INVERNESS.

[Hotels: Caledonian, Church Street; Union, High Street.]

Population, 12,499. 109 miles from Aberdeen by railway. 102 miles from Dunkeld by road.

Mail and Stage Coaches.

To Dunkeld and Perth, by the Highland road, to suit trains

To Dingwall, Tain, Dornoch, and Thurso.

To Skye by mail from Dingwall, during summer months.

Steamers to Edinburgh by the east coast of Scotland, and to Glasgow by Caledonian Canal. To Chanonry Point, Cromarty, and Invergordon, thrice a week.

Inverness is situated on both sides of the river Ness, at the spot where the basins of the Moray and Beauly Firths and the Great Glen of Scotland meet one another. It is considered the capital of the Highlands, and contains a number of well-built streets and elegant houses. A stone bridge of seven arches, erected over the Ness in 1685, was swept away by an extraordinary flood in 1849, and its place has been supplied by a suspension bridge. There is an academy, incorporated by royal charter, connected with which is a fund of £25,000, left by Captain W. Macintosh, for the education of boys of certain families of that name. There are also a public seminary, endowed from a bequest of £10,000; a public newsroom; five banking houses; four printing establishments; and two weekly newspapers. The number of vessels belonging to the port is 230, and the tonnage 10,790. It unites with Forres, Nairn, and Fortrose, in electing a member of Parliament. At the door of the Town-Hall is a blue lozengeshaped stone, called Clach-na-Cudden, or "stone of the tubs," from its having served as a resting-place on which the women, in passing from the river, used to set down the deep tubs in which they carried water. It is reckoned the palladium of the town, and is said to have been carefully preserved after the town had been burned by Donald of the Isles in 1410.

The town is of great antiquity, but the exact date of its origin is unknown. On an eminence to the south-east stood

an ancient castle, in which it is supposed that Duncan was murdered by Macbeth. It is highly probable that Macbeth had possession of this castle, and it is certain that it was destroyed by the son of the murdered king, Malcolm Canmore, who erected a new one on an eminence overhanging the town on the south, and which continued for several centuries to be a royal fortress. It was repaired by James I., who held a parliament in it, to which all the northern chiefs and barons were summoned, and three of whom were executed for treason. In 1562, Queen Mary paid a visit to Inverness, for the purpose of quelling an insurrection of the Earl of Huntly. Being refused admission into the castle by the governor, who held it for the Earl, she took up her residence in a house, part of which is still in existence. The castle was shortly after taken by her attendants and the governor hanged. During the civil wars this castle was repeatedly taken by Montrose and his opponents. In 1715, it was converted into barracks for the Hanoverian soldiers, and in 1746, it was blown up by the troops of Prince Charles Stuart, and not a vestige of it now remains. On its site a castellated building has been erected, from a design by Mr. Burn, architect, which serves as the Court House and County Buildings. On the north side of the town, near the mouth of the river, Cromwell erected a fort at an expense of £80,000, which was demolished at the Restoration, but a considerable part of the rampart still remains. Within the area of the citadel a hemp manufactory is now carried on.

On Craig-Phadric, a hill a mile to the west of Inverness, there is an excellent specimen of a "vitrified fort," consisting of two oval entrenchments-an inner and an outer-the stones of which seem to have been united by the action of fire, externally applied, instead of mortar, and there is an extensive view from the summit (550 feet high). The sides of the hill are covered by woods, in the midst of which stands Muirton House, the seat of Mr. Huntly Duff, the great grandson of Catharine Duff, Lady Drummuir, in whose house both Prince Charles and the Duke of Cumberland lodged during their residence in Inverness. A mile to the south-west is Tom-naheurich (the hill of fairies), a wooded hill, shaped like a ship, with its keel uppermost, the walks around which, and on the

banks of the Ness, are very pleasant. A new drive has lately been formed from the harbour and Cromwell's Fort, along the mouth of the river and adjoining sea-coast.

INVERNESS TO ABERDEEN BY RAILWAY THROUGH MORAY AND BANFF SHIRES.

A very agreeable and interesting excursion may be made by railway from Inverness to Elgin, by the southern coast of the Moray Firth, and from thence through the counties of Nairn, Moray and Banff. Leaving Inverness we cross Culloden Moor,* where the Highland army was defeated under Prince Charles Stuart on the 16th of April 1746. It is a desolate tract of table-land, traversed longitudinally by a carriage road, on the side of which are two or three green trenches marking the spot where the heat of the battle took place, and numbers of the slain were interred. On the north it is flanked by the firth and the table-land of the Black Isle ; on the south-east by the ridges of Strathnairn, and on the westward, its extremities are bounded by the splintered and serrated heights of Stratherrick. In the opposite distance, the moor is lost in a flat bare plain stretching towards Nairn, the monotony of which is broken by the old square tower of Dalcross, a hold of the Clan Chattan. The level nature of the ground rendered it peculiarly unfit for the movements of the Highland army against cavalry and artillery. According to the general accounts, about 1200 men fell in this engagement. The number killed on both sides was nearly equal.

The victory at Culloden finally extinguished the hopes of the house of Stuart, and secured the liberties of Britain; but * Culloden Moor is one mile from the Culloden Station and six miles from Inverness by the high road.

the cruelties exercised by the Duke of Cumberland on his helpless foes have stamped his memory with indelible infamy.

A mile to the north of Culloden Moor is Culloden House (Arthur Forbes, Esq.), where Prince Charles lodged for some nights before the battle, and which, at the time of the Rebellion, belonged to the celebrated Duncan Forbes, Lord President of the Court of Session. About a mile south of the battle-field, on the opposite bank of the river Nairn, is the plain of Clava, a singular spot, covered with circles of stones and cairns, supposed remains of the Celtic Druids. One of these rude cemeteries was lately opened, and in the inner cell, about 18 inches below the floor, were found two earthen vases, containing calcined bones.*

At the cross roads, 9 miles from Inverness, the road on the left leads to Fort-George,† and that on the right to Kilravock and Cawdor Castles.

The ancient royal burgh of Nairn is situated on the Moray Firth, at the mouth of the river Nairn. (Inn: Anderson's.) There are several public buildings and numerous handsome private residences. These latter have for several years past been much on the increase, as this pleasant town is much resorted to in summer for sea-bathing. A "marine hotel" is proposed to be erected during the present year, for the accommodation of visitors, on a fine site on the Links.

From Nairn the tourist may make an interesting excursion to Cawdor Castle, distant about five miles. The castle is in

* About four miles from Inverness there may be observed, on the left, the ruins of an old fortalice, said to have been built by the Regent Moray, called Castle Stewart, and which is much admired for its symmetry and the gracefulness of its hanging turrets.

Fort-George, distant about twelve miles from Inverness (2 from the station), is situated on the extremity of a low sandy point which projects far out into the Moray Firth opposite Fortrose. The breadth of the firth here is only about a mile. The fort is constructed on the plan of the great fortresses of the Continent, and was erected immediately after the suppression of the Rebellion in 1745, for the purpose of keeping the Highlanders in check. The fortifications cover about fifteen English acres, and there is accommodation for about 3000 men. At the bottom of the peninsula is Campbelton, a modern fishing village, named after the Campbells of Cawdor. Omnibuses wait most of the trains to convey passengers to the village of Campbelton and the Fort. The shortest way is by the road leaving Nairn to the left of the railway station on the left bank of the river. At a distance of about a mile and a half the road crosses the stream by a new wooden bridge opposite the aristocratic

excellent preservation, being used as a summer residence by the Earl of Cawdor. No part of the present building dates farther back than the middle of the fifteenth century; but it is a very good specimen of the architecture of the period to which it belongs, and is well worthy of a visit. The entrance is by a drawbridge, across a moat, the bed of which is very distinctly marked. The visitor is shewn over the different apartments. The chief of these are the reception, drawing, and dining-rooms. In the reception-room, there is a series of portraits, chiefly connected with the family. The ancient fire-places, with their carved mantel-pieces, will not fail to attract attention. Some of the rooms are hung with tapestry the subjects of which are taken from Don Quixote. This castle derives its great interest from its associations with Macbeth, who was Thane of Cawdor.* In the roof of one part of the building is shewn the hiding-place in which Lord Lovat lay concealed from his enemies for some time after the battle of Culloden. A fine view is obtained from the battlements of the tower. The grounds are highly picturesque, and are adorned by some very ancient oak, elm, and ash trees.t

At a place called Auldearn, 24 miles eastwards, the Marquis of Montrose gained a victory over the Covenanters under Sir John Hurry, May 4, 1645. Passing the ruins of Benaig Castle on the left, the tourist enters Morayshire. On the farm-house of Rait's Castle, where there are the ruins of an ancient seat of the Mackintoshes of Rait. Nothing deserving of notice meets the eye till the traveller reaches the village of Cawdor, where there is an inn (Cawdor Arms) near the castle gate.

* According to one account it was here that he murdered King Duncan, and a bedroom is shewn as the scene of the deed of blood. It is more probable, however, that the murder was committed, as Shakespeare represented it, in Macbeth's castle at Inverness. In the Dungeon, an arched and gloomy apartment, is the trunk of an old hawthorn tree, with its roots still fast in the earth; and beside it lie the remains of an old iron chest. "Thereby hangs a tale," to the effect that the founder of the castle, being at a loss where to build his projected family stronghold, placed the chest of gold which was to pay for its erection on the back of an ass, which being let loose, came to stop under this tree, and here, accordingly, he built his castle.

+ The tourist may return by Fort-George, passing Kilravock Castle, which occupies a fine site on the banks of the Nairn, at some distance to the left of the road. It is inhabited by a lady who has made the surrounding grounds as attractive as the old building itself is interesting.

A walk or drive of eight or ten miles more will bring the traveller to the Castle of Lochindorbh, situated on an island in a loch of that name. On the