24 ASPECTS OF THE SEA. CHAP. HI. 



west, a high crest of land juts out into the sea, forming 

 at its extremity the bold precipitous rocks of Holborn 

 Head. Looking out of the bay you see the Orkney 

 Islands in the distance, the Old Man of Hoy standing 

 up at its western promontory, At sunset the light glints 

 along the island, showing the bold prominences and 

 depressions in the red sandstone cliffs. Out into the 

 ocean the distant sails of passing ships are seen against 

 the sky, white as a gull's wing. 



The long swelling waves of the Atlantic come rolling 

 in upon the beach. The noise of their breaking in 

 stormy weather is like thunder. From Thurso they are 

 seen dashing over the Holborn Head, though some two 

 hundred feet high; and the cliffs beyond Dunnet Bay 

 are hid in spray. 



Eobert Dick was delighted with the sea in all its 

 aspects. The sea opens many a mind. The sea is the 

 most wonderful" thing a child can see; and it long con- 

 tinues to fill the thoughtful mind with astonishment. 

 The sea-shore on the western coast is full of strange 

 sights. There is nothing but sea between Thurso and 

 the coasts of Labrador. 



The wash of the ocean comes by the Gulf Stream 

 round the western coasts of Scotland, and along the 

 northern coasts of Norway. Hence the bits of drift- 

 wood, the tropical sea-weed, and the tropical nuts, 

 thrown upon the shore at Thurso. 



In the same way, bits of mahogany are sometimes 

 carried by the ocean current from Honduras or the Baj 

 of Mexico, and thrown upon the shore on the northern 



