88 



all our eyes yesterday. My aunt is so pleased 

 with his journal, that she is sure you will like it 

 too ; and I have copied a large piece for you, 

 dear mamma.* 



" The Isle of Sky has very much interested 

 me. Sky is the Scandinavian word for clouds. 

 It is the Isle of Mist of the Gaelic poet. The 

 whole island is extremely hilly, and in the north- 

 east part of it the mountains are very picturesque, 

 the rocks and cliffs often assuming a variety 

 of forms, like castles and towers. One remark- 

 able rock, which is said to be 160 feet high, 

 represents a spire so exactly, that it is so called 

 by seamen, to whom it is a well-known sea 

 mark. 



" The cliffs, on the eastern side of the promon- 

 tory of Strathaird, contain a number of caves, 

 one of which has been celebrated in history for 

 having been amongst the places where Prince 

 Charles concealed himself. We visited another, 

 which is called the Spar Cave. The entrance 

 is formed K y a narrow fissure in the cliff, which, 

 for the first hundred feet, is dark and wet : then 

 comes a steep acclivity ; but that once sur- 

 mounted, the whole interior comes into view, 

 covered with stalactites, disposed in a variety of 

 grotesque forms, and rising to the height of 

 upwards of forty feet. In the floor there are 

 numerous little pools, which are filled with 

 groups of crystals, in a state of constant aug- 



