THE GULL AND PETREL. 269 



the sea-swallows by their bills, which are straight, 

 slender, and sharp-pointed. 



Those who have been much upon our coasts know 

 there are two different kinds of shores, that which 

 slants down to the water with a gentle declivity, and 

 that which rises with a precipitate boldness that seems 

 set as a bulwark to repel the force of the invading deep: 

 it is to such shores as these that the whole tribe of the 

 gull-kind resort to breed, as the rocks offer them a 

 retreat for their young, and the sea affords them an 

 ample supply of food. 



Those who have never observed our boldest coasts, 

 have no idea of their immense sublimity ; for the 

 boasted works of art, the highest towers, and the no- 

 blest domes, are but as ant-hills in comparison ! The 

 face of the shore offers to the view a wall of massive 

 stones ten times higher than our tallest steeples ; and 

 the rocks of St. Kilda are known to measure upwards 

 of three quarters of a mile in height ! What must be 

 our awe at approaching the edge of that impending 

 height, and looking on the unfathomable vacuity be- 

 low; to ponder on the terrors of falling to the bottom, 

 where the waves, that swell like mountains, and the 

 roar of an ocean a thousand leagues broad, appears to 

 the ear softer than a brook ! and in these majestic bold 

 retreats, the cormorant, the gannet, the tarrock, and 

 the fern, claim undisturbed possession. 



To walk along the sea-shore w-hen the tide is de- 

 parted, or to sit in the hollow of a rock when it comes 

 in, attentive to the various sounds that gather on every 

 side, may raise the mind to its highest and noblest ex- 

 ertions ! The solemn roar of the waves swelling into, 

 and subsiding from, the vast caverns beneath; the 

 piercing note of the gull ;, the frequent chatter of the 



