78 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CH. VI. 



away in the small ferry-boat, and taking our own 

 boat in tow, we sailed across with a good breeze, 

 which carried us well over the bay. In one part 

 the current of the ebbing tide is very strong. 



While waiting for the horse's arrival I amused 

 myself by watching through my glass the singular 

 and awkward-looking antics and gambols of a large 

 herd of seals, who were playing and resting upon a 

 sandbank in the middle of the bay. It is curious 

 to see with what activity these unwieldy-looking 

 fellows move themselves about on the sand, ill 

 adapted as they appear for locomotion on the land. 

 The cry of the seal is wild and mournful, difficult 

 to describe, but something between the mew of a 

 cat and the howl of a dog ; a most unpleasant sound 

 it is, though it sometimes harmonises sufficiently 

 well with the wild scenery surrounding them. 



Some thirty miles out at sea opposite this part of 

 the coast is an island, or range of rocks. Exposed to 

 all the violence of the breakers of the Northern Sea, 

 it is difficult to land on ; but once or twice a year a 

 crew of fishermen go off to it in a strong boat, and 

 usually manage to get about a hundred seals, the oil 

 and skins of which repay them well for their labour. 



Blue rock pigeons live in all the caves on this 

 coast, and are to be seen flitting to and fro from 

 morning to night. 



