C)(> FINGAL'S CAVE. 



supported nearly all round on a range of pillars; in some places, indeed, 

 so low as to be almost on a level with the surface of the water,.but the 

 greater part elevated far above it, and in some places rising into the air to 

 the lofty height of 150 feet. The name of this extraordinary isle, 

 accordingly, describes it by its most remarkable feature, Staffa, which is 

 a Norse term for staffs or columns. 



The highest part of the line of pillars is at the southern end of the 

 island, and it is here that the celebrated natural excavation, called 

 Fingal's cave, is situated. Its opening is very near the south east corner, 

 and it extends nearly due north. The name by which it is commonly 

 known in Gaelic, is the cave Fiuhn Mac Coul, or as Macpherson has 

 called it in his Ossian, Fingal. This version, although it comes from a 

 respectable source (Sir Joseph Banks), has been greatly doubted ; and 

 the name of the cavern is said to be called Uamh an Binn Cave of 

 Music ; and there is a tradition attached, that it was the work of Fingal 

 or Fion macool. 



The excavation is a vast opening, 42 feet in width at the mouth, 

 extending 227 in depth, and gradually diminishing from nearly 100 feet 

 to about 50 feet in height, supported throughout on both sides by per- 

 pendicular columns of extraordinary regularity. The opening is 

 surmounted by a noble arch, and from this to the farther extremity of the 

 cave, the roof extends in an unbroken surface, composed in some parts 

 of smooth and unvariegated rock, in others of the ends of pillars stuck 

 together in groups, or bunches, and with stalagmitic substance, which 

 fills up the interstices, displaying a species of mosaic work of great 

 regularity and beauty. On the west side the wall of pillars is 3(5 feet in 

 height, but on the east, although the roof is of the same elevation, they 

 spring from a much higher base, and are themselves only 18 feet in 

 height. Along this side is a narrow foot-path raised above the water, 

 which covers the floor, along which it is possible for an expert climber to 

 make his way to the further end of the cave, although the attempt is 

 rather hazardous. The proper and usual mode of viewing the cave, is 

 by entering it in a boat, but even this can only be done with safety when 

 the weather is tolerably calm. From the opening being so spacious there 

 is abundance of light to the extremity, and from the same cause the 

 waves, when there is a heavy sea, will come into it with great force. It 

 is said, that there is, very far in the cave, a hole in the rock below the 

 water, which makes a singularly agreeable sound on the flux and influx 

 of the tide. It is this melodious murmur of the waters passing into it, 



