172 LEWIS. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



readiness in discerning the true nature and bearings of 

 land under such circumstances, to effect its circumnaviga- 

 tion. With the chart it is sufficiently difficult; without 

 that, it would be almost impracticable. The entrance of 

 Loch Roig in particular is so obscure that a boat may 

 pass within a few hundred yards of the entrance without 

 perceiving it. * Intricate and entertaining as this naviga- 

 tion is, it cannot be called picturesque ; as the land is in 

 general low, with the exception of the southern mountains, 

 which are seen at a distance towering above the Kyle 

 Flota. The cliffs also which bound most of the islands 

 and shores, are rugged, without beauty and with little 

 elevation. Like all the cliffs of gneiss in these islands, 

 they are broken into a number of minute and angular 

 parts, which destroy that repose and breadth so necessary 

 to the picturesque; while the capricious and gaudy dis- 

 tribution of colour which they derive from the inter- 

 mixture of red and white granite with hornblende and 

 common gneiss, interfere with tranquillity of tone as much 

 as their fracture does with that of form. One or two 

 detached rocks may perhaps be exempted from this 

 general remark ; and of these, Gariveilan, placed at the 

 mouth of the loch, is the most interesting ; displaying 

 a detached arch of great height with considerable sim- 

 plicity and grandeur of effect.f 



* It is amusing to observe the various grounds on which repu- 

 tation is founded in different societies. The contempt with which 

 the anxious, and often perilous, pursuit of " chucky-stanes " (pebbles), 

 was viewed by the seamen, was suddenly converted into respect 

 when the ' Saxon " geologist was obliged to take the helm and bring 

 back to the anchorage the boat which themselves could no longer 

 guide. 



f A voyage through the narrow channels of these sea lochs is often 

 attended by very picturesque circumstances and striking effects. On 

 one occasion the water was like a mirror, but black as jet, from its 

 depth and from the shadow of the high cliffs which overhung it. 

 The tide, flowing with the rapidity of a torrent, glided past without a 

 ripple to indicate its movement, while the sail aloft was filled by a 



