108 WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 



come across the sound to see this newest whaler. Possibly 

 we will, after considering mundane matters, such as potatoes 

 and marmalade for all hands, drop anchor at Drimnin or 

 Glen Morven and ask the relatives to step off and see our 

 wonders on board ship, but the anchorage at neither of the 

 places is of the very best and Tobermory is perfect. 



My Norse friends fell in love with Drimnin and Tobermory 

 and its round sheltered bay at first sight : we had only too 

 short a stay, for a wire told us my cousin, Mr C. H. Urmston, 

 a fellow-director in our Company, would await me in Oban, 

 so we up anchored, went over to Morven and dipped our 

 flag and blew the horn opposite Drimnin, and passed the 

 Urmstons' house, Glen Morven, in silence, for we hear it 

 is let to a stranger from the south, and down the familiar 

 Sound of Mull we proceeded on this lovely summer afternoon 

 to the Great Oban. 



By the way, I met two men interested in whaling in 

 Tobermory ! When your mind runs on a subject, is it not 

 odd how many people you meet who also take an interest 

 in same ? This man is Yule by name ; we met on the subject 

 of bagpipes ; piping is the best bond and introduction to the 

 best men ! So with two interests, whaling and piping, you 

 at once get very intimate. He came from the east coast 

 I never met a Highlandman whaler, and not often a sailor 

 (they are generally Captains or Chiefs, they have brains). 



" Did you ever hear the name of Yule as a whaler ? " he 

 said ; and I replied I'd heard more stories about Yule and 

 whales and white bears and Arctic jokes and adventures from 

 Dundee to north of the Pole than of any other man alive 

 or dead. " Well," he said, " that was my grandfather," 

 and he referred me to his father up the close, to verify the 

 grandfather's exploits. So if anyone who reads this wishes 

 yarns true and hair-curling about Greenland's icy mountains, 

 etc., let him call at Tobermory, on Yule senior, No. 51, the third 

 close past the post office. 



A fair lady at Tobermory graced our vessel with a fleeting 

 visit, Miss Sheila Allan, of the famous line of that name. 

 She rowed from Aros Castle in her dinghy and sprang on 



