a picturesque and romantic country. I found the castle amidst its deep forests of pine, larch, elm, and chestnut. The building consists of a high quadrangular pile of many stories, projecting backwards at each end, and pierced with windows of all shapes and sizes. I did my best to carry away a graphic sketch of the old castle and its surroundings: and then, with my stock of drawings, I prepared to return to Inverness on foot. The scenery was grand and beautiful. The weather was fine, although after mid-day it became very hot. A thunder storm was evidently approaching. The sun was obscured by a thunder-cloud; the sky flashed with lightning, and the rain began to pour down. I was then high up on a wild looking moor, covered with heather and vast boulders.

An extemporised shower-bath

There was no shelter to be had, for not a house was in sight. I did not so much mind for my clothes, but I feared very much for my sketches. Taking advantage of the solitude, I stripped myself, put my sketches under my clothes, and thrust them into a hollow underneath a huge boulder. I sat myself down on the top of it, and there I had a magnificent shower-bath of warm rain. I never enjoyed a bath under such romantic circumstances. The thunder-clouds soon passed over my head, and the sun broke out again cheerily. When the rain had ceased I took out my clothes and drawings from the hollow, and found them perfectly dry. I set out again on my long walk to Inverness; and reached it just in time to catch the Caledonian Canal steamer. While passing down Loch Ness I visited the romantic Fail of Foyers; then through Loch Lochy, past Ben Nevis to Loch Linnhe, Oban, and the Kyles of Bute, to Glasgow, and from thence to Edinburgh.

I had the pleasure of placing in my father's hands the sketches I had made. He was greatly delighted with them. They enabled him to set to work with his usual zeal, and in the course of a short time he was able to execute, con amore, the commission of the Brothers Grant. So soon as I had completed my sketches I wrote to Daniel Grant and informed him of the result of my journey. He afterwards expressed himself most warmly as to my prompt zeal in obtaining for him authentic pictures of places so dear to the brothers, and so much associated with their earliest and most cherished recollections.

I have already referred to the Brothers Cowper. They were among my most attached friends at Manchester. Many of my most pleasant associations are connected with them. Edward Cowper was one of the most successful mechanics in bringing the printing machine to a state of practical utility. He was afterwards connected with Mr. Applegath of London, the mechanical engineer of the Times newspaper[note: Mr. Koeig's machines, first used at the Times office, were patented in 1814. They were too complicated and expensive, and the inking was too imperfect for general adoption. They were superseded by Mr. Edward Cowper's machine, which he invented and patented in 1816. He afterwards added the inking roller and table to the common press. The effect of Mr. Cowper's invention was to improve the quality and speed of printing, and to render literature accessible to millions of readers.]

he invented for the proprietors a machine that threw off from 4500 to 5000 impressions in the hour.

In course of time the Brothers Cowper removed the manufacture of their printing machines from London ,to Manchester. There they found skilled and energetic workmen, ready to carry their plans into effect. They secured excellent premises, supplied with the best modern machine tools, in the buildings of Wren and Bennett, about two minutes' walk from my workshop, which I rented from the same landlords.

I had much friendly intercourse with the Cowpers, especially with Ebenezer the younger brother, who took up his residence at Manchester for the purpose of specially superintending the manufacture of printing machines. These were soon in large demand, not only for the printing of books but of newspapers. One of the first booksellers who availed himself of the benefits of the machine was Mr. Charles Knight, who projected the Penny Magazine of 1832, and sold it to the extent of about 180,000 copies weekly. It was also adopted by the Messrs. Chambers of Edinburgh, and the proprietors of the Magasin Pittoresque of Paris. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge also used Cowper's machine in printing vast numbers