"I had long thought that I should like to visit Scotland, and on my once saying so to my mother, she (who had a most kindly recollection of Alnwick) said in a few words that she thought I could not do better. I had therefore for some time past fully determined that as soon as I had sufficient spare time and money enough I would go to Scotland. The interval between the end of Easter Term and the usual beginning with pupils in the Long Vacation offered sufficient time, and I had now earned a little money, and I therefore determined to go, and invited my sister to accompany me. I had no private introductions, except one from James Parker to Mr Reach, a writer of Inverness: some which Drinkwater sent being too late. On May 20th we went by coach to Stamford; thence by Pontefract and Oulton to York, where I saw the Cathedral, which _then_ disappointed me, but I suppose that we were tired with the night journey. Then by Newcastle to Alnwick, where we stopped for the day to see my birthplace. On May 24th to Edinburgh. On this journey I remember well the stone walls between the fields, the place (in Yorkshire) where for the first time in my life I saw rock, the Hambleton, Kyloe, Cheviot and Pentland Hills, Arthur's Seat, but still more strikingly the revolving Inch Keith Light. At Edinburgh I hired a horse and gig for our journey in Scotland, and we drove by Queensferry to Kinross (where for the first time in my life I saw clouds on the hills, viz. on the Lomond Hills), and so to Perth. Thence by Dunkeld and Killicrankie to Blair Athol (the dreariness of the Drumochter Pass made a strong impression on me), and by Aviemore (where I saw snow on the mountains) to Inverness. Here we received much kindness and attention from Mr Reach, and after visiting the Falls of Foyers and other sights we went to Fort Augustus and Fort William. We ascended Ben Nevis, on which there was a great deal of snow, and visited the vitrified fort in Glen Nevis. Then by Inverary to Tarbet, and ascended Ben Lomond, from whence we had a magnificent view. We then passed by Loch Achray to Glasgow, where we found James Parker's brother (his father, of the house of Macinroy and Parker, being a wealthy merchant of Glasgow). On June 15th to Mr Parker's house at Blochairn, near Glasgow (on this day I heard Dr Chalmers preach), and on the 17th went with the family by steamer (the first that I had seen) to Fairly, near Largs. I returned the gig to Edinburgh, visited Arran and Bute, and we then went by coach to Carlisle, and by Penrith to Keswick (by the old road: never shall I forget the beauty of the approach to Keswick). After visiting Ambleside and Kendal we returned to Cambridge by way of Leeds, and posted to Bury on the 28th June. The expense of this expedition was about _£81_. It opened a completely new world to me.