Summer Sailings by an Old Yachtsman ... With numerous illustrations after water-colour drawings by the author

Front matter

SUMMER SAILINGS Printed by R. & £. Clark, Limited FOR DAVID DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH LONDON . . SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO., LIM. CAMBRIDGE . . MACMILLAN AND BOWES GLASGOW . . JAMES MACLEHOSE AND SONS SUMMER SAILINGS BY AN OLD YACHTSMAN ARCHIBALD YOUNG, Advocate LATE H.M. INSPECTOR OF SALMON FISHERIES FOR SCOTLAND AND AUTHOR OF 'TREATISE ON SALMON' IN 'STANFORD'S HISTORY OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES,' PRIZE ESSAY ON HARBOUR ACCOMMODATION FOR FISHING BOATS, 'THE ANGLER AND SKETCHER'S OUIDE TO SUTHERLAND,' ETC. ETC. WITS NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AFTER WATER- COLOUR DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR EDINBURGH: DAYID DOUGLAS

Preface

The following cruises occupied several summer seasons a good many years ago. They were made in a cutter yacht of thirty-five tons, in which I sailed more than 7000 miles, going twice round Great Britain, visiting the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, and also parts of Ireland, France, and Norway. An account of one or two of the cruises appeared in well-known magazines. But the whole of them are now published for the first time in a complete form ; and it is hoped that the numerous illustrations of picturesque localities, all taken from water-colour drawings made by me on the spot in the course of these cruises, will add something to the interest and value of the volume. The black and white illustrations were made from my drawings by Messrs. J. Munro Bell and Co. , Edinburgh ; and SUMMER SAILINGS VI for the coloured illustrations I am indebted to Messrs. R. S. and AY.

Forrest, Brandon Street Studio, Edinburgh, who first photographed the drawings, and then coloured them by hand after the original sketches. ARCHIBALD YOUNG, 22 Royal Circus, Edinburgh, January 1898. CASTLE VAKBU'H and ben laoghal Plea' CONTENTS

Chapter I

North About — Cruise from Forth to Clyde .sures and advantages of a j'acht cruise in summer to the remote Highlands and Islands of Scotland — Description of the yacht Spray — Town and Bay of Stromness — Loch of Stenness — Druidical circle of Stenness — Ward Hill of Hoy — Three tall Standing Stones of Stenness — Kirkwall the capital of the Orkney Islands — Cathedral of St. Magnus — Earl Patrick's Palace — Former plenty and cheapness of oysters in Orkney — Depletion of the oyster-beds — Importance of restoring and protecting them — Dwarfie Stone, Hoy Head, and Old llan of Hoy — Peerie Sea and Kirkwall — Sail from Stromness Bay to Loch Erriboll, and grand view of the precipices of Hoy Head — Picturesque view of entrance to Kyle of Tongue, with Ben Laoghal in the distance — Loch Erriboll, a quiet and land-locked haven — Detention in, for five days owing to stress of weather — Loch Hope and Kiver — Excellent fishing in Loch Hope and River — Ben Hope — Description of the Smowe Cave — Cape Wrath — Long and picturesque range of lofty mountains extending from Ben Dearg, a few miles south of Cape Wrath, to Loch Ewe — Island of Handa — Description of Loch Maree — Town and Harbour of Portree — Storr Hill and Needle of Storr — Sligachan Inn and fgurr nan Gillean — Glenelg — Loch Duich and Eilean Donan Castle — Falls of Glomack — Loch Hourn and Ben Sgroil — Sound of Sleat, Blaven, and the Coolins — Loch Sunart — Town and Bay of Tobermory — Loch Shiel, beauty and grandeur of its scenery — Details of fishing for several seasons — Eilean Finnan, or Island of St. Finnan in Loch Shiel .... pages 1-49 SUMMER SAILINGS

Chapter II

A Yacht Cruise through the Caledonian Canal No conveniences for being solitary and sulky on board a small yacht, so that a fund of good humour is the best sea-stock — Variety of scenery and sport in the Caledonian Canal — Elgin and Elgin Cathedral — Gordonstown, and the wizard Sir Robert Gordon — Spynie Castle for centuries the residence of the Bishops of Moray — Cromarty Firth and the Soutars of Cromarty — Cawdor Castle — Fine scenery between Fort George and the entrance to the Caledonian Canal — Glen Urquhart and Castle Urquhart — "Castle Urquhart visited," a serio-comic poem — Fall of Foyers — Ascent of Ben Nevis before the days of road and observatory — Glencoe and Loch Leven — Dunstaffnage Castle — Dunolly Castle and Oban — Loch Swin and Castle Swin pages 50-94

Chapter III

A Yacht Cruise to the Head op Loch Etive Grandeur, variety, and beauty of the scenery around Loch Etive — Lower Loch between Dunstaffnage and Bunawe comparatively quiet and sylvan ; Upper Loeh between Bunawe and Glen Etive wild and grand — Mountains on either side of Upper Loch Etive and above Glen Etive — Dangers of Connal Ferry and Rapids . pages 95-111 CHAPTER IY A Yacht Cruise to Loch Hourn Number of picturesque sea-lochs indenting the western shores of Sutherland, Ross-shire, and Inverness-shire — Loch Hourn one of the most beautiful and inaccessible of these — Noble outlines of Ben Screel, which sweeps down in grand curves to the waters of Loch Hourn and seems to guard the entrance — Small rocky island at foot of Ardnamurchan Point ; legend regarding it — Barrisdale in Loch Hourn — Ghastly story told by our pilot about his escape from the death-pit during au outbreak of cholera at St. Petersburg— Upper Loch Hourn above Barrisdale ; its magnificent scenery — Abundance of sea- CONTENTS IX fish iu Upper Loch Hourn — Strength of the tide in the Narrows of Upper Loch Hourn — Sound of Sleat and Blaven — Castle Moil, Kyleakin, and Portree — Dead-beat of fifty miles against a strong wind and heavy sea from Portree to Stornoway — Stornoway town, castle, and grounds — Splendid view from the highest point of the castle grounds ..... pages 112-133

Chapter V

A Yacht Cruise from Lerwick to Bergen Run from Lerwick to the Bommel Fiord — Norwegian pilots — Waterfall at Ænaes — Bondhus Glacier, Moranger Fiord — Hardanger Fiord and branches — Yacht nearly run ashore owing to the pilot's ignorance of the proper anchorage in the Moranger Fiord — Fine waterfalls a special feature in the landscape of the Hardanger Fiord — Stir Fiord and Eide Fiord, two branches of the great Hardanger — Village of Vik at the head of the Hardanger Fiord — Description of village of Vik — Excursion from Vik to the Voring Foss, the graudest waterfall in Norway — Saeters or shepherds' huts near the Fall — Description of the Fall — Surefootedness and endurance of Norwegian ponies — Yacht nearly driven ashore by sudden and violent storm at Vik — From Vik to Bergen — Bergen — Fish-market — Athenæum, Museum, and Art Union — Cathedral — Leper Hospital — Run from Bergen to Lerwick in fifty-one hours .... pages 134-173

Chapter VI

A Yacht Cruise among the Shetland Islands Peculiarities and attractions of the Shetland Islands — Their early history — Harold the fair-haired and the Princess Gida — Traces of the long dominion of Norway among the modern Shetlanders — Sumburgh Roost and Fitful Head — Links of Sumburgh, scene of a desperate battle between the Shetlanders and the men of the Lewis — Burgh of Mousa — Similarity of the Burgh of Mousa and the Nuraghe of Sardinia — Bard of Bressay, Ord of Bressay, and Noss Head — Sound of Bressay, one of the finest harbours in Scotland — Lerwick town and harbour — The Unicorn Rock a dangerous obstacle in the northern entrance to X Bressay Sound — So named from the vessel belonging to Kirkaldy of Grange which was wrecked on it while pursuing the ship belonging to the profligate Earl of Bothwell — Cleikum Loch and Island Fort near Lerwick — Lochs of Tingwall — Good trout-fishing in Lochs of Tingwall — Legend regarding tall upright monumental stone near the lochs — Scalloway Castle, a noble ruin — Nearly a third of the adult male population of the Shetland Islands occupied in seafaring pursuits — Influence of masonic fraternities in Shetland — Excursion to Noss Head — Ruined Burgh of Brindister, picturesquely placed on the very verge of a precipice rising 100 feet above the sea — Visit to the interior of a Shetland cottage — Whalsey Island and Mr. Bruce of Simbister House — Fetlar Island and Burgli Hall belonging to Sir Arthur Nicholson — Harbour of Uya Sound between the Island of Unst and the little Island of Uya — Unst the most northern and one of the largest of the Shetland Islands — Walk across Unst from Uya Sound to Balta Sound — Remains of Mouness Castle — Lochs on the road across abounding in trout — Abundance of golden plover and snipe — Balta Sound, a spacious and perfectly land-locked harbour — Heilaburn, or Burn of Health, in Unst — Chromate of iron largely wrought in Unst— Buness House in Unst from which the French philosopher Biot, in 1817, carried on a series of experiments for determining the length of the seconds pendulum — Loch of Cliff in Unst, the largest sheet of fresh -water in the Shetland Islands; excellent fishing in — Burra Fiord, Saxa Fiord, and Scaw Roost — Flugga Stack and Lighthouse in Unst, the northernmost lighthouse in the British Isles .... pages 174-212 Appendix A. — Fisheries of Orkney ... ,, 213-219 ,, B. — Oysters and Mussels in the Shetland Islands ,, 220-222 Index ...... ,, 223-225 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FULL PAGE The Pass of Brander ......

Frontispiece Ben More Coigach and Stack Polly . . . Title-page The Great Circle of Stenness and Loch Stenness ....... Facing page 6 Islands of Graemsay and Hoy from Stromness Harbour . . . . . . „ 10 Ward Hill of Hoy from Stromness Bay . . „ 12 The Cliffs and Old Man of Hoy . „ 14 SUILVEN FROM THE SEA ....... 26 Glamaig from Sligachan . „ 30 Looking dp Loch Shiel from THE SKIRTS OF BEN Resipol ...... . „ 44 A Highland Cottage ....... 64 Ben Sgroil and Entrance to Loch Hourn . . ,,114 Rocks near Stonehaven . . . . . ,,136 Vik, Hardanger Fiord . . . . . . ,,146 The Saeters near Voring Foss . . . . ,,152 Bergen . . . . . . . . . ,, 164 Scalloway Castle . . . . . . . ,,194 VIGNETTES PAGE Castle Varrich and Ben Laoghal . . . . vi Rock Scenery off the Caithness Coast . . . 1 The Three Great Stones of Stenness ... 8 Ben Laoghal from the Sea ... 16 The Storr from the Sea . . . . . .31 Loch Shiel, above Polloch . . .41 Rocks and Caves on the Coast near Elie ... 49 Spynie Castle ........ 50 The Entrance to Glencoe . . . . .85 Castle Urquhart ........ 94 Head of Loch Etive . . . . .95 Ben Cruachan from Loch Etive . . . . .111 Blaven from the Sound of Sleat . . . .112 Sgurr nan Gillean from Portree . . . .131 Egilsey Church, Orkney . . . . . .133 Witch Mountain, Bommel Fiord . . . . .134 Bondhus Glacier . . . . . . .141 Bogholm Sound . . . . . . . .157 A Loffoden fishing boat . . . . . .173 Shetland Mill . . . . . . . .174 Flugga Stack, northmost Lighthouse in British Isles 181 Noss Head ....... .187 Standing Stone of Unst ... . 207 A Pictish Lake Fort . . . . . . .211 Bressay and Noss Head . . . . . .212 ROCK SCENERY OFF THE CAITHNESS COAST.

Chapter I North About Cruise From Forth To Clyde

Not a season passes by without seeing numbers of yachts leaving our shores to explore the fiords of Norway, the blue and tideless Mediterranean, or the sunny isles of the Grecian Archipelago. The flag of an English yacht has waved in the noble bay of San Francisco, in the harbours of Sydney and Hobart Town, on the waters of the Hudson, and even on the muddy Mississippi, where it sweeps past the crescent city of New Orleans. A fondness for novelty and adventure, a craving B for excitement, a love of the beautiful, or all these combined, have led our yachtsmen to despise distance and danger, and to roam far and wide over the pathless ocean, in order to gratify their favourite tastes, or to vary the monotony of home life. It is, however, somewhat strange, that whilst long voyages are undertaken to distant lands, some of the most picturescpie scenery on our own shores should be comparatively neglected.

It is true, indeed, that the seas are stormy, the currents rapid, and the navigation intricate ; that in some places supplies are difficult to be found, and that the chance of beinostorm-staid in a Highland loch for a week or a fortnight, surrounded by sterile mountains half veiled in gray mist, and out of sight of human habitation, affords rather a dreary prospect ; but, with a stout vessel, a good sailing master, and a provident steward, the former class of dangers may be easily avoided ; and, by making the cruise during the proper season of the year (the months of June, July, and August), there is not much chance of suffering from the latter con tingency. Upon the other hand, how rich are the stores of grandeur and beauty, how great the variety of pleasure which such a cruise discloses !

The Orkney Islands, some barren and rocky, others green and smiling, divided by long reaches of sea, and full of excellent harbours, such as that of Stromness, with its cpiaint old town, in full view of the Ward Hill of Hoy, on whose summit, according to tradition, an enchanted carbuncle is some times seen shining at midnight — the adjacent coast of Scotland, fissured by caves and indented by arms of the sea, above which rise the towering peaks of Ben Hope and Ben Laoghal — the bold headland of Cape Wrath, with its lofty light gleam ing over the wild Atlantic. Then, turning south ward, the beautiful Loch Laxford, and the coast range of mountains, unrivalled in varied and fantastic outline, stretching for fifty miles from Loch Laxford to Loch Ewe. ( >f wood there is but little, and that almost all natural ; but then, in autumn, howr exquisite is the colouring, and how the mountain slopes glow with the mingled hues of the purple heather, the gray rock, and the rich golden brown of the deer grass and the bracken !

South of Loch Ewe the scenery of the Scottish coast and of the western islands is better known, and more in the beaten track of tourists and yachtsmen ; but, during a month's cruise in the finest season of the year, we met very few yachts between the Moray Firth and Loch Ewe. Some years ago we set sail from Granton Harbour in the month of June in a cutter yacht of thirty-five tons, manned by a sailing-master and three stout hands, having been occupied for some hours previously in getting below and stowing away an amount of stores which seemed, when piled up upon the deck, as if they would have served for a voyage to Australia. The yacht was constructed by those well - known builders, the Messrs. Inmaii, who left not a hole or corner that was not turned to some use or other as a press or locker.

We may as well give a brief descrip tion of her accommodation : a good roomy fore castle, where the men had air, light, and comfort; commodious steward's pantry ; ample stowage for spare anchor, baskets, lanterns, etc. Good state room on the starboard side ; main-cabin, fit to dine a dozen people, and more than five feet nine inches under the beams ; the companion entering side ways, a plan all moderate-sized yachts should adopt. One closet behind cabin stair and another in after cabin. This cabin, being under a booby hatch, is some six and a half or seven feet high, and as airy as a drawing - room in Belgrave Scpiare. Some folks object to booby hatches over the main -cabin; I admit they are an abomination; but aft and of moderate size they are no de formity, and it has always been a question with me whether their utility is more felt on deck or below — they form so eligible a seat, and with a small rail enclosing the centre such a desirable place for charts, telescopes, pipes, etc., that I cannot understand how they can be dispensed with.

Be sure that you have them always decked and caulked whatever part of the ship they are in, it is the only way to insure their being tight. When I say that beyond the after-cabin was a spacious sail - room with berths for two men if required, you have the yacht's accommodation described. She was a fairly fast vessel and an excellent sea-boat. On one occasion we ran from Leith to the Thames in fifty-two hours, having a steady, strong westerly breeze the whole way. On another occasion we were hove to for forty-eight hours, in one of the worst gales of the autumn, in the North Sea, half-way between Lerwick and Bergen, and, under the trysail and storm-jib, she behaved nobly, shipping no heavy water. She was ultimately sold to an Australian yachtsman, and made the passage from the Clyde to Australia in 110 days.

We have no intention of inflicting upon our readers any unbroken narrative, continued from day to day, during the six weeks that our cruise lasted ; still less do we deem it necessary to garnish our story with nautical details as to what amount of sail we carried, how often we hove the lead or the log, the exact direction of the wind, or the precise number of fathoms in which we anchored. Our object is simply to give some account of the most interesting places we visited, and the most picturesque scenery we saw, especially in those unfrequented and remote localities which it was our fortune to explore. Our northern voyage was stormy, but we passed some fine rock scenery on the sea-coast. At last we got into the boiling tide of the Pentland Firth, and afterwards into those smooth and sheltered arms of the sea that wind among the Orcadian Archi pelago.

Behold us at length anchored in the tranquil waters of the Bay of Stromness, guarded by the green island of Graemsay, with its white strand and twin lighthouses, beyond which towers the lofty Hill of Hoy. A few hundred yards from our anchorage lies the town of Stromness, built at the foot of a sloping hill, and presenting a confused assemblage of narrow streets and tall old houses, whose peaked gables face the bay, into which juts out a perfect medley of quays and landing-places, affording every facility for the encouragement of the nautical tastes of the inhabitants. About four miles from Stromness is an extensive sheet of water, called the Loch of Stenness, and, close to it, separated only by a narrow neck of land, through which flows a stream connecting the two lakes, lies the Loch of Harray.

Not far from the high road, and at one extremity of this tongue of land, to the northward of the Bridge of Brogar, stands the maonificent Druidical circle of the Stones of Stenness. Close to these stones are several circular grass-grown tumuli, probably the last resting-places of distinguished Orcadian and Norwegian chiefs or princes, not likely to be disturbed, unless curiosity shall induce some prying antiquarian to invade even this remote spot. The Stones of Stenness are of various sizes, and form a circle of about 400 feet in circumference ; some of them do not rise above four or five feet from the ground, whilst the largest standing is about ten feet in height. Their aspect, rude, gray, time-worn, but strong and massive, harmonises admirably with the character of the scenery in midst of which they stand.

Those leaden lakes, their surface unbroken by islands, their shores unfringed by trees ; that wide extent of level and dreary moor sloping up in the distance into low, shapeless hills ; and in the THE THREE GREAT STONES OF STENNESS. centre of all, the giant forms of the Stones of Stenness, the presiding deities of the place, are as impressive, perhaps, in this bleak and barren waste, as the lofty columns whose graceful shafts and sculptured capitals still tower over the ruins of Baalbec, in the brighter landscape of a warmer clime, and under the golden glow of a southern sky.1 To the south of the Bridge of Brogar stand three gigantic stones, the tallest of which is seventeen feet six inches in height, and near it lies prostrate a still more gigantic monolith of nineteen feet. These are depicted in the illustration.

Those who have a passion for climbing, or a fondness for extensive prospects of sea and island, may, in the long days of summer, take boat from Stromness, early in the morning, land on the island of Hoy, ascend the Ward Hill, the highest summit in the Orkneys, and return to Stromness the same evening. Far in the recesses of the mountain, in a gloomy and rock-strewn valley, lies the Dwarfie Stone — a huge mass of rock hollowed out into a rude dwelling, which Trolld, a dwarf celebrated in the northern sagas, is said to have formed for himself, and selected as his favourite residence. 1 For a full description of the scenery and fishings of the Loch of Stenness and Harray, taken from my Blue-book of 18S7 on Orkney and Shetland Islands, see Appendix A. Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkneys, is about fourteen miles distant from Stromness.

The road between the two places is excellent, but the scenery most dreary, with the exception of the pretty Bay of Firth, and a sheltered valley near it, in which are a handsome modern house and some well-cultivated fields. Between the promontories of Inganess and Quanterness, protected by the opposite island of Shapinshay, lies a deep and beautiful bay, at the bottom of which stands the town of Kirkwall. The Cathedral of St. Magnus, built in the twelfth century, and still in perfect preservation, is alone well worthy of a voyage to the Orkneys. Its tall, massive form dominates over the other buildings — fit type of the relative positions of the Church and the laity at the time when it was reared. It is built of a reddish sand stone, and in the heaviest and earliest style of Gothic architecture.

The first view of the interior is very striking. All around the Cathedral there are passages in the thickness of the walls, whence the priests (themselves unseen) could look down on the worshippers below, and in one place there is a secret chamber in which a chained skeleton was discovered. Kirkwall possesses another interesting relic of NORTH ABOUT 11 the past, in Earl Patrick's Palace. When we saw it, it was in a filthy state, being used as a place for keeping geese and poultry of all kinds. AVe heard, however, that there was an intention of repairing or rebuilding it for a Town House. Sir Walter Scott observes, whilst describing the earl's and bishop's palaces at Kirkwall : — " Several of these ruinous buildings might lie selected (under suitable modifications) as the model of a Gothic mansion, provided architects would be contented rather to imitate what is really beauti ful in that species of building, than to make a medley of the caprices of the order, confounding the military, ecclesiastical, and domestic styles of all ages at random, with additional fantasies and combinations of their own device, all formed out of the builder's brain." 1 A most important benefit for the Orkney Islands would be the restoration of the oyster beds which formerly yielded a regular supply of excellent oysters.

There is no doubt that these beds, though now for the most part either wholly or partially dredged out, might once again be made productive if they were scientifically cultivated and properly protected. This is a matter of great 1 See The Pirate. SUMMER SAILINGS 12 importance to the islands, especially when we remember that the oyster industry of Scotland is steadily falling off, and, indeed, may be said to be almost extinct ; the total value of Scottish oysters in 1885 being only £809, as against £2174 in 1884. In 1885, the once famous and productive oyster beds of the Firth of Forth yielded only £273, and in 1884 £500. In 1885 only three of the Fishery Districts yielded oysters, namely, Leith, Stornoway, and Ballantrae. Yet iu Orkney, more than 300 years ago, oysters were both good and plentiful, and in certain places formed part of the rent paid by the tenant to the lord of the soil.

Low tells us, in his Tour, that in the inner basin of the Long Hope there were formerly oyster scalps which produced oysters so large that they had to be cut into four pieces before being eaten ; and in Earl Patrick's rental of 1595, Aith inter alia paid "40 oistris for ilk Id. terrae"; Manclett, 80; and Binns, 40. The Bays of Firth and Deersound used to be the principal localities for oysters in Orkney, and so late as 1845 the former was fairly productive. The Old Statistical Account of Scotland, published about 100 years ago, tells us that "In this Bay (the Bay of Firth) excellent oysters, and of a large NORTH ABOUT 13 size, are found in tolerable plenty. They are sold at a shilling the hundred." As much as £2000 worth of oysters have been sold out of the Bay of Firth in a single season.

But a fleet of boats came and dredged them all out ; since which time the oyster scalps have remained almost entirely unproductive. Yet in the vicinity of the islands of Damsay and the Holm of Grimbister, and in other parts of the Bay of Firth, and also in certain localities in the Bay of Isbister, which is close to the Bay of Firth, there are places admirably suited for oyster culture, and likewise in Deer sound, especially 011 the west side of the bay between Lakequoy and Suckquoy, if only the oyster culturist could be secured in the enjoyment of the results arising from the money expended in restoring these dredged-out bays to their former condition of productiveness. Other countries re cognise the necessity of protecting the oyster culturist, and adopt stringent means to do so. In the United States of America, for example — where the annual production of oysters is between 5000 and 6000 millions — they have appointed a salaried Oyster Protector for the State of New York, whose duty it is to supervise the oyster beds.

SUMMER SAILINGS 14 Perhaps there is no place in Orkney that would be more suitable for oyster culture than the Peerie Sea, which runs into the Bay of Kirkwall under the high road to Finstown. The tide flows into and ebbs from this shallow salt-water lake, which is about a mile and a half in circumference, and which, from its position, could be easily and cheaply overlooked and protected. I noticed various parts of the Peerie Sea where the bottom is suitable for oysters. But in other parts it might require to be cultched, and star-fish, dogwhelks, and other enemies of the oyster destroyed. Of course it would be necessary to prevent the discharge into it of town sewage, gas refuse, and other deleterious matters. The Peerie Sea belongs, I understand, to the town of Kirkwall. The lower reaches of the Loch of Stenness would probably be found excellent for the laying down and fattening of oysters, as the presence of a certain amount of fresh water and a current — such as exist for some distance above the Bridge of Waithe — are favourable for the fattening of oysters, though they would be unfavourable for breeding and spatting purposes; pure sea-water and a clean bottom being most suitable in such circumstances.

Early on a fine July morning we got under way, and left the Bay of Stromness, bound for Loch Erriboll, on the north coast of Scotland. The wind was light ; but on getting into the Roost of Brackness, as the narrow channel between the Island of Hoy and the Mainland of ( )rkney is termed, we found ourselves all at once in the midst of a tremendous sea, pitching bowsprit under, and the spray flying over our deck. We had started with the ebb tide, and there had been a westerly breeze for some days, and it was the meeting of the westerly swell with the tide, which runs nine miles an hour in the narrow channel of the Boost, that caused the commotion which so much astonished us. However, as soon as we had rounded Hoy Head, and got fairly out into the Atlantic, the sea became much calmer. Hoy Head is a magnificent promontory, formed by a spur of the lofty Ward Hill, which here dips clown into the ocean a sheer precipice, 1000 feet in height, protracted to the southward for miles, an iron wall of rock-bound coast, gradually diminish ing in height.

At a short distance from Hoy Head, and a little in front of the cliffs, an isolated rock, called the " Old Man of Hoy," rises abruptly from the sea, sometimes seeming to blend with the precipices behind, at other times standing out in strong relief. During the whole day we had light and variable winds, with occasional calms, though there was a good deal of sea on, till we had quite closed in with the land ; in consequence of which we did BEN LAOGHAL FROM l'HF. SEA. not reach our anchorage, a sheltered bay in Loch Erriboll, about sixty miles distant from Stromness, until late in the night. The view of the moun tains on the coast, and in the interior, as we approached the land, was exceedingly striking. In Caithness we saw Morven, and in Sutherland shire Ben Griam-Mhor, Klibreck, Ben Laoghal, Ben 3 O Hope, and many other lofty summits, whose names we did not know.