The Music-makers. 71 



vessel held on her way, fighting 

 down the Sound of Islay, past the 

 peaks of Jura, within sight of the 

 Irish shore ; and just as the day was 

 breaking we were off the dreaded 

 Mull of Kintyre. 



All sailors know and fear the 

 dangers that lurk there ; and anxious 

 are the eyes that watch, and patient 

 is the skill that waits until rocks 

 and waves and treacherous tide- 

 races are left behind, and the 

 sheltered waters of the Clyde fair- 

 way be reached in safety. 



I was on deck early ; for it is a 

 grand sight, those cliffs of the Mull 

 at dawn. To the south was the 

 loom of the Irish land ; to the west 

 the dark-blue horizon, with low 

 indigo-tinted clouds piled, like 

 battlements above ; to the north 

 the grim cliffs, with the fringe of 

 racing foam snowy against their 

 feet; to the east the red glory of 

 the coming day. 



