CH. II. FERRY OF KYLESKU. 23 



I was amused by my friend's good-natured phi- 

 losophy : when I lamented loudly the curtain of 

 mist which was entirely shutting out the magni- 

 ficent hill under which we were then passing, he 

 comforted me by saying that he preferred almost the 

 scene as it then was (the mist occasionally giving us 

 a momentary peep at some grey rock, and then 

 shutting it out), as it added a kind of mysterious 

 interest to the wild scenery through which we were 

 passing. 



After working our weary way up liill for some 

 time, we crossed the highest ridge of om^ road and 

 began to descend towards the ferry of Kylesku, by 

 which we were to pass an arm of the sea that runs 

 a considerable distance inland. As we came lower 

 the mist gradually disappeared, and at last we were 

 fairly out of it, although it remained as dense as 

 ever above us, quite concealing all the higher 

 grounds. I never saw such a confusion of rock 

 and stone as we passed through for some two or 

 three miles. The rocks seemed to have been splin- 

 tered and broken up by some great convulsion of the 

 earth ; all looking broken and angular, none of them 

 wearing a round weather-worn appearance, or being 

 much overgrown with heather or herbage. 



Eagles are by no means scarce in this part 

 of the country, but as they hunt principally in the 



