Sky.

verness-shire, across a channel called the Minch, we
come to the Island of Sky. It is the largest of all the
Hebrides. It lies at the distance of about eighteen miles
south-west from Harris; on the south-east it approaches
very near to the district of Glenelg, on the continent of
Scotland. On the south it is divided by about five leagues
of sea, from the promontory of Ardnamurchan in Argyle-
shire;
the Minsh channel on the west divides it from
South Uist and Barray; and the sea, by which it is wash-
ed on the north, opens at length into the Northern Ocean.
This island is between fifty and sixty miles in length,
and its greatest breadth is about forty miles. At the ferry
of Glenelg it is not above half a mile from the mainland
of Inverness-shire. It is deeply intersected round its
whole circumference by arms of the sea. The Bay of
Portree, Loch Snizort, and Loch Braccadale, are the lar
gest of its bays. The coasts are in general bold and roc-
ky, abounding with many safe and commodious bays,
especially at the harbour of Oronsay in the parish of
Slate, and the harbour at the village of Portree. The
country is mountainous, and some of the hills are so high
as to be covered with snow on their tops at midsummer;
their sides are covered with heath and grass, which afford
good pasture for sheep and black cattle. Between the
mountains are some fertile valleys; and the greater part
towards the sea-coast is plain and arable, particularly in
the parish of Kilmuir, where the soil produces good
crops. The island is well watered by a great number of
rivers abounding with trout and salmon. In the small
rivers Kilmartin and Ord, is found the great horse-mus-
cle (mytilus margaritifera), in which pearls are bred.
Mr Martin was informed by the proprietor of Ord, that
a pearl has been found in it valued at L.20 Sterling. There

are also in the island a number of fresh-water lakes sto- Sky. red with trout and eel.

obelisk.

Sky contains various objects worthy of the notice of the Natural traveller. In the parish of Snizort is a huge perpendicular rock or natural obelisk of uncommon height and magnitude, which when seen from a distance very much resembles a large steeple. The stone is about 360 feet in circumference at the base; a little below the middle it is a good deal rounder; and thence lessening upwards, it seems to end nearly in a sharp point; its height is thought to exceed 300 feet. There is also in the same side of the parish, in the march between it and the parish of Portree, a beautiful fall of water or cataract, the perpendicular height of which is about ninety feet. What is most remarkable relative to this fall is, that nearly opposite to the middle of it there is an arched hollow path across the rock, along which five or six people may walk abreast with the greatest safety, quite secure from and unmolested by the body of water that rolls over them, and which in this situation they might mistake for a thick pillar of close smoke, did they not see it dash upon the rocks below.

lakes.

In the parish of Kilmuir, in a low valley, there is a small hill shaped like a house, and covered with small trees, or rather shrubs, of natural growth. At one side Curious of it there is a lake of fresh water, from which there is no visible discharge. Its water finds many passages through the hill, and makes its appearance on the other side in a great number of springs of the very purest kind. They all run into an oval bason below, which has a bottom of white sand, and is the habitation of many smali fish. From that pond the water runs in a copious stream to the sea. At the side of this rivulet there is a bath made of stone, and concealed from public view by small trees sur

Sky.

Concealed valley.

Hills.

rounding it. Its name is Loch Shant, or the Sacred Lake. There was once a great resort of people afflictedwith ailments to this place. They bathed themselves and drank of the water, though it has no mineral quality; and in a shelf made for the purpose in the wall of a contiguous inclosure, they left offerings of small rags, pins, and coloured threads, to the divinity of the place.

At the northern termination of a ridge of mountains in the same parish, is a most curious concealed valley. It is on all sides surrounded with high rocks, and accessible to men or cattle only in three or four places. A person seeing the top of these rocks could never imagine that they surrounded so great a space of ground. In barba-' rous times, when perpetual feuds and discords subsisted between the clans, to such a degree that life and moveable property, could not be secure, when the approach of an enemy was announced, the weakest of the inhabitants, with all the cattle, were sent into that secret asylum, where strangers could never discover them without partieular information. It is so capacious as to hold (but not to pasture for any length of time) 4000 head of cattle.

The coast of Portree, on each side of the mouth of the harbour, but more especially on the north, is overhung by huge cliffs of stupendous height. To west-south-west of the harbour is a hill called Ait-Suidbe-Fbuin, or "Fingal's sitting Place;" because on the top of it is a green hillock, on which, says tradition, Fingal was wont to sit in state, point out the different courses, and survey his heroes pursuing the chace. From this hillock, in a clear day, the lofty hills of Cullen and Strath, the parishes of Duerinsh and Braccadale, the Long Island, North and South Uist, and Barray, may be seen, as likewise the west side of Treternish, Portree, Raasay, Applecross, Loch Carron, and the interjacent seas. Nearly opposite to this

hill, at a mile's distance, south-east of the harbour, rises Ban-dian-a-bhaig, or, " the Hill of his Defence," having also on its top a green hillock, called Cruachan-MbicSwan (M'Swan's eminence), remarkable only for its similarity to that on the top of Ait-suide-Fhuin, unless the tradition, that a son of Swain or Sueno, a Danish or Norwegian king, lies buried there, may be thought deserving of notice. On the side of Ban-dian-a-bhaig that looks towards Raasay, and which is extremely steep, rise a number of rocks of a conical form, green at their tops, or covered with heath. Between these rocks run small hollow vales, where sheep and goats find pasture; and at the bottom of the hill, on the same side, are several caves, in which sea-fowl and wild pigeons nestle, and into some of which the sea at high water enters. The hill itself, on account of its height and peculiar form, is an infallible mark of the situation and place of the harbour.

Sky.

On the shore of the same parish is a cave that merits Cave. particular attention. It is extremely narrow without, but within becomes very spacious and high, capable of containing at ease 500 persons. Below its mouth, up from high-water mark to the level of the cave, the hollow rock is faced with a perpendicular wall of large plainstone about twelve feet high, having several steps so nar row that only one man can ascend at a time. Within, the air freely circulates; in the middle is a well; and if they had no fire-arms, one man could easily defend the passage against a host of foes: so that it seems to have been designed, both by nature and art, as a place of secure retreat; though, if the tradition be true, it proved otherwise to one party that retired to it for safety: for the story goes, that in the troublesome and barbarous times, when the neighbouring districts plundered and destroyed each other, and the weak were always a prey to the strong,

Sky.

many often retreated to this cave as a place of conceal. ment and security. At one time, however, they within deeming themselves from their situation too secure, were negligent in defending the passage. Their enemies got intelligence they were there, and surprising them in the night, filled the mouth of the cave with timber and moist heath, and then setting fire to it, allowed none to escape, but all were either smothered to death in their sleep, or miserably perished in the flames. In confirmation of this tradition, a man not long since dead found about sixty years ago a large brass kettle, in a dark corner in the farther end of the cave; and bones of different sizes are still to be seen in it. It abounds in stalactites, which partly hang from the arch above, and partly fall down, many of them having several holes through and through, and are great curiosities. Another cave is not far distant, and is of unexplored extent. Concerning this last, the vulgar tell a story about a piper, or player on the bagpipes, who, along with some other persons, attempted to explore the recesses of the cavern. None of the party ever returned; but persons above ground, in the direction in which the cavern runs, though at the distance of a mile from its mouth, heard the piper playing under ground beneath their feet. This story of the piper seems to be a very favourite one in the Highlands; it is told concerning some other caverns in Sky, and concerning several on the mainland of Scotland. In particular, it is told concerning a cave on the river Nevis in Inverness-shire, which we formerly described. In this last case the tradition is, that the noise of the piper's music was heard under ground at a place called Kinloch, distant from the entrance of the cave no less than ten miles. The tune he played was, "Oh that I had three hands, two for the bagpipe and one for the sword;" signifying that he had been attacked by subterranean foes.