THE BASS ROCK 217 



like sky. Away to the south, Canty Bay can be just 

 discerned, and on the left of this stands the noble 

 ruin of Tantallon Castle ; the tall walls and turrets 

 on the edge of the rugged weather-beaten rock- 

 bound coast stand well out against the sky. The 

 coast thereabouts is one of the most dangerous in 

 these parts, and has been the scene of many terrible 

 wrecks. Farther to the west the land is lost, or 

 seems to fade away in the summer haze, and slowly 

 blends in with the sky. A steamer entering the 

 Firth of Forth looks like a toy ship, and the great 

 streak of smoke it leaves behind hangs long over 

 the still water and then gradually drifts away. 



We now leave the summit, and go to the east side. 

 Here, where the grassy slope meets the rock, we 

 prepare our cameras, and get ready for the descent. 

 Over the edge thousands of gannets are circling far, 

 far below, looking no larger than pigeons from this 

 towering height. Away on the sea, almost to the 

 horizon, thousands more are swimming; then they 

 are seen to our right and to our left, while above one 

 of the great birds now and then swoops by with a 

 rush, and skims onward, like a monster dart, to the 

 bird-covered shelves of rock two hundred feet below. 

 I climb down more to the north, while my friend 

 descends on the east side. Sometimes these gannets 

 are, as it were, quite sociable, and will allow one to 

 approach ; at other times if we go within thirty feet 



