THE ISLAND OF COLONSAY 35 



profusely bet ween the conservatory and a walled kitchen 

 garden producing excellent fruit and vegetables in 

 abundance. Peaches and nectarines ripen in the open 

 air. In those gardens on the adjacent mainland which 

 I know best, they only come to maturity under glass. 

 At the foot of the garden below the lawn runs a fine 

 burn through which doubtless sea trout would find 

 their way into the lochs beyond, but for the fact that 

 the outlet into Killoran bay expands over a wide tract 

 of sand, and is therefore too shallow for migratory fish 

 to ascend. I have sometimes thought that it might 

 be possible to cut, or blast, an artificial channel through 

 the rocks at the southern extremity of the bay deep 

 enough to enable migratory fish to enter, and thus add 

 another charm to the many which the place already 

 presents. Where the stream runs through the garden 

 its banks are almost concealed by the growth of 

 Osmunda Regalis and the Lastreas of various kinds. 

 Many rare and beautiful ferns flourish all over the 

 island ; both varieties of the hymenophyllum, the Ton- 

 bridge fern, and Wilson's, carpet the damp boulders 

 with their moss-like growth ; and in every cave and 

 cleft along the shore the long shining fronds of the 

 Asplenium Marinum depend in luxuriant profusion. 



At the back of the house, between the garden 

 and the end of east Loch Fada, are beautiful woods 

 now containing some fine trees. A M'Neill could 

 now have his death sentences executed near home 

 without having to go as far afield as the " Hangman's 

 Rock," an ominous-looking pointed projection over- 

 looking the Strand opposite to Oronsay, where, 

 according to tradition, the justice of former Lords of 

 the island was carried out. The entire absence of 



