steer for Staffa; and as its curiosities were 
unknown, it -was never visited, till within 
the last thirty years, by any but herdsmen, 
who probably ran their boats into the creek, 
where they landed their cattle, and then sail- 
ed off again as quickly as possible, without 
being at the trouble of going either to the 
south or west sides of the island; or if they 
did go thither, in all probability they only 
éxecrated the useless rocks, and the rough 
and dangerous sea around them, without 
conceiving that those billows surrounded the 
most wonderful productions on the face of 
the earth, which they had neither sense to 
feel, nor understanding to comprehend. 
Pr. Johnson had not the happiness of 
visiting Staffa. What a loss he sustained ! 
The wonders of that island were very little 
known at the period he passed near it, in his 
way from UlvatoI-Ona. 
_ ** Fingal’s cave, and Staffa’s bending pil- 
lars, might have been doomed to waste their 
beauties in the desert ocean, had they not 
been brought to light by the account of Staffa 
published in Mr. Pennant’s tour, which was 
sent him by Mr. oe Sir Joseph) Banks. 
Mr. Pennant, like Dr. Johnson, did not go 
near Staffa; he only saw it at a distance, (as 
T was told), and his draftsman-took a view of 
its general appearance on the east’side, where 
_ there is the least to be seen. 
_ “ The views in Mr. Pennant’s tour (I have 
‘been informed) of the Clam-shell and Fin- 
gai’s cave, are engraven from drawings sent 
to him by Sir Joseph Banks, with the disco- 
yeries he had made at Stafla. 
__ “ The view of the Clam-shell cave, gives a 
faint idea of the bending pillars around it; 
jut as for Fingal’s cave, it is impossible to 
‘delineate precisely either its form or solem- 
nity, or give any idea of its beautiful gran- 
_ §* Sir Joseph Banks acquired his first 
| knowledge of Staffa from a speculative gen- 
| tleman from Ireland. In Mull, he went by 
Ba the name of Leach, but it was thought it 
‘was not his real name. His speculation in 
the Hebrides was farming ; and whether by 
_ accident or on a new speculation, no matter 
_ which, he landed on Staffa. He explored its 
‘wonderful caves, and had taste and judgment 
‘€ sufficient to comprehend the value of all he 
found on that astonishing island. Sir Joseph 
_ Banks met Mr. Leach, at Dremin, in Mor- 
ven, from whom he learned what a rarejewel 
_ stood unknown and unnoticed in the Atlan- 
| tie, and offered to accompany him to it ; an 
offer not to be refused by a philosophic 
ining the philanthropy of which had car- 
ried him round the terrestrial globe. 
a «© Tt has been by a few sneha that the 
Sumimit of Staffa is supported by pillars re- 
 sembling a colonnade. A man, not long 
since (I will not say of what nation) arrive 
at Lagan Ulva, on purpose to see Staffa, with 
-. that imagination full im his mind. He or- 
ed a boat to be ready the next morning to 
tarry him to Staffa; but unfortunately for 
MRS, MURRAY’S GUIDE TO THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS, &C. 
407 
him, he made all the enquiries he could con- 
cerning the pillars ef that island, and when 
he was assured that he could neither sail nor 
row between the fine basaltic pillars, which 
he had been informed (he said) supported 
Staffa, he in a pet retraced his steps to Aros 
and Oban, without going thither ; for he de- 
clared he would not give a straw to see that 
island, unless he could sail or row through 
it, under a colonnade of angular pillars. 
‘« Staffa rises perpendicularly from the sea 
at every part except at one creek, running 
some way into the island, on the east side, 
where few visitors reach; it is there they 
land what cattle and sheep are grazed on the 
summit, and it 1s the most sheltered spot 
around the island.” 
«« There can be no doubt but Staffa is a huge 
bunch of prismatic pillars, nicely and closely 
fitting each other in every part, having its 
high summit covered with soil and grass. 
The pillars are jointed at unequal distances, 
and frequently the sections at the joints are 
concave on one’sideand convex on the other. 
This may be plainly seen in the inside of 
Fingal’s cave, by noticing the stumps form- 
ing the pavement, and their corresponding 
parts in the arched roof oyer them. From 
this cireumstance some imagine the enlarge- 
ment, if not the whole of this cave to be 
formed, by the joints near the roof having 
been loosened, the uider parts sunk perpen- 
dicularly to an irregular depth; but the most 
natural cause seems to be, that time, or de- 
composition of the cement in the fissures of 
the angles, and between the joints of the 
pillars, having loosened their hold on the 
main mass or bunch, the violent surge has 
carried off the joints, one after another, as 
the cement which held them together became 
weakened. Thus, too, must have been formed 
the pavement on the outside of the cave, with 
tnis difference, that in theinside of thesummit, 
joints, and angles have been strong enough 
to retain their union with their nei hbouring 
pillars, and thereby have formed the roof of 
the cave. The summit on the outside, ex- 
pesed to open air, has been too feeble to re- 
sist storms, consequently those pillars with 
the crown and soil summit, have been swept 
clearly away by the violence of the sea, when- 
ever a decomposition of the cement has taken 
place. 
«* If an uneven transverse slice of a honey- 
comb were petrified, slightly polished, and of 
brown colour, it would give a faint idea of 
the appearance of the pavement within and 
without Fingal’s cave.” 
The author next visits and explores 
that cave, which she attempts to de- 
scribe; but her feelings of admiration 
and wonder seem to deprive her of the 
power of description, for she becomes 
ambiguous and tautologous. She visits 
many other parts of the island, and en-- 
deavours to delineate its most prominent 
Dd 4 oe eh 
