148 STUDIES OF NATUEE 



dash, shaking out our big brown sails joyously, 

 like a bird preparing for flight. 



We made straight across the Sound of Bute, 

 getting fine views, backward, of the receding 

 Arran with its wild granite crown of central 

 peaks ; and forward, as we passed, up the wide 

 and stormy frith of Loch Fyne. There was 

 enough wind to give us excitement, and the 

 lads screamed with delight when the Blue Bell 

 heeled over so much that standing unassisted 

 was impossible, and, lying on deck, they could 

 almost touch the water with their hands over 

 the gunwale. Going round the east side of the 

 little green islet of Inchmarnock, where the 

 royal fern is still found in great abundance, 

 we came into comparatively calmer water ; and 

 spreading our white cloth on deck we gathered 

 round and made a hearty, and, in one sense, an 

 unsteady lunch. We had elected the Critic to 

 be our skipper. The choice was not a random 

 one. His freedom from useless and lubber-like 



