New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-10-25
STORM-STAYED IN IONA.
WILD DAYS AND NIGHTS IN THE HEBRIDEs.
THE SAIL FROM oBAN THROUGH THE SOUND OF
NULL - SALEM AND ToBERMoRY THE
MOUNTAINS OF MoRvEN - sTAFFA
AND FINGAL's CAVE
FROM srArr CORRESPONDENT OF THE raIRuSEl

AND FINGALS CAVE.
PROM srArF CORRESPONDENT OF TIKI rsIBuSEl
Iona, in the IIcbtides, September so.
The wanderer who lands upon the little stone
ledge, partly natural and partly artificial that
serves for a pier at Iona should be prepared TO
remain upon the island not simply long as
he likes but as long he must. In the HeOriueS
the weather is the sovereign, and never was tnere
sovereign more arbitrary capricious, lmpefious
and potential The poet Longfellow, VINO was
always felicitous in his choice Of eplthets' never
chose an adjective more fifty than when ne oesiS-
mated the western islands of Scotland as the
tempest-haunted Hebrdes." At any momen. Vne
storn-wind may sweep over them Az amOs'
any moment it may cease to blow. IL seems !"
know not any law except it's own caprice "heh
the tempest has spent its fury the CAIN tna'
reigns hero is the calm OF Paradise but Whin
the tempest RACES no sail can brave the olase Ulao
beats these waters, and no boat ever orea'n' VI
making for this perilous shore your pilsiiN"
landed at Iona about noon on September 20, III
tending N return to Oban the next morning rive
DAYS have passed, and there is but faint prospect
chat he will escape now. Postal COMMUNICATION
with the mainland-regularly occurrent out once
every forty-eight hours in fair weather,-has prac
ideally ceased. Telegraphic communication ooee
not exist If Mr. MacBraynes steamer, the gallant
will be a rescue If not there must be D pro-
tracted exercise of the virtue of patience. Rest
ing however in such a home-lilSe haven as the
st. COLUMBIA Hotel, and cheered by companionshlp
with the kind Highland hearts who dwell there,
the practice of patience should not be diffcult.
Il was neither coarse weather nor fine when we
sailed ont Of Oban. The sky was dome OIL steel
and the morning sun, beneath hali-transparehu
clouds, was a disc of silver. AT one point the
sunrise spendor pierced its sullen veil and 1ol-
lowed us with diamond shaft Of light. Inc
wind was fresh the sea lively; and now and then
there came dash of rain. Northward we saw
the ruined tower of Dunolly, thick hung wlth
ivy. and the black stone upon the coast to which,
as legend loves to tell you, King Fingal chained
his dog. Far up Loeb Linnhe rose the huge
back of Ben Nevis encountered with somore
cloud. More near, upon the right hand, glistened
the wet rocks of gray and lonely Lsmore while
upon the left hand frowned the iron shores
az Null Upon the heights above them shone the
purple of heather and the rich emerald OF
velvet turf The lighthouse tower upon Lsmore
stood out in bold relief against the SKY.
and over the furtve rock where Maclean
of Quart bound fair Ellen of Lorn, and left her
TO perish, the waves were breaking in wreaths OF
snowy foam. AL around were flights OF sea
news and we could see, in passing, upon the VIDE
ascending moors of Null, the scattered gray stone
cottages and the cattle and sheep sprinkled over
the land In the foreground lowered the iron
ribbed mountains of Morven, dark and terrible in
their sterile solitude The first time ever saw
Morven the ghostly msts were trailing over It's
sable parapets and there seemed no limit TO the
altitude of it's mysterious and inaccessible heights
This time it's mountain masses stood clearly dis
closed in their grim grandeur and cold, implac-
able dsdain. The course is northwestward De-
tween Morven and Null, and as we sped onward
past the pleasant town of Salem, in it's little
bay the clouds hung low, the waves gimmered
green in the ftful flashes of sunlight, the sea-
birds screamed their warning and upon both shores
as far as the eye could reach the white breakers
foamed angrily against dark riven rocks. At most
times should have seen those sights as signs OF
impending peril did not heed them then. There
are moments when the soul exults in storm and
danger-blindly feeling, perhaps, that its letters
ore momentarily broken and its freedom at last
begun Besides, this Scottish scenery needs its
environment of tempest You want no gentle
breezes here lanRhorous lights: but the frown'
ing sky, the chill wind, and the drifting mist.
Rack of Tobermory-which is the capital OF
Mul-there was sunshine the distant hills and
20 our eyes, as we looked at il from the sea- that
ancient Highland town, winding up it's pleasant
terraces on the side of a noble cliff, seemed the
chosen home of adventure and romance. Ben
More and Ben ITALIA rose supreme at
distance, bathed in flying light but
Morven, under a slate-colored pail. was sullen and
cold Soon we discerned at our right the ruins
of Ardtornish where dwet of old the Lords Of
the Isles and where the genius Of Scott has caused
10 be spoken that eloquent and sublime blessing
of the Abbot upon royal Bruce which is among
the noblest bursts of poetry in our language
Then. presently. gaining the open sea, we looked
all at once upon the Treshnish Isles,seeng Fladda
and Lunga. and Back Nor (which is the Dutch
mans Can. and Back Beg, and far TO the south
ward, the misty outline of Iona while more to
the north and west Three and Coll, which arc
the haunted lands of Ossan, lay like dim clouds
on the horizons verge Staffa is not seen as early
as YOU see Iona, when steering this course, al
though it is nearer to you; for the other isles
Of the Treshnish group partly hide it; but it
soon comes into view, lying upon the lonely ocean
like a long ship, dismasted and at rest All the
world knows that hat-topped crag, covered with
brilliant grass and hoReycombed with caverns In
which only cormorants and petrels breed and haunt
while ocean listens TO it's solemn and ire
mendous music whether of calm or storm. We
did not attempt to land this day, for the sea had
risen and the place was dangerous; but our boat
steamed along the south side of the island and we
gazed into Fingals Cave and into Macklnnon's
and looked long and wistfully at those mysterious
basalt columns which make temple for the
worship of Nature far grander than any creation
Of the hand of man. On a previous occasion
had landed and explored the caves; and it is al
ways wise, when any form Of experience has en-
tirey filed and satisfied the soul never to attempt
its repetition. The visitor to Staffa finds suf-
fcent pathway artfully cOntrved, along the face OF
the cliff. and a rail by which TO sustain himself
SO that he can enter Fingals Cave and walk
nearly to the inner end of its cathedral arch and
gaze upward at its groined vanlt of petrited pen
dant lava and downward into its black transpar-
emit depths. where only the monsters of ocean
have their lair 1t is a solemn and an awful place.