CHAPTER XI 



BEINN EOLOSARY OF ULVA 



STANDING westward of the Isle of Mull and divided 

 from it by scarce a couple of hundred yards of sea is the 

 wild and sparsely-populated Island of Ulva. The island 

 is mountainous throughout, and its two outstanding hills are 

 Beinn Chreagach, 1,025 feet, and Beinn Eolosary, exactly 

 1,000 feet above sea level. While along the eastern coast of 

 Scotland the summer of which I write was an abnormally dry 

 one, the opposite was the case in the west, and during 

 August and the first part of September fine days were the 

 exception. So that when a morning oj>ened with bright sun- 

 shine and clear blue sky, I decided to climb Beinn Eolosary 

 for the fine view that is to be had from the top, and early left 

 my base on the lesser and adjacent island of Gometra. 



Buzzards sailed above me, uttering from time to time their 

 high-pitched moaning cry. All of a sudden one of their 

 number stooped to earth at express speed, but the bird was 

 apparently at play, for I saw no rabbit or any other prey 

 captured. It has always struck me as curious that the buzzard 

 should call so frequently, as compared with the eagle. As I 

 watched through the glass one of the buzzards was chased 

 by a peregrine and alighted on a rocky pinnacle near me, his 

 rich plumage showing clearly in the bright sunlight. A 

 little farther along I disturbed a buzzard and a pair of ravens 

 from some high basaltic cliffs fringing the Atlantic. The 

 buzzard flew lazily off pursued by the ravens, and so hot 

 did the pursuit become and so angrily did the ravens swoop 

 that the buzzard was compelled to alight on some low rocks 

 close to the sea. Thereupon one of the ravens flew off, but 



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