ILLUSIONS DESTROYED. 223 



mau like Borlase (a naturalist too, and inventor of the strange 

 worm which bears his name, Nemertina Borlasia), wander- 

 ing among these rugged rocks, and finding in them the 

 traces of an ancient religion ; noticing the oval basins, and 

 believing them to be human work ; inventing a plausible 

 explanation of their uses, admiring their design, and feeling 

 a sacred awe in their presence ; whereupon arrives the geolo- 

 gist with his disintegrating explanation, and the whole 

 erudite fabric falls to pieces. Had Borlase lived in our time, 

 imagine the ineffable scorn with which he would have looked 

 down upon my Druidical autliority, Norma ; yet, you see, 

 he is, with all his learning, quite as unveridical as Giulia 

 Grisi, and not half so beautiful. If Norma is not a good 

 historical authority, it is at least a delightful one ; and, with 

 Voltaii'e, I exclaim — • 



" On court, h(5]as, aprbs la vdrite ; 

 Ah ! croycz-moi, I'eiTeur a son m^rite." 



Scepticism refuses admission to these Druidical remains 

 altogether, so that I need not occupy space with the descrip- 

 tion of them. But here is a story safe from the assaults of 

 scepticism, and thrilling enough it is to deserve a place 

 among moving accidents. 



On the 16th November 1840, the French brig Nerine, 

 under Captain Pierre Everdert, with a cargo of oil and 

 canvass, sailing from Dunku'k for Marseilles, was forced to 

 heave to in a gale about ten leagues south-west of the Scilly 

 Islands. The crew consisted of seven, including the captain 

 and his nephew, a boy of fourteen. At seven in the evening 

 a heavy sea struck the vessel, and completely capsized her — 



