SETS SAIL. 129 



Till the grey mists of eve arose, and wrapt 

 My native hills in dark and formless gloom. 



' Scarcely had the sun risen when, curious to know in 

 what part of the Moray Frith we now were, I rose and 

 went upon deck. . . . The sun hung on the verge of 

 the horizon, and illuminated that part of the water which 

 seemed to lie beneath with a splendour not less dazzling 

 than its own. A solitary porpoise was tumbling around 

 our vessel in unwieldy sport. A " killing " of sea-gulls 

 at a little distance were screaming over their morning 

 banquet ; while, at intervals, an overgrown seal raised 

 his round black head above the waves and gazed upon 

 us with a long and very curious stare. Upon the north 

 I perceived the land stretching from Tarbat-ness to 

 John-o'-Groats, while upon the south and east, at about 

 three miles distance, rose the bold, rocky, and romantic 

 shores of Moray and Banff. Tower and town, hill and 

 promontory, in their turns engaged my attention, and 

 after having, in the course of the day, passed Portsoy, 

 Banff, Macduff, and Fraserburgh, I again sought my 

 bed and spent this night, as I had done the preceding, 

 in calm and refreshing sleep. 



1 Two days of our voyage had passed pleasantly, but 

 upon the morning of the third I was surprised and 

 somewhat disheartened when, upon getting on deck, I 

 perceived nothing but a dark rolling sea, and a dense 

 cloud of mist closing upon the vessel upon every side. 

 . . . Often as I paced the narrow space the deck 

 afforded me did I behold in fancy the scenes I was soon 

 to visit, and as often w T as that fancy carried back to 

 picture the regrets and joys of home. But that you 

 may better know what my thoughts were, I insert the 

 copy of a short, I should rather say unfinished, poem I 

 composed that morning. It will show you what ideas I 



VOL. I. 9 



