C a v ì ».
great weight; for in Augufi of the fame year, he fent a Bull}i
Edward, to exhort him to make peace with the Scots, in order tb
the operations againft the infidels in the holy-land might be pi
fued without interruption. There is alfo a letter from his Id
nefs -f to the fame prince, to acquaint him, that at the earned;
queft of Robert, he had fufpended the fentence of excommii
cation, perhaps through fear of lofing the whole Scottijh nati
by too rigorous a procedure.
After dinner continue my journey towards Montrofe. I s
informed, that near the road ftands the church of St. Vigm,
gothic building, fupported by pillars, with ifles on each fide, d
ftanding on a pretty green mount, in the midft of a valley. Ts
church returns a fine echo, repeating diftinftly an hexameter verfe,
Pafs through an open country, and obferve, that the plain
tions are vaftly moffed, being expofed to the cankering blaftsJ
the eaftern winds, which bring with them frequent rains, and gro
volumes of black fog. Ride by extenfive fields of peas and p
tatoes ; the laft a novelty till within the laft twenty years.
The open country continues as far as Liman, where the indo
fures commence. To the right is the promontory, called the fit
head, forming one horn of Lunan bay, open to the eaft wind
The lhore in this part is high, bold, and rocky, and often ®
cavared with vail hollows, extremely worthy the attention of ti
traveller : no place exhibits a greater variety; lome open to #
fea, with a narrow mouth; and, internally, inftantly rife into 1®|
and fpacious vaults, and fo extenfively meandring, that no one ti
as yet, had the hardinefs to explore the end.
* Symir’ s Fcedera, IX. 846. f 1dm . 848.
ÌDthers of thefe caves ihew a magnificent entrance, divided in
thè middle by a vaft column, forming two arches of a height and
Sndeur that fhames the work of art in the nobleft of the Gothic
c|hedrals. The' voyager may amufe himfelf by entering in a
boat on one fide <jf the pillar, furrounding it, and returning to the
fea on the other. But the mod aftoniihing of all is the cavern,
called the Geylit-Pot, that almoft realifes in romantic form a fable
in the Perftan Pales. The traveller may make a confiderable fub-
terraneous voyage, with a piiturefque fcenery of lofty rock above,
and on every fide : he may be rowed in this folemn fcene till he
finds himfelf fuddenly reftored to the fight of the heavens ; he
finds himfelf in a circular chafm, open to the day, with a narrow
bottom, and extenfive top, widening at the margin to two hundred
feet in diameter : on gaining the fummit a moll unexpeéled
profped appears : he finds himfelf at a difbance from the fea,
amidft corn-fields, enjoys a fine view of the country, and a gentleman’s
feat at a finali diftance from the place out of which he emerged.
Shach may be the amufement o f the curious in the calms of the
fnmmer feafon : but when the ftorm is direfted from the eaft, the
view from the edge of this hollow is tremendous ; for from the
height of above three hundred feet, they may look down on the furious
waves, whitened with foam, and fwelling in their long con-
SBement,
■The cliffs of this ihore are not without their Angularities : pen-
• adulated rocks, of llupendous height, jut frequently from their
front, precipitous on all fides, and waihed by a great depth of
water : the ifthmus that joins them to the land is extremely narrow,
impallable for any more than two or three perfons a-breaft •,
T 2 but