fence. When Mr Edward Ellice visited Glenquoich, after purchasing the property, Ewen called upon him, like a dutiful vassal in the old feudal time, doing homage to his liege lord, and presented some goats'-milk cheese as a peace-offering. His terms were simple, but decisive. He told Mr Ellice-not that he would pay rent for his island, but that he would not molest the new laird, if the new laird did not disturb him in his possession! The grizzled aspect, intrepid bearing, and free speech of the bold outlaw struck the Englishman with surprise, and Ewen instantly became a sort of favourite. It is probable he will not again be disturbed; for the island is not worth a shilling to any person but Ewen Macphee; and it would be cruel to dispossess even this daring and desperate man, now upwards of sixty years of age.

The situation of his family, growing up in wild neglect and barbarism, is the most painful circumstance in Ewen's singular story. His wife is still, comparatively, a young and agreeable-looking person; and as she had some education, it is probable she may teach her children a knowledge of their letters, and some outline of Christian duty and belief. Of this, however, the people of the glen are wholly ignorant. The few who have had intercourse with Ewen represent him as strongly attached to his family; and of this we had, indirectly, a sort of proof. On the day we were in the glen, one of Ewen's children had died died in his solitary Patmos, which was destitute of neighbourly aid or consolation. Overwhelmed with grief, the old man took his boat, and crossed to a shepherd's hut, begging the shepherd to assist him in making a coffin for the dead child, as he could not steady his hand under the blow of this calamity. "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," says Shakspeare. The assistance was freely given; some birch staves were formed into a coffin, and the child will, in a day or two, be interred in a spot exactly suited to Ewen's tastes and character; for the ancient churchyard used by the simple people of Glenquoich is also

an island, small in extent, which rises out of the waters of the Quoich, near its junction with the lake. This incident is in keeping with the whole history of this wild unconquered Highlander-one of the last types of a fierce and hardy race, in whose nature strong passions were mingled, both for good and for evil.

The above notice was extensively copied into the English newspapers, and it is creditable to the benevolence of the public that sums of money, amounting to about £27, were remitted to Macphee. We have the assurance also of Mr Ellice that the family of the outlaw will not be neglected.

In February 1842—about three months after the date of our visit-Macphee was bereft of his property, which consisted of sixty goats. He had pastured them on the farm of Mr Cameron, Corrychoillie; and one day, while Macphee was absent, Mr Cameron's shepherds, armed with guns and sticks, drove off the flock of goats, in payment of grass mail, and as a compensation for the depredations alleged to have been done by Macphee to Mr Cameron's sheep. The wife of the outlaw endeavoured to prevent the men: she followed them alone, from her solitary island, and with a loaded rifle fired several times at them. They fled precipitately from the modern Helen Macgregor, but managed to drive the goats before them, and to secure them within the ancient and venerable castle of Inverlochy, which has certainly been appropriated to nobler purposes. Macphee, on his return, vowed signal vengeance on his despoilers, and Mr Cameron was fain to pay him for the goats, to avert the threatened evil!

GAME-DESTRUCTION OF VERMIN.

THE fine Highland property of Glengarry abounds in game of various descriptions, but, like most estates of a similar

situation, it has also been subject to the ravages of vermin. 'From the lordly eagle, down to the stote and weasel, those destructive inhabitants of wood and wild, find ample room for excursion amidst the vast unploughed recesses of the Highland glens and forests. An English gentleman, Mr Bainbridge (M.P. for Taunton), was lessee of the Glengarry shootings previous to the purchase of the property by Lord Ward; and, annoyed by the loss of game, this gentleman set about a vigorous system of war and extermination against all his vermin intruders. He engaged numerous gamekeepers, paying them liberally, and awarding prizes to those who should prove the most successful. These rewards varied from £3 to £5 each; and the keepers and watchers pursued the slaughter with undeviating rigour and attention. The result has been the destruction, within the last three years, of above four thousand head of vermin, and a proportional increase in the stock of game. We were anxious to learn the extent and nature of the vermin destroyed, and have been furnished with a complete list by Mr Scott, manager of the Glengarry estates. To such of our readers as are fond of natural history, the list which we subjoin will prove interesting; and it also shows how much may be done, by steady and combined efforts, for the protection of game. The value of our northern shootings would be immensely enhanced, if similar exertions were generally made, and proper care taken that the heather be burned only in rotation. The latter system will be found equally advantageous to the sheep farmer; and if the sportsman does not get a fair chance, the grouse will, in many an extensive range of moor, entirely disappear. The following is the list of vermin destroyed at Glengarry, from Whitsunday 1837 to Whitsunday 1840:-11 foxes; 198 wild cats; 246 martin cats; 106 polecats; 301 stotes and weasels; 67 badgers; 48 otters; 78 house cats, going wild; 27 white tailed sea-eagles; 15

golden eagles; 18 osprey, or fishing eagles; 98 blue hawks, or peregrine falcons; 11 hobby hawks; 275 kites, commonly called salmon-tailed gledes; 5 marsh harriers, or yellowlegged hawks; 63 gos hawks; 285 common buzzards; 371 rough-legged buzzards; 3 honey buzzards; 462 kestrels, or red hawks; 78 merlin hawks; 83 hen harriers, or ringtailed hawks; 6 jer falcon toe-feathered hawks; 9 ash-coloured hawks, or long blue-tailed do.; 1431 hooded or carrion crows; 475 ravens; 35 horned owls; 71 common feru owls; 3 golden owls; 8 magpies.

MELANCHOLY FATE OF A POOR STROLLING PLAYER.

ABOUT the latter end of October 1837, when autumn was fading into winter, and, in the words of William Laidlaw's beautiful Scottish song,

"When the wan leaf frae the birk-tree was fa'ing,"

a poor strolling player, his wife, and two children -a fine boy and girl-arrived at Lairg in the county of Sutherland. A more unpromising place for a theatrical exhibition can hardly be conceived. The few inhabitants are separated on all sides by rugged mountains, which impart a feeling of utter solitude and seclusion to the scene. A cluster of cottages, however, lie about the manse, on the south side of Loch Shinn, and there are huts scattered among the hills which, though they at first elude observation, are rife with inmates. The player resolved to try a performance, but, it being Saturday evening, he deferred astonishing the simple people till Monday or Tuesday. He put up at the inn, and the respectable landlord informed us that the intelligence and information of the man made a strong impression on all who heard him.

There is something very agreeable in the conversation of players. They are generally, even in the lowest ranks, acute and knowing observers-well versed in the moral statistics of town and country-admirable in hitting off little traits of character, and imparting a lively dramatic interest to their observations. Their profession compels them to read—and to read Shakspeare, as well as the light wit of our comedies. This supplies them with an abundant stock of language for criticism and quotation; and it must be confessed they are seldom sparing of either. Then there are many eccentric characters on the stage-old performers, known to the whole fraternity, whose bon-mots and peculiarities form a circulating medium of never-failing talk. The player, too, is generally above the frown or censure of the world, meaning, thereby, the inhabitants of any given town. He is a bird of passage-a "chartered libertine," absolved, like the Grub Street authors of a former age, from the ordinary rules and restraints of society. He flings himself into the current of conversation, careless where it may carry him, whether out of plummet depth or into shoals and shallows. Generally it gives a force and piquancy to his fireside dialogues. But the whole life of a player seems to be an "unreal mockery." The lights and shades of truth and fiction meet and mingle in his composition. To the sober business of the world he is almost a stranger. The scene is constantly shifting-now rolling in plenty and profusion, now steeped in poverty to the lips-one day hissed or neglected, and another day caressed and applauded to the very echo. What wonder that his character should sometimes take the motley hue of his existence, and baffle all the calculations of the moralist? We speak only of the wandering actor; the stage is adorned by many estimable, and not a few great men, whose learning and talents dignify a profession that, even in its lower grades, is still intellectual. Pity, that even the most obscure of those who minister to our delight should too often find life