Page:A Companion and Useful Guide to the Beauties of Scotland.djvu/246

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228
A DESCRIPTION OF

acre. On the east side of the Ness, between the bridge and the Kessack ferry, are large thread and cotton works erected; which disfigure the town, but doubtless add to its riches. Inverness is the port that supplies all the inland parts of Inverneſsshire, south of Murray Firth, with necessaries and luxuries, not produced in the country, particularly coals, grocery, &c. These articles are conveyed by water with great conveniency, from the Bona ferry, at the foot of Loch Ness, to Fort Augustus, the Glens Urquhart and Morrison, and other places.

I have already mentioned the present amiable manners of the people of Inverness, and the adjacent country; and I must also add, that they are now perfectly secure in their property, as well as polished in their behaviour (which is not always the case in the south), retaining the honest simplicity and hospitality of the patriarchal age, which the rub of refinement has not impaired. Indeed, not only in Inverness, but in most parts of the Highlands, the manners of the people are pleasant to a great degree; and the poorest of the poor will vie with each other which can most assist, or gratify a stranger, provided it be not on a Sunday. On that day, if a carriage breaks