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3 1 8 [Chap. X .
reefed mainsail, double-reefed foresail and reefed
stay-sail, and which continued till we got sight
of Barra Head, on the morning of the 25th, just
f v e days from our departure, thirty hours of
which we were becalmed. To the credit of our
mate, and the accurac}' of his chronometer, the
yacht was steered for this Head, and the land-fall
W'as made within a few miles of what the chronometer
gave. Passing Barra Head in the evening,
Ave made the Island of Isla, and soon found ourselves
more quiet under shelter of the land. In
running so fast through thewater, we shipped several
seas, as may be imagined, and the salt Avater
often poured copiously through the skylight, and
down the companion into the cabin.
We ran past Isla, and having stood on till Ave
thouorht Ave Avere clear of some rocks which lie off
the southern coast, we rounded the island, and
laid to during the night. The intermitting light
on the Island of Orensa, situated at the southwest
point of Isla, shone beautifully bright amidst
the darkness Avhich prcA'ailed, and the light on the
Mull of Cantyre Avas not less brilliant, both being
visible at the same time.
On the folloAving morning at day-break Ave again
got under sail, and enjoyed a fine view of the
Hebrides as Ave sailed through the channel to the
entrance of Ardfarrick, called in the charts Ard-
patrick. We could get no pilot to take us in, but
the Aveather being remarkably fine, and the channel
completely sheltered at the back of a small island
called Ghia, we sounded our way through, the
bottom being distinctly visible, until we opened out
and entered a fine expanse of water, as smooth as a
mirror, and anchored immediately opposite to the
house of Captain Colin Campbell, a connexion by
marriage of Air. Smith.
Thus ended my voyage in the “ Flower of
AforroAA',” to which I shall ever look back with the
greatest pleasure, and with a deep sense of gratitude
to my friend Mr. Smith, through Avhose kindness I
have been enabled to visit an island of deep interest,
and one not easily accessible, Avhere the
grand agencies of Nature employed in creating,
changing, and destroying the earth’s surface, are
carried on to a greater extent probably than in
most other parts of the globe. I feel that to this
steady friend I cannot hope even to pay the debt I
OAve for the marked attention I uniformly received
at his hands, from the moment I put my foot on
board his yacht to the hour of my leaving her.
We all Avent on shore to dinner at Captain
Campbell’s, and liaA'ing passed a A'ery agreeable
evening, being anxious to get to London, I
took leave of my fellow-travellers, and started on
horseback to East Tarbut, a distance of elev'en
miles. Being a stranger to the road, quite alone,
the night dark, and the country apparently very
bleak, my ride was almost as dreary as 1 had found
it on my journey to the Laplanders.