Here the appearance of the country gradually
improved as we approached the woods and grounds and more cultivated
regions surrounding the residence of the Duke of Sutherland.
[Illustration: DUNROBIN CASTLE. "It was the finest building we had
seen, not at all like the gloomy-looking castles, being more like a
palace, with a fine display of oriel windows, battlements, steeples, and
turrets."]
We came in sight of another Pictish castle, which we turned aside to
visit; but by this time we had become quite familiar with the formation
of these strange old structures, which were nearly all built after the
same pattern, although some belonged to an earlier period than others,
and the chambers in them were invariably dark and dismal. If these were
used for the same purpose as similar ones we had seen in Shetland, where
maidens of property and beauty were placed for protection from the
"gallants" who roamed about the land in those days, the fair prisoners
must have had a dismal time while incarcerated in these dungeon-like
apartments. In these ruins, however, we saw some ancient utensils, or
querns, supposed to have been used for crushing corn. They had been
hollowed out in stone, and one of them had a well-worn stone inside it,
but whether or no it was the remains of an ancient pestle used in
crushing the corn we could not determine; it looked strangely like one.
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