SMITH'S EXCURSIONS THROUGH THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLES OF SCOTLAND.
A NEW book of travels, in almost any part of the world, is now-a- days, in ninety-nine instances out of the hundred, a work of su- pererogation. Nothing but very extraordinary powers of observa- tion, description, and reflection, catt give interest to such produc- tions; and this is most especially true as regards a country so familiarly known as Scotland. The Reverend Mr. LESINGHAM SMITH, of Cambridge, amused himself with rambling over several parts of Scotland in 1835 and 1836; and kept a journal for the benefit of his friends, which he now publishes for the benefit of the world. The latter step, he tells us in his preface, he took in consequence of the favourable opinion of those friends : and this is almost uniformly the reason assigned by tourists for the publication of their journals. But the opinions of friends, on such occasions, are dangerous guides. Mr. SMITH'S principal rambles were over those parts of Scotland which are most frequented; and though his journal is written in an easy, gentlemanlike, and agreeable style, yet he is not the rara avis of a traveller who can extract novelty and inte- rest out of Edinburgh, Glasgow, the Western Highlands, or the Hebrides. The best part of his book is his account of his visit to the Orkney Islands : because it so happens that this part of Scot- land is less hackneyed than the rest. There are some descrip- tions of Orcadian scenery, and other objects of curiosity—such as the famous Druidical remains called the Stones of Stennes, whale- hunting, the habits of the native fishermen, and so forth—which will be new to many readers, and are well done. But Mr. SMITH should have been satisfied with the pleasure which the perusal of his journal gave to his friends, who naturally took an interest iu it which the public cannot be expected to feel.
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