1796, with a very heavy heart. So hospitably, and so kindly had I been treated by the whole of that amiable family, that it was with the utmost regret I quitted them.
It was a bad day; snow covered the top of Tinto Hill; and the rain thickened and continued, with some few intervals of fair, till I arrived at Moffat, in the dusk of the evening. Moffat lies at the head of Annandale; which, though wild, possesses many beauties. The Spa, similar, to the German Spa, is within a mile of the town. It is tolerably frequented, and is on the side of a hill, with a torrent rushing near it; at the head of which is the cataract called the Grey Mare's Tail. There are vast ranges of high mountains around the head of Annandale, from which rise fine rivers, running in every direction; such as the Clyde, the Tweed, the Yarrow, the Ettrick, the Esk, and the Annan.
During the night which I passed at Moffat it had poured with rain, so that in the morning every torrent was roaring as I pursued my journey, and the rivers had swollen beyond their bounds. At about two miles south of the town of Moffat, I crossed a branch of the Annan by Duncrief House, finely shaded by wood, and the water
