a similar errand, and is returning with a white hare in her talons. They congratulate each other with loud yelping cries, which rouse the drowsy shepherd on the strath below, who, mindful of the lambs carried off in spring time, sends after them his malediction. Now they reach their nest, and are greeted by their young with loud clamor."

His descriptions of the haunts of the wild birds of the north are full of picturesque beauty. Those of the grouse, the ptarmigan, the merlin, are full of memorable pictures, and here is a brief sketch of the haunts of the common snipe, which recalls many delightful associations:"Beautiful are those green

woods that hang upon the craggy sides of the fern-clad hills, where the heath-fowl threads its way among the tufts of brown heath, and the cuckoo sings his ever-pleasing notes as he balances himself on the gray stone, vibrating his fan-like tail. Now I listen to the simple song of the mountain blackbird, warbled by the quiet lake that spreads its glittering bosom to the sun, winding far away among the mountains, amid whose rocky glens wander the wild deer, tossing their antlered heads on "Over the moors he sweeps, at the height high as they snuff the breeze tainted with the of two or three hundred feet, bending his odor of the slow-paced shepherd and his faithcourse to either side, his wings wide spread, ful dog. In that recess formed by two mosshis neck and feet retracted, now beating the clad slabs of mica-slate, the lively wren jerks air, and again sailing smoothly along. Sud-up its little tail, and chits its merry note, as denly he stops, poises himself for a moment, it recalls its straggling young ones that have stoops, but recovers himself without reaching wandered among the bushes. From the sedgy the ground. The object of his regards, a golden plover, which he had espied on her nest, has eluded him, and he cares not to pursue it. Now he ascends a little, wheels in short curves presently rushes down headlong assumes the horizontal positionwhen close to the ground, prevents his being dashed against it by expanding his wings and tail-thrusts forth his talons, and grasping a

slope, sprinkled with white cotton-grass, comes the shrill cry of the solitary curlew; and there, high over the heath, wings his meandering way the joyous snipe, giddy with excess of unalloyed happiness.

"There another has sprung from among the yellow flowered marigolds that profusely cover the marsh. Upwards slantingly, on rapidly vibrating wings, he shoots, uttering

the while his shrill, two-noted cry. Tissick, | sea-creek, on the most northern coast of Scottissick, quoth the snipe as he leaves the bogs. land, and, that too, in the very midst of winter; Now in silence he wends his way, until at but the heron courts not society, and seems to length having reached the height of perhaps care as little as any one for the cold. Were a thousand feet, he zigzags along, emitting a you to betake yourself to the other extremity louder and shriller cry of zoo-zee, zoo-zee, zoo- of the island, where the scenery is of a very zee; which over, varying his action, he de- different character, and the inlands swarm scends on quivering pinions, curving towards with ducks and gulls, there, too, you would the earth with surprising speed, while from find the heron, unaltered in manners, slow in the rapid beats of his wing the tremulous air his movements, careful and patient, ever hungives to the ear what at first seems the voice gry and ever lean- - for, even when in best of distant thunder. This noise some have condition, he never attains the plumpness likened to the bleating of a goat at a distance that gives you the idea of a comfortable exon the hill-side, and thus have named our istence." bird the Air-goat and Air-bleater."

In his later volumes, the naturalist gives many admirable descriptions of the haunts of sea-birds along the rock-bound shores of his native Highlands. He loves to paint the coasts of the lonely Hebrides, where he often resorted in the summer months to watch and study the divers and plungers of the sea. Here, for instance, is a picture of the gray heron on a Highland coast :

We should like also to give his descriptions of the haunts and habits of the "Great Northern Diver," and the "Great Blackbacked Gull," which are most vigorously painted; but we must forbear, referring the reader to the fifth volume of the work itself, which is throughout a most able one. present, we shall conclude our brief sketch of the naturalist's too brief life.

At

duties, amply justified the nomination. He
was an admirable lecturer-clear, simple,
and methodical, laboring to lay securely the
foundations of knowledge in the minds of his
pupils. He imbued them with the love of
science, and communicated to them-
as every
successful lecturer will do a portion of his
own enthusiasm.

In 1841, Mr. Macgillivray was appointed by "The cold blasts of the north sweep along the Crown to the Professorship of Natural the ruffled surface of the lake, over whose History in Marischal College, Aberdeen, solely deep waters frown the rugged crags of rusty on account of his acknowledged merit, for he gneiss, having their crevices sprinkled with had no interest whatever; and the zeal, ability, tufts of withered herbage, and their summits and success, with which he discharged his covered with stunted birches and alders. The desolate hills around are partially covered with snow, the pastures are drenched with the rains, the brown torrents scum the heathy slopes, and the little birds have long ceased to enliven those deserted thickets with their gentle songs. Margining the waters, extends a long muddy beach, over which are scattered blocks of stone, partially clothed with dusky In the autumn of 1850, he made an excurand olivaceous weeds. Here and there a gull sion to Braemar, with the intention of writing floats buoyantly in the shallows; some oyster- an account of the Natural History of Balmoral catchers repose on a gravel bank, their bills (which was ready for publication at the time buried among their plumage; and there, on of his death); and he afterwards extended that low shelf, is perched a solitary heron, his excursion to the central region of the like a monument of listless indolence a Grampians, in pursuit of the materials for bird petrified in its slumber. At another another work. The fatigue and exposure time, when the tide has retired, you may which he underwent on this occasion seriously find it wandering, with slow and careful tread, affected his health; and he removed to Toramong the little pools, and by the sides of the quay, in Devon, in hopes of renewed vigor. rocks, in search of small fishes and crabs; But he never rallied. A severe calamity befell but, unless you are bent on watching it, you him while in Devon, through the sudden will find more amusement in observing the death of his wife, to whom he was tenderly lively tringas and turnstones, ever in rapid motion; for the heron is a dull and lazy bird, or at least he seems to be such; and even if you draw near, he rises in so listless a manthink it a hard task for him to ner, that you unfold his large wings and heavily beat the air, until he has fairly raised himself. But now he floats away, lightly, though with slow flapping, screams his harsh cry, and tries to soar to some distant place, where he may remain unmolested by the prying naturalist. "Perhaps you may wonder at finding him in so cold and desolate a place as this dull

attached. Nevertheless, he went on steadily with his work, which even his seriously impaired health did not allow him to interrupt. We can conceive him in such a state to have written the following passage, which appears in the preface to his last work, published in the week of his death:

"As the wounded bird seeks some quiet retreat, where, freed from the persecution of the pitiless fowler, it may pass the time of its anguish in forgetfulness of the outer world, so have I, assailed by disease, betaken myself to a sheltered nook, where, unannoyed by

the piercing blasts of the North Sea, I had jence the next generation of our home-ornitholbeen led to hope that my life might be pro-ogists. I had been led to think that I had tracted beyond the most dangerous season of occasionally been somewhat rude, or at least the year. It is thus that I issue from Dev- blunt, in my criticisms; but I do not perceive onshire the present volume, which, however, wherein I have much erred in that respect, contains no observations of mine made there, and I feel no inclination to apologize. I have the scenes of my labors being in distant been honest and sincere in my endeavors to parts of the country. promote the truth. With death, apparently not distant, before my eyes, I am pleased to think that I have not countenanced error, through fear or favor; neither have I in any case modified my statements so as to endeavor thereby to conceal or palliate my faults. Though I might have accomplished more, I am thankful for having been permitted to add very considerably to the knowledge previously obtained of a very pleasant subject. If I have not very frequently indulged in reflections on the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as suggested by even my imperfect understanding of his wonderful works, it is not because I have not ever been sensible of the relation between the Creator and his creatures, nor because my chief enjoyment, when wandering among the hills and valleys, exploring the rugged shores of the ocean, or searching the cultivated fields, has not been in a sense of His presence. To Him who alone doeth great wonders' be all the glory and praise. Reader, farewell!''

"It is well that the observations from which these descriptions have been prepared, were made many years ago, when I was full of enthusiasm, and enjoyed the blessing of health, and freedom from engrossing public duties; for I am persuaded that now I should be in some respects less qualified for the task- more, however, from the failure of physical than of mental power. Here, on the rocky promontory, I shiver in the breeze, which, to my companion, is but cool and bracing. The east wind ruffles the sea, and impels the little waves to the shores of the beautiful bay, which present alternate cliffs of red sandstone and beaches of yellow sand, backed by undulated heights and gentle acclivities, slowly rising to the not distant horizon; fields and woods, with villages, and scattered villas, forming-not wild nor altogether tame- -a pleasing landscape, which, in its summer and autumnal garniture of grass and corn, and sylvan verdure, orchard blossom and fruit, tangled fence-bank, and Mr. Macgillivray was able to return to furze-clad common, will be beautiful indeed to Aberdeen to die. He expired on the 5th the lover of nature. Then, the balmy breezes of September last, at the age of fifty-six, leavfrom the west and south will waft health to ing a large family behind him, for whom he the reviving invalid. At present, the cold had been unable (through the slenderness of vernal gales sweep along the channel, convey- his means throughout life) to make any proing to its haven the extended fleet of boats vision. His eldest son has, however, already that render Bircham, on the opposite horn of distinguished himself as a naturalist, having the bay, one of the most celebrated of the been employed by the late Earl of Derby on southern fishing-stations of England. High board the expedition sent by him round the over the waters, here and there, a solitary world; and he is now absent as government gull slowly advances against the breeze, or naturalist on board the Rattlesnake, which shoots athwart, or with a beautiful gliding lately sailed to carry out and complete the exmotion sweeps down the aërial current. At ploration of the Eastern Archipelago and the entrance to Torquay are assembled many Southern Pacific. We may therefore expect birds of the same kind, which, by their hover- to have considerable accessions to our knowl ing near the surface, their varied evolutions, edge of the Natural History of these regions and mingling cries, indicate a shoal, probably from his already experienced pen. of atherines or sprats. On that little pyramidal rock, projecting from the water, repose two dusky cormorants; and, far away, in the direction of Portland Island, a gannet, well-known by its peculiar flight, winnows its exploring way, and plunges headlong into the deep.'

And speaking of the conclusion of his great work, on the last page, he says of it:

"Commenced in hope, and carried on with zeal, though ended in sorrow and sickness, I can look upon my work without much regard to the opinions which contemporary writers may form of it, assured that what is useful in it will not be forgotten; and knowing that already it has had a beneficial effect on many of the present, and will more powerfully influ

THE garden ANGELICA was formerly blanched and eaten as celery, raw or stewed, but is now solely appropriated to the candy of the confectioner. Its name is derived from the many excellent qualities with which its thick brown root (white within) and its seeds succeeding the pale purple umbels were supposed to be endowed, as antidotes to poison, pestilence, ague, pleurisy, and a long list of et cetera, now we believe obsolete. It is, however, still highly esteemed in Norway, where bread is sometimes made from the powder of its dried roots. In Lapland, the poets crown themselves with garlands of its leaves and flowers, and fancy they receive inspiration from its odor.