But let us descend the mountain by the side of this torrent. What a splendid series of translucent pools! We carry "The Excursion" in our pocket, for the use of our friends; but our own presentation-copy is here--we have gotten it by heart. And it does our heart good to hear ourselves recite. Listen, ye Naiads, to the famous picture of the Ram:-- "Thus having reach'd a bridge, that overarch'd The hasty rivulet, where it lay becalm'd In a deep pool, by happy chance we saw A twofold image; on a grassy bank A snow-white Ram, and in the crystal flood Another and the same! Most beautiful On the green turf, with his imperial front Shaggy and bold, and wreathed horns superb, The breathing creature stood; as beautiful Beneath him, show'd his shadowy counterpart; Each had his glowing mountains, each his sky, And each seem'd centre of his own fair world. Antipodes unconscious of each other, Yet, in partition, with their several spheres Blended in perfect stillness to our sight. Ah! what a pity were it to disperse Or to disturb so fair a spectacle, And yet a breath can do it." Oh! that the Solitary, and the Pedlar, and the Poet, and the Priest and his Lady, were here to see a sight more glorious far than that illustrious and visionary Ram. Two Christopher Norths--as Highland chieftains--in the Royal Tartan--one burning in the air--the other in the water--two stationary meteors, each seeming native to its own element! This setting the heather, that the linn on fire--this ablaze with war, that tempered into truce; while the Sun, astonied at the spectacle, nor knowing the refulgent substance from the resplendent shadow, bids the clouds lie still in heaven, and the winds all hold their breath, that exulting nature may be permitted for a little while to enjoy the miracle she unawares has wrought--alas! gone as she gazes, and gone for ever! Our bonnet has tumbled into the Pool--and Christopher--like the Ram in "The Excursion"--stands shorn of his beams--no better worth looking at than the late Laird of Macnab.