In external appearance, Stirling bears a striking resemblance, though a miniature one, to Edinburgh; each town being built on the ridge and sides of a hill which rises gradually from the east, and presents an abrupt crag towards the west; and each having a principal street on the surface of the ridge, the upper end of which opens upon the castle. The truth is, the hills on which Edinburgh and Stirling are situated, are evidently the peculiar result of some strange convulsion of nature, which has suddenly projected them above a level surface. Of the same order of hills are Arthur’s Seat, Salisbury Crags, and the Calton Hill, near Edinburgh, and the hill of Craigforth, and the Abbey Crag near Stirling; the whole of which present a precipice to the west, and decline gently towards a low plain on the east. The interior and more ancient streets of Stirling, present rather a mean appearance, being generally long, narrow, and containing many old fashioned and decayed houses. The High Street, however, or Broad Street, as it is now less happily called, has long furnished an exception to this remark, its appearance being spacious and imposing, and its houses lofty, though, in various instances, antique. Since the commencement of the present century, several of the other streets, such as Baker Street, King Street, and Port Street, have been much improved, and filled with shops, which formerly were scarcely to be seen out of the limits of Broad Street; a very striking proof, if any were wanting, of the prosperity of the neighbouring agricultural district, on which Stirling, in these times, mainly depends. Every road, too, which leads out of the town, is now lined with neat modern villas, which speak towards the wealth and comfort of the inhabitants; many of these are occupied by persons of fortune, or annuitants, who have retired, after an adventurous life, to spend the conclusion of their days in their native town. The stranger is apt to exclaim against the pavement of the streets of Stirling, which is very uneasy and irregular; but at the more open parts of the town, there is a flag pavement for foot passengers. The town has been lighted of late years with a very brilliant gas. One circumstance in its environs is much to be admired, the prevalence of gardens and orchards, which serves to give an inexpressibly pleasing air of comfort to the _tout ensemble_, as seen from any point. The stranger, moreover, will scarcely fail to envy the citizen of Stirling, for the delightful walks which are laid out for his convenience, along the south-west side of the town, and around what are called the Gowlan Hills. These I can safely pronounce, so far as _prospect_ is concerned, to be _matchless in Scotland_.