EXPLORING THE MOOR. 355 



From the lofty situation of the mouth of the cave, the 

 view was most extensive and picturesque. To the right 

 the Atlantic rolled beneath us, from whose bosom the sun 

 had just emerged ; before us lay a wide extended heath, 

 from which the mists of the morning had withdrawn, 

 though they still concealed from our view the picturesque 

 tops of the mountains by which it was bounded. A 

 beautiful valley stretched to the left, divided down the 

 centre by a deep ravine, through which a mountain stream 

 flowed and emptied itself into the sea immediately below 

 us, while over our heads hung a precipitous ridge of rocks. 

 All was, as Johnson has expressed it, " rudeness, silence, 

 and solitude." There was no trace of the habitation of 

 man ; not a sound was to be heard, except the murmur of 

 the waters, and occasionally the wild note of some sea- 

 bird as it flitted from rock to rock. 



Before leaving our commanding situation, it was deemed 

 prudent to scrutinise narrowly with our telescopes the 

 ground before us, particularly those beds of fern, so frequent 

 in these moors, in which the stags, having pastured all 

 night, generally secrete themselves on the approach of day, 

 leaving nothing visible but their light. grey heads and 

 horns, which, without the aid of a glass, it is impossible to 

 distinguish. 



Having satisfied ourselves that there were none within 

 our view, the next point to be considered was the di- 

 rection of the wind, and the nature of the ground through 

 which we were to pass. 



The direction in which we should proceed being agreed 

 upon, Finlay (than whom a better deer-stalker never trod 

 the heath) set out at about fifty yards in advance, provided 



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