The Land of the Hills and the Glens 



On one occasion, in midsummer, I spent the night on 

 Loch nan Ceall. The moon was near the full at the time, 

 and as I made my way to the loch shortly before midnight 

 the waters shone golden in its light. The land was in 

 silence, save for the occasional cry of an oyster catcher, 

 or the harsh grating notes of a corncrake from the young 

 fields of growing oats. Ben More stood out dark against 

 the star-studded sky. Its last snow wreath had dwindled 

 under the strength of the midsummer sun until it covered 

 only a yard or two of the hillside, and in a few days the 

 hill would once again be clear of snow. 



It was an hour after midnight when anchor was weighed, 

 and a course set for the mouth of the loch. Already the 

 north-eastern sky was showing a dull red glow, and the 

 light of the moon was waning. From the dark rocks of 

 Inchkenneth there came a deep booming note, as the tire- 

 less surf of the ocean spent itself among the hollow caves. 

 And now the light was stronger, and the Treshnish Islands 

 stood mirrored in the silent depths of the sea, and green- 

 topped Staffa sought the first gleams of the rising sun. 

 Now the waters were busy with many birds at their fish- 

 ing, and companies of guillemots could be seen winging 

 their way only an inch or two above the sea to their nest- 

 ing grounds on the islands. 



On a flat-topped rock many green cormorants stood, 

 eagerly greeting the coming of the sun. Black guillemots 

 too entered or left their nesting holes in the rocks border- 

 ing the loch, and on the many grassy islands the tribe of 

 the sea swallows wheeled and dipped. On the flat rocks 

 many brown seals were lying, and with them were their 

 young, for the loch always shelters many of the seal tribe, 

 and here they find good fishing and quietness. But their 

 larger brethren the grey seals rarely enter the loch, for they 

 prefer the wild outlying islands, and to feel the heave of 

 the Atlantic. 



As the mouth of the loch was gained the early sun shone 

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