Hurrying on, however, to the old town, on the south bank of the Don, we visited the parish church of Old Machar, a grand and venerable building. The pillars in the transept have their capitals beautifully carved in oak.  We then went to King's College, a large quadrangular edifice, including the chapel, built of granite.  The examination hall contains a collection of the portraits of the old Scottish kings and the early principals of the college,--a Bishop Elphinstone, the founder, being among them.  We were amused by seeing the students, of whom there were between two and three hundred, walking about dressed in red gowns.  They belong to all ranks of society, many labouring during the summer to obtain the means of educating themselves in the winter.  We heard a pleasant anecdote of the late Duke of Gordon, who used to send out a carriage when he knew that the young men were on their way to college, in order to give them a lift for a stage or two.  Many, we were told, had worked at the Caledonian Canal before thus arriving in the ducal carriage.