The Land of the Hills and the Glens 



of its own making, and near it could be seen the wide 

 entrance to the long and winding sea loch — Loch Etive, 

 which receives into its waters that famous salmon river the 

 Awe, and, continuing even farther inland, penetrates into 

 the very heart of the hills. Nearer, and set at the entrance 

 to the Linnhe Loch, lay the green island of Lismore — its 

 Gaelic name signifying the "great garden " because of the 

 fertility of its soil — with its stout lighthouse built on the small 

 island at its southern extremity. 



From the summit of Ben More after sunset, if the night be 

 fine, one can see the rays from many far-flung lighthouses 

 shining across the great spaces of the Atlantic. Westward, 

 Dubh Hirteach shows its bright light for thirty seconds; 

 is eclipsed for ten seconds, with ten seconds of light after 

 that, followed by ten seconds of darkness. Not far 

 away, so it seems, is the great light of Skerryvore, 

 showing a flash every twenty seconds. Bearing north, one 

 sees the quickly flashing light of Scarinish on Tiree, and 

 north of that again the small flashing light of the Cairns 

 of Coll seems dim and feeble in comparison with the bright 

 steady glare of Ardnamurchan a few miles from it. North- 

 west, Heiskeir light stabs the darkness with its sharp 

 flashes, and even the rays of Barra Head Lighthouse, sixty 

 miles to the westward, are clearly visible. Then again, 

 turning southward, one sees the beacons showing the ap- 

 proaches to the Isles of the Sea, with their swift currents 

 and their many jagged rocks, and away beyond that again, 

 beyond the lonely Isle of Colonsay, the fixed light on 

 Rudha Mhail, in Islay, shows as a warm beacon in the 

 summer twilight. I have named only a few of the lights 

 which are clear. I should think that at times even the light 

 on Innistrahull, off the north Irish coast, would carry to 

 Ben More, but I do not know that it has ever been 

 identified. 



Lying northward of the summit cairn of Ben More is 

 3 deep corrie, with sides of precipitous rocks, or treacher- 



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