A steep but regular ascent led from the terrace to the neighbouring eminence, and conducted Mannering to the front of the old castle.

It consisted of two massive round towers projecting deeply and darkly at the extreme angles of a curtain, or flat wall, which united them, and thus protecting the main entrance, that opened through a lofty arch in the centre of the curtain into the inner court of the castle.

The arms of the family, carved in freestone, frowned over the gateway, and the portal showed the spaces arranged by the architect for lowering the portcullis and raising the drawbridge.

A rude farm-gate, made of young fir-trees nailed together, now formed the only safeguard of this once formidable entrance.

The esplanade in front of the castle commanded a noble prospect.
The dreary scene of desolation through which Mannering's road had lain on the preceding evening was excluded from the view by some rising ground, and the landscape showed a pleasing alternation of hill and dale, intersected by a river, which was in some places visible, and hidden in others, where it rolled betwixt deep and wooded banks.