38 



" The natural columns of basalt, near the 

 landing-place, lie in so many different directions 

 that I cannot give a clear notion of them erect, 

 oblique, and horizontal ; and sometimes in each 

 of these posftions they are curved. In the first 

 cave which occurs, the columns are bent in such 

 a manner as to have given rise to its name of the 

 scollop ; but I think they look still more like the 

 inside of the timbers of a ship. On the other 

 side, the wall which leads into the cave, is formed 

 by ends of columns, which make it appear some- 

 thing like a honeycomb ; and immediately beyond 

 this cave, the broken ends form a sort of stairs 

 to the causeway, and up to the great cave. 

 Beneath this part of the cliff is situated a single 

 rock, called Buachaille, (the herdsman) a name 

 commonly applied in the Highlands to remark- 

 able mountains and rocks. There is a very 

 striking coincidence between the Gaelic and the 

 Greek languages, not only in this, but in other 

 words ; and my companion, who is well ac- 

 quainted with the Gaelic, thinks that they must 

 have had a common origin. 



" Of the three caves in the south-west side of 

 the island, the westernmost is called the cave of 

 Mackinnon ; who seems, from the number of 

 places to which he has given his name, to have 

 been a hero of considerable celebrity. Its height 

 is 50 feet, and length 224 feet; but although 

 grand and sublime in general effect, it has not 



