INCH KENNETH. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 527 



INCH KENNETH.* 



THE value of Inch Kenneth in examining the neigh- 

 bouring shores of Mull will be apparent when the con- 

 struction of both has been described. Independently of 

 this merit to the mere geologist, it has a claim on the 

 notice of every one who visits this country, since that 

 which Johnson has described is esteemed classical ground 

 by the tourist. The ruins of Sir Allan Maclean's house, 

 with the chapel, the cross, and the tombs, are still to be 

 seen ; the decayed walls of the chapel reminding us, (to 

 borrow a sentiment from that author) of the superstition 

 of those by whom these structures were erected, and of 

 the piety which has suffered them to become the habitation 

 of the nettle and the toad: the cemetery unenclosed, 

 unprotected and forgotten, the haunt of the plover and 

 the curie w/f* 



This island is elevated towards the north-west into high 

 overhanging cliffs, rising to the height of an hundred feet 

 and upwards. On the opposite quarter it becomes gra- 

 dually lower till it meets the sea, but is bounded on all 

 sides by exposed rocks which render its structure very 

 accessible. The prolongations of these form ledges which 



* See the Map of Mull. 



f The apparently groundless impression made in Scotland by Dr. 

 Johnson's work still remains in full force. It is amusing to listen to 

 the acrimony with which he is spoken of, and by many who assuredly 

 have never read his book. In his account of the islands he has passed 

 over with a suavity and humanity little to be expected, circumstances in 

 the condition of the country and of the inhabitants which, under a state of 

 far greater improvement, recent travellers are little inclined to treat with 

 the same lenity. It is probable that he had expected to see a life purely 

 savage, and had thus given the islanders more than due credit for the 

 few comforts they possessed. Sterne's noted character would not have 

 described the same tour with the same good humour, even in the present 

 day. 



