On a wooded knoll opposite Isle Maree is an artificial cave, called Uamh an Oir, or "the cave of gold," about forty yards from the margin of the loch. It is an old excavation, made by searchers for the precious metal, which is said to have been found there but in unremunerative quantity. Dr Cochran-Patrick, in his "Early Records relating to Mining in Scotland," gives many interesting facts on the subject of gold mining. Gilbert de Moravia is said to have discovered gold at Durness in Sutherland in 1245. The Scottish Parliament granted to the Crown in 1424 all the gold mines in Scotland. Gold mines were commenced on Crawford Moor during the reign of James IV., about 1511. During the minority of James VI. Cornelius de Vois, a Dutchman, obtained in 1567 a license from the Regent Murray to work gold and silver for nineteen years in any part of Scotland. Cornelius de Vois had several partners who held shares in the adventure. The gold is said to have been found by them principally in the glens and valleys. This "cave of gold" may have been made by them. Many later attempts were made to find gold as well as silver. There is nothing whatever to shew when the search which resulted in the formation of the "cave of gold" took place. According to the New Statistical Account ([Appendix E]), this excavation was made by some one seeking a vein of silver, and several old people now living say the same, but the name "cave of gold" seems to connect it with the more precious metal.
A rounded mountain to the east of Beinn Aridh Charr, called Meall Mheannidh, is seen above the craggy eminences of Letterewe; and just beyond it Beinn Lair rises in a flattish undulating form, with one small point shewing to the summit. This hill is as it were broken off towards the north in a series of remarkably fine precipices, not discernible from this side (see [illustration, page 54]). At the back of Beinn Lair are the Claonadh, or "slopes," mentioned in the story of the "Gillie Buidhe" ([Part I., chap. xiv.]).
The woods of Letterewe begin about half way up the loch. At the commencement of the policies may be noticed the mouth of a canal, and, on the hillside above, the track of a tramway in connection with it. These were constructed by the late proprietor for the purpose of bringing limestone from an extensive and picturesque quarry further up. The quarry is now disused.
To the east of the tramway track notice a fine cascade. Letterewe House (Mr C. Perkins) is an old mansion of the Mackenzies of Letterewe, and is now the property of Mrs Liot Bankes, whose estate extends from the burn (already mentioned) between the Fox Point and Ardlair up to another burn on the west side of Slioch.
A mile beyond Letterewe House the Furnace burn falls into Loch Maree. The hamlet of Furnace takes its name from the iron-smelting furnace ([Part I., chap. xx.]) established here by Sir George Hay in or about 1607.
The hamlets or places from Letterewe to the head of Loch Maree are in the following order:—Furnace, Innis (or Inch) Ghlas, Coppachy, Regoilachy, and Smiorsair. Above them rises the lordly height of Slioch,—not Beinn Slioch, if you please,—whose name signifies a spear-head; the conical shape of the mountain, as seen from Talladale and Slatadale, resembles the form of the rather thick head of an ancient spear or lance, and still more closely that of an ancient flint arrow-head.
Slioch loses this conical form as the steamer approaches the mountain; it now assumes the appearance of a vast wall, furrowed and grooved by the natural agencies of ten thousand generations. The rills and burns which trickle down its steep sides become in wet weather foaming cataracts. The upper part of the mountain is fluted by deep weather-worn channels, thus forming the range of grand summits that nobly cap this chief feature of Loch Maree. Whilst Beinn Aridh Charr is remarkable for its graceful contour, Slioch stands pre-eminent for its barren wildness and grandeur.
At the foot of the Fasagh burn, which flows into Loch Maree to the east of Slioch, are, on the one side (at some little distance), the old burial-ground called the Cladh nan Sasunnach, or "English graveyard" ([Part I., chap. xviii.]); and, on the other (the east side of the burn), the remains of ancient ironworks, where large quantities of slag may still be seen ([Part I., chap. xx.]).
From the head of the loch, which the steamer is now nearing, stretches away to the south-east the partly cultivated strath of Kenlochewe, with the farm of Tagan in the foreground. On the left of the strath, towards the north-east, is a spur of Beinn a Mhuinidh, called the Bonaid Donn, with its waterfall, which, during or immediately after heavy rains, is a fine cascade of the mare's-tail type ([Part III., chap. i.]). On the south-west side of the strath is Meall a Ghuibhais; and exactly below it, near the head of the loch, the steamer pulls up at the pier on a shingly beach—a "silver strand"—which forms the promontory generally known as Ru Nohar, or "the giant's point." The full spelling of the Gaelic name is "Rudha an Fhomhair" (see "[Glossary]"). The name of the giant after whom this point is called is not recorded. Can he and his fellows have been buried in the large graves in the Cladh nan Sasunnach?
After a ramble on shore, where many a pleasant nook amid woods and rocks may be found by the roadside suitable for a brief pic-nic (including the consumption of the lunch which the thoughtful voyageur will have provided before starting), we again embark on the steamer for