48 PHYSICAL GEOGEAPIIY OF THE SEA. 



Into the cave and dash their flakes of snow-white foam against 

 its wall, it seems as if the gigantic instrument, touched by an 

 invisible hand, were loudly singing the triumphs of ocean. 



Among the beauties of this matchless cave, the clear light 

 must not be forgotten, which, penetrating through the wide 

 portal, produces an agreeable chiaro-oscuro even at its farthest 

 end, so that the eye is able to seize at one glance the full 

 majesty of the splendid hall ; nor the pure air which, constantly 

 renewed by the perpetual alternations of the tides, is very 

 different from the chilly dampness which generally reigns in 

 subterranean caverns. 



When we consider the resemblance which from its regularity 

 this magnificent work of nature bears to a production of human 

 art, we cannot wonder at its having been ascribed to mortal 

 architecture. But as men of ordinary stature seemed too weak 

 for so colossal an enterprise, it was attributed to a race of 

 giants, who constructed it for their chief and leader, Fingal, 

 so renowned in Gaelic mythology. This belief still lingers 

 among the primitive people of the neighbourhood, though 

 some, being averse to pagan Goliahs, ascribe its workmanship 

 to St. Columban. 



The patriotic muse of Walter Scott, who visited the cave in 

 1810, rises to more than ordinary warmth while describing 



" That wondrous dome, 

 Where, as to shame the temples deck'd 

 By skill of earthly architect, 

 Nature herself, it seemed, would raise 

 A minster to her Maker's praise ! 

 Not for a meaner use ascend 

 Her columns, or her arches bend ; 

 Nor of a theme less solemn, tells 

 That mighty surge that ebbs and swells, 

 And still between each awful pause 

 From the high vault an answer draws 

 In varied tones, prolonged and high, 

 That mocks the organ's melody. 

 Nor doth its entrance front in vain 

 To old Iona's holy fane, 

 That Nature's voice might seem to say, 

 * Well hast thou done, frail child of clay, 

 Thy humble powers that stately shrine 

 TaskM high and hard — but witness mine ! ' " 



Lord of the Ides, canto iv. stanza 10. 



