48 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 
into the cave and dash their flakes of snow-white foam against 
its wall, it seems as if the gigantic instrument, touched by an 
invisible hand, were loudly singing the triumphs of ocean. 
Among the beauties of this matchless cave, the clear light 
must not be forgotten, which, penetrating through the wide 
portal, produces an agreeable chiaro-oscuro even at its farthest 
end, so that the eye is able to seize at one glance the full 
majesty of the splendid hall; nor the pure air which, constantly 
renewed by the perpetual alternations of the tides, is very 
different from the chilly dampness which generally reigns in 
subterranean caverns. 
When we consider the resemblance which from its regularity 
this magnificent work of nature bears to a production of human 
art, we cannot wonder at its having been ascribed to mortal 
architecture. But as men of ordinary stature seemed too weak 
for so colossal an enterprise, it was attributed to a race of 
giants, who constructed it ‘for their chief and leader, Fingal, 
so renowned in Gaelic mythology. This belief still lingers 
among the primitive people of the neighbourhood, though 
some, being averse to pagan Goliahs, ascribe its workmanship 
to St. Columban. 
The patriotic muse of Walter Scott, who visited the cave in 
1810, rises to more than ordinary warmth while describing 
“That wondrous dome, 
Where, as to shame the temples deck’d 
By skill of earthly architect, 
Nature herself, it seemed, would raise 
A minster to her Maker's praise! 
Not for a meaner use ascend 
Her columns, or her arches bend; 
Nor of a theme less sulemn, tells 
That mighty surge that ebbs and swells, 
And still between each awful pause 
From the high vault an answer draws 
Tn varied tones, prolonged and high, 
That mocks the organ’s melody. 
Nor doth its entrance front in vain 
To old Iona’s holy fane, 
That Nature’s voice might seem to say, 
‘ Well hast thou done, frail child of clay, 
Thy humble powers that stately shrine 
Task’d high and hard---but witness mine!’” 
Lord of the Isles, canto iv. stanza 10. 
