Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-10-09
THE HERALD.
From the New York Observer.
The Isle OF Skye.
ny REV. WENDELL PRIME /.

uS'' JouihSy uiu hOt CA
tend beyond a single circuit through
Skye, and that not including its most
striking sceuery. 1t was journey
to the Hebrides, not through the He
brides: for, after this partial view of
Skye, it ended with visit to some
of the smaller islands off the coast of
Null. But in those days such q
journey involved more toll and dan
ger than are now encountered in q
tour around the world.
In no part OF the world can the
traveller find a more complete aud
comfortable service of steamers than
this which plies along the coasts and
lochs and islands of Western Scot
land. AS in visiting Staffa and Iona,
we find that Oban is the place to
embark. 1t is true that steamers for
Skye sail from Liverpool, Glasgow,
and other ports; but at Oban the
tourists finds the only steamer that
visits Skye in the way that brings
him without fatigue into the very
heart of its sublimest scenery and
leaves him where he may have a
choice of routes by which to return
by water or rail to any part of Scot.
land.
Every Tuesday morning during
| tho eoosnn, a ntoomor leaves OOau
tor Portree, tie chief town of Skye
calling on the way at Loeb Scavig.
Unless the tourist arranges to take
this boat, he cannot see the most ro
mantle part of the island without q
laborious land journey. During the
first few hours the route is by the
Sound OF Null, the narrow arm of the
sea through which the Staffa boa,
passes on its way to or from the ia
nous "Island OF Columns. Leaving
Oban Bay, we take parting look al
he ivy.robed Dunolly Castle, one OF
the most picturesque of all the mum,
erous ruins that mark the shores and
crown the bluffs in all this region
1t is not worth while to merely men.
ton names of things that constantly
engage our attention, for arc they no,
all written in the guide. books and in
the note books OF countless indefatig
able tourists? Perhaps we ought te
say that the ruin upon the right il
Artonish Castle, the scene of the
opening chapters in Walter SCOTS
s'Lord OF the Isles" On the same
bank, few miles beyond, is a broad
verdant lawn, in the centre 8. which
is a large, dense cluster of trees, al
most hiding dwelling. That is the
manse of Finery, the birthplace oil
Norman Mcleod. Seven years age
this very month, | heard him preaci
his last sermon in the Barony church
Glasgow-the same week in which
he died. Few men ever obtain such
n place az his in the heart of a nation
and few men with his quality of gen
ius occupy such place with so little
to cloud its brightness.
Three hours after leaving Obar
we are emerging from the Sound o
Null and have the evidence of our
progress in the majestic movement
of our vessel swayed to and fro upor
the heaving bosom of the Atlantic
This he adland which we are round
ing, with the great lighthouse fsnked
by hills behind hills, is Ardnamurch.
an Point, the westernmost extremity
Of the mainland of Scotland. To the
sonih ara the Trasnish Islands, with
Statfa and lona-the scene of yester.
days excursion. Our course is
northward, close by the little Island
Muck, and then along the shore OF
Eigg, with its very odd centre-piece
in the shape of columnar hill, de-
scribed by Hugh Miller as ga tower
three hundred feet in breadth, by
four hundred and seventy feet in
height, perched on the apex of pyr.
amid like statue on a pedestal. ;.
Beyond are the mountains OF the is.
land Rum, name that may yet be
most appropriate for the mainland
unless the heart of the people be.
comes regenerated in regard to the
use and abuse of intoxicating drinks.
There are other islands within sight
here and there, but we are now all
eyes for the panorama before us on
the north. We have passed the
point of Skye and are approaching
It's southern coastrange of mountains
the Cuchullin Hills. AS we draw
nearer, their varied forms rise more
sublimely from the sea, and penetrat-
ing into the midst of this dark en-
csmpment of treeless, verdureless
piles, pinnacles and cones of ever
lasting rock, the"Glencoe" anchors in
LoCH sCAYIG.
No town or oven hnf indin afaa III O