290 Proceedings of the Boyal Tliysical Society. 



The difficulties of landing on Eona, we believe, are not 

 exaggerated; indeed, it must be granted that the place is 

 extremely difficult of access. Considerable colour is, no 

 doubt, always given as to the difficulty of landing at most 

 of these outlying islands ; still there is reason to believe 

 that for weeks together landing is quite impossible. Mr 

 H. G. Barclay and myself tried to reach Eona this year no 

 less than four times before we succeeded, and only once did 

 we even come within sight of the island. Our yacht, hired 

 through an agent on the Clyde, was somewhere about 95 

 feet in keel, and about 13^ to 14 feet in beam; in fact, a 

 river boat. So bad was she, that we were either imprisoned 

 at Stornoway, or at Loch Inver, or at Loch Laxford, having 

 to run for shelter even in a very moderate sea. At last, on 

 the morning of the 16th June, we steamed out of Loch 

 Laxford about 10 a.m. Ground swell only — no long rollers — 

 not a breath of wind — luck at last. Horizon clear, but slight 

 heat haze over both land and sea, which I predicted would 

 bring up a gentle land breeze — easterly — at night, which the 

 sequel shows was correct. 



Weather, pro tern., apparently as distinctly settled as in 

 twenty years I have ever seen it on the West Coast at this 

 season ; yet the glass — aneroid — went down one-tenth by 

 12 o'clock noon. There it remained steady, but still with a 

 tendency to go down. The glass was very high, viz., 32°. 

 Sighted Eona at 1.15 p.m. on the port bow — hazy. Eona's 

 top is 350 feet high (Imry's Sailing Directions, 1881 — anti- 

 quated). I made the sketch, as seen from S.E. by S., or 

 nearly so. 



Landed with great ease, at 4.15 p.m., round the point where, 

 in the sketch, birds are seen flying — viz., at the landing- 

 place called Geodh Sthu {see Swinburne's article, ojJ. cit, p. 

 62), a fine sheltered bay, where the yacht let go her anchor. 

 Not trusting the accounts of the spring water we heard of as 

 being on the island, we took one of Silvers' felted bottles full 

 ashore. The water on shore proved clear, but decidedly 

 brackish, and the well had not apparently been cleared out 

 since the two men died on the island. We would have taken 

 a crowbar or " slice" ashore, but we were told there were two 



